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 2025!
Photo courtesy of Bay Area Film Events. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
The annual Godzillafest Film Festival returns July 18-20 at the Balboa Theater, with a weekend of 20 different kaiju and tokusatsu films rotating on two movie screens. 2025 is an anniversary year for many classic kaiju movies, so Godzillafest is pleased to present anniversary screenings of GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN, INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER, FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD, GAMERA: THE GIANT MONSTER GAMERA, TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA, GODZILLA VS DESTOROYAH, and GAMERA: GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE. The festival also includes two screenings of the Oscar-winning GODZILLA MINUS ONE, plus such classics as the original GODZILLA and rarely seen gems like THE H-MAN and ATRAGON!
And, never fear, collectors... the theater lobby will host toy and art vendors with the latest kaiju goods!
GODZILLAFEST FILM FESTIVAL 2025
The Balboa Theater
(415) 221-3117
3630 Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA 94121
Balboa Godzillafest Page: https://www.balboamovies.com/godzilla-fest-2025
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 (Under11): $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, a dealers' room, a game room, panels and presentations, film screenings, and more comes to San Francisco September 19-21! Click HERE for complete details.
Friday July 18, 2025
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Photo courtesy of Rialto Pictures. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
GODZILLA (1954): 4:00-5:55pm (Subbed)
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.
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GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN (1955): 6:30-8:25pm (Subbed)
70th Anniversary Screening! Toho Studios followed the enormous success of the original GODZILLA with this sequel, efficiently directed by Motoyoshi Oda as a straight-ahead monsters-on-the-loose drama. An underrated standout among the Showa Godzilla films, GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN introduces the monster-versus-monster format that would dominate the remainder of the series, pitting Godzilla against the ferocious, spiny Anguirus as the kaiju wreak havoc in the streets of Osaka in a series of elaborate set pieces that succeed in upping the ante for destruction.
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FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD (1965): 4:30-6:20pm (Dubbed)
60th Anniversary Screening! The legend of Mary Shelley’s mythic monster gets an offbeat update in this wild and weird, East-meets-West kaiju oddity. Fifteen years after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, an American scientist (Nick Adams) discovers a strange, feral boy running wild in the city. Immune to radiation and rapidly growing to gargantuan size, the boy is revealed to be nothing less than the mutant spawn of the Frankenstein monster—and he may be the only one who can stop the rampaging prehistoric beast, Baragon.
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INVASION OF ASTRO MONSTER (Monster Zero) (1965): 7:00-9:00pm (Dubbed)
60th Anniversary Screening! Aliens from Planet X make an irresistible offer to the people of Earth: let them borrow Godzilla and Rodan to help defeat King Ghidorah, and in return they will provide a cure for all known human disease. But the aliens’ duplicity is soon revealed, as they deploy all three monsters in their quest to conquer Earth. This retro romp, featuring American star Nick Adams, stands as a high point in the Showa Godzilla series.
Saturday July 19, 2025
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Photo courtesy of Kadokawa. © KADOKAWA
GAMERA: THE GIANT MONSTER (1965): 11:00am-12:35pm (Dubbed)
60th Anniversary Screening! A nuclear explosion in the far north unleashes Gamera, the legendary flying turtle, from his sleep under the ice. In his search for energy, Gamera wreaks havoc over the entire world, and it's up to the scientists, assisted by a young boy with a strange sympathetic link to the monster, to put a stop to Gamera's rampage.
Photo courtesy of Kadokawa. © KADOKAWA
GAMERA: GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE (1995): 1:30-3:25pm (Dubbed)
30th Anniversary Screening! After laying dormant for fifteen years, Gamera was rebooted for the big screen in a smash hit masterminded by director Shusuke Kaneko (GMK, DEATH NOTE), writer Kazunori Ito (GHOST IN THE SHELL) and SFX director Shinji Higuchi (SHIN GODZILLA). Trading the campy kid-friendly surrealism of the earlier films for a darker, more realistic tone and jaw-droppingly innovative special effects, GAMERA: GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE is still regarded today as among the best -kaiju films ever made.
Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE (1959): 4:00-5:45pm (Dubbed)
A series of mysterious catastrophes sweep the globe, causing the world s scientists to conclude that beings from another planet are attacking Earth, and the world must unite to defend itself in a gigantic battle in outer space! With sharp direction by Ishiro Honda (Godzilla) wonderful special effects sequences by Eiji Tsuburaya (Godzilla, Ultraman), and a rousing score by Akira Ifukube (Godzilla), BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE is a glorious sci-fi extravaganza.
