Ranking Every Godzilla Incarnation

Sometimes the original is best. Godzilla debuted to Japanese audiences in 1954 with a classic monster movie that sparked fear in audiences and created a legend. Although canonically the first film in the Showa Era, this Godzilla is radically different than the rest of the period.

This iteration of Godzilla was awoken after American Hydrogen Bomb tests in the Pacific. Once out of its slumber, Godzilla began ravaging Japan, obliterating Tokyo and the fictional island of Odo. It is only through the development of their own super-weapon, the Oxygen Destroyer, can Japanese Military forces put an end to the destruction.

The 1954 original is a not-so-subtle commentary on weapons of mass destruction, namely the atomic bombs that devastated Japan in World War 2. Less than ten years after the calamity, Japan was still reeling and Godzilla served as an allegory for the paranoia and havoc that plagued the country. Sometimes, a giant monster knocking over buildings can articulate feelings and fears better than words ever could.

Sixty-five years later and no other interpretation has been able to match the one that started it all. 1954's Godzilla stands shoulder-to-shoulder with 1933's King Kong as the most influential giant monster movies of all-time.