I finally saw this, the original Godzilla movie, a few days ago, and its pretty good, as 1950s sci-fi goes.  The best thing about this film is that at this point Godzilla is still pure evil, interested only in stomping the shit out of Tokyo instead of saving mankind from an endless parade of alien controlled monsters.

The version I saw is the 1954 American release version, which includes several scenes shot just for American audiences starring Raymond Burr as a reporter named Steve Martin.  Aside from the character's name, these scenes are all pretty good for some unintentional comedy, what with the obvious editing and fact that pretty much all of Burr's dialogue is explanations of what just happened on screen.  Picture the conversation the distributors had:

Movie exec:  This thing is great!  We'll make a killing.  There's only one problem.

Underling:  What's that, boss?

Movie exec:  Too many Japanese people.  We need some Americans.

Underling:  But it's a Japanese movie.  Set in Japan.

Movie exec:  The hell with that!  You can't understand a word they're saying.

Underling:  We're going to dub in some English dialogue...

Movie exec:  Dub, schmub.  I know what this movie needs!  Get me Perry Mason!

A lot of other reviews of this movie lament the fact that it was originally chopped up for American audiences, and various subplots were cut out or glossed over.  Now, I'm all for cultural sensitivity and respecting the filmmakers' original intentions, but let's have a little perspective here.  This is a Godzilla movie, man!  There's only two things I need to know:  a) Is there a 500 foot tall atomic fire-breathing lizard?  And b) does he destroy a major Japanese city and attempt to eat a subway train?  If the answer to those two questions is yes, then I'm walkin' away satisfied.

Besides, this movie is surprisingly good.  Its actually a movie with a serious subtext about nuclear devastation, the dangers of science and so forth.  I couldn't really tell if the acting is any good, what with all the dubbing and the Raymond Burr, but the story involves a love triangle between the three heroes and a dangerous weapon called the Oxygen Destroyer, but it seems like it was pretty well done.  Not only is Godzilla an obvious metaphor for a nuclear bomb, but our heroes only manage to stop Godzilla with the Oxygen Destroyer, whose inventor, Dr. Serizawa, is reluctant to use it for fear of the consequences.  Which, I'll grant is only about as sophisticated as your average Twilight Zone episode, but still better than most sci-fi movies.  So, with Godzilla you get a serious parable about the destructive powers of mankind, and a guy in a monster suit stomps the crap out of a model city.  Fun and Educational.

Another thing helping this movie out is the fact that it was made in 1954 and is in black and white, so the special effects are a lot more convincing.  The atomic fire breathing effect looks especially good.  Plus there's no silly drop-kicking or monster wrestling.  Taking all that into account, it's a lot easier to accept this film's action as realistic.  So don't watch this movie expecting to see any of the glorious Technicolor cheesiness that you'd find in a sixties Godzilla movie.

Other Godzilla flicks are more b-movie guilty pleasure type viewing, but this one is worth watching both as a historical curiosity and on its merits as a film.