Rodan

Toho Studios made a few monster pictures before Rodan, but only two kaiju films, both starring Gojira. Rodan, directed by Godzilla director Inoshira Honda was Toho's second big screen kaiju, and the first one in color.

Honda was really on a roll with these early giant monster films, by keeping the plot simple, focusing on the human aspects in the first third, the military planning in the second third, and the all-out battle in the last third, he had a formula that pretty much worked over and over. Rodan is no exception.

What more is there to say? Human folly awakens giant prehistoric monsters. Monsters attack. Army fights back. What, you were expecting Shakespeare? Well... actually, come to think of it, the ending of Rodan is kind of like... oh, just go watch it already!