Destroy All Monsters
Short description
Set at the end of the twentieth century, the film imagines a world that has moved past war and disease, where the giant monsters of the Earth have been captured and confined to a controlled zone on the Ogasawara island chain, known as Monsterland, and kept under scientific observation. Among the creatures held there are Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, Ghidorah, Anguirus, Minilla and several others. The arrangement collapses when an alien race, the Kilaaks, takes over the monsters' minds and sends them to attack major cities around the world, leaving a team of astronauts and the SY-3 crew to find the invaders' base and break their hold before the destruction spreads.
The film is a Toho production directed by Ishirō Honda, the twenty-first of the twenty-five features he directed in chronological order, following King Kong Escapes and preceding All Monsters Attack. Honda shares screenplay credit with Takeshi Kimura, and Tomoyuki Tanaka produced. Akira Kubo plays Katsuo Yamabe, with Jun Tazaki, Yukiko Kobayashi, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Chōtarō Tōgin and Yoshifumi Tajima in supporting roles, part of a credited cast of forty-six. It runs eighty-nine minutes and was released in Japan in August 1968.
On IMDb the film holds a rating of 6.4 from around 8,700 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.9 from a much smaller pool of nearly 300 votes. A critics' rating of 6.1 from eleven reviews places it close to the audience scores. It grossed about 2 million dollars worldwide.
What's left behind the scenes
- This is the last film in the Showa series of Godzilla films, receiving positive feedback from fans.
- This is the ninth film featuring Godzilla, the fifth featuring Mothra, the fourth featuring Rodan, and the third to feature King Ghidorah and the second to feature Anguirus, Varan, Manda, Baragon, Gorosaurus, Minilla, and Kumonga.
- The American version of the film became Toho’s “International Version.” The film, without the removed scenes, dubbed by William Ross’s Tokyo company – Frontier Enterprises, began to be sold abroad in 1968. Later, American International Pictures discovered that the dubbing was standard and passed the film without the removed scenes to Titan Productions for a new dubbing.
- During filming, Varan's costume tore. Because of this, the monster was shown relatively little.
- The film is set in 1999. In reality, Roland Emmerich's film featuring an 'American Godzilla' destroying New York was released in 1998, just like in this film.
- The film was originally going to be titled “All Monsters Attack Directive.” The initial script featured Godzilla, Mothra’s larva, King Ghidorah, Rodan, Baragon from “Frankenstein vs. Baragon” (1965), Varan from “Varan the Unbelievable” (1958), Kumonga from “Son of Godzilla” (1967), Mandah from “Atragon” (1963), Ebira from “Ebirah, Horror of the Deep” (1966), and the giant walrus Maguma from “Horah” (1962). According to the script, Maguma was supposed to guard the Kilaaks' base alongside Baragon. Ebira and Maguma were removed from the final script. Three more monsters were added – Anguirus from “Godzilla Raids Again” (1955), Minilla from “Son of Godzilla” (1967), and Gorosaurus from “King Kong Escapes” (1967). Baragon’s role was also reduced. In the final script, he was supposed to attack Paris, but during the filming of the Paris attack scene, Baragon’s suit was on the set of the “Ultraman” (1966) series and had to be replaced by Gorosaurus.
- In 1969, American International Pictures broadcast the film in North America. The version for American broadcast was created by Titan Productions (formerly known as Titra Studios). The following changes were made: The dialogue was dubbed into English by American actors. The narrator’s opening words, “The end of the twentieth century,” were changed to “The year 1999.” The opening credits were moved to the end of the film and changed to white titles on a black background. Cut: Minilla covers his eyes with his front paws when King Ghidorah drops Anguirus. Cut: Baragon and Varan fight against the army. Cut: Godzilla and Mandah’s battle in Tokyo. The march composed by Akira Ifukube, which played during the monsters’ invasion of Tokyo, was added as background music to the end credits.
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