Ranking the Monsters

Jun Fukuda presents two new versus movies for the Monster Rankings: the kaiju theme park movie Godzilla vs. Gigan, which introduces us to the hook-handed monster, and Godzilla vs. Megalon, wherein Godzilla and Megalon are not so much the point as the totally-not-a-kaiju creation of Jet Jaguar. Neither are spectacular examples of big-scaled monster action but both have their moments and identities that may secure their placement in the kaiju arena. It’s been a while… and yet the promise for the future remains potent, so stay strong kaiju friends, the work’s not done, and there remain so many monsters left to rank in the future.

Much like Wu Tang, kaiju are now very much for the children. Today we have a duo of clip show exoduses through franchises that are proliferated enough to fill a whole movie with past footage. That's the easy money. One of these is also worthwhile. Which will it be? How will we overcome several minutes of a truck backing up in the middle of our recording? How will these clip shows fare against the movies clipped inside them? A few questions answered within.

For the 1,000th piece of content on thetwingeeks.com, our kaiju connoisseurs explore two monster ensemble pieces with drastically different outcomes. Destroy All Monsters is fascinating as a would-be endpoint of the Godzilla series. Helmed by series creator Ishirō Honda, the film throws every idea at the wall and is a frenzied blast of multi-monster mayhem. The more recent attempt of King of the Monsters also blends a selection of series monsters to lesser effect. How will these rank? What's the backstory of these films? Listen and find out.ensemble pieces with drastically different outcomes. Destroy All Monsters is fascinating as a would-be endpoint of the Godzilla series. Helmed by series creator Ishirō Honda, the film throws every idea at the wall and is a frenzied blast of multi-monster mayhem. The more recent attempt of King of the Monsters also blends a selection of series monsters to lesser effect. How will these rank? What's the backstory of these films? Listen and find out.

Welcome back to Ranking the Monsters. This time, it's a battle of the B-tier kaijus. Ishirō Honda is most famous for Godzilla, then Mothra, then King Ghidorah maybe. But, he also created Baragon and Manda. Who are they? Well, they are introduced in the films Frankenstein Conquers the World and Atragon. But who are they? Well... The films aren't great at showing this. So, join Calvin and Stephen as they evaluate the origin of these kaiju who will return in Destroy All Monsters (1968), and debate whether a Frankenstein movie and a submarine film (...yup) are really kaiju films.

Gamera's cosmic adventures take the kaiju franchise to zany extraterrestrial heights. We learn from the friend of all children how to be a good boy scout, how to survive a misadventure in outer space, and the proper form to use in gymnastics. All this, and all of the monsters ranked!

This episode, we introduce another legendary monster to our ranking: Mothra. Join Calvin and Stephen as they weigh up the original Mothra as well as the fan favourite, Mothra vs Godzilla. Learn how Mothra came to be and then hear how these films stack up as the ranking starts to get serious.

Gamera makes his welcome return to Ranking the Monsters as Calvin and Stephen tackle Vs. Barugon and Vs. Gyaos. These early Gamera films show a franchise looking for an identity and are a fine chance to reflect on the kaiju film as a genre, and to debate the overriding concern that all these films are the same. Join us as the friend to all children is once again scientifically ranked.

Calvin evaluate and rank an Ishiro Honda double bill of Rodan and Varan. One is great, one is not; tune in to find out more.

How do you follow up on 1954's Godzilla? Moreover, how do you capitalise on 1954's Godzilla? In this episode, Stephen and Calvin take on this question, exploring two different responses. On one hand, we have 1955's direct sequel to Godzilla — Godzilla Raids Again — a cynical cash grab (with an interesting production story). On the other hand you have another studio trying to make their own Godzilla: 1965's Gamera: The Giant Monster. These films are two different answers to the same question, divergent results that make for one interesting discussion.

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