Toho Kingdom

Hypothetical situation - The existence of all 29 of the 1954-2004 Godzilla films is in jeopardy. The "why" doesn't matter. Evil reality altering bandits, the original prints are going to fall off of a clip, every print/DVD/Blu Ray will be burned, you take your pick.

But the situation is that you can save 8 films of your choosing. 8 Godzilla films to live on, be remembered, continue the legacy. You can have ANY REASONING you want for the 8 you want to save. It doesn't have to be 'most important' or 'your favorite', just the 8 you would choose to save if faced with the destruction of all of the first 29 films.

NOTE - For the purposes of this game, Japanese and US versions are not different films, they are a package deal. Saving Godzilla 1954 would also mean that you are saving Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Here are mine, in no particular order.
1. Godzilla+Godzilla: King of the Monsters
2. Godzilla Raids Again
3. King Kong vs Godzilla
4. Return of Godzilla+Godzilla: 1985
5. Godzilla vs Biollante
6. Godzilla vs Destoroyah
7. Godzilla 2000
8. Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

I'm going to make a selfish 8 and then a generous 8.

My selfish 8

1. Godzilla KOTM/Gojira
2. King Kong vs Godzilla
3. Ghidorah, TTHM
4. Godzilla vs Monster Zero
5. Godzilla vs Megalon
6. Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla
7. Terror of Mechagodzilla
8. Godzilla 1985

My generous 8.

1. Godzilla KOTM/Gojira
2. King Kong vs Godzilla
3. Ghidorah, TTHM
4. Godzilla vs Hedorah
5. Godzilla 1985/Return of Godzilla
6. Godzilla vs Biollante
7. Godzilla vs Destroyah
8. Godzilla 2000

This is an actual good question and I probably would end up saving my personal eight favorites, so here they are.

1. Gojira+King of the Monsters
2. Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster
3. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
4. Godzilla vs Hedorah
5. Godzilla vs Gigan
6. Terror of Mechagodzilla
7. The Return of Godzilla
8. Godzilla vs Biollante

If only eight could continue to exit and the other twenty three became lost films?

1. Godzilla '54
2. Mothra vs. Godzilla
3. King Kong vs. Godzilla
4. Godzilla vs. Hedorah
5. Godzilla vs. King Ghidor
6. Monster Zero
7. Godzilla vs. Biollante
8. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla '74

Have a unique message or die. (Or be Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla or Monster Zero and embody the stylish aspects of an era of spectacle movie-making.)

EDIT -- Amended to include Biollante over Shin Godzilla, per the opening post. As much as it kills me to take that over some of the other entries, especially ones I enjoy more, I think it's the more unique entry.

Dang. You coulda at least made the original a gimme...

1. Gojira (obvious)
2. Vs Biollante (brilliant pacing, visuals, narrative devices, music... the pinnacle of Godzilla filmmaking)
3. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (Striking visual setpieces and cinematography)
4. Godzilla 2000 (Great story and characters and visual style)
5. Mothra vs. Godzilla (the showa entry, if I got the title order wrong- groundbreaking effects, classic story)
6. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (Great story and characters, wonderfully-unique concept)
7. Son of Godzilla (Incredible pupeteering, great imagery, quality story and style)

And honestly? I'm pretty happy with this list. Number 8 would be difficult descision between Vs Kong and Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster.

This one is gonna hurt.......

1) Gojira (well duh)
2) Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla ( my personal favorite)
3) Terror of Mechagodzilla (first one I saw, so I want to keep it safe)
4) GMK (epic film)
5) King Kong vs Godzilla (cinema needs this movie)
6) Shin Godzilla (i wonder what kind of people would try to destroy this....)
7) The Return of Godzilla (not one of my favorites, or top 10, but still good)
8) Tokyo SOS (I love this film)

If I am only going to save 8 I would have to do it from a film archive and historical prospective. Much in the same way as Criterion Collection or TCM Essentials.

Gojira (1954)/Godzilla King of the Monsters: No brainer, started the whole franchise and pretty much kicked off the kaiju and tokusatsu industry in Japan. Plus is a historically important film.

King Kong Vs Godzilla: Started Toho golden age, Godzilla fighting the very monster that inspired his creation. King Kong's impact on the film industry can't be ignored, the original inspired many future film makers and created techniques that Eiji Tsuburaya built on.

Mothra Vs Godzilla: This film has long been considered one of the best the franchise has to offer, also the last film in the Showa era that has Godzilla as a villain.

Invasion of the Astro Monster: This is Godzilla mixed with Toho space epics, plus the use of American actor to help increase the international appeal.

Godzilla Vs Hedorah: Of the Champion Festival films this is the only stand out, tackling an environmental issue were a monster is feeding off our waste and pollution that could destroy us.

Godzilla Vs Biollante: Tough choice between this and Return of Godzilla, where Return of Godzilla tries to adapt Godzilla with the 80's cold war tension it does have its flaws. Over all Godzilla Vs Biollante is a more interesting sci-fi movie.

GMK Giant Monsters All Out Attack: An interesting movie that takes the themes of the original and expands on them.

Shin Godzilla: A new take on the themes of the original.

1) Gojira/Godzilla: King of the Monsters!
2) The Return of Godzilla/Godzilla 1985
3) Godzilla vs. Biollante
4) Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
5) King Kong vs. Godzilla
6) Invasion of Astro-Monster
7) Destroy All Monsters
8) Godzilla 2000: Millennium/Godzilla 2000

Very interesting topic! Originally didn't plan on adding The Return of Godzilla, but the 1985 cut holds some nostalgia. But the majority are total personal preference, particularly the Showa era ones.

This is an amazing topic, I love it to pieces because of how unique it is.

