A Look at the Beautiful, Cheesy, and Absurd Godzilla Posters Over the Years

Jonathan Barkan |

Mar 8, 2017

The past few years have seen the resurgence of Godzilla, the King of Monsters, in both Eastern and Western cinema. Here in the States, we produced Gareth Edwards’ 2014 entry Godzilla, which saw an incarnation of the beast that, at the time, was the largest ever put on-screen. While the film had its share of criticisms – many of which I feel were needed – it was still an epic depiction of the awesome monstrosity. Plus, the introduction of Godzilla at the airport still sends shivers up and down my spine and covers my arms in goosebumps.

Last year, TOHO decided that they were going to bring back the creature for Japanese audiences, releasing Shin Godzilla, which stripped Edwards’ of the largest Godzilla in the franchise. While I haven’t yet had a chance to see this entry, I have heard nothing but glowing reviews from people who I trust a great deal, so color me excited to eventually get my hands on a copy!

The series, which began over 60 years ago with the original 1954 Godzilla, may be seen by many as nothing more than men in rubber suits duking it out over miniature sets but for others the series has a certain amount of charm, not to mention a delightful storyline that has been expanded upon in comics, video games, and more. There’s a reason the series has endured, much like how the titular character has defied the odds time and time again to keep surviving against seemingly impossible opponents. No matter who you are, no matter if you’ve seen one of the films in the series, it’s almost guaranteed that you know who Godzilla is, which makes the creature one of the most enduring icons in cinema.

Just like with any series, there are going to be some good and bad entries. But what some may overlook is that trend is also present in the posters of the series. I recently found myself thinking about the posters of the Godzilla films over the years and decided that I would share each of them with you so that we could enjoy them together. Some of them are pretty terrible (I’m looking at you, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla) but there are some that are nothing short of gorgeous masterpieces. To be fair, the majority of those were done by the late Noriyoshi Ōrai, who passed away in 2015. His poster for Godzilla vs. Biollante is, in my opinion, one of the most stunning examples of the entire series, followed by Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla.

I’ve gathered posters from every film in the series so far, including the dreaded 1998 American version done by Roland Emmerich as well as Edwards’ 2014 entry. Not all of the posters are the original one but they are authentic variants which were released close to if not before the release date of the corresponding film. After looking through them, why not tell me your favorites in the comments below?