Photo courtesy of Bay Area Film Events. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
Source: Bay Area Film Events
Official Site: https://www.godzillafest.com/
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SFGodzillafest
Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sfgodzillafest
Bay Area Film Events is back with two great Godzilla in San Francisco for 2026!
Photo courtesy of Bay Area Film Events. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
In partnership with CinemaSFBay, the annual Godzillafest Film Festival returns July 17-19 at the Balboa Theater, with a weekend of 22 different monster movies rotating on two theater screens. The lineup includes anniversary screenings of the original GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS; EBIRAH, HORROR OF THE DEEP; GODZILLA VS KING GHIDORAH; and the South Korean smash THE HOST, plus the black-and-white editions of SHIN GODZILLA and the Oscar-winning GODZILLA MINUS ONE, such classics as DESTROY ALL MONSTERS, GODZILLA (2014), GODZILLA VS MECHAGODZILLA, GODZILLA VS DESTOROYAH and rarely seen gems like GODZILLA 1985!
And, never fear, collectors... the theater lobby will host toy and art vendors with the latest kaiju goods!
GODZILLAFEST FILM FESTIVAL 2026
The Balboa Theater
(415) 221-3117
3630 Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA 94121
Balboa Godzillafest Page: https://www.balboamovies.com/godzilla-fest-2026
TICKETS
Fans can click on the movie titles listed below to order tickets for a particular film now! Prices are General Admission: $15.00, Seniors (Over 60) and Children (Under 11): $12.50.
All-Day Passes are also available that get attendees into any screening on that day. All-Day passes are $30.00 each.
And there is also a Full Event Pass for $60.00 that gives attendees access to all screenings over the three-day festival.
And don't forget... the Godzillafest Convention with guests from the Toho and Monsterverse films, dealers and exhibit rooms, a game room, panels and presentations, and more comes to San Francisco September 18-20! Click HERE for complete details.
Friday July 17, 2026
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Photo courtesy of Rialto Pictures. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS (1956): 2:00-3:55pm (English Dub)
70th Anniversary Screening of the Americanized Version Starring Raymond Burr! Ishiro Honda's GODZILLA is the roaring granddaddy of all monster movies. It’s also a remarkably humane and melancholy drama, made in Japan at a time when the country was reeling from nuclear attack and H-bomb testing in the Pacific. Its rampaging radioactive beast, the poignant embodiment of an entire population’s fears, became a beloved international icon of destruction, spawning more than thirty sequels.
This 1956 version, codirected and edited by Terry Morse, is the famous American reworking of the original 1954 production with new material staring Western actors, including Raymond Burr (PERRY MASON) as reporter Steve Martin.
Photo courtesy of Toho. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
GODZILLA 2000 (1999): 4:30-6:35pm (English Dub)
Michael Schlesinger Memorial Screening! Get ready to crumble! A group called the Godzilla Prediction Network (GPN) is actively tracking Godzilla as he makes landfall. Besides trying to study the monster, part of their goal is trying to create patterns to minimize damage. The government, through the Crisis Control Intelligence (CCI) agency, is attempting a more active role through the development of weapons such as the Full Metal Missile Launchers.
Matters become complicated, though, as CCI is also examining a giant meteor that is discovered in the Ibaragi Prefecture. The mysterious rock mass begins to levitate on its own and eventually pursues Godzilla. Confronting the King of the Monsters, who blasts apart the rock with its heat ray to reveal an alien ship beneath, a new alien species is uncovered. The extraterrestrials then begin seeking intelligence from Tokyo's technology and something from within Godzilla's cells...
This special screening of GODZILLA 2000 is held in memory of Michael Schlesinger (1950-2025), the producer who supervised the American edit and English dubbing for the film.
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60th Anniversary Screening! The first Godzilla film directed by Jun Fukuda, who would go on to direct four more, is fast-paced and light in tone, and builds to a riveting race-against-time finale.
On a secluded island in the South Seas, a group of castaways stumble upon a paramilitary organization whose nefarious nuclear activities threaten the world at large— and set the stage for kaiju clashes involving Godzilla, Mothra, and the giant crustacean Ebirah.
