Top 10 giant monsters of all time

The Rancor is a savage and unintelligent animal whose only desire seems to be killing and devouring anything that has a pulse. In Star Wars: Return of the Jedi we first see the Rancor as the property of Jabba the Hutt, who feeds his enemies to it by dropping them through a pitfall trap into a cave where the Rancor lives. In early concept art, the Rancor resembled a crustacean and had a shell on its back; however this was later changed, with the end result resembling a kind of hideously disfigured dinosaur. The Rancor was also originally going to be played by a man in a suit, however the creators were not happy with the results. Instead, a small puppet was used as well as a high-speed camera to slow down its movements and create an illusion of immense size and power.

Interesting Fact: The Rancor was voiced by a Dachshund breed of dog.

A list of giant monster movies cannot be complete without a shout-out to Japanese cinema. Mothra is a gigantic female insect that has appeared in numerous Kaiju (Japanese giant monster) films throughout cinematic history, beginning in the early 1960s in a film simply named Mothra. She is described as having a wingspan that exceeds 150 meters, with wings that are so powerful they allow her to create a tornado. Mothra is seen as a friendly beast and often works to protect humanity from other gigantic creatures that are attacking earth. Despite being monstrously over-sized, Mothra maintains some similarities with the average moth. For example, Mothra has been shown in movies to lay eggs that hatch into enormous larvae that then proceed to help her defeat her enemies. She can also shoot poisonous darts from her abdomen and trap enemies in a silk cocoon.

Interesting Fact: The distinctive shrill chirping sound of Mothra has been reused numerous times in Japanese cartoons. It has become a kind of a Japanese equivalent of the Wilhelm Scream.

Reptilicus

Reptilicus, 1961

Reptilicus was the subject of an early Danish 1960s film, which was one of many monster movies of the era. The film features Reptilicus rampaging through Copenhagen killing hundreds of civilians and destroying anything in its path. The gigantic reptile resembles a serpent with wings, and has a power of regeneration that makes it incredibly difficult to kill. Reptilicus also spits deadly green slime on enemies, that causes agonizing death. Its generic monster movie name is enough to guarantee a place on the list. Overall, Reptilicus is most memorable for being one of the first examples of a killer reptile in cinematic history. Furthermore, Reptilicus stood out and garnered significant popularity and a cult following, in a time period when cinema was dominated by crude, low-budget horror movies.

Interesting Fact: A deleted scene in the movie featured Reptilicus flying. This was cut from the final version as the producers felt it was too unrealistic. Of course, everything else is totally believable.