Recently completed a rewatch/watch through of the 28 films contained in these three eras.

Long story short, last year I went through a tough divorce and stumbled across some of the older movies on Max, which was able to bring some mental comfort through nostalgia. So decided to start from the beginning. I didn't have intentions on posting this, until I got to the final movie. More on that later.

Showa Era (1954-1975)
Complete nostalgia. I grew up on all of these on VHS my mom was able to make copies of. Pretty campy, but entertaining nonetheless with each having an underlying message.

• Favorites from this era include Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (obsessed with this monster as a kid), Destroy All Monsters, & Godzilla vs. Megalon.
• Godzilla vs. Hedorah had one of the more unsettling kaiju of the series, with Hedorah being a smog monster that feeds off of pollution. The toxic sludge effects were aptly gross.
• The music themes were consistent and great.

Heisei Era (1984-1995)
The seven films in this era ignore all previous films except for the original 1954 film, but then go on to craft their own continuous timeline.

• My two favorites are Godzilla vs. Biollante and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, with the former being the best of all the 28 films in my opinion.
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II was better than his first battle against Mechagodzilla.
• Somewhat weird and unnecessary telepathy storyline sprinkled throughout the series.

Millennium Era (1999-2004)
These six films again ignore all previous entrants except for the 1954 original. Weirdly, they also ignore each other save for two of the films sharing a storyline, Godzilla against Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

• These films were all over the place, and not in a good way. Would have enjoyed a singular storyline rather than the anthology approach.
• Which finally brings me too......

Godzilla: Final Wars
I was excited to finally reach the end of this journey, and was actually feeling good about it.

But what a load of absolute dog crap this movie was. Zero redeeming qualities. A sick love-child of the Matrix, Fast & Furious, Independence Day (one sequence was a direct ripoff), Sharknado SyFy channel effects, and Blade techno music soundtrack. While all of those movies are awesome, stuff them all together and the result is absolute garbage. I actually wished I hadn't watched this movie to preserve the positive, nostalgic feelings I had up to this point.

Anyway, think I am going to do a watch through of the Star Trek movies now.

TLDR: Please don't ever watch Godzilla: Final Wars.

I love Godzilla! There's just something about a dude in a rubber suit destroying model buildings that will never not be fun. Like you, I grew up with the dubbed VHS versions of the Showa era, but completely ignored the Heisai Era. With my kids on Max, I've discovered these and kind of love them. Godzilla vs. Biollante is bonkers in the best way possible, and so is Godzilla vs. Kong Ghidora.

Old school Godzilla is an acquired taste, but there are so many interesting thematic ideas embedded in the goofy mayhem that it's never not interesting….well, except for Godzilla Final Wars.

My memory tells me that the first movie my dad took me to see was Godzilla Versus the Smog Monster. I was maybe 4. The shot of that tadpole thing with the big red eyes swimming right at the scuba diver at the beginning caused me some sleepless nights.

I've been a life-long Godzilla fan, although I have not seen all of the movies. The last one I recall seeing in a theater was Godzilla 2000, then didn't see another until the Godzilla movie that started the so-called MonsterVerse.

Godzilla Minus One was the best Japanese-produced Godzilla movie ever made, and I say that as one who has always held the original 1954 movie in high esteem, even having taken my teen daughter to see it at the Alamo Drafthouse recently.

Godzilla Minus One is phenomenal. It came out around the time of my divorce and seeing it was what sent me down this nostalgic path of comfort.

Gamera was my absolute favorite though, and have found some of those on Tubi and Pluto so I think I'll work through those before the Star Trek journey.

Minus One is my favorite film of the decade so far. It's legitimately life affirming, which is strange coming from a Godzilla film. It's more akin to Kurosawa than traditional Godzilla, but it works beautifully.

Godzilla Minus One is SO good and is the ONLY Godzilla movie besides the original that I honestly care about the characters and storyline not related to giant monsters.

Minus One is the best Godzilla movie ever made.

Saw The Return of Godzilla (1984) at the theater in Manor East Mall in Bryan (think I also saw the movies Platoon and Bear there)... in one scene, the boom mic was visible in the upper part of the shot... so damn funny, but perfect.

Anyway... got this book a few months back (was finally translated into english) ... will be reading it soon.