Out of all the films made from 1954-2004, here are my eight.


ONE: Godzilla 1954 + Godzilla: King of The Monsters!

TWO: Godzilla 1984 + Godzilla 1985

THREE: King Kong vs Godzilla

FOUR: Godzilla vs Biollante

FIVE: Invasion of Astro Monster + Monster Zero

SIX: Godzilla vs Destoroyah

SEVEN: Godzilla 2000: Millennium + Godzilla 2000

EIGHT: Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (Showa)



EDIT: I'd either save these movies, or Godzilla (1954) and the Heisei films including Godzilla '84.

Yeah just to remind everyone that is including Shin Godzilla, we're talking about the 29 films from 1954-2004, and yes the 98 film is included. This is a world where all of the Legendary stuff, Shin Godzilla, and the Anime Trilogy would be safe.

No offense intended to any here... I am just astounded how many include Return of Godzilla and Monster Zero. To my eyes, losing those forever would be a service to humanity. But they appear on almost every list. Ah, well... at least we can all agree on '54 and Biollante.

I'm going to do like Stevo and do a generous and selfish list.

Selfish Top 8:

In No Order

Return of Godzilla
Godzilla vs King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs Mothra
Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla 2
Godzilla vs Destroyah
Gojira
Son Of Godzilla
Godzilla Final Wars

Generous Top 8:

In No Order

Gojira
Return of Godzilla
Godzilla vs Destroyah
Shin Godzilla
Godzilla 2000
GMK
Godzilla vs King Kong
Mothra vs Godzilla

I'm just going to do this based on what comes to my mind, though definitely from my own preferences for films:

Godzilla (1954)
Mothra vs. Godzilla
Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster
Godzilla vs. Gigan
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
Godzilla vs. Biollante
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002)
Shin Godzilla

I could argue this back and forth with myself, but this is my gut answer.

Crap, a hard one. I would save the ones on my list out of pure selfishness

Godzilla (1954)
Godzilla (1984)
Godzilla 2000
GMK
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
Mothra vs. Godzilla
GTTHM
King Kong vs. Godzilla

Goodbye, Banno. :'(
Also, I would put Godzilla vs. Biollante, but only if that includes the deleted scenes, otherwise, GMK stills being saved.

Selfless List:

1. Gojira (of course)
2. Mothra vs Godzilla (of course)
3. GTTHM (It's my least favorite of the 60's films discounting Revenge, but it probably has a more important place in the series' history for introducing Ghidorah, bringing Rodan to the series, and introducing aliens and the kaiju tag team.)
4. Destroy All Monsters (Cult classic, and hey, if we're limited to eight you might as well get the most bang for your buck.)
5. Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (I vastly prefer Terror of Mechagodzilla, but, well, this is the original. ToMG can't stand on its own as well.)
6. Return of Godzilla (Godzilla rebooted for the modern day)
7. Godzilla vs Biollante (Any other heisei sequel wouldn't work because of the tight continuity, so Biollante works best.)
8. GMK (Best millennium film)



Selfish List:

1. Gojira
2. Mothra vs Godzilla
3. Monster Zero
4. Destroy All Monsters
5.Terror of Mechagodzilla
6. Godzilla vs Biollante
7. Godzilla vs Destoroyah
8. GMK

Assuming that the films Rodan and Mothra are also surviving...

1. Godzilla '54
2. Mothra vs. Godzilla
3. Ghidorah
4. Monster Zero
5. Godzilla '84
6. Godzilla vs. Biollante
7. Godzilla vs. Destroyah
8. Godzilla x Mechagodzilla

If Rodan and Mothra were lost, then the best option would be Godzilla' 54 and the seven Heisei films.

1. Gojira/Godzilla, King of the Monsters
2. Mothra vs Godzilla
3. Invasion of Astro-Monster/Godzilla vs Monster Zero
4. Terror of Mechagodzilla
5. Godzilla vs Biollante
6. Godzilla vs Destoroyah
7. Godzilla 2000
8. Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

I wanted to go for a mix of my personal favorites and films that are generally considered the best in the series. Otherwise, Final Wars would be replacing GMK on this list, for example.

G54
Mothra vs Godzilla
Monster Zero
Terror of Mechagodzilla
G85
Godzilla vs Biollante
Godzilla 2000
GMK


That's my pick of what to save. Also, just realized how similar my list is with Komenja's.

Godzilla 1954
King kong vs godzilla
Godzilla vs mechagodzilla
Godzilla vs king ghidorah
Godzilla vs destroyah
Godzilla 2000
Godzilla tokyo sos
Godzilla final wars

Objective picks:
- Godzilla 1954
- King Kong vs. Godzilla
- Mothra vs. Godzilla
- Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster
- Godzilla vs. Gigan
- Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
- Godzilla 1984
- Godzilla 2000

My personal picks:
- Godzilla 2000
- Destroy All Monsters
- Monster Zero
- Godzilla 1954
- Mothra vs. Godzilla
- Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla
- Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
- Godzilla vs. Megalon

Objective picks are primarily based on historical significance and film quality. G54 and MVG are widely considered the two best films in the franchise and are must-picks. KKVG is the highest attended film in the series and is pretty iconic in of itself. 1984 and 2000 are the starters for their respective series. GTTHM and GVMG74 introduced the Big Five (or in Rodan and Mothra's case, their first appearance in a Godzilla film) and Gigan introduced the titular monster, features Anguirus, and has a pretty great human cast.

For my personal picks, I think Monster Zero is definitely my favorite 60's film, GVKG my favorite Heisei film, and GXMG and Megalon introduced some of my favorite monsters. I really hate to include DAM, but if Shin is saved, then I may as well ask for a film that features a crapload of monsters and great special effects.