The 6 Most Fun Godzilla Movies of All Time, Ranked

Godzilla from 1991's Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.

Published Nov 2, 2026, 6:15 PM EST

Jeremy has more than 2900 published articles on Collider to his name, and has been writing for the site since February 2022. He's an omnivore when it comes to his movie-watching diet, so will gladly watch and write about almost anything, from old Godzilla films to gangster flicks to samurai movies to classic musicals to the French New Wave to the MCU... well, maybe not the Disney+ shows.
His favorite directors include Martin Scorsese, Sergio Leone, Akira Kurosawa, Quentin Tarantino, Werner Herzog, John Woo, Bob Fosse, Fritz Lang, Guillermo del Toro, and Yoji Yamada. He's also very proud of the fact that he's seen every single Nicolas Cage movie released before 2022, even though doing so often felt like a tremendous waste of time. He's plagued by the question of whether or not The Room is genuinely terrible or some kind of accidental masterpiece, and has been for more than 12 years (and a similar number of viewings).
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At the time of writing, there is a new Godzilla movie coming out, and so it’s as good an opportunity as any to talk Godzilla. Admittedly, there’s almost always a new Godzilla movie on the horizon, because the series has been very healthy since about 2014. There have been American-produced MonsterVerse films alongside Japanese Godzilla movies, plus that anime trilogy (okay, not great, but still, uh, content for what it’s worth), and then there have also been shows, like Godzilla Singular Point and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, in case all the movies weren't enough for you.

That Godzilla movie on the horizon, or rapidly approaching at the time of writing, is Godzilla Minus Zero, and it’s been well-received for sure, albeit leaning a bit more toward serious (and horror-focused) territory by the standards of the series, like its predecessor. So, if you're more into Godzilla at its silliest, or if you want a movie that might well contrast with Godzilla Minus Zero, these are the most fun Godzilla movies ever made. It should be stressed they're not necessarily the best, but they're good if you're after something kind of silly (in good ways, of course).

6 'King Kong vs. Godzilla' (1962)

Godzilla and King Kong fighting in 'King Kong vs. Godzilla'

So, it’s one of the goofiest of all the Godzilla movies, and it also came out very early within the history of the whole series: 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla. It was the first time the two titular monsters battled, but they would go on to be in a couple more movies together, one of which is going to be mentioned below… not because it’s amazing, but because it is a lot of fun. And King Kong vs. Godzilla is also fun, and unapologetically simple. It gives you what you'd want and expect based on the title, but that smack-down feels a little more impressive in hindsight, arguably, since this was Godzilla’s third time on the big screen, and it also marked the third time King Kong had ever been in a feature film (the first time in nearly 30 years, too).

It's the series in full-on schlock mode; a taste of things to come, because some later Showa era Godzilla movies would really double-down on that kind of thing, for better or worse.

It doubles down on silliness while giving its human characters a particularly minimal number of things to do, and those human parts are awkward for sure, at least at times, but some of the non-monster stuff is funny from a certain point of view. Also, the monster fights are pretty funny, because it’s the series in full-on schlock mode; a taste of things to come, because some later Showa era Godzilla movies would really double-down on that kind of thing, for better or worse. If you like more serious or weighty Godzilla movies, maybe skip this one, but if you want goofy fun, King Kong vs. Godzilla has that in spades.

5 'Godzilla vs. Kong' (2021)

Godzilla fighting Kong in Godzilla vs. Kong - 2021

So, few people are going to call King Kong vs. Godzilla a masterpiece, and then maybe even fewer would be willing to go that far for the similarly-titled Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). It was a long time coming, as a rematch of sorts (only “of sorts” because it’s technically a different continuity and all), and so the fight here might've felt more monumental. Both monsters had been in more than two previous films and all, compared to how grand they were as cinematic icons back in 1962, and both characters had huge legacies that went back either close to 90 years (in King Kong’s case) or almost 70 years (in Godzilla’s case).

As a more modern film, all the battling once more promised in the title was more explosive than what was found in the earlier film. And the fighting was fun! It’s harder to say nicer things about the parts of Godzilla vs. Kong that aren’t focused on action, though thankfully, there also isn't too much of this movie that doesn’t showcase some kind of spectacle, destruction, or fighting. There are two big monsters, and then maybe a third one near the end, and a lot of destruction, so even if it’s brain-dead, it’s the good kind of brain-dead entertainment. Like the cinematic equivalent of binging on potato chips; that sort of thing.

