With the seventh entry in the franchise, entitled Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, the Godzilla movie series definitely enters adventure film territory. The beloved lizard also moves away from being considered a dangerous antagonist and becomes an earthly protector and sympathetic anthropomorphized protagonist. These changes appeal to younger and wider audiences while adults and fans of old date might dislike those changes. One has to understand that those modifications managed to keep the series successful enough to keep it going until the mid-seventies. Director Fukuda Jun replaced veteran Honda Ishiro here and his movies are overall rather family-friendly. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep is a first step into more light-hearted territories.

This particular movie succeeds because old and new elements are still quite balanced here. The titular gigantic lobster is an impressive monster that constantly wreaks havoc. The terrorist organization that kidnaps indigenous people for forced labour is also quite grizly. Godzilla annihilates a giant condor, destroys a squadron of fighter jets and fights Ebirah in violent fashion.

On the other side, Godzilla is awakened to help the human heroes and wreaks havoc among the terrorists. Gigantic moth Mothra comes to save indigenous people and is represented as a symbol of hope, love and even motherhood. The human heroes in this film are particularly sympathetic, creative and brave while strong and convincing antagonists are missing this time.

One of the movie's strengths is its location on an isolated island. The movie explores rocky mountains, hidden caves and stony beaches that contrast the modern facilities of the terrorists. This is certainly a contrast to previous movies that mostly took place in crowded cities or in space. If you ignore the monsters, this movie could have been an adventurous spy flick in the key of the James Bond franchise.

In the end, the seventh entry in the franchise introduces some fresh changes and is entertaining from start to finish. This movie might appeal to children and teenagers in particular. The film is however missing the philosophical, mysterious and dystopian undertone of its predecessors. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep foreshadows the changes the franchise would go through in the next decade.

Invasion of Astro-Monster is the most creative, diversified and entertaining entry in the franchise in the sixties along with cult movie Mothra vs. Godzilla. The story revolves around a Japanese and an American astronaut who encounter extraterrestrials on a mysterious planet. They are terrorized by space monster King Ghidorah and ask mankind to borrow Rodan and Godzilla to protect them. In return, they want to give a miracle cure for cancer and offer the possibility to share their advanced scientific skills with mankind. However, the extraterrestrials aren't as diplomatic as they pretend to be and plan on using the three monsters to conquer the Earth. With the help of an extraterrestrial spy who falls in love with the American protagonist, the two astronauts try to find a scientific way to beat the clever aliens.

This sixth movie in the franchise is the first one with dominant science-fiction elements. The epic journey through space is fascinating to watch, the alien laboratories look truly creative and even the visual special effects of alien technology are rather ambitious for their era.

The two protagonists have great chemistry. The intelligent and careful Japanese astronaut and the more emotional and frank American astronaut complement each other perfectly. The alien spy who falls in love with the American astronaut after initially tricking him is an idea that goes back to the origins of Greek dramas and tragedies.

The story comes around with many ideas, turns and twists that make for a truly entertaining plot. It keeps viewers on the edge of their seats from start to finish. Some story elements might be predictable here and there but they are executed with so much energy, passion and wit that it barely matters.

There aren't too many lengthy fight sequences between the three legendary monsters as the movie rather focuses on science-fiction stylistics, creative plot twists and intriguing characters. The few confrontations between the three monsters are however executed with much action, drama and special effects. This is a science-fiction movie in first place and only a monster movie in second position.

In the end, Invasion of Astro-Monster is a highly entertaining science-fiction roller coaster ride that can compete with Hollywood cinema of the same era. The creative special effects, quirky plot and sympathetic characters have stood the test of time. This is also one of the few entries in the franchise when the two protagonists come from two completely different countries and cultures. Nick Adams is perfectly integrated into the cast and delivers one of the strongest acting performances in any Showa Era Godzilla movie. His untimely death was a huge loss but his legacy will forever shine in this masterpiece.

This fifth entry in the Godzilla franchise introduces the giant lizard's most impressive opponent ever. Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster doesn't only convince with intense fights involving Godzilla, King Ghidorah, Rodan and Mothra but also with a quirky plot involving a princess possessed by Venusians and tracked down by her uncle who attempts to assassinate her. Released only eight months after Mothra versus Godzilla, this movie surprisingly convinces with great cinematography and special effects for its time. It's impressive how quickly those involved in the project managed to pull off a high-quality kaiju eiga.

While the plot is fairly unrealistic, even by science-fiction movie standards, this movie is entertaining from start to finish. The diversified set of characters is quite dynamic, quirky and sympathetic. The three story lines involving scientists examining a meteor, a princess escaping her own assassination and four monsters fighting on an earthly battlefield are quite overwhelming but fusion well in the movie's second half and keep viewers on the edges of their seats. This film is as much an adventure flick and a thriller as it is a science-fiction movie. It might be the most diversified movie in the entire franchise.

To keep it short, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster is one of the most creative, diversified and quirky movies in the franchise that still entertains from start to finish after all these years. The introduction of the franchise's scariest villain is another reason why this movie is rightfully considered a classic. Ignore the overwhelming plot elements and at times frantic pace in the first half and enjoy all the action, drama and effects that lead to a wholly satisfactory second half and explosive conclusion.

