My ranking:
1st place - Gojira 1954
This film brought out the horror Japan suffered from the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Also iirc Gojira was also a metaphor for the Castle Bravo bomb and the Lucky Dragon vessel incident. The story involving the island inhabitants, Dr. Serizawa, the woman who was supposed to marry Dr. Serizawa, the other man who she actually loved, the government, the military was a very good story and there was no cheesiness (like most of the later films in the Showa era) and the horror was shown very well. I remember one film critic at the time saying that 'the movie felt that the events were really happening' and I agree, that was part of what made it special. Also attention to detail was put on Gojira's design, his dorsal plates were supposed to represent Japan's mountains and his head was supposed to represent the mushroom cloud shape. Even with a hard-working team behind the scenes and a man sweating at a high temperature in a rubber Gojira suit, the scenes worked well. There were some errors like the actual time when the trilobites appeared first on Earth but the errors were unimportant errors. The film being in black-and-white did improve the horror aspect. Having the Oxygen Destroyer superweapon as the only thing capable of stopping the gargantuan juggernaut that is Gojira was a good part of the story. Gojira's design and idea copying part of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is a downside though but there is originality in Gojira 1954.
2nd place - Godzilla 2000: Millennium
Toho gave this Godzilla had dark green skin, instead of the usual grey/black skin, which is a change that I don't particularly like but it is not too bothersome to me since the green still looks almost like grey/black. This Godzilla also had pink dorsal plates, instead of the usual white dorsal plates, which is another change that I didn't like that much but I'm ok with it. This Godzilla also had an orange atomic breath instead of the usual white or blue atomic breath which is another change that I'm not fond of but I'm ok with. I think Toho did these changes to show to the makers of the highly criticized Godzilla 1998 Tristar film that Godzilla can be modernized yet done in a better way. There are positives for this film that made me rank it 2nd best. Godzilla doesn't die at the end which is good, I like Godzilla staying alive (yes I know that Godzilla dies in the 1954 movie but the 1954 movie was supposed to show a moral lesson and it did it well so Godzilla dying in the 1954 movie is fine). The story and the characters were exciting, the scenes were done well, Godzilla was shown as an unstoppable and indestructible force and that's how it should be. The concept with the aliens was a good one, even though it is not that realistic, and Orga's design seems to copy the Star Wars Rancor design and I think copying is not right but it wasn't an outright copy...it was inspiration. The 'Godzilla is in all of us' line is not a line which I like or agree with so that's another negative to this movie.
3rd place - Godzilla vs Megaguirus (2000)
A downside to this movie was that the science used for the black hole calculations were not scientifically correct. Other than that, the movie was exciting and enjoyable. Megaguirus and the Meganula have a cool design and a cool concept. The fight between Godzilla and Megaguirus was good but the jump Godzilla made looked kinda awkward. Godzilla was again shown as an unbeatable creature which is nice to see and its nice to see that it didn't die in the end.
4th place - Godzilla GMK 2001
Sadly this Godzilla does get its body destroyed in the movie, however there is a beating heart in the ocean which implies that Godzilla will regenerate fully again one day and live again which is a good ending of warning (like the final words spoken by the doctor in the 1954 film, 'another Godzilla will come if humanity doesn't stop its ways'). This Godzilla was like a zombie possessed by the souls of the dead victims of World War 2, that was a good idea. Godzilla's evil behaviour and rampage in Tokyo reminds me of his behaviour in Gojira 1954 which is good. The battles against Baragon, Mothra and King Ghidorah are good, although I don't like the idea of King Ghidorah being a hero who is shorter than Godzilla (King Ghidorah should be taller than Godzilla and he fits better as a villain against Godzilla).
5th place - Godzilla 1985
This Godzilla movie (along with the Godzilla GMK 2001 movie and Shin Godzilla) is the closest in resemblance to the original Gojira 1954 movie. The horror in this movie is very good. Yes, many monsters fighting each other can look silly sometimes so to have Godzilla wrecking things solo is better to see (just like in the 1954 original). Godzilla is again near-indestructible in this movie which is good to see and his behaviour is similar to the Godzilla from 1954. I don't like Godzilla's screams when it falls into the volcano because its loud screams make it sound weak and scared whereas the Godzilla from 1954 did not show fear and I like the personality of the one from 1954 more. I don't like the idea of cadmium missiles being able to hurt Godzilla (even though the idea is an interesting and original one) because Godzilla should be able to tank a lot of stuff and it is better when his only vulnerability is something extraordinary like the Oxygen Destroyer.
6th place - Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
This movie was exciting because a large number of monsters came in this movie. A downside perhaps would be that each monster's power was not respected as much as it should have been and Godzilla was able to swat many of the monsters like flies even though an argument could be made that monsters like Anguirus, Ebirah, Gigan, Hedorah, King Caesar, Rodan should've been more powerful than they were portrayed in the movie. Godzilla is shown as unbeatable and he doesn't die in the end which are good things to see. King Ghidorah's design is a departure from the norm and this design has KG with four legs and two wings instead of the usual two legs and two wings. It is a bit sad that they didn't adopt the traditional King Ghidorah design. Regardless, this new design does not look bad, it looks pretty cool actually.
7th place - Godzilla vs Biollante (1989)
This story is dark and exciting and it is a good story. Godzilla survives in the end which is good. The addition of psychic powers in this movie was a good thing. Biollante is a tragic figure because it is part of the dead daughter of a scientist who wanted to make her alive again but the monstrosity Biollante developed instead (and this story makes me think that the makers of the 1st Pokemon movie copied this story somewhat since Mewtwo's creator also had a dead daughter and he also wanted to bring her back to life...also Biollante was created from the all-powerful Godzilla's cells whereas Mewtwo was created from the all-powerful Mew's cells). Having Godzilla as a threat to Tokyo is good to see.
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