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Kaiju films

by Mighty_Emperor • Created 13 years ago • Modified 2 weeks ago
Giant monster films from Japan, and others from elsewhere inspired by them. I also threw in the Ultra Series but haven't tried to be too completest on the television front. I've also not included every giant monster movie (there was a fad for them in America during the mid-20th Century), focusing instead on Japanese films and their imitators. There is already a more general giant monster movie list or this wider-ranging one.

See also: my weird Japanese films list

Further reading:
* http://www.kaijuphile.com
* http://www.digitalmonsterisland.com
* http://godzilla.wikia.com

This page has the technical details of Toho's kaiju, except Godzilla:
http://www.listal.com/list/toho-kaiju-films

NB: IMDb's list ordering system is playing up so they're out of order
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  • 229 titles
  • Godzilla Raids Again (1955)

    1. Godzilla Raids Again

    19551h 18mApproved
    5.7 (9.1K)
    Scout pilots for a fishing company are startled to discover a second Godzilla, whose battle with rival monster Anguirus threatens to destroy Osaka.
    DirectorsMotoyoshi OdaIshirô HondaStarsHiroshi KoizumiSetsuko WakayamaMinoru Chiaki
    aka Godzilla Raids Again
  • The King Kong That Appeared in Edo (1938)

    2. The King Kong That Appeared in Edo

    193850m
    6.0 (69)
    In part one of this silent two-part film, an ape nicknamed King Kong by its master kidnaps the daughter of a wealthy man as part of a revenge plot by one of his lackeys. The story concludes in King Kong Appears in Edo: The Episode of Gold (1938).
    DirectorSôya KumagaiStarsEizaburô MatsumotoFuminori ÔhashiReizaburo Ichikawa
    aka King Kong Appears in Edo

    An unauthorised King Kong rip-off and possibly the first true full-length kaiju film, now thought to be lost. More on it at Wikipedia:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_Appears_in_Edo
  • Isamu Yamaguchi in Wasei Kingu Kongu (1933)

    3. Wasei Kingu Kongu

    193330mShort
    6.2 (42)
    The character "Santa" is a vagabond whose main source of income is locating lost coins on the streets of Tokyo. He is dating the pretty girl Omitsu, but her father Seizo does not consider him suitable for becoming his son-in-law. Seizo breaks-up their relationship and finds a new, wealthy boyfriend for Omitsu. Santa figures that he needs money to regain his girlfriend, and starts desperately seeking for a job. But nobody is willing to hire him. Noticing that the foreign-import film "King Kong" is a box office hit, Santa offers to dress up as King to promote a movie theater that is playing this film. He is hired on a try-out basis. Santa starts regularly appearing as King Kong in theaters, and goes on staged rampages against miniature buildings. During one of his performances, he notices Omitsu with her new boyfriend. Blinded by rage, Santa goes on a real rampage and chases after the man, both inside and outside the theatre. Santa beats up the man and leaves his unconscious body on the streets. But the audience thinks that his rampage was part of the performance and they are enthusiastic about it. He gets offered a higher salary for repeat performances, and he now has enough money to gain Seizo's approval and to start dating Omitsu again.
    DirectorTorajirô SaitôStarsYasuko KoizumiIsamu YamaguchiKotarô Sekiguchi
    An early attempt to cash-in on the original King Kong film, the giant ape would appear a few more times in Japanese films over the years.
  • Ishirô Honda and Takashi Shimura in Godzilla (1954)

    4. Godzilla

    19541h 36mNot Rated79Metascore
    7.6 (43K)
    After a dinosaur-like beast - awoken from undersea hibernation by atom bomb testing - ravages Tokyo, a scientist must decide if his similarly dangerous weapon should be used to destroy it.
    DirectorIshirô HondaStarsTakashi ShimuraAkihiko HirataAkira Takarada
    It set the standard for all future giant monster films, and span-off its own massive franchise. Presumably partly inspired by the 1953 B-movie The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
  • Ishirô Honda and Takashi Shimura in Godzilla (1954)

    5. Godzilla

    19541h 36mNot Rated79Metascore
    7.6 (43K)
    After a dinosaur-like beast - awoken from undersea hibernation by atom bomb testing - ravages Tokyo, a scientist must decide if his similarly dangerous weapon should be used to destroy it.
    DirectorIshirô HondaStarsTakashi ShimuraAkihiko HirataAkira Takarada
    Here to give the list a pretty picture when listed elsewhere - the list proper starts below:
  • Daibutsu kaikoku (1934)

