10 Serious Godzilla Movies That Aren't Campy Or Schlocky

Godzilla’s 70-year history on the big screen has had its fair share of silly adventures, but some of his best movies depict him and his monstrous enemies as a deadly serious threat to humanity. Godzilla’s decades-long film history has famously been broken into different eras, loosely named after Japanese emperors and clustered together based on the films’ style, tone, and aesthetic. While some of them are based more on camp and family-friendliness, others treat Godzilla as the global terror he was originally conceived as.

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One of the best traits of the character of Godzilla is how versatile he has been over the years. It’s also a testament to the vision of the various filmmakers that have had control of the character, as each one has brought something new to the character, resulting in wildly different iterations. While each interpretation of the colossal atomic lizard has its place, many of the most highly-regarded Godzilla movies take him seriously, and forgo campiness and suitmation schlock for gravitas and drama.

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10 Best Godzilla Movies To Watch First: Where To Start

Godzilla’s movie career dates back to 1954, and for those who have never seen a Godzilla movie, there are a number of perfect entry points.

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Shin Godzilla (2016)

Godzilla At His Most Horrifying, And Most Destructive

One of the most horrifying iterations of Godzilla is Toho’s 2016 return to the monster, Shin Godzilla. Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi’s version of Godzilla took some notes from two of Godzilla’s most intimidating enemies, Hedorah and Destoroyah; like those monsters, Shin Godzilla undergoes a lightning-fast evolution over the course of the movie. The result is one of the most massive and destructive versions of the monster, complete with an unhinging jaw and laser-like atomic breath. The serious nature of the movie can’t be understated, especially given the heinous final evolution that was teased but never came to pass.

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Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)

One Of The Most Celebrated Classic Godzilla Movies

Much of the Showa Era was downright silly, but when Godzilla first faced off with the Queen of the Monsters, he was still an enemy of humanity. He had already battled Anguirus and King Kong, and Toho decided to pit him against one of its other popular monsters, the insect kaiju Mothra. The monster action is great, especially for 1964, and despite using an early version of suitmation, the movie never comes across as campy. The movie’s condemnation of greed and the use of human antagonists for the first time make this an excellent and serious entry in Godzilla’s filmography.

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

Godzilla’s Most Terrifying Origin Story Retcon

The movie colloquially known as “GMK” is one of the few Godzilla movies to actually make Godzilla feel like a true global threat. Presented as a new Godzilla monster independent of the 1954 Godzilla, GMK‘s Godzilla gets an even more horrifying origin than its predecessor: it is a manifestation of the anger, fear, and pain of all those killed by the Japanese military during WWII, come to take its revenge on the island nation. It takes three monsters to take down Godzilla, with plenty of carnage and death before that happens, making this an extremely serious Godzilla movie.

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The Return Of Godzilla (1984)

Godzilla’s Grim Return To The Silver Screen

The Return of Godzilla is among the most divisive Godzilla movies, as fan opinion about its quality varies by person. Acting as a reboot of the franchise, it ignores everything except for the 1954 original. The new Godzilla suit looks angrier, the effects are better (although not much) than the Showa Era films, and it preys on the new layer of Godzilla’s nuclear metaphor. It taps into Cold War fears, involving the Soviet Union in a complicated role in the grand scheme of the plot.

All Toho Godzilla Movie Eras – Key Details
Era	Timeline	Number of Movies	First Movie	Last Movie
Shōwa	1954–1975	15	Godzilla	Terror of Mechagodzilla
Heisei	1984–1995	7	The Return of Godzilla	Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
Millennium	1999–2004	6	Godzilla 2000: Millennium	Godzilla: Final Wars
Reiwa	2016-present	5	Shin Godzilla	Godzilla Minus One

It is very much intended as a darker reboot after the schlocky final entries of the Showa Era. It’s important to note that the Americanized version of the movie, Godzilla 1985, has a number of added/altered/deleted scenes that add comedy elements. That version is universally regarded as inferior, and it is far less serious due to the alterations.

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Godzilla (1954)

Godzilla As A Metaphor For Nuclear Disaster

It’s tough to match the original Godzilla when it comes to terror and gravitas. The first movie featuring the gargantuan lizard effectively portrayed him as a metaphor for the devastation of nuclear war, with his destruction of Japan conjuring memories of the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by nuclear weaponry. Despite being in black-and-white (and indeed perhaps because of it), Godzilla is a dark and frightening movie that holds up despite the 1950s-level tokusatsu effects. This Godzilla is every bit as terrifying now as he was in 1954, as is the movie’s heavy subject matter.

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Godzilla Vs. Biollante (1989)

A Frightening Cautionary Tale About Genetic Engineering

The follow-up to The Return of Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Biollante is one of the stronger entries of the Heisei Era. It maintains its predecessor’s darker tone, and deals with the fallout not of nuclear war, but of genetic tampering. In grief over the loss of his daughter, a scientist splices genes from Godzilla together with those of a plant and of his daughter, creating one of the Toho franchise’s coolest monster designs in Biollante. The plant-monster hybrid appears in two forms, the latter of which does serious damage to Godzilla before succumbing to his atomic breath.

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Godzilla (2014)

The American Rebirth Of Big G

When Legendary Pictures took over the Godzilla franchise, they made sure to kick things off with a balance between the serious nature of the original Godzilla and the box office attractiveness of a superhero franchise. While the argument can certainly be made for later entries in the Monsterverse, at no point does Godzilla venture into camp or schlockiness. The destruction and death wrought by Godzilla battling other giant monsters is seen at an up-close and personal level, making this the most serious entry that the Monsterverse has had to date.

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Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah (1995)

A True Death For Godzilla After Battling A Demon

The finale to the darker Heisei Era saw the then-current version of Godzilla meet a fiery end, giving way to a new version of the monster. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah saw Godzilla on the verge of an internal nuclear meltdown, while at the same time dealing with the threat of a gigantic and ultra-powerful monster that threatened to destroy the world if left unchecked. The final battle between Godzilla and Destoroyah sees the death of Godzilla Junior and the death of Godzilla himself, although the latter resurrects the former. It’s a dire and impactful ending that yields Godzilla’s rebirth.

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Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Godzilla Battles Mothra And Her Dark Counterpart

Many of Godzilla’s best movies feature Mothra, but perhaps the most serious one involving the giant moth also involves her dark reflection, Battra. A manifestation of the Earth itself, Battra is an entirely antagonistic creature, having been an enemy of ancient and current humanity, their protector Mothra, and then eventually the destructive present-day Godzilla. The monster action is excellent, and has the highest of stakes given the malevolence of both Battra and Godzilla, as enemies of humanity. As usual, Mothra saves the day, but not before sacrificing itself once again.

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Godzilla Minus One (2023)

The Oscar-Winning Toho Masterpiece

The closest a movie has come to recapturing the anger and fear of the original Godzilla is Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One. The Oscar-winning blockbuster was an international sensation due to its gripping combination of an emotional human story and terrifying kaiju action. Godzilla Minus One is relentless in its devastation, with the depiction of Godzilla’s destructive force among the most fearsome in the franchise. The ground-level scenes and heart-wrenching losses make this one of the most serious Godzilla movies ever, but also one of the most high-quality.

Godzilla

Movie(s)

Godzilla, Godzilla 2, Godzilla 3, Shin Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla Minus One, Mothra vs. Godzilla, Godzilla Vs King Kong, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., godzilla: monster planet, Godzilla vs. Gigan, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Godzilla: Final Wars, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Godzilla: The Showa Era Films, Godzilla vs. Biollante

Created by

Tomoyuki Tanaka, Akira Watanabe

First Film

Godzilla

Latest Film

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

First Episode Air Date

November 17, 2023

Cast

Akira Takarada, Momoko Kôchi, Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura, Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell

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Source: https://dinhtienhoang.edu.vn
Category: Entertainment

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Godzilla At His Most Horrifying, And Most Destructive

9 Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)