Here's Where You Can Watch Every Godzilla Movie
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Off the top of your head, can you say how many Godzilla movies there are? No, guess higher. Higher! No, even more! There are either 36 or 38 films starring the big green monster from the deep, depending on how you count the recut American versions of the original 1954 Godzilla and 1984's The Return of Godzilla. Indeed, that's a lot of latex.
The kaiju franchise created and controlled by Japanese studio Toho has been part of Japanese, American, and world culture for almost 70 years, and it has built up a huge body of media, from the aforementioned first film to the new "Godzilla vs. Kong," which is itself the second time the two iconic monsters have duked it out. (The first time was in the franchise's third film, 1962's King Kong vs. Godzilla.)
As you probably know, "Godzilla vs. Kong" is streaming for a month on HBO Max in addition to being released in theaters. But it's far from the only Godzilla film available to stream. Most –- but not all –- movies featuring the King of the Monsters are available to stream somewhere, either on a subscription service or for individual purchase. We rounded up where you can find them all, so check them out below.
Godzilla: The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Channel and HBO Max share a great collection of early Godzilla films. The streaming services have 15 films from what's known as the "Shōwa era" of the franchise, which includes films released between 1954 and 1975. Their Criterion Channel versions also include great special features like commentary tracks and video essays that are not available on the HBO Max versions.
The Godzilla films available on the Criterion Channel and HBO Max are:
-The original Japanese Godzilla from 1954.
- Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, the Americanized 1956 version of the original that inserts Raymond Burr.
-1955's Godzilla Raids Again, where Godzilla fights spiny dinosaur Anguirus.
-1964's Mothra vs. Godzilla, in which he faces off against the giant moth that's Toho's other famous kaiju creation.
-1964's Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster, which introduces Godzilla's nemesis King Ghidorah.
-1965's Invasion of Astro-Monster, which introduces the evil aliens of Planet X.
-1966's Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, where Godzilla fights a giant crustacean, a giant bird, and some terrorists.
-1967's Son of Godzilla, which introduces Minilla — get it?
-1968's Destroy All Monsters, which features all 11 of Toho's monsters.
-1969's All Monsters Attack, where Minilla bonds with a human boy who also has an often-absent father. (This one is only on the Criterion Channel.)
-1971's Godzilla vs. Hedorah, an eco-conscious entry where the enemy is pollution.
-1972's Godzilla vs. Gigan, wherein Godzilla battles the titular buzzsaw-bellied cyborg monster.
-1973's Godzilla vs. Megalon, where Godzilla is aided by the giant robot Jet Jaguar.
-1974's Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, where he fights a robot version of himself.
-And 1975's Terror of Mechagodzilla, the last Godzilla film directed by original helmsman Ishiro Honda.
King Kong vs. Godzilla is unfortunately not on Criterion and is only available to stream through unsanctioned sources.
The next decade
After a nine-year dormant period, Toho rebooted the franchise in 1984 with The Return of Godzilla, a direct sequel to 1954's original that ignores everything that happened in the 14 movies in between. The six subsequent films of what's known as the Heisei era follow a single timeline and make Godzilla a menace to humanity again.
The films of this era and their streaming homes are as follows:
- "The Return of Godzilla" is only available to legally stream on the anime streaming service HiDive.
- "Godzilla 1985," an American recut of the above film that brings back Raymond Burr, is not available online.
- 1989's "Godzilla vs. Biollante," where Godzilla fights a genetically engineered clone of himself mixed with human and plant DNA, is out of print –- probably due to complications with licensing deals, according to the Godzilla subreddit.
- 1991's "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah" brings back Godzilla's arch-rival. It's available to rent or buy via DirecTV.
- 1992's semi-remake "Godzilla vs. Mothra" isn't available to stream.
- 1993's robo-tastic sequel "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II" is widely available and can be rented or bought on Vudu, YouTube, Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play.
- 1994's "Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla" is also available to rent or buy on Vudu, YouTube, Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play.
- The final film of this Godzilla era, 1995's "Godzilla vs. Destoroyah," which features the death of (this incarnation) of Godzilla, is available on Amazon, Vudu, YouTube, and Google Play.
The Millennium era
The next era of Japanese Godzilla films began in 1999, with another franchise reset. The movies of this era are all standalone films with very loose continuity.
Here's where they can be found:
-1999's Godzilla 2000: Millennium, where the big guy battles a new monster on the streets of Tokyo, is available to rent or buy on Amazon, YouTube, and Google Play.
-2000's Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, a particularly sci-fi-ish installment, is available on Amazon, Vudu, YouTube, and Google Play.
-2001's awesomely titled team-up Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack is available to rent or buy on Amazon, Vudu, YouTube, iTunes, Google Play.
-2002's Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, where the original Godzilla's soul gets put into a robot and fights the new Godzilla, is on Amazon, Vudu, YouTube, iTunes, and Google Play.
-2003's Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. is a sequel to Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and is available on Amazon, Vudu, YouTube, iTunes, and Google Play.
-2004's Godzilla: Final Wars brings this era to a close with a battle royale against a huge collection of monsters. Even the lobster monster Ebirah comes back for this one. It's on Amazon, Vudu, YouTube, iTunes, and Google Play.
The Reiwa era
After another long dormant period, Toho started making Godzillas again in 2016. The focus of this period has mostly been on anime, and so far there's only been one live-action film, but there are plans for more.
Here's where to stream the films of the current Japanese Godzilla era.
2016's Shin Godzilla was a huge hit in Japan and won the Japan Academy Prize for Picture of the Year, which is the country's Academy Awards equivalent. It was directed by Neon Genesis Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno. It's available to rent or buy on YouTube, Amazon, Vudu, and Google Play.
The next three are a trilogy of anime movies: Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, and Godzilla: The Planet Eater, all of which are available on Netflix. The anime films introduce new ideas that the franchise had never explored before. We won't spoil them, but they're pretty interesting.
The American Godzillas
Hollywood got its hands on Godzilla in the '90s, and since then, there have been four American Godzilla movies, three of which are part of Legendary and Warner Bros.' MonsterVerse.
Here's where you can find them:
- Roland Emmerich's goofy 1998 blockbuster "Godzilla", where the King of the Monsters attacks New York City, failed to kick off a franchise of its own, but it's still a fun '90s action movie. It's available to stream on Starz and rent or buy on Amazon, Vudu, YouTube, iTunes, and Google Play.
- The first MonsterVerse film, 2014's "Godzilla," reboots the franchise for the superhero movie era. Stream it on HBO Max or rent it on YouTube, Amazon, or Google Play. (Its MonsterVerse successor, "Kong: Skull Island," is also on HBO Max.)
- 2019's "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," which brings Godzilla's Toho pals King Ghidorah, Mothra, and Rodan to Hollywood, is also available on HBO Max as well as Amazon, YouTube, Vudu, and Google Play.
- And of course, "Godzilla vs. Kong" is streaming on HBO Max until April 30 and is in theaters where they are open.