5 Best Giant Monster Movies of All Time
Kong: Skull Island is the latest in a proud Hollywood tradition of making movies about giant [...]
Cloverfield
Most monster movies follow the devastation a monster brings on a major population center from the perspective of the military or group trying to fight back against the monster. The 2008 movie Cloverfield (produced by JJ Abrams and directed by Matt Reeves) looked at giant monster attacks from a different perspective: from the people just trying to survive and get out of the series.
Over the course of the move, we watched an average guy named Rob and his friends venture into New York City to rescue his friend/lover Beth while a giant monster attacks the city. For most of the movie, we don't even see the giant creature, instead focusing on the devastation it leaves in its wake.
The movie was also notable for using the "shaky cam" style to enhance the first person ground level perspective. While no direct sequel to Cloverfield was ever made, Abrams later produced a "sister" film called 10 Cloverfield Lane and plans to release a third Cloverfield movie later this year.
Gojira
The 1933 King Kong movie is widely considered to be the first giant monster movie, but it was the 1954 movie Gojira that truly launched the age of the monster on the big screen. Directed by Ishiro Honda, Gojira depicted an ancient creature's attack on Tokyo. Honda wrote Gojira as a horror film, using the giant beast as a stand in for the terror of the nuclear bomb. After all, it had been less than a decade since World War II and the attacks on Hiroshima and Tagasaki were still fresh in the minds of many Japanese.
Gojira launched an entire genre dedicated to watching giant monsters attack various cities. These kaiju films featured a variety of monsters, many of whom were both destroyers and protectors of Earth. Although many early kaiju movies haven't dated well (the monsters were usually played by actors in rubber suits), Gojira is still a must-watch as it represents an important moment in cinema history.
Tremors
Usually, it's the military who winds up fighting giant monsters in movies, but sometimes you just need to leave things to the real professional: Kevin Bacon. The 1990 film Tremors pit Kevin Bacon and a plucky group of desert residents against a pack of giant carnivorous underground worms. With no military bases nearby, Bacon and his friends rely on their wits and a small arsenal of personal weaponry to defeat these giant worms.
Although Tremors didn't shake things up at the box office, it eventually became a cult classic and spawned multiple sequels featuring one of the movie's trigger happy side characters.
Pacific Rim
The culmination of the kaiju movie genre, Pacific Rim was a 2013 movie about the eternal war between giant robots and monsters. After giant armored kaiju began to ascend from the depths of the Pacific Ocean, mankind built a small fleet of giant machines called Jaegers to fight and kill the creatures. Sadly, a series of defeat caused society to lose faith in the Jaeger program even as the kaiju attacks grew more frequent. Pacific Rim followed the final days of the underfunded Jaeger program, as two unlikely pilots formed a bond as they tried to stop the monsters once and for all.
Pacific Rim was a box office success and quickly gained a fanbase, but it took several years for director and franchise creator Guillermo del Toro to convince Legendary Pictures to make a sequel. The next Pacific Rim is due to come out next year.
The Host
One of the biggest South Korean movies ever made, The Host is a giant monster movie that combines satire, horror, and political commentary into one film. When the US military dumps chemicals into a Korean river, it accidentally creates a giant man-eating monster. When the monster steals a young girl, her father and his family go after the creature despite the warnings of the Korean government.
When The Host was first released, it broke every South Korean box office record imaginable and even earned praise from North Korea (as it portrayed the United States in a critical light.) Although a sequel
Trending Now:
-
1Aubrey O'Day Speaks out After Sean 'Diddy' Combs' Arrest -
2'DWTS' Performer Michaela DePrince's Mom Died One Day After Her -
3'80s Music Star Dies After Illness: Death of Simple Minds Alum Kenny Hyslop Confirmed -
4No Doubt Rocker Dies in Motorcycle Crash: Gabriel Gonzalez Was 57 -
5'Everyone's Terrified of Meghan': Troubling New Report Surfaces on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry