Talkback Thread #9: Destroy All Monsters (1968)

[Cimmerian Dragon]

Yeah. Frankly, Manda, Varan, and Baragon ought not to have been in the film at all, but whatever. Maybe the new DVD and BD releases will give me a new found appreciation for it.

Hey...Manda was cool in Atragon, and her (his/its?) serpentine attack on the bridge in DAM is one of the few semi-original moments of destruction in the picture.

[edgaguirus]

Agreed.

DAM was designed to showcase as many monsters as possible. Even if some monsters could not be well represented, they still wanted them in the film.

[Killswitch]

Better yet, have two King Ghidorah's. Just as the Earth Monsters have KG at the edge of defeat, another KG appears.

[Godz]

Budget and tech doesn't really have much to do with getting all ten monsters to fight Ghidrah, they had all the suits there so all you needed was them to go at it, so I don't know why they decided not to have all the monsters fight. Maybe they were just too rushed to film a giant action scene like that.

Tech does kinda matter, if you think about it.

Why do you think Rodan flew away the second the fight started? IMO, it's wirework. You've already got wires manipulating all the kaiju's tails, King Ghidorah's necks, the entirety of Kumonga, etc....for Rodan to do anything but stand there and flap his wings would be impossible, so that takes him out of the equation, sadly.

Manda is little more than a glorified marionette, who's only contribution could've been biting or constricting Ghidorah....and that kind of wirework is not conducive to a big brawl, eliminating his usefulness in this scene.

Sadly, as is common knowledge in the fandom, the Baragon suit was not screen-ready in time, which is why only a silly looking puppet head is seen before the fight. I wish they could've delayed the scene long enough to get him involved, but, alas.

If Legion is correct above, only a prop of Varan was around, which would explain his activity (or lack thereof)

Some of this is purely speculation on my part, so, feel free to correct any of it should it require it.

[Killswitch]

Budget and tech doesn't really have much to do with getting all ten monsters to fight Ghidrah, they had all the suits there so all you needed was them to go at it, so I don't know why they decided not to have all the monsters fight. Maybe they were just too rushed to film a giant action scene like that.

Tech does kinda matter, if you think about it.

Why do you think Rodan flew away the second the fight started? IMO, it's wirework. You've already got wires manipulating all the kaiju's tails, King Ghidorah's necks, the entirety of Kumonga, etc....for Rodan to do anything but stand there and flap his wings would be impossible, so that takes him out of the equation, sadly.

Manda is little more than a glorified marionette, who's only contribution could've been biting or constricting Ghidorah....and that kind of wirework is not conducive to a big brawl, eliminating his usefulness in this scene.

Sadly, as is common knowledge in the fandom, the Baragon suit was not screen-ready in time, which is why only a silly looking puppet head is seen before the fight. I wish they could've delayed the scene long enough to get him involved, but, alas.

If Legion is correct above, only a prop of Varan was around, which would explain his activity (or lack thereof)

Some of this is purely speculation on my part, so, feel free to correct any of it should it require it.

This is one of the main reasons I favor CGI. There would be no restrictions, and the monsters would be fluid in their movements.

[Goji]

Are you serious? The charm of these kind of films then goes straight out the window. Besides, we're talking about a film that was made 43 years ago. CGI wasn't an option.

[Killswitch]

Are you serious? The charm of these kind of films then goes straight out the window. Besides, we're talking about a film that was made 43 years ago. CGI wasn't an option.

I'm a 60's Showa fan, so you don't have to explain the charm of those films to me. But, we have a lot of members on this forum that want the genre to remain with that old technology. I think its time to move forward and use modern effects. Suits & strings are too restrictive.

[Tamura]

IMO, CGI restricts imagination.

[Chris55]

IMO, CGI restricts imagination.

I don't think so. Whatever's needed to bring any idea to life is worth doing

[bananaoil]

CGI and Suits used in unison, one complementing the other, is the answer.

[NebulaMSpacehunter]

I've never been a big fan of CGI, the technology itself seems itself take the life out of the monsters(or whatever it is) and it's often abused to the point where it makes me numb to the (SUUUPPPERRR EXTREME CG) action and detaches me from the suspence

[Showa Gyaos]

IMO, CGI restricts imagination.

How so? I'm not against suitmation, but CGI can display realism more effectively.

[Living Corpse]

Again I ask, what wrong with a blend of both?

[Godz]

Again I ask, what wrong with a blend of both?

Nothing, but until Toho (and moviemakers in general) regain their lost spirit/imagination, we'll get shit like Final Wars that no amount of special effects trickery can improve..

[edgaguirus]

How so? I'm not against suitmation, but CGI can display realism more effectively.

The right CGI can. I've seen some terrible CGI effects.

[Shazam14]

^ That was Zilla who did that (according to GMK and GFW)...but yeah that is kinda funny.
..

Yeah funny that Godzilla attacks NYC in this movie in year 1999, and in 1998 the American Godzilla attacks NYC. It's like one year later, NYC gets attack by the real Godzilla .

Has anyone noticed that Minilla's 32 frickin years old in this movie and he's still a baby. Son of Godzilla takes place in 1967 and Destroy All Monsters takes place in 1999.

[Space Hunter M]

Has anyone noticed that Minilla's 32 frickin years old in this movie and he's still a baby. Son of Godzilla takes place in 1967 and Destroy All Monsters takes place in 1999.

Because we all know that continuity is one of the Godzilla franchise's strongest points.

I believe there is already a topic addressing this issue.

[Shazam14]

Has anyone noticed that Minilla's 32 frickin years old in this movie and he's still a baby. Son of Godzilla takes place in 1967 and Destroy All Monsters takes place in 1999.

Because we all know one of the Godzilla franchise's strongest points is continuity.

It would have been cool to see what Minilla would have looked like as an adult. Maybe he'd be less hideous.

[Lord Gappa]

Has anyone noticed that Minilla's 32 frickin years old in this movie and he's still a baby. Son of Godzilla takes place in 1967 and Destroy All Monsters takes place in 1999.

Because we all know one of the Godzilla franchise's strongest points is continuity.

It would have been cool to see what Minilla would have looked like as an adult. Maybe he'd be less hideous.

We don't know exactly how giant monsters age and grow.

[Shazam14]

Still 32 years? Junior has been growing since he first appeared. Hell, even Sanda grew pretty fast.