Destroy All Monsters

source: Destroy All Monsters

Love Godzilla, love other monsters, love aliens, love destruction, love this movie.Destroy All Monsters takes us into the future where all monsters are now confined to Monster Island. All goes well until a race of alien metal people kidnap the monsters. Then, they brainwash them and set them to attack the major cities of the world. After so many Godzilla island adventures, it was so good to see the cities having their asses whooped. Great designs and model work left for a series of inventive attacks. By the end it all descends into a chaotic (and very unfair) fight. However, their were some genuine moments of panic. There was a moment between Anguilas and King Ghiddorah which left me almost covering my eyes. The sheer intensity, and likable monsters made it an engaging affair. We're left to deliberate how creatures instinctively know who their enemies are. This is a greatest hits for all fans of the genre.

Unless you've seen it with your very own two eyes, you simply cannot imagine how much fun there's to be had with "Destroy All Monsters". It's a pure and incredibly party-mix of deranged plotting, hilarious dialogs & bad dubbing, grotesque monster action and unimaginably cheesy sound and light effects. I understand this was some kind of celebration movie for the famous Toho Company, as it was their 20th film featuring monsters. It was also the 14th film of director Ishirô Honda, since his original and still almighty "Godzilla" in 1954, in which he systematically destroys Tokyo or sometimes even the whole of Japan on film! For these special occasions – and merely also for your viewing pleasure – Honda and the good people at Toho Company combined their talents to bring us the ultimate monster mash! And what a treat it is. "Destroy All Monsters" naturally features Godzilla, but also his slightly moronic son, the awesome Mothra and Spiga and also Rodan, Angilas, Manda and the utterly cool three-headed extraterrestrial monster Ghidrah! But still there's more. How about a malignant race of evil female aliens, called the Kilaahks, that turn respectable earthly scientists into obedient disciples through nerve gas but turn into petrified worms as soon as they get exposed to cold weather? "Destroy All Monsters" has it all … and more! The year is 1999. Humans fly to the moon on a daily basis (ha!) and all the once dangerous monsters have been safely gathered on a place called Monsterland, where they're being monitored by scientists. But then Kilaahks come with the intention of taking over our planet. They hypnotize the scientists and turn the monsters into remote controlled instruments of devastation that they subsequently let loose all across the world! Godzilla and C° demolish New York, Paris, London and Moscow before they all return together to ravage Tokyo. But a handful of courageous astronauts fight back. When the monsters are back under control eventually, the Kilaahks have to bring in their own space monsters like Ghidrah and a dragon of fire. "Destroy All Monsters" is terrific entertainment, chock-full of (unintentional) laughs and irresistibly delightful special effects and tacky set pieces. I had the pleasure of seeing this cute flick on a big cinema screen, during a "Monster Movie Double Feature" special, and the entire theater had a great time. Everything about this film is so charming and kitschy, like aliens' costumes, the rocket ships' designs and – of course – the monsters devastating rampages. The English dubbed version provides even more hysterical situations, as the acting performances come across as very hammy. Keep an eye on the elderly non-Asian scientist especially. Whenever he opens his mouth to talk, it sounds like he's about to suffer from a stroke and die on the spot!

Seems the more monsters they feature in a Godzilla movie the less time the monsters are actually on screen. This one once again has aliens trying to take over earth with monsters...a whole lot of monsters. Some we have seen before (Godzilla being one of the main ones) and a few we haven't (some weird snake looking thing). All in all though this movie bogs down more than once as it seems it would rather focus on the people rather than the monsters. In one scene we are treated to these guys using some laser beam to cut something and the scene goes on and on. They show what the laser is cutting, they show the device, then they show the guy cutting and this goes on for a good bit. At the end though there is an all out monster attack as we regain control of the monsters, but it isn't much fun as it has poor King Gidorah squaring off against way to many monsters, they really should have given him an ally to help him...unfortunately, Gigan and MechaGodzilla had not come into being yet.

This is an entertaining movie. Tons of destruction Godzilla and pals ruin cities and then team up vs a bunch of annoying aliens. Could have been better though. T many people scenes and talk block out the main attraction. And for some reason I find myself hating all the women in this movie.

