Ranking the Monsters – Details, episodes & analysis

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!

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.