Talkback Thread #9: Destroy All Monsters (1968)

[NebulaMSpacehunter]

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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Lord Gappa]

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

I have two explanations;
1. Since animals have different ways of being affected by radiation, its likely for Junior and Minya to have the different symptons of radiation dose.
2. Minya and Junior are different species, thus have different life spans.
Thats my two cents.

[Irys X]

I think hes actually a bastard child of the pillsburry doughboy and barnery, but Godzilla got stuck with him for a while because toho promised him a REAL baby in 1993. Shame they replaced it with Minya's brother in 1994, and then when Godzilla finally got an actual descendent who was almost fully grown, Destroyah killed him. Cruel. Even more cruel that Godzilla got Minya back for a 50th birthday present. Oh well. Hes good for some things. Like strangling King Ghidorah.

[destroyah1985]

this is the only Godzilla DVD I don't have but I have seen this one twice, It is quite boring untill all of eath's monster team up against King Ghidorah then it was good my favorte part is when Godzilla stoped on Ghidorah's neck.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

I feel differently about Destroy All Monsters than I have in the past. During the attack on Monster Island (after the Killaks had taken over), I found myself saying, "Could you please get to the good stuff already?" Then when the military was attacking Godzilla and Anguirus, I was saying the same thing.

Nowadays, I think Destroy All Monsters is very repetitive and becomes eye-rolling at a couple points. Some scenes serve no purpose other than to have an action scene, like the attack on Tokyo, and others just repeat what other scenes have already done, like the whole Fire Dragon thing at the end of the film. To be fair, the acting is decent and I enjoy most of the characters, but that's all that needs to be said about that. And, obviously, the fight against King Ghidorah is still amazing to watch. The problem, though, is that you have to sit through a lot of the same scenes to get to that moment of awesomeness. The question I was asking myself at the end was, "Was the monster fight worth the wait?"

[shinmattiathekaiju]

I feel differently about Destroy All Monsters than I have in the past. During the attack on Monster Island (after the Killaks had taken over), I found myself saying, "Could you please get to the good stuff already?" Then when the military was attacking Godzilla and Anguirus, I was saying the same thing.

Nowadays, I think Destroy All Monsters is very repetitive and becomes eye-rolling at a couple points. Some scenes serve no purpose other than to have an action scene, like the attack on Tokyo, and others just repeat what other scenes have already done, like the whole Fire Dragon thing at the end of the film. To be fair, the acting is decent and I enjoy most of the characters, but that's all that needs to be said about that. And, obviously, the fight against King Ghidorah is still amazing to watch. The problem, though, is that you have to sit through a lot of the same scenes to get to that moment of awesomeness. The question I was asking myself at the end was, "Was the monster fight worth the wait?"

So the monsters destroying the city wasn't enjoyable?