This is one of the best Godzilla movies. It's a monster get-to-together! Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, Anguirus, Gorosaurus, Minya, Kumonga, Manda, Baragon, and Varan are all here! See the >monsters out to destroy every major earth city, under the >command of alien invaders. Watch the clever Japanese scientists >foil the aliens' plot. And don't miss the Battle of the >Century- the Showdown at Mt. Fuji, where at least seven of the >earth monsters put up a one-sided battle against King Ghidorah! >The characters in this movie are acted out together pretty well. >There are some plot holes here and there, but this is Toho. Not >to be missed by any sci-fi fans. Grade A-

Destroy all Monsters is an excellent monster movie for the simple reason that it has everything you are expecting out of a 60s Godzilla movie. Cheesy effects, aliens, and a lot of monsters. Godzilla Gorosaurus(one of my personal favorite kaiju) Baragon Manda Minilla King Ghidorah Anguirus Varan Mothra Rodan and Kumonga all make appearances in the movie, some more brief than others which leaves some fans wishing for a bit more. The plot of the movie is very similar to the 1965 Godzilla flick Invasion of Astro Monster where aliens attempt to take over the Earth by using mind control on the monsters and sending them to destroy major cities. Most of the movie is the humans trying to figure out a way to stop the aliens known as the Killaks but monster scenes are thrown in so the movie doesn't completely bore you. There are many great monster scenes like at the beginning where it shows you all the monsters living on monster land(a island where the humans keep the monsters contained. There's also a great destruction scene in Tokyo where Godzilla Manda Rodan and Mothra all appear at once completely obliterating the city. However the best is saved for last. At the end of the movie all the monsters team up to fight King Ghidorah which makes one of the best fight scenes in all of the Godzilla series. It's epic! It makes up for all of the boring in between stuff by being so awesome. Definitely worth the wait. 9 stars out of 10 because of the boring human stuff but the monster scenes are fantastic.

This was my first experience with one of those Japanese Godzilla movie, but I wasn't too exhilirated about it. The monsters such as Godzilla escape from Monster Island because of an alien force trying to take over the world, and enslave the people. This results in an attack from the monsters on all major cities in the world... but Godzilla knows who his real friends are... Silly story, silly effects and an ending which power rangers would be ashamed of... but then again, laughable at times (is that a good sign?). 4/10 for some moments of fun.

Even if Leonard Maltin rates this higher than KING KONG ESCAPES (1967) – giving it ** against the latter's BOMB – I seemed to enjoy that one more; mind you, both are essentially dreadful…but, at least, the KONG film had a good deal of campiness going for it – whereas this is merely dull (in spite of megalomaniac aliens and a plethora of monsters)! In a way, the film is a rehash of Honda's own MONSTER ZERO (1965), which I watched some time ago – where you also had an interplanetary attempt at world domination that saw the involvement of a clutch of Toho Studios monsters. Here, however, we get a greater variety of the latter: dinosaurs Anguirus, Baragon, Gorosaurus, Godzilla (along with its annoying baby offspring Minilla) and the flying Rodan, the spider Kumonga, the snake-like Manda and the worm Mothra. Though all these are eventually brainwashed by the aliens to do their evil bidding, destroying several of the world's leading cities in the process, the latter provide their own monster – King Ghidorah – for the grand finale (during which it takes on all comers but, obviously, emerges the loser). That said, only Godzilla Snr. and Rodan receive any decent exposure throughout the film! While it is accompanied by a typically rousing score, the action often comes across as confusing rather than exciting (not to mention unintentionally hilarious during the climactic monster mash). As for the plot, it's all quite dreary – and lazy: all the Earth monsters have conveniently been assembled on an island to be studied (yeah, right – just try to get a blood sample from Godzilla, or Rodan, for that matter)...but, then, the aliens (naturally possessing superior intelligence and frightening assurance – they must have missed MONSTER ZERO, for they're deluded into thinking that the monster ensemble can't hold a candle to King Ghidorah!) manage to fit all of them with a conditioning device behind the ears!! Finally perhaps its most amusing elements to me were the fact that the island personnel (channeling the monsters' individual movements on a monitor) are able to judiciously cross-cut, for suspense purposes, between attacker and prey (a moving train) during a demonstration; the film-makers could have fitted the aliens with make-up or, at least, a mask so as to hide their all-too-obvious Asian countenance (there's no suggestion in the script that that they may have adopted such a disguise in order to go undetected among the Earthlings); also, for a kiddie film, a lot of the human characters are heard cursing the aliens (sure, it's in Japanese, but the implication is unmistakable).

This Toho monster film is very good.The all star cast of monsters is great but Baragon and Varan have little or no screen time.The newer version has an all new dubbing and digital recording which makes this serious film funny.If you love Godzilla and other Toho monsters then check Destroy All Monsters out today!