Destroy All Monsters
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- This article is about the film. For the 1970's anti-rock band see Destroy All Monsters (band).
| Destroy All Monsters | |
|---|---|
| Image:Destroy All Monsters 1968.jpg | |
| Directed by | Ishirō Honda |
| Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka |
| Written by | Ishirō Honda Takeshi Kimura |
| Starring | Akira Kubo Jun Tazaki Yukiko Kobayashi Yoshio Tsuchiya Kyôko Ai |
| Music by | Akira Ifukube |
| Cinematography | Taiichi Kankura |
| Editing by | Ryohei Fujii |
| Distributed by | Toho AIP (US) |
| Release date(s) | August 1, 1968 May 23, 1969 (US) |
| Running time | 88 min (US) |
| Language | Japanese English |
| Preceded by | Varan the Unbelievable, Atragon, Frankenstein Conquers the World, Son of Godzilla, King Kong Escapes |
| Followed by | All Monsters Attack |
| IMDb profile | |
Destroy All Monsters (怪獣総進撃 Kaijū Sōshingeki?, All Monsters Charge) is a 1968 daikaiju eiga (Monster Movie). The ninth in Toho Studios' Godzilla series, it was directed by Ishiro Honda with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya and Sadamasa Arikawa. While the plot resembles that of Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (1965), this entry is significant in that it showcases 11 daikaiju, a record for the Godzilla series until Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), and Godzilla: The Series Monster Wars trilogy, which was a paid tribute. Several of these (Gorosaurus, Baragon, Manda, Varan) had only appeared in their debut films at this point; others (Anguirus, Rodan, Mothra, Minilla, Kumonga) returned from previous Godzilla films.
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[edit] Plot
This film takes place in 1999, so it is considered the last movie of the "Showa Series". By the pre-millennium year, most of Earth's monsters are captured by the United Nations and confined to a place called Monsterland, the core land mass of the Ogasawara Islands. A special control center is built underneath the island to ensure of the monsters' safety. If anything should go wrong, the spaceship known as the Moonlight SY-3 will go to action. Suddenly all communications are cut off at the island. When SY-3 intervenes, the space crew finds out all of the Monsterland workers have become mental slaves of an alien race known as the Kilaaks. The monsters too have become controlled. Godzilla attacks New York City. Rodan invades Moscow. The Mothra larva lays waste to Beijing and a dinosaur called Gorosaurus destroys Paris. The UN and its top bases built on the moon make a risky but necessary attempt to regain control of the Monsterland workers and the monsters. The Kilaaks' head facility is actually at the moon itself, where the crew of SY-3 destroys a machine responsible for manipulating the monsters. The Kilaaks release their last-minute help, King Ghidorah, once the Monsterland monsters wake up from their trance. The three-headed space dragon battles the ten monsters at Mt. Fuji, where the Kilaaks are finally defeated. As for Godzilla and his friends, they return to Monsterland peacefully.
[edit] U.S. Version
American International Pictures released the film theatrically in the North America in 1969. There were some small alterations:
- Dialogue was dubbed to English.
- Deleted: The opening credits.
- Deleted: a shot of Minilla covering his eyes while King Ghidorah drops Anguirus.
This version has been replaced on home video and television by Toho's 'International Version.' This version is uncut and widescreen, but features a different English dub track considered by fans to be inferior to the one done by AIP.
[edit] Critical Reception
The New York Times did not review the film on first release, but film critic Howard Thompson gave it a positive review on a re-release at a children's matinee with the Bugs Bunny short, Napoleon Bunny-Part, in December of 1970. He commented, "...the feature wasn't bad at all of this type. The trick photography and especially the blended sweep and skill of the miniature settings provided the visual splash. The human beings, with good dubbed English voices, were a personable lot as they wrestled with some outer space culprits who had rounded up Japan's favorite monsters and turned them against the planet earth."
[edit] Trivia
- This was the last Godzilla film in which Tsuburaya had any direct involvement, and was originally intended to be the final Godzilla film, the closing scene a tribute both to the special effects director and to the daikaiju. Toho changed their minds following the success of this film at the Japanese box office.
- The band Destroy All Monsters took their name from the title of this film.
- The Nintendo game Godzilla uses "Destroy all monsters" as a secret password.
- Originally, in the scene where Tokyo is attacked by Godzilla, Rodan, Manda and Mothra, Godzilla and Manda were supposed to run into each other and have a fight. This was cut because it didn't make sense that two Kaiju under Kilaak control would fight each other.
- In Godzilla: The Series, the Monster Wars trilogy was a paid tribute of this movie.
[edit] Box Office
In Japan, the film sold approximately 2,580,000 tickets.
[edit] Alternate Titles
- All Monsters Attack
- Attack of the Marching Monsters
- Destroy All Monsters (USA)
- Gojira dengeki daisakusen (Japan) (reissue title)
- Monster Attack March
- Kaiju Soshingeki (Japanese title)
- Monster Invasion (literal English title)
- Operation Monsterland (UK)
- The March of the Monsters
[edit] DVD Releases
ADV Films
- Released: February 22, 2000
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2.35:1) letterboxed
- Sound: English
- All Regions
- Note: Contains the Toho's 'International Version'; No interactive menu
ADV Films
- Released: May 18, 2004
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2.35:1) letterboxed
- Supplements: CD soundtrack album
- Region 1
- Note: Contains Toho's 'International Version'; No interactive menu; "50th Anniversary Edition"
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Thompson, Howard. Destroy All Monsters (film review). The New York Times. December 14, 1970.
