Godzilla: Motion Picture Releases

By BJ Heinley

Every live-action Godzilla film, from Toho’s 1954 original to Godzilla Minus Zero.

Key Moments

Godzilla (November 3, 1954): The original. A monster woken and burned by H-bomb tests flattens Tokyo, released less than a decade after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Directed by Ishirō Honda.
King Kong vs. Godzilla (August 11, 1962): The first meeting of the two great movie monsters, and the first Godzilla film in color. Directed by Ishirō Honda.
The Return of Godzilla (December 15, 1984): A reboot for the 30th anniversary, a direct sequel to 1954 only, set amid Cold War nuclear fears. Directed by Koji Hashimoto.
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (December 9, 1995): Godzilla’s heart melts down and he dies, fighting a monster born of the weapon that killed the first one. Directed by Takao Okawara.
Godzilla (May 20, 1998): TriStar’s American remake: a redesigned monster loose in New York. A one-off. Directed by Roland Emmerich.
Godzilla (May 16, 2014): Legendary and Warner Bros.’ remake, and the start of the MonsterVerse. Directed by Gareth Edwards.
Shin Godzilla (July 29, 2016): Toho’s reboot: a satire of government in a crisis, shaped by Fukushima and the 2011 tsunami. Directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi.
Godzilla Minus One (November 3, 2023): Postwar Japan and a guilty kamikaze pilot. The first Godzilla film to win an Oscar, for its visual effects. Directed by Takashi Yamazaki.
Godzilla Minus Zero (2026): The sequel, two years on, with King Ghidorah and the American occupation forces. In theaters now. Directed by Takashi Yamazaki.