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GODZILLA 1985 (1985): 2:30-4:15pm (English Dub)
Rare Screening of the Americanized Version Starring Raymond Burr! Thirty years after the original GODZILLA and nine years after the final Showa-era film, the King of the Monsters was resurrected with this impressive reboot, which successfully inaugurated a new era in the franchise’s history. Ignoring the storyline established across the Showa-era films except for the first one, this film reestablished the iconic kaiju as a force of fierce destruction. Godzilla wreaks destruction on Japan and along the way inflames tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, threatening to bring the world to the brink of nuclear war.
The American edit of 1984’s THE RETURN OF GODZILLA — now rarely seen — brought back Raymond Burr to reprise his role as Mr. Martin from 1956's GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS.
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GHIDORAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER (1964): 5:00-6:50pm (In Japanese With English Subtitles)
After laying waste to an alien civilization on Venus, the three-headed, lightning-emitting space monster Ghidorah brings its insatiable thirst for destruction to Earth, where fierce foes Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra must join forces in order to deal with the unprecedented threat.
An electrifying screen debut for Godzilla’s archenemy King Ghidorah, this film also marks a turning point for the series, as the first time the King of the Monsters acts to protect the planet.
Saturday July 18, 2026
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GODZILLA VS MEGALON (1973): 11:00am-12:45pm (English Dub)
Nuclear testing unleashes mayhem on the undersea kingdom of Seatopia, causing a series of environmental disasters that nearly wipes out the underground kindom of Seatopia. To exact revenge, Seatopia unleashes Megalon, a gigantic beetle with the ability to fire ray beams and napalm bombs.
Meanwhile, scientist Goro Ibuki creates Jet Jaguar, a flying robot with a built-in moral compass. After Jet Jaguar turns to Godzilla for help, Seatopia brings the space cyborg Gigan to Earth. The tag team matchup of Godzilla and Jet Jaguar versus Megalon and Gigan will decide the world’s fate.
Actor Katsuhiko Sasaki, who plays Jet Jaguar inventor Goro Ibuki in GODZILLA VS MEGALON, will be a guest at the Godzillafest convention this September!
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GODZILLA VS MECHAGODZILLA (1974): 1:00-3:05pm (English Dub)
Godzilla’s evil twin Mechagodzilla first reared its head in this Jun Fukuda–directed film. A robot designed by aliens to conquer Earth, the enduringly popular villain has since been resurrected by Toho Studios several times, tangled with both Godzilla and Kong in the Monsterverse, and even in popped up in Steven Spielberg's READY PLAYER ONE. With the help of earnest direction, spectacular pyrotechnics, and guest appearances by veteran genre actors, this film recaptures the feel of the sixties Godzilla movies.
Photo courtesy of Toho. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA (1975): 3:30-5:10pm (In Japanese With English Subtitles)
In Godzilla’s final entry of the Showa era, aliens retrieve Mechagodzilla’s remains and rebuild it with the aid of an unhinged biologist (GODZILLA's Akihiko Hirata), in hopes of defeating Godzilla for possession of planet Earth. This film marked the return of director Ishiro Honda, who steers the King of the Monsters back into grim territory, interweaving an alien-invasion plot with a tale of tragic romance.
Actor Katsuhiko Sasaki, who plays the lead role of Akira Ichinose in TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA, will be a guest at the Godzillafest convention this September!
Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
GODZILLA TOKYO SOS (2003): 5:00-6:50pm (In Japanese With English Subtitles)
A year after the battle between Godzilla and Kiryu (aka Mechagodzilla), Japan is completing repairs on the damaged mech. Meanwhile, Mothra's Shobijin visit an old acquaintance, Doctor Shinichi Chujo (Hiroshi Koizumi, MOTHRA, MOTHRA VS GODZILLA), to warn that the dead should not be disturbed and the bones of the original Godzilla, which were used to construct Kiryu, should be returned to the sea. The message comes with a ray of hope: that Mothra will fight Godzilla on Japan's behalf if the request is met. However, if Japan ignores the request, then Mothra will once again become an enemy of humanity. Japan's government agrees that Kiryu's creation raises a moral question. They refuse to decommission it, though, feeling that it is the last hope against Godzilla.
