giant monster movies - does a GOOD one exist?

[electroaddict]

giant bugs, giant fish, giant birds... we all know there are a billion movies like this. BUT... are any of them good?

--e

[Vermin Boy]

The original versions of King Kong and Godzilla (preferably subtitled) are both well deserving of their "classic" status. Also, "Q: The Winged Serpent" is a smart little movie that's nowhere near as respected as it should be, with a clever script and a great cast (including Michael Moriarty, David Carradine, and Richard Roundtree!).

[K-Sonic]

Yes, The original Japanese-version of GODZILLA is great.

I'm undecided on KING KONG VS. GODZILLA...haha

[Cullen]

YES!  God, yes.  (Some spoilers for each.  Nothing major.  Just how the movies turn out.  That's all.  Who wants to keep THAT a secret?)

King Kong - The black and white version is the ultimate "Lost World" adventure.  While there are some problems with some of the racial attitudes in the film, the movie is heads above others in the period.  The producers strove to make Kong a tragic figure, killed by the unthinking humans that seek to exploit him.  It works, in spite of some wooden performances.  (As I recall, that was typical for the day and age.)

Them! - Giant ants try to break out of the desert and cover the Earth.  THE giant insect movie, with excellent special effects that beat some (but not all) of the CGI today.  With serious writing behind it, with only the very hint of romance, it is a rarity among Horror/Science Fiction movies of the period.  Copied left and right but never best, Them! is the champion.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters - This could have been a retread of the film that inspired it.  Hell, it has the same basic plot: giant dinosaur, disturbed by Atomic Misuse, trounces a city before a scientist figures out a way to destroy him.  What makes it special is the care that went into the righting.  Every single character in the film has motivations you can understand, including Godzilla, who isn't just a monster but an animal with animal's goals and purposes.  It also has one of the most downbeat "happy" endings in the sub-genre.

Rodan - A cross between Godzilla and Them , Rodan soars above the common crowd.  This is one of my personal favorites of all the monsters movies, containing a swarm of monsters (two types) without becoming a bogged down mess.  It doesn't have the big themes Godzilla had (or them for that matter), but that doesn't matter.  It's ending manages to drum up a bit sympathy for its creatures (like the earlier King Kong ).

Mothra - The only giant bug movie where the giant bug's the hero.  Mothra used to be my least favorite, but over the years it's won a place in my heart.  It's plot is the prototype for other monster movies such as Gorgo and Monsters from a Prehistoric Planet : a greedy man steals one of the monster's children for exploitation, and the monster comes to collect what it lost, leaving havoc in its wake.  (Some might disagree with this description, but when you consider that Mothra's the "peanuts" goddess, it's actually pretty apt.)
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[Vermin Boy]

Actually, the original Japanese version of KKvG isn't bad... It's got more characterization, some nice commercial parodies, and best of all, no damn news reports! (And no, Godzilla doesn't win in the Japonese version)

[Cullen]

Vermin Boy writes:

"And no, Godzilla doesn't win in the Japonese version"

I disagree with you there.  Kong runs off in both with the job undo.

(I've put far too much thought into these movies.)

[Dano]

... Jaws was a great movie.  But I don't think it exactly counts as "giant."  

Original King Kong is the best answer to this.

[Chadzilla]

Acutally, at 25 feet in lenght, the shark is far larger than a normal Great White, so it fits.  I almost put it on on this GOOD list, along with King Kong, THEM! and the original Japanese language version of Godzilla.  But everybody else beat me to the punch.

[Skeeeepy]

some of the godzilla movies are ok

[electroaddict]

the only godzilla movies i've ever seen are REALLY bad.

i've seen ones with musical numbers in them- and i even saw one with fairies dancing around at the end ???

i guess i'll have to watch the original godzilla movie next.

--e

[Cullen]

Some Godzilla movies are really bad.  Any movie series that's lasted as long as it has is bound to be cluttered with clunkers.  (A variation on Sturgeon's Law: 90% of any genre is crap.)  If you take the not-so-good ones as comedies, they're fairly entertaining.

The three movies I've listed ( Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan ) are the most serious of the lot, and made with (for the time) the most money.  While the F/X can be creaky, they're also better than most of the monster movies of the period.

(I feel obligated to mention that, when you're talking about dancing fairies, you're talking about a movie with Mothra in it.  At least once, the little girls (called "Peanuts" by some - not their actual name, however) will plaintively sing to their insect guardian, usually summoning her to put the smack down on the villain, or to rescue someone or other.  I can only think of one movie with Mothra where that's not the case.)
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[Chadzilla]

The first Godzilla is a classic monster (the very first of its kind made in Japan) and is the cultural equivalent of the first King Kong and/or Jaws over there.  Sadly most people outside of Japan have only seen the America version with Raymond Burr, which takes the movie and turns it into a generic western giant monster show - albeit a good one.

King Kong Versus Godzilla is a satire of Japan's booming media and seen in that context (without the American chops and re-edits) it is quite good.

Godzilla Versus Mothra is considered by many to be the best of the series and is a great fantasy adventure.

After GvM Godzilla started to become a hero, and the series deteriorated - although Ghidrah: The Three Head Monster and Son of Godzilla do have their good points, I think Destroy All Monsters is the best post GvM flick on the block.  By the seventies he was in cheap kiddie movies that still maintain a certain charm - and I staunchly defend Godzilla's Revenge as an excellent children's movie when taken as such and I have a soft spot for the others.  The introduction of MechaGodzilla was a master stroke and Honda's last Godzilla movie, The Terror of MechaGodzilla, is quite good, despite budget and story flaws.

The Big G came back in the  80s and 90s and most of the movies are above average, some everybit as good as the 'classics'.  Godzilla Versus Destroyah is one of the best Godzilla movies ever made, EVER.  I also like the time travel opus Godzilla Versus King Ghidorah.  Sadly, Godzilla v SpaceGodzilla contains elements that so many FX/genre fans like to mock about the Japanese style of suitmation and minatures (i.e. REALLY phony looking).

Like the James Bond series, everyone has there favorite Godzilla character and movie.  But give them all a chance and don't be quick, like some, to throw out the baby with the bath water.

Enjoy.

[Ken Begg]

Them!, King Kong, Beast from 20,000 Fathoms...

[littlenemo]

i know you will hate me for this, but there are other movies then godzilla or king kong or mothra or rodan or hydrah. Remember the Blob? Remember the 7th Voyage of Sinbad? Remember Jason and the Argonauts? Remember Quartermass 2? Remember the Black Scorpion? Remember Kronos? Remember the Crawling Eye? Remember the Monster that Challenged the World? Remember Mysterious Island? Remember 20 Million Miles to Earth? Remember the Valley of the Gwangi? Remember to remind me to take my medication tomorrow. Good night.

[peter johnson]

I would absolutely have to say "Them" is a very good flick on any number of levels.
I also think "Gorgo"(British version of Gojira) is an excellent giant monster movie, which was quite similar to the last "Jurassic Park" flick, wherein mom & baby monster come to L.A..   Only Gorgo is better.
But isn't this supposed to be a BAD movie site?  With that in mind, I heartily recommed "The Beginning of The End", wherein giant grasshoppers eat Chicago!!  Wonderful!!!
peter johnson