Godzilla-Destroy All Monsters (Kaijû sôshingeki) (1968)

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General		Extras
Category	Science Fiction	Theatrical Trailer Trivia Gallery-Poster Trailer-Madman Trailers
Rating
Year Of Production	1968
Running Time	85:08
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Ishirô Honda
Studio Distributor	Toho Company Madman Entertainment	Starring	Akira Kubo Jun Tazaki Yukiko Kobayashi Yoshio Tsuchiya Kyôko Ai Andrew Hughes Chotaro Togin Yoshifumi Tajima Kenji Sahara Hisaya Ito Yoshio Katsuda Heihachiro Okawa Koji Uno
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Akira Ifukube

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Unknown	Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (224Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     It is 1999 (which must have seemed a long way away in 1968). Mankind has established a base on the Moon and flights between the Moon and Earth are common. All the Earth’s monsters, including Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, Anguirus and Gorosaurus have been gathered up and confined on Ogasawara Island (Monster Land) controlled by various force fields. A team of scientists lead by Dr Otani (Yoshio Tsuchiya) and the newly arrived Kyoko (Yukiko Kobayashi) monitor and study the monsters. Then, suddenly, communications to the island are lost and the monsters are free and begin attacking major population centres including Moscow, Paris, London and New York. The crew of space ship SY-3 on the Moon, captained by Katsuo (Akira Kubo) are called upon by Dr. Yoshida (Jun Tazaki) to go to Monster Land to investigate. There they find the scientists brainwashed and under the control of an alien queen (Kyoko Ai ) from the planet Kiraku (a hitherto unknown planet between Mars and Jupiter). It also seems that all the monsters wrecking havoc upon Earth are now being controlled by the Kirakus, who deliver an ultimatum calling for the Earth to surrender.

     However, Earth fights back. First an alien base is found under Mt Fuji, but the attacking army units are driven away by Godzilla. Then, by tracking signals, it is discovered that the monsters are being controlled through a relay station hidden within a crater on the Moon. Katsuo and the SY-3 are dispatched to the Moon where they successfully destroy the relay station freeing the monsters from alien control. Instead, Earth takes over control of the monsters and directs them to attack the aliens’ Mt Fuji base. Not to be outdone, the Kirakus bring in the big gun – the 3 headed space monster King Ghidorah! What ensues is the monster rumble of all time when Godzilla, Minilla, Rodan, Anguirus, Manda, Baragon, Mothra, Kumonga, Gorosaurus and King Ghidorah go head to head, tooth to tooth and claw to claw on the slopes of Mt Fuji. At stake is the freedom of the Earth from alien control.

     If Son of Godzilla, made the previous year, was a distinctly small scale production, the team of Godzilla stalwarts who had been together on the original Godzilla in 1954, Tomoyuki Tanaka (Producer), Ishiro Honda (Director), Akira Ifukube (Music) and Eiji Tsuburaya (Special Effects), pulled out all the stops for this production. Godzilla – Destroy All Monsters aka Kaiju soshingeki has more monsters, more destruction, more fights; it was, in fact, intended to be the final Godzilla movie in the series. But while Godzilla did walk again, this 1968 film was indeed the last collaboration of the four aforementioned creators.

     Godzilla – Destroy All Monsters was a fitting climax to the Godzilla series. While the human cast are, again, not all that interesting, the action sequences are wonderful. The special effects are still quite primitive; model space rockets, cars, tanks and buildings look like, well, models, the female aliens look more like Las Vegas (clad) showgirls and the 1960s garish costumes in prime colours of red and yellow now look dated and silly. However, the monster effects, while still obviously models or men in suits, seem completely appropriate and charming and some of the sequences, such as the destruction of Tokyo by Godzilla, Rodan and the long necked dinosaur Manda with explosions, buildings crashing and rockets whizzing are some of the best and more inventive sequences in the entire series. And this is before we get to the fabulous monster on monster action on the slopes of Mt Fuji. Welcome to the original, awesome WMD! There is also, perhaps unintentional, humour in the film. For example, just after Moscow, London, Paris and New York have been trashed by monsters, a scientist in Tokyo warns a reporter seeking a story that “you must not create a panic”. Yes, right!

     Godzilla – Destroy All Monsters is a fabulous climax to the series. It is colourful, exciting, action packed and a wonderful romp and if some of the plotting does not really bear scrutiny the film is such a wild ride it is hard not to be swept along. Totally enjoyable.

Video

     Godzilla – Destroy All Monsters is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the original theatrical ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced. While back projection and matte paintings lack sharpness, on the whole the film has good contrast, acceptable sharpness and blacks, shadow detail and skin tones are excellent for a 40 year old B movie. Colours are garish (very 1960s) with minor colour bleed in some scenes. There is mild grain and a few film artefacts but nothing to spoil the enjoyment of the film. In truth, it looks very good indeed

     The English subtitles are in a yellow font in American English. I did not notice any spelling or grammatical errors.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a choice between Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 Kbps, Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 224 Kbps, or English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 224 Kbps. Either Japanese track is acceptable although neither is exceptional. The 5.1 has some separation and reasonable clarity but in fact is recorded at a lower level and sounds quite thin in many sequences. The film was released in theatres with mono audio and we get this on the DVD. Indeed, the mono track seemed to be more robust, better rendering the creature roars and effects, and I actually enjoyed this track better. The English dub is poor.

     Lip synchronisation is occasionally off.

     The music by Akira Ifukube is sometimes obtrusive, such as a bright jaunty cue when the military is about to attack the monsters that lowers the tension of the scene. There is also a cue that sounds very James Bondish! On other occasions it is effective.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Original Theatrical Trailer (2:22)

Trivia Section

     Four silent text screens of interesting facts about Godzilla films in general and Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters in particular.

Poster Gallery

     5 colourful Japanese film posters.

Madman Trailers (7:34)

     Trailers for other films from Madman. Included is Son of Godzilla (2:35), Godzilla vs. Ebirah – Horror of the Deep (2:18) and Seven Samurai (4:05).

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

     There is a Region 2 Japanese version with an audio commentary by assistant director Seiji Tani but neither the feature nor commentary is subtitled. The US Region 1 and Region 0 have only the English dubbed version and non-anamorphic. Region 4 is the best choice for English speakers.

     Godzilla – Destroy All Monsters is a fabulous climax to the series. It is colourful, exciting, action packed and a wonderful romp, and it is hard not to be swept along for the ride. The film is presented on a DVD with good video and audio and minimal extras.

     Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters is included in the Madman 6 disc box set Godzilla Showa Classics Volume 1 along with Godzilla (1954), Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964), Godzilla: Invasion of the Astro-monster (1965), Godzilla vs. Ebirah (1966) and Son of Godzilla (1967). For a RPI of $49.95 this is a fabulous way to get to know “the original monster of mass destruction”.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall