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What to Watch at Godzillafest 2024

Bay Area kaiju fans are gearing up for Godzillafest 2024 at the Balboa Theater this weekend. 19 movies are being shown over the three days, featuring a selection that showcases the King of the Monsters across several eras of his epic reign. For those who don’t have the time to watch all of these excellent offerings, here are five I recommend.

These are five films that I would recommend that will all be shown during Godzillafest 2024. This is not a ranking but a list of Godzilla films I suggest if you can’t attend the entire event.

Mothra vs. Godzilla

Need to stop a rampaging monster, why not ask a god for help? In one of the last films of the era to see Godzilla acting as a major antagonist, Mothra vs. Godzilla delivers a wonderful movie that was geared slightly more toward family viewing and bringing in a wider audience, but this was still before the franchise became extremely kid-focused. The script is clever and self-conscious, allowing the movie to shift tones delicately between serious themes and human relationships – aspects Toho had previously mastered – while allowing for more liveliness and humor to give the monsters additional charming character traits. The human characters don’t stand out, but the villains’ greed sets up some entertaining interactions until an almost unexpected violent confrontation occurs before the final battle.

Our favorite kaiju is handled well in this film, looking tough, even if a little clumsy, without appearing too overpowered for this installment, with the military seeming to have a better handle on events this time around. Not all of the effects look perfect, but the Mothra prop is fantastic and many of the scenes are uplifted by an excellent soundtrack. The film is simply put together well and remains one of the standouts in Godzilla’s early years.

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah

This one pays homage to the origins of the franchise and is the final film in the Heisei period, which starts fans out with a big, exciting title sequence and proceeds to deliver across its entire runtime. The big lizard has a bad ticker, as his heart is similar to a nuclear reactor and it is beginning to experience a meltdown, creating this excellent charred and burnt look for the monster.

This film created an international buzz, spoiling part of its ending by talking up Godzilla’s death, and it did not disappoint. Destroyah (however you decide to pronounce it) looks awesome and feels different from many of the other beasts who take on our hero, and it’s not even Godzilla who kills him. At its heart, however, this is a father-and-son adventure, sort of, in what might be Godzilla Junior’s best showing. Fans will appreciate the connections and callbacks to the original film, offering up more substance and a bit of catharsis, while others will be sucked into the drama and action. I’m a big fan of the freeze rays in this one.

Destroy All Monsters

In the distant year of 1999, there existed world peace, mostly because everyone had big monsters to worry about for so long, but even those were all collected and behaving on their island, until one day they split up and started attacking capital cities. This is the result of meddling from the Kilaak, an alien race of silver-loving women who are threatening to annihilate Earth. This franchise is no stranger to threats from outer space, but these particular antagonists stand out as they use mind control, a flaming spaceship, and summon their champion, King Ghidorah, who has proven to be a tough opponent for any single monster.

Thankfully, this film has 11 of them. Some are just glorified cameos, but the dopamine buzz of seeing all these creatures interact is fantastic, and that final gang-up on Ghidorah is a wonderfully enjoyable scene for many. The action sequences must have been quite difficult to shoot, as the timing and execution show off the crew’s skills and demonstrate how much work a film like this requires. Destroy All Monsters was another film that was intended to be the last of the franchise, so all of the stops were pulled out when it came to the monsters, but the human side of things could have been handled better. Still, the colors are bright, the pacing is solid, and there’s no way any fan would want to miss a family gathering like this.  

Shin Godzilla

As a modern reboot, this is a movie that excels at capturing what made the franchise stand out and feel powerful, even while changing its thematic focus. This is not one of the ‘fun’ Godzilla movies, but a set of new ideas inside of a stripped-down plot and a slower pace to let the sense of dread truly sink in. We have a nearly unstoppable monster, a destructive force, and his presence is scary up through the final scene of the film. Godzilla looks fantastic here, orange really is his color, and the effects are engaging. His new forms, abilities, and sickly presence from radiation command attention, but he’s not truly the focus of this one.

Shin Godzilla shows a lot from the government side of this fresh encounter and it lets the audience judge them. These human characters all represent different types of people, they have their own motivations and purpose, but few personality traits. The politics aren’t meant to be thrilling, but to make us think, maybe be a little uncomfortable, as even when action is taken it is rarely effective. This was the first Godzilla film made by Toho after twelve years and they came back with something different, but still in a big way.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

This film always makes me wonder if my singing is good enough to fulfill prophecies and wake up a slumbering kaiju. Spoiler alert: it isn’t. 20 years after the original, fans received a movie that found a solid balance following some shaky sequel attempts, but Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla delivered a faster-paced and bloody battle royal with catchy tunes that strived to entertain.

Godzilla seemingly turns on Tokyo once more, only to be exposed as a robotic imposter, the incredible Mechagodzilla. This overgrown toaster has a huge arsenal of weapons and defensive techniques that make it versatile, lethal, and a joy to watch in action. Where did he come from? Space apes! I shouldn’t need to say more, but in case that doesn’t make them sound cool enough, these villains have learned how to make themselves look human and their leader is a classic baddie who is easy to hate. This film also gives us the odd King Caesar (if the singing doesn’t scare viewers away) and an incredibly slick Interpol agent, for some interesting side plots that lose their focus, but everything comes together for a thrilling climax.

GodzillaFest 2024

Godzillafest 2024 will take place from July 19th to July 21st and will feature 19 films from different eras of the series.

The Balboa Theater is an independent movie theater located at 3630 Balboa St, San Francisco. They are known for showing indie films, classic titles, anime films, and new releases. They are part of CinemaSF, a network of independent theaters that also includes the 4 Star Theater, and the Vogue Theater.

8Bit/Digi is an independent news outlet that provides insight into the video game and fandom community of the San Francisco Bay Area.