Godzilla is far and away my favorite. Nothing can beat my love with the Big G. While other monsters are close seconds (werewolf i'm looking at you) Godzilla was my first love right behind Spider-man in the seventies and he's stayed that way my whole life.

So I vote for Godzilla!

I think I've gotta go with King Kong. Sure he didn't do the kind of wide-scale damage that we all love in monster movies, but you can't get more iconic than King Kong on top of the Empire State Building grabbing the wing of an attacking bi-plane. That's a movie moment we'll never forget, whereas all of Godzilla's moments tend to blur together for me...

The special effect in King Kong were great!!

King Kong gets my vote.

@cmaxwell: Out of curiosity, which Kong do you like better: the original 50s version or the three hour marathon that was Peter Jackson's?

Predator

I'm another King Kong fan...I like the Peter Jackson version a lot...but I like the 1933 version with Fay Wray even more.

@Clayton ~ It's definitely the original for me. It still amazes me what they could do back then without all the technology we have today!

@cmaxwell: Indeed. More technical is rarely better when it comes to remaking the classics. I wonder, is there anyone out there who likes the PJ King Kong better? casaflamingos, you said you liked the special effects...tell us why!

The 1933 original and Peter Jackson's remake are hard to pit against each other. While the original is a master piece on so many levels that it can't be helped to hold it near and dear to your heart Jackson's in it's own right is breath taking and a cinematic feat!

The original set the bar and I love every minute of it, and while Jackson's was over long and a bit self-indulgent you can't escape the heart (there's that word again) that is beating at the center of that film. I was completely in love with the monster pit as well as the battle between the T-Rexs and Kong but I was also in love with the relationship between Kong and Ms. Darrow. Jackson really pulled on some heart strings there in the final reel of his film.

So while I think both have strengths and weakness I think both are wonderful for what they are as well as when they existed.

I'm happy that I can live in a world that gives me two very distinct visions of the same subject.

Ultimately, Microwaved, I think I agree with you: there should be enough room in film canon for originals and remakes. Yet I couldn't help disliking Jackson's Kong.

Yes, the fight with the T-Rex was amazing, and I also really enjoyed the final scene with the Empire State Building and the bi-planes. But even if the movie has heart, by hour three I've lost mine. Too long, and I would say Black's acting--and Watts' to an extent--really lost me.

gosh, i just love them all!

@mbgrammer: C'mon, you have to have a favorite! Are you really trying to tell us you love Attack of the Crab Monsters as much as King Kong??

I prefer King Kong

godzilla,rodan,king kong,the old b&w movies are the greatest, not the remakes

Godzilla has my support, bar none. While he wasn't the first 'atomic age' monster to grace the screen ("Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" beats it by a year), the original Godzilla (or "Gojira," as the Japanese call him) puts all other giant monsters to shame. Sure, King Kong climbs the Empire State Building, but what does he really destroy besides a train and a T-Rex? Godzilla obliterates Tokyo in the first scene (most of the rest is flashback)! If it's size you want, who can compare Godzilla's skycraper-dwarfing enormity with any other movie monster? With an unmistakable roar and atomic breath, Godzilla gets my vote.

if King Kong is KING, then Mothra should be Queen!!

@MonsterMovieMan: It's interesting that you bring up the age in which the monsters were made. Obviously the atomic age monsters were derived out of fears over nuclear power and the atom bomb.

These days, you have superhero fiction reflecting this to an extent--ie Peter Parker is bitten by a genetically altered spider in Spider-Man--but what is the fear driving monster movies now? In Cloverfield, you have no idea where this thing came from or how it got so huge. It just exists.

Perhaps the scariest thing nowadays is the unknown.

Without a doubt, Godzilla. Just look at him. He's the perfect monster. Dinosaur-esque, powerful in so many ways, and he's just so iconic. When I think monster the first thing that pops into my head is Godzilla.

Godzilla has been my favorite monster since I was a kid growing up in the 60's. Fond memories of Saturday afternoon movies and watching Godzilla trample another city or tear another monster to bits but at the last moment when he could finish it off, a reprieve, a quick look that says "Get out of town and don't come back! " and the always victorious Godzilla, swimming back to Monster Island.