Two years after the rather underwhelming but financially successful King Kong versus Godzilla, Toho Studios continued its most important franchise with fourth entry Mothra versus Godzilla. This movie is one of the highlights in the franchise and its best movie of the sixties along with Invasion of Astro Monster. The story has many interesting facets such as greed, perseverance, renaissance, sacrifice and spirituality.

After a terrible typhoon, a strict news reporter and his creative photographer find a mysterious object in the debris. A gigantic egg is also discovered next to a village and quickly bought by a greedy entrepreneur and the backstabbing businessman behind him. Two tiny twin girls from Infant Island reveal that the egg belongs to gigantic moth Mothra and that the dying gigantic monster will be reborn as a larva once the egg hatches. The entrepreneur and businessman ignore the twin girls' warning and the complaints of local fishermen but soon get into an argument regarding promotion and wealth. Meanwhile, the reporter and photographer contact a professor and they discover that the mysterious object is a radioactive scale. When they investigate the place where they found the debris again, they are immediately stopped by a selfish politician who wants to avoid negative articles. However, the ground suddenly starts to shake as Godzilla rises from the underground as it becomes obvious that the radioactive scale belonged to him. The king of monsters goes on a rampage and attacks the city of Nagoya. The military isn't able to stop the monster this time around. The reporter, photographer and professor ask the tribe from Infant Island to send Mothra as her egg is also likely to get destroyed by Godzilla. The tribe is initially hesitant to agree but the twin girls convince them and decide to summon Mothra to fight Godzilla.

This highlight in the franchise convinces on multiple levels. The film criticizes egoism, greed and ignorance by spreading powerful, relevant and even timeless messages.

The story is quite diversified with its many twists and turns. The story about the greedy businessmen is as captivating as the reporter's, photographer's and professor's quest for truth and the dramatic battle between the two titular gigantic monsters.

The settings are particularly exotoc this time around. Especially the scenes filmed on Infant Island are splendid to watch. The rituals to summon Mothra are certainly highlights as well.

The speciall effects have greatly improved since the previous installment. The opening scene with the terrible typhoon is already quite impressive. The gigantic egg is stunning to watch. Aged moth Mothra, a resilient Godzilla and the larva that hatches from the egg are beautiful as well. Even the fight choreographies between the monsters are of a rare intensity.

Mothra versus Godzilla might not reinvent the kaiju movie genre but it's an impressive return to form for the frachise after nine years. This movie sets the bar for all upcoming Showa Era Godzilla movies. Fans of the franchise will find everything they like about it here such as sympathetic characters, moral lessons and impressive monsters.

After a dormancy of more than seven years, the Godzilla franchise was revived and to kick things off on a spectacular note, the giant lizard confronts a legend of Hollywood cinema with giant monkey King Kong. The movie was commercially successful and remains one of the most profitable films in the franchise. Without this film, many other movies that followed would have never seen the light of day. Nevertheless, King Kong versus Godzilla is one of the franchise's worst movies and the terribly edited American version is particularly bad.

There are several elements to be criticized here. Godzilla almost only has a side role since the movie largely focuses on King Kong.

The story of the monkey retrieved from an isolated island by a greedy businessman is an almost exact copy of the original King Kong movie and lacks imagination.

The characters in this movie remain superficial and the fact that many actresses and actors overact in a way that recalls the slapstick comedy genre certainly doesn't help.

The edited and inserted scenes in the American version harm the pace of the original movie and leave out several key scenes. The monologues and communications between the additional American actors are bland and boring. They don't add anything to the story. Changing a movie and adding American characters to the plot would rightfully be considered disrespectful and even racist by today's standards. Things were different back then but cinephiles around the globe can consider themselves lucky that things have changed.

Even the monsters in this movie are far from convincing. King Kong looks mildly amusing with his chaotic fur and is seen hammering his fists against his chest in half of his scenes. Godzilla certainly doesn't look as scary as in the first two movies and has clearly taken a more accessible look to appeal to larger audiences.

Still, King Kong versus Godzilla has a few redeeming qualities after all. The scene when Godzilla awakes from an iceberg after a submarine collided with it is truly tense and impressive.

The scenes on Faro Island add an exotic touch to the movie and something new to the franchise overall.

The scenes when King Kong kidnaps a woman and climbs a building with her are obviously copied from the original Hollywood movie but they are nevertheless entertaining and impressive to watch.

The ways the military attempts to stop the monsters are quite diverisfied and portray the helplessness of mankind quite drastically.

The final fighting scenes between King Kong and Godzilla are certainly very entertaining. This movie might have multiple flaws but it isn't boring and doesn't overstay its welcome.

To conclude, King Kong versus Godzilla is one of the weakest entries into the franchise. The movie is basically a Japanese reinterpretation of the Hollywood movie of the gigantic monkey with a few secondary scenes involving their very own national treasure. Still, the movie is nicely crafted for its time and certainly entertainment that appeals to the whole family. Nowadays, this movie is only recommended to avid fans of both the Godzilla and King Kong franchises. Occasional fans of kaiju films can skip this overall average release without any regrets.