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12) GODZILLA vs. SMOG MONSTER – ORIGINAL SHOWA SERIES 1954-1974. In the context of the entire Godzilla's franchise, Banno's take is a unique achievement. Dark, bleak and at times even horrific (when the Japanese, killed by sulphur dioxide fumes, disintegrate into skeletons), with a strong environmental appeal. It’s a pleasant and welcome change from the infantile concept of Ishiro Honda and Jun Fukuda in particular. The central monster is Hedorah, a creature born from garbage and pollution that feeds on toxic fumes and inhales delicious smoke from factory chimneys. The fights with Godzilla are pleasantly uncompromising (with mutual eye gouging, for instance), and at the end Banno goes all in and even lets Godzilla rip the guts out of Hedorah to the tune of "Save the Earth". What's interesting is the discordant, at times almost psychedelic soundtrack, which gives the film a snazzy atmosphere. Too bad TOHO's buffoons were scared of such an uncompromising concept and Banno stayed with just one film.

13) GODZILLA vs GIGAN – ORIGINAL SHOWA SERIES 1954-1974. Godzilla here continues the trend set by the mid-60s, i.e. altruistic characters willing to help humanity from danger (Godzilla will only become a threat again in the HEISEI series). The danger here are evil aliens – yes, again. After 25 Godzilla movies, all those alien races are merging into one forgettable entity for me, but at least these ones are different in that they hide the body of a cockroach under a human form and send from outer space King Ghidorah and Gigan, a new monster with a large red eye, hook-like claws and a massive saw in its belly. This episode is widely regarded as one of the least accomplished ever, but thanks to likable main characters (led by a comic book artist and a karate fighter) who undermine the alien plans for world domination, it's quite survivable. The final battle of monsters is so bizarre that it makes you more aware than ever of the magic called 'cinematography' :o)

14) GODZILLA vs. MEGALON – ORIGINAL SHOWA SERIES 1954-1974. I'm not surprised that this episode was included in Mystery Science Theater 3000 (for the uninitiated, a TV program that airs the most obscure B-movies of all time), because this is something… awful, but in the proper, fun kind of way. So, what do we have here? The civilization of 'Seatopia', an empire located under the Earth's crust with an artificial sun and a large beast called Megalon, which they send against the humans on the surface, the aforementioned Megalon (a kind of cross between a robot and a beetle with pyramid-shaped claws), a young professor and his invention: the robot Jet-Jaguar, which can fly and change its size at will, and finally Gigan, well-known from a previous episode. It must be said that this episode is one of the best Godzilla movies ever and the final 40-minute (!!!) fight is something incredible, including the soundtrack – listening to a banjo accompanied by Godzilla's fists is a truly extraordinary experience. Everything I like and dislike about the Godzilla phenomenon – infantilism, naivety, stupidity and playfulness – here is multiplied by twenty and driven to such an extreme that I simply can’t get mad.

15) GODZILLA vs. MECHAGODZILLA I – ORIGINAL SHOWA SERIES 1954-1974. Unexpectedly good for Fukuda standards. Thanks to the young archaeologist Keisuke and her discovery of a rare artifact that awakens the ancient mythical protector of Japan named King Seesar (who with his rabbit ears is one of the most comical Godzilla monsters ever), there is a lot of adventure and the plot moves along very nicely. Continuity is not the norm in the Godzilla franchise, but this is de-facto a direct prequel to Honda's Terror of Mechagodzilla, so there are also evil aliens who hide their ape-like appearance under the guise of human form (the inspiration for Planet of the Apes is more than obvious) and send the robotic Mechagodzilla into battle for control of Earth. This is the debut of Mechagodzilla, the most popular monster in the franchise and the only one to appear in all three key stages. I liked the soundtrack in the monster fights. I would have expected anything except Swing, and I have to say that the unconventional contrast worked well.

16) TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA – ORIGINAL SHOWA SERIES 1954-1975. The legendary Ishiro Honda is my favourite Godzilla director, but here he's a shadow of his former glory. The story seems to be told at half throttle, the first 50 minutes or so have more static debate than appropriate, with the visuals of a cheap TV production, and the plot doesn't move anywhere. The title is quite misleading, too. Most of the action revolves around the underwater lizard Titanosaurus, with Godzilla and Mechagodzilla playing only second fiddle. Of course, Honda's favourite element – aliens – couldn’t be absent. But otherwise it is surprising that the level of the special effects in Honda's films hasn't progressed an inch since the days of King Kong vs. Godzilla. This actually makes me quite cynical about the character of Godzilla himself; here, and for the last time in the franchise, he looks like some sort of plush toy from a children's show, and it's quite fun to watch him make moves that are irresistibly comic. It's not until the last 20 minutes – when Mechagodzilla is released – that Honda finally gets unleashed and the wrestling match between Godzilla and Titanosaurus is not that bad, there even fist punches and head kicks. Otherwise, though, a slightly boring experience.

