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.

It's a three-part special! Kaiju meets Advance Wars in the loving videogame homage Kaiju Wars, Godzilla meets a smog monster in an Acid Jazz showdown, and the G8 Summit meets to see what to do about that Monster X striking back. This, and your continued rankings of all Kaiju Films in this week's special episode!

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.

We're all going to the world's fair with two back to back Gamera vs. features. Gamera must protect the children against his two newest adversaries. In Gamera vs. Jiger we celebrate the retro-futurism of Osaka's Expo '70, while Jiger presents a Swiss army knife approach to Kaiju designs: they give her all the abilities and see what sticks. In the immediate aftermath, Gamera vs. Zigra is released, wherein the friend of all children tests his metal in a monster melee with the goblin shark alien. How do these efforts rank in our scientific study of all Kaiju pictures? Stay tuned and find out.

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.

This week, two exciting entrants in the monster canon join the fray. First, it's everyone's favorite crustacean Kaiju, the indomitable and very crabby Ebirah, the horror of the deep! It's a surf-rock camp fantasy in the 1966 monster movie, wherein Godzilla, Mothra, and Ebirah square off, and a lot of peculiar Kaiju hijinks ensue. The fun does not end here, as Godzilla's paternal instincts are given the spotlight with the inclusion of Minya, a debatably cute rapscallion who has won our hearts. Is Ebirah's sea-bound mettle enough to menace his way up the rankings? Is Minya's odd cuteness enough to secure a place among the Gods of Kaiju? Our team of experts have all the answers.

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.

It's a multi-friend melee on Ranking the Monsters! Our theme song's songsmith Jack returns to the show alongside Letterboxd Japanuary Challenge head honcho, Big Man Ben. It's the site's biggest podcast yet, group wise, as our four friends endeavor to rank an absurdist love letter to the genre in Big Man Japan and a traditionally derivative kaiju in Yongary, directed by Kim Ki-duk (but not that one). In a podcast as supersized as the Big Men it covers, how will Calvin and Stephen rank our new entrants in the entire canon? Listen and find out.

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!

In the year 202X, our best Ranking Scientists return for a clash of the cosmic kaijus in a double header of three headed monster movies with Ghidorah and Invasion of Astro Monster. We track the Godzilla franchise as it heads for the next frontier and becomes a fun-loving space bound series that values camp just as much as the usual social messaging and rubber suit fight scenes.

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.

Old meets new on Ranking the Monsters. Calvin and Stephen take on the supposed kaiju classic, Daimajin, before checking out a brand new Takashi Miike movie where this monster makes a guest appearance. Was Daimajin ever good? Was bringing him back a success? Come find out.

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.

This week, our newest editor Vaughn stops by to chat Korean kaiju. We dissect the fascinating politics of our first kaiju period drama, the DPRK's Pulgasari. Then, we cross the border into the ROK to gush about Bong Joon-ho's kaiju blockbuster, The Host.

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.

On this episode, guest Jack Davenport (the man behind our great theme music) brings Calvin and Stephen to the final frontier. That's right, it's space monster time! Our featured films — The Mysterians (1957) and The X from Outer Space (1967) — give a window into when kaiju filmmakers looked to the stars and in doing so altered the central metaphor of the genre. This time, Stephen explains how these films articulate paranoia around the future before being joined by Calvin and Jack for a wide reaching discussion of both films.

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.

The King of the Monsters sits atop our throne, so it's about time we check out some overseas challengers. In this episode we jump from the mid 20th Century to the early 21st, exploring two Western takes on the traditionally Japanese kaiju genre. Join us for an essay by Calvin on Guillermo del Toro's sensibilities - and love of monsters - before Stephen jumps in for a conversation about Pacific Rim and Cloverfield. Calvin defends his mechs; Stephen explains how Cloverfield is almost brilliant and, of course, our ranking of monsters is updated.

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