Every Movie in the Godzilla Franchise

The Godzilla franchise began with a now-campy Japanese monster, playing off the audience’s horror and devastation after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the major cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

While WWII has long since ended, the raging reptile continues to be one of the most widely recognized monsters in the media, and likely among the best movie monsters.

In some films, Godzilla plays the enemy; in others, the defender of Tokyo from other oversized foes.

With this year’s release of Godzilla vs Kong, newcomers to the franchise and longtime fans alike can look back on how far these movies have come since the monster’s inception.

To date, there are 36 movies in the Godzilla franchise.

 

• Godzilla (1954)
• Godzilla Raids Again (1959)
• King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
• Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
• Ghidora the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
• Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)
• Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)
• Son of Godzilla (1967)
• Destroy All Monsters (1968)
• All Monsters Attack (1969)
• Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster (1971)
• Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
• Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
• Godzilla v.s The Cosmic Monster (1974)
• Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
• The Return of Godzilla (1984)
• Godzilla vs King Gidorah (1991)
• Godzilla vs Biollante (1992)
• Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)
• Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II (1993)
• Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla (1994)
• Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)
• GODZILLA (1998)
• Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999)
• Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)
• Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
• Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002)
• Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)
• Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
• Godzilla (2014)
• Shin Godzilla (2016)
• GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters (2017)
• GODZILLA: City on the Edge of Battle (2018)
• GODZILLA: The Planet Eater (2018)
• Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
• Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

 

Godzilla (1954)

Director: Ishiro Honda
Starring: Takashi Shimura, Akira Takarada
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: HBOMax, Fandango, Amazon Prime, Apple TV

 

Godzilla Raids Again (1959)

Director: Motoyoshi Oda
Starring: Hiroshi Koizumi, Minoru Chiaki
Rotten Tomatoes: 60%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: HBOMax, Apple TV

 

King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

Director: Ishiro Honda, Thomas Montgomery
Starring: Tadao Takashima, Kenji Sahara
Rotten Tomatoes: 50%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Netflix

 

Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)

Director: Ishiro Honda
Starring: Akira Takarada, Yuriko Hoshi
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Fandango

 

Ghidora the Three-Headed Monster (1964)

Director: Ishiro Honda
Starring: Yosuke Natsuki, Yuriko Hoshi
Rotten Tomatoes: 75%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: HBOMax, Fandango

 

Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)

Director: Ishiro Honda
Starring: Keiko Sawai, Akira Takarada
Rotten Tomatoes: 57%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Fandango

 

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)

Director: Jun Fukuda
Starring: Akira Takarada, Akihiko Hirata
Rotten Tomatoes: 57%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: HBOMax, Apple TV

 

Son of Godzilla (1967)

Director: Jun Fukuda
Starring: Tadao Takashima, Akira Kubo
Rotten Tomatoes: 60%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: HBOMax, Vudu, Apple TV

 

Destroy All Monsters (1968)

Director: Ishiro Honda
Starring: Akira Kubo, Yoshio Tsuchiya
Rotten Tomatoes: 75%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: HBOMax, Apple TV

 

All Monsters Attack (1969)

Director: Inoshiro Honda
Starring: Kenji Sahara, Machiko Nara
Rotten Tomatoes: 25%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Apple TV

 

Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster (1971)

Director: Yoshimitsu Banno
Starring: Akira Yamauchi, Hiroyuki Kawase
Rotten Tomatoes: 58%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: HBOMax, Apple TV

 

Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)

Director: Jun Fukuda
Starring: Tomoko Umeda, Kunio Murai
Rotten Tomatoes: 67%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: HBOMax, Apple TV

 

Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Director: Jun Fukuda
Starring: Katsuriko Sasaki, Kenpachiro Satsuma
Rotten Tomatoes: 38%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: HBOMax, Apple TV

 

Godzilla vs. The Cosmic Monster (1974)

Director: Jun Fukuda
Starring: Masaaki Daimon, Reiko Tajima
Rotten Tomatoes: 75%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: HBOMax, Apple TV, Vudu

 

https://youtu.be/49GzBJ-yWvM

Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Director: Ishiro Honda
Starring: Kenji Sahara, Tomoko Ai
Rotten Tomatoes: 43%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Fandango, HBOMax Apple TV

 

The Return of Godzilla (1984)