Every event

Godzilla (November 3, 1954): The original. A monster woken and burned by H-bomb tests flattens Tokyo, released less than a decade after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Directed by Ishirō Honda.
Godzilla Raids Again (April 24, 1955): The rushed sequel. A second Godzilla fights Anguirus, the first monster-versus-monster bout, through Osaka. Directed by Motoyoshi Oda.
King Kong vs. Godzilla (August 11, 1962): The first meeting of the two great movie monsters, and the first Godzilla film in color. Directed by Ishirō Honda.
Mothra vs. Godzilla (April 29, 1964): Infant Island’s giant moth, and her twin fairy keepers, are asked to save Japan from Godzilla. Directed by Ishirō Honda.
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (December 20, 1964): King Ghidorah arrives from space, and Godzilla sides with humanity for the first time, alongside Mothra and Rodan. Directed by Ishirō Honda.
Invasion of Astro-Monster (December 19, 1965): Aliens from Planet X borrow Godzilla and Rodan to fight Ghidorah, then turn all three on Earth. Directed by Ishirō Honda.
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (December 17, 1966): A South Seas island adventure written for King Kong, with Godzilla swapped in, against a giant shrimp. Directed by Jun Fukuda.
Son of Godzilla (December 16, 1967): Godzilla raises Minilla on an island of giant mantises and a giant spider. Lighter in tone. Directed by Jun Fukuda.
Destroy All Monsters (August 1, 1968): Nearly every Toho monster, kept on Monster Island until aliens take control of them. A fan favorite. Directed by Ishirō Honda.
All Monsters Attack (December 20, 1969): A lonely boy dreams of Monster Island; mostly fight scenes from earlier films. Directed by Ishirō Honda.
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (July 24, 1971): A monster made of pollution. Known in the US as Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster. Directed by Yoshimitsu Banno.
Godzilla vs. Gigan (March 12, 1972): Alien cockroaches running a theme park send Gigan and Ghidorah against Godzilla and Anguirus. Directed by Jun Fukuda.
Godzilla vs. Megalon (March 17, 1973): An undersea kingdom strikes back at nuclear testing; Godzilla teams up with the robot Jet Jaguar. Directed by Jun Fukuda.
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (March 21, 1974): The robot double debuts, built by aliens; Okinawa’s guardian King Caesar joins the fight. Directed by Jun Fukuda.
Terror of Mechagodzilla (March 15, 1975): Honda’s last Godzilla film, and the end of the first run of films. The franchise rests for nine years. Directed by Ishirō Honda.
The Return of Godzilla (December 15, 1984): A reboot for the 30th anniversary, a direct sequel to 1954 only, set amid Cold War nuclear fears. Directed by Koji Hashimoto.
Godzilla vs. Biollante (December 16, 1989): Godzilla’s cells, a rose and a scientist’s lost daughter make a giant plant monster. Directed by Kazuki Omori.
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (December 14, 1991): Time travelers try to erase Godzilla from history; Mecha-King Ghidorah. Directed by Kazuki Omori.
Godzilla vs. Mothra (December 12, 1992): Mothra returns, with a dark twin, Battra. Directed by Takao Okawara.
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (December 11, 1993): A new, human-built Mechagodzilla, Rodan and Baby Godzilla. Not a sequel to the 1974 film. Directed by Takao Okawara.
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (December 10, 1994): A crystal-backed double from space; psychics try to steer Godzilla. Directed by Kensho Yamashita.
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (December 9, 1995): Godzilla’s heart melts down and he dies, fighting a monster born of the weapon that killed the first one. Directed by Takao Okawara.
Godzilla (May 20, 1998): TriStar’s American remake: a redesigned monster loose in New York. A one-off. Directed by Roland Emmerich.
Godzilla 2000: Millennium (December 11, 1999): Toho answers Hollywood; a UFO from the Japan Trench wants Godzilla’s power to regenerate. Directed by Takao Okawara.
Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (December 16, 2000): A black-hole weapon opens a wormhole and lets through prehistoric giant dragonflies. Directed by Masaaki Tezuka.
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (December 15, 2001): Godzilla as the restless spirit of the Pacific War’s dead; Japan’s guardian monsters rise against him. Directed by Shusuke Kaneko.
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (December 14, 2002): Kiryu, a Mechagodzilla built on the first Godzilla’s bones. Directed by Masaaki Tezuka.
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (December 13, 2003): The sequel: Kiryu and Mothra against Godzilla, and a promise to return the bones to the sea. Directed by Masaaki Tezuka.
Godzilla: Final Wars (December 4, 2004): The 50th anniversary film: aliens, and almost every monster from the films before. Toho rests the series for 12 years. Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura.
Godzilla (May 16, 2014): Legendary and Warner Bros.’ remake, and the start of the MonsterVerse. Directed by Gareth Edwards.
Shin Godzilla (July 29, 2016): Toho’s reboot: a satire of government in a crisis, shaped by Fukushima and the 2011 tsunami. Directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (May 31, 2019): Mothra, Rodan and Ghidorah join the MonsterVerse; the Monarch agency studies the “Titans.” Directed by Michael Dougherty.
Godzilla vs. Kong (March 31, 2021): The rematch, in theaters and streaming at once during the pandemic; Hollow Earth and a new Mechagodzilla. Directed by Adam Wingard.
Godzilla Minus One (November 3, 2023): Postwar Japan and a guilty kamikaze pilot. The first Godzilla film to win an Oscar, for its visual effects. Directed by Takashi Yamazaki.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (March 29, 2024): Godzilla and Kong side by side against the Skar King, in Hollow Earth. Directed by Adam Wingard.
Godzilla Minus Zero (2026): The sequel, two years on, with King Ghidorah and the American occupation forces. In theaters now. Directed by Takashi Yamazaki.

Eras

Shōwa (1954–1975): The first run of 15 films, named for the Japanese imperial era they were made in. It begins as a grim allegory of the atomic bomb and turns, by the late 1960s, into colorful monster wrestling for children, with Godzilla as Japan’s protector.
Heisei (1984–1995): Toho’s reboot after nine years away: seven films that ignore everything but the 1954 original and tell one continuous story, ending with Godzilla’s death in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah.
Millennium (1999–2004): Toho’s answer to the 1998 Hollywood film: six films, nearly all standalone, each a fresh sequel to the 1954 original. It closes with Final Wars for the 50th anniversary.
Reiwa (2016–now): The modern Japanese films, named for the current imperial era: Shin Godzilla, then Takashi Yamazaki’s postwar Minus One and Minus Zero. Smaller, serious films that won Toho an Oscar.

Godzilla: Motion Picture Releases

Key Moments

Every event

Eras

Sources

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