Then Japan realizes Godzilla's arrival is imminent, raising into question who will fight who should Kiryu and then Mothra arrive...
Photo courtesy of Toho. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
GODZILLA MINUS ONE/MINUS COLOR (2023/2024): 8:00-10:20pm (In Japanese With English Subtitles)
Catch Takashi Yamazaki's Oscar-Winning Hit On The Big Screen One More Time Before GODZILLA MINUS ZERO Opens This November! After failing to carry out his suicide mission, disgraced kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima returns to ravaged postwar Japan to find his parents dead and country destroyed. Having lost both his honor and his family, he must try to slowly rebuild alongside the thousands orphaned by the Tokyo air raids—including a woman named Noriko and her adopted child, whom he invites into the ramshackle remains of his home. But as these struggling survivors begin to reclaim a semblance of stability, a new and unprecedented threat appears on the horizon—a rampaging, colossal creature from the deep that their defeated nation cannot defend against. With no hope of aid from the occupying forces, can a ragtag militia of misfits band together to thwart this titanic terror? This international smash won the Academy Award for Best Special Effects.
MINUS ONE/MINUS COLOR, the monochrome film version of GODZILLA MINUS ONE, was created to recapture the look and feel of the original GODZILLA. Experience even more horror in black and white!
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DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (1968): 10:00-11:45am (English Dub)
The original Godzilla team of director Ishiro Honda, special-effects supervisor Eiji Tsuburaya, and composer Akira Ifukube reunited for this kaiju extravaganza, which features no fewer than eleven monsters.
Set in the remote future of 1999, when the people of Earth have achieved world peace by confining destructive creatures to Monsterland (until an alien race intervenes), DESTROY ALL MONSTERS mounts a thrilling display of innovative action sequences and memorable images that have made it a favorite for generations of viewers.
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ALL MONSTERS ATTACK (aka GODZILLA'S REVENGE, 1969): 12:15-1:40pm (English Dub)
Director Ishiro Honda returned again for the first Godzilla movie expressly for children. Economizing by reusing effects shots from other films in the series, ALL MONSTERS ATTACK tells the story of Ichiro, a lonely latchkey kid who finds solace in his dreams of befriending Minilla, the titular progeny of SON OF GODZILLA, whose parent is also often absent. In this thoughtful, human-scale story, boy and monster learn together what it means to grow up.
Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. © 2006 Chungeorahm Film
THE HOST (2006): 2:00-4:15pm (In Korean With English Subtitles)
20th Anniversary Screening! Careless American military personnel dump chemicals into South Korea's Han River. Several years later, a creature emerges from the tainted waters and sinks its ravenous jaws into local residents. When the creature abducts his daughter (Go Ah-sung), a bumbling vendor (Song Kang-ho) and his dysfunctional family decide that they are the only ones who can save her.
Written and directed by internationally acclaimed, Oscar-winning filmmaker Bong Joon-ho (PARASITE, SNOWPIERCER), THE HOST was inspired by the director's love for Godzilla and other movie monsters... and something he had witnessed first-hand in 1987: "When I was in high school, I lived in in an apartment complex near Chamshil and could see the intersection of Chamshil Bridge from my room’s window. I was just a young man, so I’d often blankly stare from my window for a few moments. One day, I saw a strange black moving object climb one of the bridge’s pillars and then fall in the water; that became the basic idea for this film. That day I promised myself to make a film about this if I became a director."
Featuring stunning special effects courtesy of a creative partnership between Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop (KING KONG, THE LORD OF THE RINGS) and San Francisco The Orphanage (HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE, SIN CITY), THE HOST is equal parts creature-feature thrill ride, dark comedy and poignant human drama.