    6. Daibutsu kaikoku

    1934
    The plot focuses on a giant Buddha statue (known in Japan as a "Daibutsu") 33 meters in height. It comes to life and tours the country, mainly seeing tourist sights,
    DirectorYoshirô EdamasaStarsHidemichi IshikawaKazuyo KojimaTankai Soganoya
    aka The Giant Buddha Statue's Travel Through the Country

    The rather gentle adventures of a roaming statue, now thought to be lost.

    http://godzilla.wikia.com/wiki/The_Giant_Buddha_Statue%27s_Travel_Through_the_Country
  • Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956)

    7. Godzilla: King of the Monsters!

    19561h 20mApproved61Metascore
    6.3 (9.3K)
    An American reporter visiting Tokyo becomes a witness to the city's destruction by a dinosaur-like beast awoken from undersea hibernation by atom bomb testing.
    DirectorsIshirô HondaTerry O. MorseStarsRaymond BurrTakashi ShimuraMomoko Kôchi
  • Jû jin yuki otoko (1955)

    8. Jû jin yuki otoko

    19551h 34m
    5.4 (336)
    A yeti terrorizes people on top of Mount Fuji.
    DirectorIshirô HondaStarsAkira TakaradaAkemi NegishiMomoko Kôchi
    Re-edited as Half Human for western consumption but not widely disseminated these days because of cultural concerns.
  • Rodan (1956)

    9. Rodan

    19561h 14mApproved
    6.2 (6.4K)
    A mining engineer investigates the deaths of his colleagues, discovering prehistoric nymphs and a creature capable of flying - and wreaking havoc - at supersonic speeds.
    DirectorIshirô HondaStarsKenji SaharaYumi ShirakawaAkihiko Hirata
    aka Radon
  • The Mysterians (1957)

    10. The Mysterians

    19571h 25mApproved
    6.0 (2K)
    Shortly after a giant robot destroys a village, aliens from outer space arrive offering friendship. Will the people of Earth tie these two events together?
    DirectorIshirô HondaStarsKenji SaharaYumi ShirakawaMomoko Kôchi
    aka The Mysterians

    Features Moguera a giant robot.
  • The Giant Claw (1957)

    11. The Giant Claw

    19571h 15mApproved
    4.6 (4.8K)
    Global panic ensues when it is revealed that a mysterious UFO is actually a giant bird that flies at supersonic speed and has no regard for life or architecture.
    DirectorFred F. SearsStarsJeff MorrowMara CordayMorris Ankrum
    B-movie that seems to merrily lift crazy ideas from the earlier Japanese science fiction films.
  • Tokyo 1960 (1957)

    12. Tokyo 1960

    1957
    7.9 (21)
    A giant monster blasts Tokyo.
    DirectorsIshirô HondaTeodorico C. SantosStarsTessie QuintanaEddie Del MarZaldy Zshornack
    First in a series of giant monster movies from the Philippines, a country hose film industry was quick to capitalise on new trends. It is also the most obvious one as it is set in Tokyo.
  • Half Human (1958)

    13. Half Human

    19581h 3m
    3.8 (480)
    Japanese villagers worship a monster and its son who live in an island cave. Some circus people hear about them, go to the island to capture the monster, and wind up shooting its son. Then the trouble starts.
    DirectorsKenneth G. CraneIshirô HondaStarsJohn CarradineRussell ThorsonRobert Karnes
    The US edit of Ju jin yuki otoko.
  • Varan (1958)

    14. Varan

    19581h 27m
    5.3 (1K)
    Original Japanese version. Research in the Tohoku region comes across a monster known to the locals as the mountain god Baradagi.
    DirectorsIshirô HondaMotoyoshi OdaStarsKôzô NomuraAyumi SonodaKoreya Senda
    aka Giant Monster Varan
  • The H-Man (1958)

    15. The H-Man

    19581h 19mApproved
    6.0 (1.8K)
    When a narcotics deal goes sour and a suspect disappears, leaving only his clothes, Tokyo police question his wife and stake out the nightclub where she works. His disappearance stumps the police - until a young scientist appears who claims that H-Bomb tests in the Pacific, evidenced by a "ghost ship" that has turned up in the harbor, have created radioactive creatures - "H-Men" - who ooze like slime and dissolve anyone they touch.
    DirectorIshirô HondaStarsYumi ShirakawaKenji SaharaAkihiko Hirata
    aka H-Man
  • The Three Treasures (1959)