An Icon and camp legend for years, Godzilla knows no equal.
stew

"In Cloverfield, you have no idea where this thing came from or how it got so huge. It just exists."

I think that's the new fear. Like Terrorism, it just exists. We have no control over it and we can't stop it. It just is, it's known yet unknown. And the only thing that can be truly anticipated is that something will happen.

Good gravy--you don't suppose Cloverfield is helping to perpeutate the Bush administration's culture of fear, do you? I may have to reassess how I feel about that movie...

King kong has had many remakes, each with its own little twist, but, none can compare with the original. As far as Godzilla goes, they really can't make a remake. I know they tried and the actors were great, but, it couldnt do justice to the originals. Unfortunately monsters of the black and white era used less technical effects and relied on more of a persons imagination.

I don't think the filmmakers went into Cloverfield thinking they were going to help the administrations Fear tactics, but I do think that the film is highly reactionary to 9/11 and our current administrations politics. Not to mention the world climate we live in. Like so many great monster movies, it's a reflection of our times. I highly recommend you read David J. Skaal's book The Monster Show for a more in depth look at American Culture and "horror" movies and how depression, fear, terror and political climates shape and influence our cinema and horror films in general.

Our current bout with "Torture Porn" is very reactionary to all the violence we see on TV everyday with the War on Terror, the unjust war in Iraq, the prisoners at Abu Grab (please pardon me if I spelled that wrong I'm writing from the top of my head here), school shootings, Columbine. We are so plugged into the world and we see all these terrible things on TV and the internet that we need a release. This films allow us escape for a few moments and we can say to ourselves over and over "it's only a movie", "it's only a movie".

King Kong

Godzilla is one of a kind and IS the king of the monsters.
On a side note.....I thought Cloverfield was amazing and really hit the nail on the head when it comes to great giant monster flicks.

my favorite all time movie is the crawling eye irt gave me chills up my spine it was in black and white they dont show it anymore that is the most scary movie i have ever seen never forgot it

Godzilla, hands down (or should I say, feet down!) He has to be the most recognized monster!

If we're talking favorite movie monster, it's a neck and neck tie for me between Godzilla and Frankenstein's monster. Both shaped my childhood quite a bit, and honestly, I still have a half-dozen semblances of each in my grown-up living room.

But for favorite singular monster movie, I think I go with "An American Werewolf in London."

Are we voting for the BEST monster or the best monster movie? If it is the best monster I'd have to say ALIEN is by far the best monster. It's a tough choice because I enjoy all of the original Universal monsters starting of course with the great Frankenstein who I think was the ONLY monster to be billed as "monster" on the credits.
Predator is also very good but in my never humble opinion that's not a monster but an Alien who goes hunting and the irony is that the Alien monster should have been named "Predator". Everything it does is monstrous, and predatory not so with Predator an obvious alien from a warrior culture.
But I do love them all even the low budget one's which often provide the best entertainment even if you booing the cheap costume a la Roger Corman style.
p.s. Please send me that Godzilla dvd asap please

I've got to say that I've always been a Godzilla fan. He's too awesome for words.
I mean think about it, what other monster has had as much success as him? Not only that, but what monster has had more victories over other monster? He is truly the king of monsters.

Mothra is still my favorite. The Japanese monsters, in general, were pretty darn incredible... and nothing beats the old school fx!

My favorite movie monster if Mothra, followed closely by Godzilla...I did like the American remake as well.

Love Godzilla. We need more monsters trampling cities to smitherines! Of course, a giant ant (Them!) could grace the screen ocassionally.

Always liked the big ape better. They gave him more of a personality, human like emotions. Made you feel sorry for him. The underdog factor.

Go Gamera!!!!

There is not another monster as Godzill. He as the title says king of the monsters. I have beeen a fan since the early 70's and would watch him ravage Tokyo on the afternoon movies. His real porpose of getting rid of all nuculear issues is the greatest sub line in the movies. i will always be a fan to this great leader in movie monsters