4 'Godzilla vs. Megalon' (1973)

As mentioned before, some of the Showa era Godzilla movies got pretty silly, and Godzilla vs. Megalon is well and truly in that camp, and maybe it is also kind of campy. It feels like it might well have been trying to outdo King Kong vs. Godzilla on that front, and it did a great job in that regard, if that was the case. It manages to look a good deal cheaper, just with all the costumes and sets in this one feeling a little below the standard of the series, yet this does add a certain charm to things. Tonally, this is also comparable to King Kong vs. Godzilla, but maybe even a little more kid-friendly, seeing as one of the main characters in this film is a kid, and then there’s also a robot in this called Jet Jaguar who ends up (eventually) fighting alongside Godzilla.

The titular Megalon is also a potentially underrated villain, and then there’s also some Gigan as well, and he’s pretty much always welcome. Narratively, it’s fairly standard stuff, since there are aliens that want to take over the world, and their plan does involve monsters, and so Godzilla – plus Jet Jaguar – have to stop them. Honestly, Jet Jaguar comes close to stealing the movie from Godzilla, and he would've earned the right to be in the title if they wanted to throw him in there. “Wouldn’t that be too crowded, having Godzilla, Jet Jaguar, and Megalon with their names in one title?” you might ask. Nope… not in a series where one of the best entries is literally called “Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.”

3 'Destroy All Monsters' (1968)

If you like Godzilla movies that throw even more monsters into the mix than Godzilla vs. Megalon and Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, then Destroy All Monsters is probably going to be your cup of tea. Or your cups of tea, because uh, if the monsters are tea, you're going to need several cups of a fairly large size to hold all the tea. Or hold all the monsters. Like, this one rounds up most of the usual suspects up until that point in the series in spectacular fashion, being a big celebration of all that had come before, and also done in a way where Destroy All Monsters could well have been like a finale for the entire series.

Like, you know how there are shows like Seinfeld that, for better or worse, bring back a bunch of one-off or recurring characters and shove them in that one final episode? That’s what Destroy All Monsters does, both thanks to its story being about monsters being released by aliens (those pesky alien invaders again) to rampage around and weaken the world, and then also thanks to the battle at the end, which gets all the monsters in the one space for a big fight. There’s absolutely nothing deep, but it’s a blast, and none of it’s trying to be thought-provoking or anything, so you'd probably have to be in a fairly bad mood before watching to not get any kind of enjoyment out of this one.

2 'Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah' (1991)

Gonzo, silly, ridiculous, or over-the-top… pick one of those words, or another kind of similar one, and you’ve probably got a decent one to use to summarize Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, which is the movie in the series that famously, or maybe infamously, uses time travel. Actually, for a third option, it might not be famous or infamous, since Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is kind of a deep-cut by most standards, known by fans of the series, of course, but probably not the kind of Godzilla movie you might hope a few non-fans might well have caught at some point (they're probably more likely to have seen a Godzilla movie with a slightly more serious tone, in all honesty).

In Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, the human race is given a chance to go back in time and stop Godzilla before he gets too powerful, and they do, but the group of people who passed such technology onto them (unsurprisingly) have other motives, and things get complicated the way they always do in time travel movies. This is probably the most fun Godzilla movie that does touch upon some slightly serious themes at points, because World War II is quite relevant to Godzilla’s past. It’s handy if you want to “Well, actually” someone who says Godzilla Minus One is the furthest a Godzilla movie has gone back in time, because yes, that one did play out shortly after the end of World War II, but part of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah technically goes back to during World War II, so do with that information what you will.

1 'Godzilla: Final Wars' (2004)

And yet for as maximalist as Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah were willing to get, it’s Godzilla: Final Wars that ends up getting the wildest and most over-the-top in nature. But it’s worth bringing up Destroy All Monsters again, because the premise is basically the same, but there are more monsters this time around, with the series celebrating 50 years with Godzilla: Final Wars. There are more foes to bring back, and also, it shares with Destroy All Monsters the feeling that it could well have worked as a finale for the entire Godzilla series, had they chosen to end it here.

A difference, though, is that Godzilla: Final Wars has a lot of action even without the expected kaiju stuff, since this might well be the silliest Godzilla movie on a human character front (they get action scenes without monsters and all). It is, undoubtedly, one of the most chaotic giant monster movies of all time, and if you have a particular craving to just watch something noisy, amusing, and absolutely brainless for a couple of hours, Godzilla: Final Wars is the Godzilla movie that you're looking for. It might technically get better than this, if you're looking at the more high-quality and “important” Godzilla movies, but it might not actually get any more entertaining than this.