Photo courtesy of Toho. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
GODZILLA FINAL WARS (2004): 4:30-6:50pm (In Japanese With English Subtitles)
Decades ago, Godzilla battled the flying warship Gotengo until the King of the Monsters was buried in the ice caps of Antarctica. In the near future, humanity has decided to halt all wars to battle the hordes of kaiju infesting the planet. This leads to the creation of the Earth Defense Force (EDF). The group builds giant warships and uses a team of genetically altered humanoid mutants to battle the kaiju. While they have some success, soon monsters emerge all over the world at the same time. Rodan, Anguirus, King Caesar, Kumonga, Kamacuras, Ebirah, Zilla and Hedorah all appear in different countries. Their assaults are interrupted as the monsters mysteriously disappear. This is followed from the appearance of a group of aliens called the Xiliens. They take credit for dispatching the monsters and reveal that they need Earth's help. The aliens need to stop Gorath, a giant star on a collision course with Earth. However, not all is what it seems with the Xiliens in this 50th anniversary Godzilla movie.
Sunday July 19, 2026
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GODZILLA VS GIGAN (1972): 11:00am-12:45pm (English Dub)
An alien invasion prompts a tag-team battle between Godzilla and Anguirus, the planet protectors, and King Ghidorah and the new monster Gigan, a cyborg with scythe-like claws, an abdominal buzz saw, winglike back fins, and pincerlike mandibles. In this action-packed film, which veers from the sublime to the ridiculous, the cockroachlike aliens — disguised as humans — use Gigan and King Ghidorah as weapons of conquest in their plot to take over a contaminated Earth.
Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
GODZILLA VS DESTOROYAH (1995): 1:30-3:30pm (In Japanese With English Subtitles)
Godzilla, his body burning, lays siege to Hong Kong. It's discovered that the King of the Monsters is on the verge of a meltdown. If Godzilla reaches a critical temperature, the resulting detonation will breach straight to the Earth's core and have a cataclysmic result.
Meanwhile, studies on a process called Micro Oxygen, a possible solution to help with food shortages, unleash strange crustacean-like creatures that can merge and grow into a giant monster. And this new creature seems to have a connection to the Oxygen Destroyer itself that killed the original Godzilla in 1954.
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. © 2014 Legendary and Warner Bros. Entertainment. Godzilla TM & © TOHO CO., LTD. MONSTERVERSE TM © Legendary
Visionary director Gareth Edwards (STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE, JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH) unleashes the epic action adventure GODZILLA from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, an epic rebirth to Toho’s iconic character. Starring an international ensemble cast led by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Oscar nominee Ken Watanabe (THE LAST SAMURAI, INCEPTION), Elizabeth Olsen, Oscar winner Juliette Binoche (THE ENGLISH PATIENT) and Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins (BLUE JASMINE) with Oscar nominee David Strathairn (GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.) and BREAKING BAD's Bryan Cranston, GODZILLA is a powerful story of human courage and reconciliation in the face of titanic forces of nature -- when the awe-inspiring creature rises to restore balance as humanity stands defenseless. This spectacular adventure pits the world's most famous monster against malevolent creatures that, bolstered by humanity's scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.
Actor TJ Storm, the motion capture performer for Godzilla in GODZILLA (2014) and its sequel GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019), will be a guest at the Godzillafest convention this September!
Photo courtesy of GKIDS. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
SHIN GODZILLA: ORTHOchromatic (2016/2023): 7:00-9:15pm (In Japanese With English Subtitles)
10th Anniversary Screening! Something has surfaced in Tokyo Bay. As the Prime Minister of Japan pleads with the public to remain calm, a horrific creature of tremendous size makes landfall in the city, leaving death and destruction in its wake. Then it evolves. The government assembles a motley task force to combat the monster when an envoy from the US Department of State delivers a folder of classified documents. On its cover is written “GODZILLA.”
In SHIN GODZILLA: ORTHOchromatic, directors Hideaki Anno (NEON GENESIS EVANGELION Franchise, LOVE & POP) and Shinji Higuchi's (BULLET TRAIN EXPLOSION, SHIN ULTRAMAN) 2016 masterpiece is reborn in stunning black and white. Released in Japan in 2023 in the leadup to Godzilla’s 70th anniversary, this version adds new dimensions to the film’s visual impact by rendering it in orthochromatic (“ortho” for short) black-and-white, a type of monochrome inspired by the texture of traditional orthochromatic film, characterized by starker contrasts and more pronounced blacks. The results are awe-inspiring and presents SHIN GODZILLA as never seen before.
