This season, James Rolfe reviews all movies from the Japanese kaiju "Godzilla" franchise. He starts the season with the 1954 original film "Godzilla" by Ishiro Honda which is very serious in tone.
James Rolfe continues his review journey with the 1955 Japanese kaiju film "Godzilla Raids Again" directed by Motoyoshi Oda. It introduces Anguirus as an antagonist to Godzilla and sets the basis for the traditional monster clash.
James Rolfe reviews the 1962 film "King Kong vs. Godzilla", again directed by Ishiro Honda, which features a fight between two of the most famous giant film monsters. He also reveals that the gossip about the two endings is indeed a hoax.
James Rolfe reviews the 1964 film "Mothra vs. Godzilla" directed by Ishiro Honda, which introduces Mothra and her larva children and switches to a much more lighthearted tone in the franchise.
James Rolfe reviews the 1964 film "Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster" directed by Ishiro Honda. It introduces the flying, three-headed space dragon Ghidorah to the franchise who would become Godzilla's arch-enemy.
James Rolfe reviews the 1965 film "Invasion of Astro-Monster" (dubbed as "Monster Zero" by him) directed by Ishiro Honda. It continues using Ghidorah as the villain but switches the setting to outer space.
James Rolfe reviews the 1966 film "Ebirah, Horror of the Deep" (dubbed "Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster" by him) directed by Jun Fukuda. It features a film in which Godzilla was added as a late addition. He then battles a giant crab.
James Rolfe reviews the 1967 film "Son of Godzilla" directed by Jun Fukuda. It introduces Godzilla's son Minilla to the franchise and starts making the series much more family-friendly and kids-oriented.
James Rolfe reviews the 1968 film "Destroy All Monsters" directed by Ishiro Honda which was initially made as a grand finale to the Godzilla franchise in general. In it, Godzilla meets all of his past adversaries and battles King Ghidorah.
James Rolfe reviews the 1969 film "All Monsters Attack" (dubbed "Godzilla's Revenge" by him) directed by Ishiro Honda. He considers it once of the worst and weirdest entries of the series which completely is geared towards young children.
James Rolfe review the 1971 film "Godzilla vs. Hedorah" (dubbed "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster" by him) directed by Yoshimitsu Banno. It is another very weird entry in the series and features an environmental message and animated parts.
James Rolfe reviews the 1972 film "Godzilla vs. Gigan" directed by Jun Fukuda. It is considered another very weak entry in the series which features an amusement park setting but has one of very few appearances by fan-favorite Gigan.
James Rolfe reviews the 1973 film "Godzilla vs. Megalon" directed by Jun Fukuda which features the giant robot Jet Jaguar. He also talks about the weirdness of the German dubs which reinstitute King Kong and Frankenstein into the plot.
James Rolfe reviews the 1974 film "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla" directed by Jun Fukuda which marks the first appearance of Mechagodzilla who would become a very popular and often used character in the future.
James Rolfe reviews the 1975 film "Terror of Mechagodzilla" directed by Ishiro Honda in his final film as a director. It also marks Godzilla's final appearance in the films of the Showa era. The series would be rebooted nine years later.
James Rolfe reviews the 1985 film simply titled "Godzilla" (but "Godzilla 1985" in the US) directed by R. J. Kizer and Koji Hashimoto which marks the beginning of the second film series. He also talks about the Cold War tension going on.
James Rolfe reviews the 1989 film "Godzilla vs. Biollante" written and directed by Kazuki Omori in which Godzilla returns and battles Biollante, a completely new monster to the franchise.
James Rolfe reviews the 1991 film "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah" written and directed again by Kazuki Omori. It revolves around aliens, time travel and the iconic return of King Ghidorah. James says it is one of his favorite Godzilla films.
James Rolfe reviews the 1992 film "Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth" directed by Takao Okawara which not only sees the return of Mothra but the inclusion of Battra, an evil version of Mothra.
James Rolfe reviews the 1993 film "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II" directed by Takao Okawara which sees the reboot of Mechagodzilla, this time piloted by humans to battle Godzilla.
James Rolfe reviews the 1994 film "Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla" directed by Kensho Yamashita in which an alien clone of Godzilla takes his son hostage. While James praises the plot he is somewhat disappointed by SpaceGodzilla and his name.
James Rolfe reviews the 1995 film "Godzilla vs. Destoroyah" directed by Takao Okawara which marks the ending of the second film series. He also talks about the media craze going on revolving Godzilla's death at the time, even in the US.
Reluctantly, James Rolfe reviews the 1998 US-American film "Godzilla" directed by Roland Emmerich. He also talks about the big advertisement campaign revolving around the film and the final disappointment it ultimately was.
James Rolfe reviews the 1999 film "Godzilla 2000: Millenium" directed by Takao Okawara which was released theatrically in the US and was a breath of fresh air after Roland Emmerich's disappointing version of the character.
James Rolfe reviews the 2000 film "Godzilla vs. Megaguirus" directed by Masaaki Tezuka which sees the return of an obscure character from the past. James mentions his frustration with the ongoing reboots going on in the Millenium series.
James Rolfe reviews the 2001 film "GMK: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack" directed by Shusuke Kaneko. While he laughs about the title and finds the beginning somewhat boring, he accolades the battles between Godzilla, Mothra and Ghidorah.
James Rolfe reviews the 2002 film "Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla" directed by Masaaki Tezuka which sees another reboot of Mechagodzilla (this time dubbed "Kiryu") with a completely changed origin story.
James Rolfe reviews the 2003 film "Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S." directed by Masaaki Tezuka. While he is not particular fond of the film he likes that it finally is a continuation of the story within the Millenium series and not another reboot.
James Rolfe reviews the 2004 film "Godzilla: Final Wars" directed by Ryuhei Kitamura. He accolades the wild plot which sees the return of nearly every monster of the past and the action-packed plot revolving around aliens and mutants.
