Godzilla

Author: Ishiro Honda

The Japanese kaiju film goes back to their pre-WWII film industry, but it wasn't until 1954 that it really came to the rest of the world. While the American version with Raymond Burr is best known in the English-speaking world, the original Japanese film is incredibly powerful, moving, and more than a little critical of the atomic age. Several ships are destroyed near Odo Island, where there just so happens to be a tradition of a massive monster; a massive monster who has been awakened by underwater nuclear testing. The destruction of Godzilla on Japan is brought about by the atom bomb, much as it had been in WWII, and now Japan is fighting back against it and they manage to beat back the invasion using their own megaweapon. In a way, Godzilla was Japan winning it's own WWII. The film includes moving moments, and while it's obviously a man in a rubber suit, the monster feels so much more dangerous than the CGI versions that have popped up in the decades since. Many sequels, imitations, and re-makes have come out of Godzilla, though the original is the most effective by far. Why it's on the list Powerful moments, and the origin of modern Kaiju film make this a no-brainer.