    16. The Three Treasures

    19591h 52m
    6.4 (404)
    A prince, framed for murder and starved for affection from his father, is sent on a quest.
    DirectorHiroshi InagakiStarsToshirô MifuneYôko TsukasaAkihiko Hirata
    aka The Birth of Japan

    http://godzilla.wikia.com/wiki/The_Birth_of_Japan
  • Anak ng bulkan (1959)

    17. Anak ng bulkan

    19591h 57m
    7.1 (30)
    A monstrous giant bird soars high across Manila and suburbs. Anak ng Bulkan was set in a remote volcanic island, tells of the friendship between a little boy named Bentoy (Ace York) and a giant bird named Goliat.
    DirectorEmmanuel I. RojasStarsFernando Poe Jr.Edna LunaRonald Remy
  • Tuko sa Madre Kakaw (1959)

    18. Tuko sa Madre Kakaw

    1959
    A mad scientist, plots to conquer the world by using a serum that can turn ordinary animals into giants.
    DirectorRichard AbelardoStarsNita JavierWillie SoteloHector Reyes
  • Mothra (1961)

    19. Mothra

    19611h 41mApproved
    6.5 (5.8K)
    An expedition to Infant Island uncovers a native tribe and twin tiny fairy priestesses of a mythical deity, who sets out to rescue the pair after they are kidnapped by a greedy businessman.
    DirectorIshirô HondaStarsFurankî SakaiHiroshi KoizumiKyôko Kagawa
    aka Mothra
  • William Sylvester and Bill Travers in Gorgo (1961)

    20. Gorgo

    19611h 18mApproved
    5.6 (4.6K)
    Greedy sailors capture a giant lizard off the coast of Ireland and sell it to a London circus, inciting the wrath of the creature's much-larger mother.
    DirectorEugène LouriéStarsBill TraversWilliam SylvesterVincent Winter
    A British Godzilla, with perhaps a bit of inspiration coming from the 1959 dinosaur vs London film, Behemoth the Sea Monster (which in turn was a British version of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, making everything confusingly circular, as Godzilla was also influenced by it).
  • Reptilicus (1961)

    21. Reptilicus

    19611h 22mApproved
    3.6 (4.6K)
    After copper miners discover a piece of the frozen tail of a giant prehistoric reptile in Lapland, scientists inadvertently bring it back to life.
    DirectorsPoul BangSidney W. PinkStarsBent MejdingAsbjørn AndersenPovl Wøldike
    The Danish Godzilla - 1961 was clearly the year of Eurozilla!!
  • King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963)

    22. King Kong vs. Godzilla

    19631h 31mApproved40Metascore
    5.7 (12K)
    A UN reporter covers the appearance of a prehistoric monster that emerges from hibernation, while a pharmaceutical company seeks publicity with a monster of their own.
    DirectorsIshirô HondaTom MontgomeryStarsTadao TakashimaKenji SaharaYû Fujiki
    aka King Kong vs. Godzilla
  • Varan the Unbelievable (1962)

    23. Varan the Unbelievable

    19621h 10mUnrated
    4.5 (897)
    Heavily alerted American version of Japan's Varan. A prehistoric behemoth is unwittingly awoken from hibernation due to a U.S-Japanese military experiment for economic means on it's watery lair.
    DirectorsJerry A. BaerwitzIshirô HondaMotoyoshi OdaStarsMyron HealeyTsuruko KobayashiClifford Kawada
    The US edit of Giant Monster Varan
  • Gorath (1962)

    24. Gorath

    19621h 23mNot Rated
    5.7 (961)
    A Tokyo scientist and his colleagues shift Earth to avoid a red-hot planet on a collision course.
    DirectorIshirô HondaStarsRyô IkebeYumi ShirakawaAkira Kubo
    aka Gorath

    Featuring Maguma.

    Third in Toho's trilogy of space-operas, the first being The Mysterians and the second is the non-kaiju film Battle in Outer Space.
  • Killer Whale (1962)

    25. Killer Whale

    19621h 40mNot Rated
    6.8 (152)
    A fishing village is terrorized by a giant whale, and the fishermen are determined to kill it. A Japanese variation of the "Moby Dick" story.
    DirectorTokuzô TanakaStarsKyôko EnamiShiho FujimuraKôji Fujiyama
    aka Whale God or Killer Whale

    http://godzilla.wikia.com/wiki/Kujira_Gami_(1962_film)

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