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The Biggest and Best Kaiju Movies of All Time
Feb 23, 2025
On paper, kaiju movies may seem like a niche genre, adhering to a list of characteristics involving giant monsters attacking cities. Yet, like slashers, Westerns, or noir films, even viewers who have never seen a kaiju movie can identify the core features of a kaiju film.
With a rich cinematic history that dates back to the golden age of film, kaiju movies have seen plenty of mesmerizing entries over the years. From
King Kong
and
Godzilla
to
Cloverfield
and
Pacific Rim,
these movies define the very nature of a kaiju vehicle, redefining what massive monster attacks look like in film.
1. Godzilla (1954)
The most famous kaiju film of them all, one cannot overstate
Godzilla
’s influence not just on Japanese cinema, but on the international film industry as a whole. Released in the wake of World War II, the film used sci-fi and horror to confront postwar anxieties over nuclear annihilation and hazardous fallout (as personified by the radioactive, atomic-breathing walking dinosaur, Gojira).
2. Godzilla Minus One (2023)
The 37th entry in the
Godzilla
franchise,
Godzilla Minus One
also ranks among the greatest
Godzilla
movies in the series' history. Harking back to the original 1954 film,
Minus One
spent as much time on its human characters as it did on Godzilla himself, crafting an impactful story centered around trauma, healing, and the collective hardships Japan endured during and after World War II. An incredible modern kaiju movie, the film also stands tall as the best
Godzilla
movie in 70 years.
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