Destroy All Monsters (怪獣総進撃) is a 1968 Japanese epic kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects directed by Sadamasa Arikawa and supervised by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the ninth film in the Godzilla franchise, and stars Akira Kubo, Jun Tazaki, Yukiko Kobayashi and Yoshio Tsuchiya. In the film, a race of malevolent aliens called the "Kilaaks" release giant monsters across the world, forcing authorities to investigate their potential weaknesses and regain control of the monsters.
Destroy All Monsters was released theatrically in Japan on August 1, 1968. The film was released by American International Pictures with an English-language dub in the United States on May 23, 1969. Contemporary American reviews were mixed, with praise mainly held for the climactic monster battle. Retrospectively, the film has received more praise.
The film was followed by All Monsters Attack, released on December 20, 1969.
Plot
At the end of the 20th century, all of the Earth's monsters have been collected by the United Nations Science Committee and confined in an area known as Monsterland, located in the Ogasawara island chain. A special control center is constructed underneath the island to ensure that the monsters stay secure and to serve as a research facility to study them.
When communications with Monsterland are suddenly and mysteriously severed, and all of the monsters begin attacking world capitals, Dr. Yoshida of the UNSC orders captain Katsuo Yamabe and the crew of his spaceship, Moonlight SY-3, to investigate Monsterland. There, they discover that the scientists, led by Dr. Otani, have become mind-controlled slaves of a feminine extraterrestrial race identifying themselves as the Kilaaks, who reveal that they are in control of the monsters. Their leader demands that the human race surrender, or face total annihilation.
Godzilla attacks New York City, Rodan attacks Moscow, Mothra attacks Beijing, Gorosaurus attacks Paris, and Manda attacks London. The attacks were set in to motion to draw attention away from Japan, so that the Kilaaks can establish an underground stronghold near Mount Fuji. The Kilaaks then turn their next major attack onto Tokyo and, without serious opposition, become arrogant in their aims until the UNSC discover, after recovering the Kilaaks' monster mind-control devices from around the world, that they have switched to broadcasting the control signals from their base under the Moon's surface. In a desperate battle, the crew of the SY-3 destroys the Kilaak's lunar outpost and returns the Kilaak control system to Earth.
With all of the monsters under the control of the UNSC, the Kilaaks call King Ghidorah, who is dispatched to protect the Kilaak stronghold, battling Godzilla, Minilla, Mothra larva, Rodan, Gorosaurus, Anguirus, Kumonga, Baragon and Varan. While seemingly invincible, Ghidorah is eventually overpowered by the combined strength of the Earth monsters and is killed. Refusing to admit defeat, the Kilaaks produce their ace, a burning monster they call the Fire Dragon, which begins to torch Tokyo and destroys the control center on Ogasawara.
Suddenly, Godzilla attacks and destroys the Kilaaks' underground base, revealing that the Earth's monsters instinctively know who their enemies are. Yamabe then pursues the Fire Dragon in the SY-3 and narrowly achieves victory for the human race. The Fire Dragon is revealed to be a flaming Kilaak UFO and is destroyed. With the Kilaaks defeated, Godzilla and the other monsters eventually return to Monsterland to live in peace.
Cast
Production
Writing
Special effects director Sadamasa Arikawa noted that Toho were going to potentially end the Godzilla series as "Producer Tanaka figured that all the ideas had just run out." Several sources attest that the film was announced alongside Son of Godzilla, possibly as a competing project.
The film was written by Takeshi Kimura and Ishirō Honda, making it the first Godzilla film since Godzilla Raids Again not written by Shinichi Sekizawa. Takeshi Kimura is credited by his pen name Kaoru Mabuchi in the film's credits. Kimura and Honda's script developed the concept of Monsterland (referred to as Monster Island in future films).
The earliest screenplay, written by Kimura in 1967, was titled Monster Chushingura (怪獣忠臣蔵, Kaiju Chūshingura). (The word chushingura refers to a famous historical story in Japan about the rebellion of 47 samurai who took revenge after their master was unjustly forced to commit suicide). Supposedly, in this version, every monster in Toho's arsenal was to be included, even King Kong and Sanda and Gaira from The War of the Gargantuas. In an interview with David Miller, Ishiro Honda even said “the original idea was to show all of the monsters.”
The first initial screenplay, preliminary titled Monster Total Advancement Order (怪獣総進撃命令, Kaijū Sōshingeki Meirei), by Takashi Kamura (as Kaoru Mabuchi) was submitted on November 22, 1967, and included a confirmed roster of Godzilla, Mothra (larva), King Ghidorah, Rodan, Baragon, Varan, Kumonga, Manda, Maguma, and Ebirah.
Release
Box office
Destroy All Monsters was released in Japan on 1 August 1968 where it was distributed by Toho. It was released on a double bill with a reissue of the film Atragon. The film had a budget of roughly ¥200,000,000 and received an attendance of 2,580,000. The film was reissued theatrically in Japan in 1972 where it was re-edited by Honda to a 74-minute running time and released with the title Godzilla: Lightning Fast Strategy (ゴジラ電撃大作戦, Gojira Dengeki Daisakusen). Destroy All Monsters continued the decline in ticket sales in Japan for the Godzilla series, earning 2.6 million in ticket sales. In comparison, Invasion of Astro-Monster brought in 3.8 million and Son of Godzilla collected 2.5 million.
US release
The film was released in the United States by American International Pictures with an English-language dub on 23 May 1969. The film premiered in the United States in Cincinnati. American International Pictures hired Titra Studios to dub the film into English. The American version of the film remains relatively close to the Japanese original. Among the more notable removed elements include Akira Ifukube's title theme (the credits are moved to the end of the film) and a brief shot of
See also
- List of films featuring dinosaurs
- List of Japanese films of 1968
- List of science fiction films of the 1960s
- Invasion of Astro-Monster
- Godzilla: Final Wars
External links
References
- Ben Sherlock. The Monsterverse Can Do The Epic Godzilla Fight That This Deleted Scene Robbed Us Of 55 Years Ago Screen Rant, 21 October 2023^
- J Hurtado. DESTROY ALL MONSTERS Blu-ray Review 12 December 2011, retrieved 16 November 2016^
- Matt Patches. Criterion reveals the collection's 1000th disc: the ultimate Godzilla set