To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the first ever Godzilla film, the Barbican Centre, in collaboration with the Japan Foundation, is screening the wildest Japanese monster movies from across seven decades with introductions from historians and experts.

In 1954, the first ever Godzilla, a dark, thrilling movie masterpiece, was released in Japan. It was a box office phenomenon, and launched a franchise that has continued to this day. While these films featuring kaiju (literally “strange beasts”) have long been beloved in Japan, until relatively recently the reception in the west has been inconsistent, where releases with crude dubbing and savage edits to running times, making the stories incoherent, have led to mockery.

Featuring Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah and even a toxic smog monster, this summer kaiju season is full of the same inventiveness and sheer joy that led Godzilla Minus One to win its Oscar.

Line-up
Mothra Vs. Godzilla (7 Aug)
Destroy All Monsters (14 Aug)
Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (18 Aug)
Shin Godzilla (20 Aug)
Godzilla Vs. Hedorah (25 Aug)
Mothra (28 Aug)

For more information and to book your tickets, click here to visit the Barbican's website.