Godzilla has been leveling cityscapes for more than 70 years, but "Godzilla: Minus One" is easily one of the iconic kaiju's strongest efforts to dare.
The latest installment marries an emotional story set at the end of World War II with fantastic special effects that showcase Godzilla's raw power and earned the team behind them a deserved Oscar for Best Visual Effects. After becoming one of the best movies of 2023, "Godzilla: Minus One" is now making a big impact after dropping on Netflix at the end of May.
If this instant classic of the genre has left you wanting more monster action, here are five more movies to watch after "Godzilla: Minus One" that you can watch online right now.
'The Host'
Directed by Bong Joon-ho (of “Parasite” and “Snowpiercer” fame), “The Host” sees an aquatic monster emerging from South Korea’s Han River and terrorizing the local area, years after an American military pathologist ordered his assistant to dump hundreds of bottles of formaldehyde down the drain.
During the attack, the monster snatches snack bar owner Park Gang-du’s (Song Kang-ho) daughter up and rushes off with her, prompting the clumsy father figure to muster a rescue effort. Like “Godzilla Minus One”, it’s a monster movie with something to say, with a satirical edge and anxiety about humanity’s impact on the environment.
Watch on Prime Video
'Shin Godzilla'
The "Godzilla Minus One" incarnation of everyone's favorite kaiju certainly proves to be a destructive force in Toho's latest movie, but I'd wager this Godzilla isn't quite as unsettling as that which appears in "Shin Godzilla".
Here, Godzilla is reimagined as a more grotesque, ever-evolving creature, its body stretching and mutating and responding to new threats, all while bureaucrats scramble to respond to this unpredictable behemoth. The visual effects might not impress as much as the Oscar-winning work done in "Godzilla Minus One", but "Shin Godzilla" is still well worth a watch and contains the best atomic breath sequence in the franchise to date.
Watch on Crunchyroll
'Grave of the Fireflies'
If you're after another poignant war story, then Studio Ghibli's animated 1988 classic "Grave of the Fireflies" is worth a look... even if it not's about a giant laser-spitting lizard monster.It was written and directed by Isao Takahata, based on the 1967 semi-autobiographical short story of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka.
The story centers on two young war orphan siblings as they fight for survival in the final months of World War II. It's a bleak but deeply moving meditation on war, one which artfully illustrates the terror and pain felt by anyone living through conflict. If "Godzilla Minus One" made you cry, "Grave of the Fireflies" might just break your heart.
'Cloverfield'
Before "The Batman" and his "Planet of the Apes" flicks, Matt Reeves helmed "Cloverfield", a found-footage style sci-fi horror movie that puts us at ground level in a version of New York City that's just become the new stomping ground for a mostly-unseen giant monster.
While it's shot in a different style, "Cloverfield" might well scratch the same itch as "Godzilla Minus One". Mostly, It's a panicked snapshot of the hours immediately after NYC's new resident stepped onto the scene, and it packs in some great shocks along the way.
Watch on Paramount Plus
'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire'
Look, the brilliance of “Godzilla Minus One” is the combination of raw emotion and ultimate destruction, and plenty of our other recommendations offer more of that blend. But sometimes, all you want is to watch some skyscraper-sized creatures stomp their way across a city.
If you've got an appetite for destruction, Adam Wingards’ 2024 follow-up to “Godzilla Vs. Kong” puts the two titular titans front and center. The blockbuster pits Kong and his former nemesis against an agile new simian foe who has been lurking inside the Hollow Earth. What follows is a bombastic, all-out Titan brawl that's sure to please.