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SON OF GODZILLA (1967): 10:00-11:45am (English Dub)
In director Jun Fukuda’s second Godzilla outing, secret weather-control experiments create a radioactive storm, and Godzilla must rescue monster hatchling Minilla from the giant mutant mantises called Kamacuras that result.
Featuring a buoyant score by Masaru Sato and impressive wirework by special-effects director Sadamasa Arikawa, SON OF GODZILLA is lively, comic, and timely in its addressing of contemporary anxiety about worldwide food shortages.
Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
GODZILLA VS KING GHIDORAH (1991): 12:00-2:00pm (English Dub)
35th Anniversary Screening! The eighteenth film in the Godzilla franchise puts a time-traveling twist on the King of the Monsters’ ever-evolving mythology as nefarious actors from the future go back in time to engineer the rise of the three-headed dragon King Ghidorah, erase Godzilla from history, and stop Japan’s economic ascent.
Less serious in tone than the other Heisei-era films that preceded it, this wildly plotted installment recaptures some of the Showa era silliness and tops things off with a rousing final battle between Godzilla and the metallic Mecha-King Ghidorah.
Actor Katsuhiko Sasaki, who plays Professor Mazaki in GODZILLA VS KING GHIDORAH, will be a guest at the Godzillafest convention this September!
Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
GODZILLA AND MOTHRA: THE BATTLE FOR EARTH (aka GODZILLA VS MOTHRA, 1992): 2:30-4:30pm (English Dub)
The King of the Monsters reunites with one of his most beloved sidekicks/adversaries for a Heisei era rematch. After a meteorite crashes into Earth, it awakens the slumbering Godzilla and results in strong currents that unearth Mothra's egg on Infant Island. Due to the damage to the area, an expedition is sent to assess the island. While there, they find both Mothra's egg and two small Cosmos, members of an age-old civilization that once lived on Earth.
The Cosmos had constructed a weather device, controlling the climate. This led to the birth of the Black Mothra: Battra. Mothra defended the Cosmos from Battra, but only a few Cosmos survived the conflict. Unfortunately, the meteorite has awoken Battra as well. The creature arrives in Japan, causing massive damage before it vanishes.
Meanwhile, Mothra's egg is being taken back to Japan. The trip is sidetracked as Godzilla arrives. Sensing the danger, the Mothra larva hatches from the egg and the two kaiju begin to fight. The pair are interrupted by Battra, though, who proves to be a formidable match for Godzilla...
Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
GODZILLA VS SPACEGODZILLA (1994): 5:00-7:00pm (In Japanese With English Subtitles)
An extraterrestrial being resembling Godzilla is quickly approaching Earth. The alien creature, dubbed SpaceGodzilla, ends up landing on Birth Island, attacking the child monster Little Godzilla. It's not long until the King of the Monsters arrives to defend the smaller Godzilla but is beaten back by the alien creature. SpaceGodzilla then heads off for Fukuoka, locking in on the city's tower as a power source. Meanwhile, Moguera, a new super mech created by G-Force, is dispatched to deal with the monsters as Godzilla heads toward the Japanese mainland after his extraterrestrial adversary.
About Bay Area Film Events
Bay Area Film Events brings shows, events and film festivals to theaters throughout the Bay Area and Northern California... from Godzilla to The Beatles, Bond to The Three Stooges, music to comedy, BAFE presents films, bands, guests and more.
Bay Area Film Events has welcomed Richard Kiel, Judith O'Dea, Julie Adams, Ben Chapman, Russ Tamblyn, Marta Kristen and even stars from Japan like Hiroshi Koizumi, Akira Kubo, Tsutomu Kitagawa, Shinichi Wakasa and Hiroshi Maruyama.
Venues we've worked with include The Castro Theatre, Auctions by the Bay, The Grand Lake, The Historic Bal Theatre, The Del Mar, The Crest, The Cerrito and AT&T Park in conjunction with the San Francisco Giants.
As we continue to plan new and innovative shows, we invite fans along for the ride. Come out and enjoy films in theaters, the way they were meant to be seen and make new memories with us!