17) GODZILLA 1985/THE RETURN OF GODZILLA – HEISEI SERIES 1984-1995. Perhaps the most ambitious Godzilla film. It was supposed to re-open the American market and revive the former glory of the 50s, which didn't quite happen. There is an evident attempt at realism in the visual effects, along the lines of Star Wars, but the result is again a costumed actor walking among disproportionate models of buildings and demolishing whatever he comes across. Personally, I'm glad, because this failure makes the Godzilla franchise what it really is: a quirky cult classic for B-movie connoisseurs. The infantilism is gone, serious strings are played, there is even a bit of politics when the Russians and the Americans, who themselves are afraid of being attacked by Godzilla, try to persuado the Japanese Prime Minister to let them destroy Godzilla with atomic bombs, with pathos dripping on all sides. The Prime Minister rejects the offer and tries to destroy Godzilla with the Super X weapon, which fires some sort of special cadmium ammunition. In the end, Godzilla is imprisoned in the crater of a volcano, and more sequels can come.

18) GODZILLA vs BIOLLANTE – HEISEI SERIES 1984-1995. You can see the 80s here. The beginning is like a subpar action B-movie, with a lot of dying and everything inappropriately underscored by 80s pop. Then the film switches to a half-hour or so section (with the visuals of a cheesy TV gossip show) where they go on and on about whether to clone plant cells with Godzilla’s, what will come of it, and whether it's in the government's interest, as well as the newly developed anti-nuclear bacteria (to help defeat Godzilla), only to have a monster called Biollante come on the scene, which, hats off to it, has some interestingly impressive properties indeed. It’s a giant Godzilla and plant clone, with a head like a huge bud and deadly climbing tentacles. It has to be said that Biollante is visually one of the most interesting Godzilla opponents ever, it's a shame that his physique is so frail and the fight so short and straightforward. The pretentious title Godzilla vs Biollante leaves only a few minutes of an uneven fight, the impression of which is improved by the ending, when Biollante grows to such a size that he outgrows Godzilla by a head and smothers him. A good 3* for Biollante and the absence of infantilism.

19) GODZILLA vs. KING GHIDORAH – HEISEI SERIES 1984-1995. So the Godzilla franchise has already included the Pacific War and the Terminator, I like that. The plot is terrible, the filmmakers threw into the screenwriting cauldron the following: a) evil earthlings from the future who try to prevent Japanese economic domination; b) a prehistoric lizard from World War II, which later evolves into Godzilla due to radioactivity; c) the year 1944 and a battle between American troops and Japanese troops on a Pacific island; d) three plush monkeys with bat wings, who, after nearby nuclear tests, mutate into the three-headed dragon King Ghidorah; e) a cyborg from the future who emerges from a burning car slightly scratched (as in Terminator 2) and runs faster than a race car; f) a flying saucer, and I don't know what else. On top of all that, there's a convoluted plot twist where humanity first invokes Godzilla to overpower King Ghidorah, only to revive him in the future and, with his help, rid the Earth of Godzilla, who’s ravaging Japan. As much as I enjoy the charming awfulness of the Godzilla concept as a whole, this was already too much for me.

20) GODZILLA vs. MOTHRA: THE BATTLE FOR EARTH – HEISEI SERIES 1984-1995. Godzilla meets Indiana Jones meets Bottra meets Mothra. Okawara spices up the plot in the first act with a light Indy Jones touch (including a rip-off of one of the Raiders of the Lost Ark scenes) to bring in two old and one new monster. The newcomer is Battra, at first an armoured larva with a massive horn (and after hatching, a darker alter-ego of Mothra), who’s awakened from the depths of the ocean by Mother Earth to take revenge on humanity for its non-ecological behaviour. The Universe, in turn, offers to help humans by sending an egg (in the form of a meteor), from which Mothra hatches, and what looks like a relationship mess where sympathies go from one place to the other, as the writers thought of them, can begin. The following words will seem confusing, but whatever. Godzilla attacks Mothra, Battra attacks Japan, Mothra attacks Godzilla, Battra attacks Mothra and then Godzilla, Mothra, who was originally supposed to protect humanity, attacks Japan, then Battra, Godzilla attacks both of them, and Mothra finally teams up with Battra and they both destroy Godzilla. It couldn’t be any more confusing. I survived it in good health, but it won’t get more than 2* out of me.

21) GODZILLA vs. MECHAGODZILLA II – HEISEI SERIES 1984-1995. I think I understand why this episode is one of the most commercially successful. It targets the youngest viewers with the character of Godzilla's child, who seems to have wandered in from an kids TV show, thanks to which the whole spectrum of the audience will find their own thing. This is despite the fact that Okawara is, in my humble opinion, one of Godzilla's weakest directors. He can't film action in a way that is captivating, or at least entertaining. It's either cluttered, like the opening battle with Rodan, or fooling around with plasma guns. Perhaps the only interesting thing is the strength of Mechagodzilla, who clearly outclasses his opponent in battle (thanks to a special weapon that wires Godzilla's nervous system and uses electrical impulses to damage it), which is unusual in this franchise. The final battle between Mechagodzilla, Rodan and Godzilla makes up for the weak impression, the omnipresent deadly pathos is amusing, but I wasn’t excited this time.