Director: Koji Hashimoto
Starring: Raymond Burr, Shin Takuma
Rotten Tomatoes: 20%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime

 

https://youtu.be/bBVMs1D7BeI

Godzilla vs King Gidorah (1991)

Director: Kazuki Omori
Starring: Kiwako Harada, Anna Nakagawa
Rotten Tomatoes: 56%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Fandango

 

Godzilla vs Biollante (1992)

Director: Kazuki Omori
Starring: Kunihiko Mitamura, Yoshiko Tanaka
Rotten Tomatoes: 72%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime

 

Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Director: Takao Okawara
Starring: Tetsuya Bessho, Satomi Kobayashi
Rotten Tomatoes: 75%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Fandango

 

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II (1993)

Director: Takao Okawara
Starring: Masahiro Takashima, Ryoko Sano
Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Fandango, Vudu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV

 

https://youtu.be/QpHr0R7Nchs

Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla (1994)

Director: Kensho Yamashita
Starring: Jun Hashizume, Megumi Odaka
Rotten Tomatoes: 57%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Fandango, Vudu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV

 

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Director: Takao Okawara
Starring: Yoko Ishino, Takuro Tatsumi
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Fandango, Vudu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV

 

GODZILLA (1998)

Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Hank Azaria
Rotten Tomatoes: 15%
Language: English
Where to Watch: Fandango, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Vudu

 

Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999)

Director: Takao Okawara
Starring: Takehiro Murata, Shiro Sano
Rotten Tomatoes: 57%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Fandango, Vudu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV

 

Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Director: Mazaaki Tezuka
Starring: Misato Tanaka, Yuriko Hoshi
Rotten Tomatoes: 60%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Fandango, Amazon Prime

 

Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)

Director: Shusuke Kaneko
Starring: Chiharu Niiyama, Shiro Sano
Rotten Tomatoes: 63%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Fandango, Vudu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV

 

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002)

Director: Masaaki Tezuka
Starring: Yumiko Shaku, Shin Takuma
Rotten Tomatoes: 70%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Fandango, Vudu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV

 

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Director: Masaaki Tezuka
Starring: Noboru Kaneko, Miho Yoshioka
Rotten Tomatoes: 80%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Fandango, Vudu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV

 

Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)

Director: Ryuhei Kitamura
Starring: Masahiro Matsuoka, Rei Kikukawa
Rotten Tomatoes: 50%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Fandango, Vudu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV

 

Godzilla (2014)

Director: Gareth Edwards
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe
Rotten Tomatoes: 76%
Language: English
Where to Watch: HBOMax, Fandango, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Vudu

 

Shin Godzilla (2016)

Director: Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi
Starring: Shin’ya Tsukamoto, Satomi Ishihara
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Fandango, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Vudu

 

GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters (2017)

Director: Kobun Shizuno, Hiroyuki Seshita
Starring: Yuki Kaji (Voice), Daisuke Ono (Voice)
Rotten Tomatoes: 71%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Netflix

 

GODZILLA: City on the Edge of Battle (2018)

Director: Kobun Shizuno, Hiroyuki Seshita
Starring: Kana Hanazawa (Voice), Yuki Kaji (Voice)
Rotten Tomatoes: 60%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Netflix

 

GODZILLA: The Planet Eater (2018)

Director: Kobun Shizuno, Hiroyuki Seshita
Starring: Kana Hanazawa (Voice), Yuki Kaji (Voice)
Rotten Tomatoes: 40%
Language: Japanese
Where to Watch: Netflix

 

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

Director: Michael Dougherty
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown
Rotten Tomatoes: 42%
Language: English
Where to Watch: HBOMax, Amazon Prime, Vudu, HBO Now, Apple TV

 

Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

Director: Adam Wingard
Starring: Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown
Rotten Tomatoes: 76%
Language: English
Where to Watch: HBOMax

 

via GIPHY

Godzilla is one of the few characters in any franchise that can be both classic and ever-changing.  Basically, it’s the perfect movie monster canvas for endless adaptations and fresh looks.

Whether this latest revamping of the Godzilla franchise will pay off, only time—and fans—will tell, but one thing’s for sure: this beast isn’t going anywhere.

For more movie recommendations, check out every movie in the Alien or Terminator franchises, or the best alien species in all of sci-fi.

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