“Godzilla Minus One” is a global success making millions of dollars in the Box Office. While G-fans treasure this movie deeply, “Minus One” also brought the attention of many movie goers who are new to the Godzilla franchise. If you’re afraid you won’t understand “Godzilla Minus One,” First of all understand that you don’t need to be a fan to watch “Godzilla Minus One” because it’s a fresh start to the franchise, showing his origins really well. But if you’re still freaking out about not understanding it, then let me give you my list of top 5 Godzilla movies to watch before you watch “Godzilla Minus One.”
#5: “Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack” (a.k.a GMK) (2001)
This movie may seem different in appearance from “Minus One,” as Godzilla fights monsters rather than being by himself, Godzilla’s origins are different, etc., but, Godzilla is evil like in “Minus One,” and it’s important to know that this is where the idea of Godzilla’s atomic breath causing a mushroom cloud after it’s let out came from. While “Minus One” will still be an entertaining watch if you didn’t know that that’s where the mushroom cloud aspect came from, it’ll show you how Godzilla movies influence one another. That could also be said for the last shot of “Minus One” where it shows one of Godzilla’s chunks of flesh floating in the water, slowly regenerating, which is a reference to the end of GMK where Godzilla’s heart is still beating at the bottom of the sea.
#4: “Godzilla vs King Ghidorah” (1991)
This is another movie that may appear completely different from Minus One, but this movie has the exact same origin story as presented in Minus One. Godzilla being in about 38 movies as of 2025 has varied in terms of origins. In the first movie, Godzilla was living under a deep under water sea cavern and being set free after the atomic bomb destroyed it. In GMK, he’s a demon that possessed by the ghosts of those who died in WWII. In “Shin Godzilla,” he’s and ancient under water sea creature that mutated after feeding on nuclear waste dumping after the devastating earthquake and tsunami attack in Tokyo in 2011. In “Godzilla vs King Ghidorah,” Godzilla was a regular looking dinosaur named Godzillasaurus. After the end of the dinosaurs, Godzillasaurus was able to seek shelter in the ocean. He went into a deep hypersleep and was awoken and mutated from the atomic bomb. Why does this concept matter? It’s because it’s the same exact origin story that Godzilla Minus One presents. Though it is slightly changed a bit. In Godzilla Minus One, Godzilla was awoken from the after shot after the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He appeared on Odo Island pre-mutated, and later gets mutated in 1946 due to nuclear bomb testing in the Pacific.
#3: “Godzilla 2000” (1999)
Godzilla 2000 is a must see Godzilla movie with great actors, great monster designs, great effects etc.It also holds something that “Minus One” references in the film. Godzilla is famous for being immune to conventional weapons that is seen through out the franchise. In “Godzilla 2000,” the movie explains why Godzilla’s able to resist such behavior. And the truth is, he’s not. Missiles pierce through Godzilla’s skin. The reason why Godzilla doesn’t die when being shot at is due to an ability called, “Organizer G-1,” which results in Godzilla being able to heal very quickly after harsh wounds. This plays a role in Godzilla Minus One, as Godzilla is presented as a very weak incarnation of Godzilla, getting injured several times but healing rapidly. Though “Organizer G-1” isn’t mentioned in Minus One, it is referenced several times throughout the movie.
#2: “The Return of Godzilla” (1984)
After the 1975 movie, “Terror of MechaGodzilla,” Godzilla laid dormant for almost 10 years. This was due to a lack of interest in Kaiju movies in Japan. It was also do to some political issues at the time. But 1984 marked the 30th anniversary of Godzilla, so Toho studios decided to bring back the king of the monsters with “The Return of Godzilla.” It was fresh start to a new era, ignoring all the previous movies, except for the first one. The movie brought Godzilla back to his original roots making him an unstoppable force of nature and a metaphor for nuclear destruction. The film would use it’s usual stunt man walking around in a suit, but it would also bring new technology to the franchise like animatronics for some shots. This film shows Godzilla as a major threat to humanity just like in Minus One.
#1: “Gojira” (1954)
There’s no better way to end this list than to end it with the best of them all, “Gojira” Coming out at the era of the Universal Monsters, Gojira is a Japanese’s take of the American movie monster genre that was booming at the time. Godzilla was introduced to the world as a terrifying, unstoppable force of nature that shook Japanese audiences when it was released. Godzilla Minus One takes many influences of the original, and even re-creates some of the same shots. “Gojira” is a dark, eerie film that presents a terrifying concept of the aftermath of the atomic bombs attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And once you watch Gojira, than you’ll know what to expect for Godzilla Minus One.
While some might have different recommendations of Goji-movies to watch before Minus One, this list shows a hand full of the films that are referenced in “Godzilla Minus One.” Though there are many references to older Godzilla movies through out the film, you don’t have to be a Godzilla fan to see” Godzilla Minus One,” it’s still worth checking out some of the older movies to get a sense of how the monster has evolved over the span of 70 years.
