Top 10 Giant Monster Fights

In this corner we have the centaur: a mythical beast that is half-man half-horse and all hate for everything good. His opponent is also half-mammal (actually half lion to be more precise), although this time the top part is an eagle. They go at it for a while, but the Griffin takes a sword to the knee and goes down. Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion effects hit their prime in this epic fantasy and though the fight scene is pretty choppy at some points, the overall effect is highly impressive.

Moving on from an era of stop-motion monster battles, we come to present day with rampant CGI and 3D glasses. In his prolonged trilogy of films based on a beloved book, Peter Jackson found room to fit in this pivotal scene where Bilbo and the gang witness giant rock monsters having a game of dodge ball. The behemoths chuck enormous boulders at each other during a thunderstorm, heedless of the party below. Although the book described the monsters as having a good time, this scene seems more like a full-on battle.

Godzilla and friends put their quarrels aside for a minute in order to save Earth from a horrifying three-headed dragon with the unlikely name of King Ghidorah. Following the gentlemanly rules of engagement, the three gang up on King Ghidorah all at once and pummel him for a while. Then, they go into what can only be called a team combo. Riding on Rodan’s back, Mothra sprays Ghidorah with silk while Godzilla takes the dragon’s tails and throws him off a cliff. Why can’t giant monsters just get along?

You’d think that humanity would’ve learned by now that cloning dinosaurs isn’t the best idea. Alas, a new park opens in “Jurassic World” and scientists cook up a new dino called the Indominus Rex. As the Indominus breaks loose and corners our heroes, they call upon the most badass dinosaur that ever lived to save the day. That’s right, the T-REX! If that doesn’t sound awesome enough, the filmmakers also throw a raptor into the mix for a little tag team action. The Indominus Rex bites the dust as a Mosasaurus takes a bite out of her, resulting in the entire theater roaring in applause.

A giant monster fueled by a young girl’s rage seeks to destroy Gamera. Now that the exposition is out of the way, let’s get to what we really want to see: two mega titans taking each other on in a no-holds-barred brawl to the death. Because the title of the movie starts with the name Gamera, you can place your bets on who’s going to win. Although Iris gets in some pretty good hits, Gamera is victorious with the old fiery fist technique and all of Japan rejoices… until more monsters show up, that is.

The word alpha is used pretty freely throughout this rousing sequel and the Bewilderbeasts are about just as alpha as you can get. This whole sequence draws comparison to a fantasy epic like “The Lord of the Rings” with the Bewilderbeasts at the center of everything. It’s a literal battle between good and evil as the biggest of dragons compete for the allegiance of all dragon-kind. While the two are almost equally matched, it’s the dark one – belonging to Drago Bludvist - that ultimately reins supreme. Hiccup and his friends might have lost this battle, but the war is far from over.

When his brother is killed in a clash with a Kaiju known as Knifehead, Jaeger pilot Raleigh Becket is paired with a new partner to fight giant monsters. For their first battle, Gypsy Danger fights a monstrous, acid spitting, winged creature dubbed Otachi. The fight is about as grand and realistic as CGI can be as we see the two foes destroy buildings, cars and even a boat. When Gypsy Danger’s pilots realize their robot comes fully equipped with a badass sword, the tables are turned and Otachi is halved mid-air. Hell yeah!

On Skull Island, it’s kill or be killed since most of the population consists of giant monsters. That can be pretty entertaining, as long as you’re not a damsel in distress. And here, King Kong does battle with the most fearsome of dinosaurs, the T-Rex. Because it’s 1933, the result is two stop-motion animated models throwing each other around with King Kong using a classic judo flip. Then in a brutal K.O move, he cracks T-Rex’s jaws right open. While Peter Jackson’s updated version of the fight might be more thrilling by today's standards, this was pretty darn thrilling for the ‘30s and still impresses today.

When some ancient stuff is gassed with a dangerous formula, a new giant monster is born. When will Japan learn? This monster, aptly named Destoroyah, meets Godzilla’s offspring and the two have at it. Destroyah comes out victorious and Godzilla senior vows revenge. This is where the real fight begins! Although Destoroyah eventually grows bigger than the king of monsters, that doesn’t bother Godzilla. He uses his atomic breath to weaken Destroyah and the Japanese military take all the credit. Godzilla then quietly explodes and his resurrected son continues the family legacy. Doesn’t make a ton of sense, but that battle was still rad!

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

- King Kong vs. Godzilla
“King Kong vs. Godzilla” (1962)

- Godzilla vs. MUTOs
“Godzilla” (2014)

- Ymir vs. Elephant
“20 Million Miles to Earth” (1957)

- Abomination vs. Hulk
“The Incredible Hulk” (2008)

The makers of this film really knocked it out of the park when it came to titling. When the world decides it’s had enough of cities getting demolished, they ship all their Kaiju to the appropriately named Monsterland. Dinos, insects, dragons, and of course Godzilla show up to trade punches. Some aliens show up and things get a bit wacky, but all monsters must team up in the end to fight the dreaded King Ghidorah. It’s like Toho's equivalent of “The Avengers,” resulting in the greatest giant monster fight of all time.