The appeal of the Godzilla franchise is simple: It’s fun to watch giant monsters wreck shit, and it’s very fun to watch giant monsters wreck other giant monsters. But as with any franchise that spans literally dozens of movies, it can be intimidating to take your first steps into it.

The Best Sci-Fi Movies on Netflix Looking to freshen up your Netflix queue? Add these out-of-this-world science fiction classics.

Fortunately, it just got a lot easier to get started. Over the weekend, Hulu added 12 Godzilla movies, spanning from 1993’s Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla to 2005’s Godzilla: Final Wars. (And also—full disclosure—they also added the legendarily awful 1998 American Godzilla starring Matthew Broderick. Please, please skip that one.)

Where to begin? To be clear: The Godzilla franchise is not like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where every movie adds up to a massive and coherent storyline. The darker original movie remains a key touchstone, but the Godzilla franchise has repeatedly been rebooted over its 50-plus-year history, and there’s not a ton of connection between the movies anyway. You can start pretty much anywhere and get a perfectly entertaining monster-on-monster brawl.

So here’s my advice. If you’re going to watch just one of these movies, make it Godzilla: Final Wars, which marked the 50th anniversary of Godzilla’s introduction with a gloriously overstuffed narrative that packs in a whopping 22 different giant monsters, alongside a bunch of cameos from actors who played key roles in the franchise’s decades-long run. It even pits the real Godzilla against that shitty 1998 Godzilla for the shortest and most satisfyingly lopsided battle in Godzilla history:

But if you really want to do the Godzilla franchise right, I’d suggest doing what I did when I was a kid: Watch these movies completely at random, with no regard for continuity whatsoever, by picking the titles that sound coolest. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla or Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla? Why not both? Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack? With a title like that, how could it be bad?

If you haven’t watched a Godzilla movie before, you’re probably expecting a couple of dudes in rubbery monster suits kicking over model cities—and that’s actually pretty much what you’ll get. But there’s also a sense of looseness and fun that’s sorely lacking from the kinds of blockbusters produced by Hollywood, which cost so much more and take themselves so much more seriously. You have the sense that every production decision on a Godzilla movie basically boils down to: "What is the absolute coolest shit that could happen right now?" And then, invariably, it happens.

And once you’re hooked on Godzilla, you’re hooked, which is why it’s great that so many late-period Godzilla movies are suddenly available in one place. Scrolling Hulu’s new Godzilla collection isn’t exactly as satisfying as scanning the foreign-language section of your local video store, but the selection is just as impressive and the rentals are even cheaper. Turn down the lights, crack open a beer, and watch Godzilla kick the shit out of some other giant monster. Your lizard brain will be satisfied.

Watch Now:

Bryan Cranston’s GQ Cover Shoot