Photo courtesy of Toho. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
GODZILLA MINUS ONE (2023): 6:30-8:50pm (Subbed)
Takashi Yamazaki's Oscar-Winning Hit Is Back On The Big Screen! 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.
Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
GODZILLA VS DESTOROYAH (1995): 9:30-11:30pm (Subbed)
30th Anniversary Screening! 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.
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GODZILLA VS MEGALON (1973): 12:00-1:45pm (Dubbed)
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, a scientist 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.
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GODZILLA VS HEDORAH (Godzilla vs the Smog Monster) (1971): 2:30-4:20pm (Dubbed)
Intended to address the crisis levels of pollution in postwar Japan, GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH finds the King of the Monsters fighting an alien life form that arrives on Earth and steadily grows by feeding on industrial waste. Director Yoshimitsu Banno infuses the film with equal parts ecological horror, humorous monster antics, and sixties psychedelia straight out of San Francisco, making for a truly unique—and divisive—entry in the series.
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THE H-MAN (1958): 5:00-6:35pm (Subbed)
Singer Chikako Arai (RODAN's Yumi Shirakawa) is hassled by police and criminals who want to find her drug dealer boyfriend. Chikako says that he vanished, and that the clothing he was wearing was found at the site of his disappearance. After learning of the incident, scientist Dr. Masada (Kenji Sahara, RODAN, MOTHRA VS GODZILLA) goes to the police and explains that radiation from hydrogen bombs has turned some people into creatures that can kill by touch. Police must hustle if they're to prevent more deaths in one of the most unique sci-fi films of the 1950s.
Photo courtesy of Toho. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA (1975): 7:30-9:10pm (Subbed)
50th Anniversary Screening! 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. TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA stars Tomo Ai, who will be a guest at the Godzillafest convention this September!
Sunday July 20, 2025
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DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (1968): 12:00-1:45pm (Dubbed)
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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GODZILLA VS SPACEGODZILLA (1994): 2:30-4:25pm (Dubbed)
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.
Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
GODZILLA TOKYO SOS (2003): 5:00-6:50pm (Subbed)
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 FINAL WARS (2004): 7:30-9:50pm (Subbed)
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 also 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.
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© KADOKAWA
GAMERA THE BRAVE (2006): 11:00am-12:55pm (Dubbed)
GAMERA THE BRAVE is a heartwarming mix of family-friendly adventure and cutting-edge kaiju action that is the most recent Gamera film to date. It contrasts the strained relationship between a father and his son with the strong bond of a boy and a young monster growing up together. A young boy in a peaceful seaside town gets more than he bargained for when he takes home a mysterious egg. When it hatches, out comes a baby turtle that grows into a new version of Gamera. But will it become powerful enough in time to deal with the man-eating monster, Zedus?
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ATRAGON (1963): 1:30-3:20pm (Dubbed)
The imaginative work of legendary director Ishiro Hondda and special-effects artist Eiji Tsuburaya is on display in this giddily entertaining science-fiction spectacle. Fearful that the humans who live on the Earth’s surface have become too technologically advanced, an ancient underground civilization from the lost continent of Mu and its sea serpent guardian reemerge to conquer the world. Are a former battleship captain (Jun Tazaki, MOTHRA VS GODZILLA, INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER) and the super-submarine he has invented humanity’s last hope? ATRAGON introduces the sea monster Manda, who would return in DESTROY ALL MONSTERS and GODZILLA FINAL WARS.
Photo courtesy of Miramax. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
GODZILLA VS BIOLLANTE (1989): 4:00-5:50pm (Subbed)
Diving into delirious realms of imagination, this second film of the Godzilla franchise’s 1980s resurgence showcased the towering beast for a new generation of fans. This time, Godzilla’s foe is one of the series’ most wondrously strange kaiju creations: Biollante—a mutant plant genetically engineered from the cells of a rose, a renegade scientist’s dead daughter, and Godzilla itself. With a wild plot encompassing spies, psychic children, and bonkers biotechnology—and some of the coolest special effects in the history of Japanese cinema—GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE stands as a high point in the ever-evolving mythology of the King of the Monsters.
Photo courtesy of Toho. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
GODZILLA MINUS ONE (2023): 6:30-8:50pm (Subbed)
Encore preformance of the 70th anniversary Godzilla film!
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!