The 10 Best Godzilla Movies

Godzilla Minus Zero, which is stomping its way into U.S. theaters on November 6, will be the 39th installment in the long-running giant monster franchise. Given its extensive tenure in the world of cinema, it’s high time to celebrate the 10 greatest movies featuring the world’s favorite giant irradiated lizard. Let’s hurry up and get started before Godzilla x Kong: Supernova drops in 2027 and makes it so that a Top 10 list covers just one-quarter of the entire franchise.

10. Godzilla Minus One (2023)

I know the Oscar-winning hit Godzilla Minus One is some people’s favorite installment, but while lists are always subjective, there is perhaps no type of Top 10 more subjective than a Godzilla list. The franchise is so idiosyncratic and has so many distinct modes in which it works that there’s something for everyone.

All that being said, Minus One is pretty darn great. It’s the rare contemporary Godzilla movie that cares deeply about the emotional stakes of the human beings onscreen. Its post-World War II narrative maybe doesn’t have enough new wrinkles to the subgenre to deserve being the longest Japanese movie in the franchise, but when the potent drama is combined with engaging visual effects (by writer-director Takashi Yamazaki), it makes for a winner of an installment.

9. Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)

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