Since its debut in 1954, Godzilla has been a mainstay of cinema Forty years later, thanks to Universal's "Monsterverse" and the critically acclaimed Toho production "Godzilla: Minus One," this Japanese movie icon is arguably more popular than ever Whether you are a longtime enthusiast or a newcomer, this is one of the most exciting times to be a fan of the legendary King of Monsters

While GODZILLA: MINUS ONE is unlikely to hit streaming services anytime soon, GODZILLA x KONG: THE NEW KINGDOM will hit theaters on March 28 This is a great time to review Godzilla films Some of these films are classic monster movies of all time, and some are not But even the lesser films in the franchise contain enough action and imagination to keep you entertained Like pizza, even a bad Godzilla is a good Godzilla

Without further ado, here are all the Godzilla movies available on streaming services

Godzilla in the Showa era introduced us to the famous monster The first two films were serious, but the franchise became increasingly silly as the producers made the movies more kid-friendly Godzilla went from terrorizing Japan to protecting Japan It's a ridiculous character arc

Showa films have been around the longest, so it's no surprise that they are the most beloved These are the same movies I grew up watching reruns of on WPIX Channel 11 in the late 80s and early 90s Yes, some of these movies are downright silly, but I still get a kick out of them

After "Terror of Mechagodzilla," the Godzilla franchise went dormant However, the excellent monster could not be contained, and the irradiated lizard was resurrected in 1984 with the aptly named Godzilla Returns This marked the beginning of the fan-favorite Heisei Era

The Heisei Godzilla films are characterized by a meaner, more animalistic Godzilla Heisei Godzilla sometimes inadvertently helped humanity, but even if there were more menacing monsters out there destroying Japan, they were often the antagonists in these films

Unlike other eras of Godzilla, Heisei Godzilla is all set in the same time period, with monsters and humans reappearing For example, the psychic Miki Saegusa appeared in all Heisei films with the exception of "Return of Godzilla" It is fun to watch Godzilla evolve and grow stronger throughout these films If you can't tell, Heisei Godzilla is my absolute favorite

After the disastrous 1998 Roland Emmerich-directed GODZILLA Godzilla, Toho Studios decided to revive the original Godzilla after a brief hiatus following GODZILLA VS DESTOROYA Godzilla VS As the name suggests, these are Godzilla films released in the 2000s, or as the kids call them, the O's

With the exception of Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla and Godzilla Tokyo SOS, the Millennium Godzilla films were stand-alone movies However, as in the Heisei era, Godzilla was a destructive force that humanity tried to stop While there was some great monster action in this era, the films were somewhat standard monster movies that did little to shake things up The big outlier was "GMK," one of the most terrifying and original Godzilla films

These films are not that great, but still interesting: the Final Wars The franchise goes into hibernation again after this

This is the current era of Godzilla films, hence the lack of entries Technically, there are five films from the Leiwa era, but only two are live-action Since this is still the era, it is difficult to give an overview of the courtesy films So far, these are the most authentic Godzilla films since the original and "Return of Godzilla"

Without a doubt, the most interesting leiwa film is "Shin Godzilla" "Not only was it directed by Hideaki Anno, the creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion, but it was also a scathing critique of the Fukushima nuclear disaster In terms of tone, "Shin Godzilla" is the closest to the dour original; it is my personal favorite, second only to the 1954 classic

And then there's the Academy Award-winning "Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters Minus One" Of all the Godzilla films, this is the one with human characters that we actually care about In fact, they drive the plot Godzilla: Minus One is a movie for everyone, even if you're not into monster movies Hopefully it will be available on streaming services soon

Legendary Pictures' "monster universe" is interesting because it is the only one outside of the MCU still thriving in the film world: five films (one of which is the upcoming "Godzilla x Kong: Neon Genesis Evangelion") as well as various comic books and television shows are associated ]

The monsterverse began with 2014's Godzilla Godzilla This film is the most serious in tone, with subsequent films in the franchise gradually lightening up I wanted 2014's GODZILLA Godzilla to keep the mood of the film, but it still does not lack great monster battles, which is why I enjoy this film Visually, these films are everything I wanted when I was a kid watching Godzilla movies

If you're this into Godzilla movies, you should see some of the terrible Godzilla movies

1998's GODZILLA Godzilla had one of the biggest (pun absolutely intended) marketing campaigns I have ever seen Unfortunately, the Taco Bell commercials and the posters on the buses couldn't help but make it look like a bad "Jurassic Park" masked as a Godzilla movie I didn't dislike the design, but turning Godzilla into a mutant iguana was just plain stupid Also, there is no world in which a New York City cab can outrun a monster that can easily outrun a military helicopter I'll stop ranting now, but it goes without saying that 1998's "Godzilla Godzilla" is the bottom-of-the-barrel entry in the franchise

Or it would have been had it not been for the Netflix-exclusive "GODZILLA Planet of the Monsters" trilogy These animated films (and I use the term anime very loosely) have cool premises, but the execution never quite works I could go into detail about the plot, but honestly, it's so much nonsense that it's not worth explaining Only watch these films when you have nothing better to do