Talkback Thread #9: Destroy All Monsters (1968)

[Tim85]

Still, there's one thing you got to admit. It must have been a nightmare trying to make the final battle happen: with all the suits and strings all over the place. How they were able to get it to look the way it did in the film just boggles my mind.

[JVM]

I got this on DVD For Christmas and I have to be honest, I just can't seem to sit through this. Three times now I've put it in my DVD player and been through 10-minute segments and I just keep taking it out. I don't know what it is about this movie. I was looking forward to finally watching it and now it feels like a chore.

[Chris55]

I got this on DVD For Christmas and I have to be honest, I just can't seem to sit through this. Three times now I've put it in my DVD player and been through 10-minute segments and I just keep taking it out. I don't know what it is about this movie. I was looking forward to finally watching it and now it feels like a chore.

Skip to the monster stuff and call it good.

[Crazy Jim Films]

I got the Blu-Ray for Christmas and I think a lot of it still works but I'll agree that the astrounat laser beam Kilak base scene really kills some momentum and the previously-mentioned "Fire Dragon" ending doesn't quite work either. The area in between Godzilla chasing them through the woods and the monsters ariving to do battle with Ghidrah is where the flick hits a rough patch. I still like it more than "Monster Zero" though.

[Shazam14]

As a kid, this movie made me think that Gorosaurus and Mothra were good friends. It looked as though they had small conversations before going their separate ways.

[menschenjaeger]

I watched it last night for the first time in many, many, years. First time watching the Japanese version.

Honestly, the pacing didn't bother me one whit. The plot wasn't as holey as Monster Zero, but there was still something about it that made it a bit of a disappointment: Many of the effects just seemed...sloppy. Things that they pulled off well in previous films looked clumsy. Rodan, especially, almost always looked bad in flight. Some of the destruction sequences lacked impact somehow, and the composite shot of the soldiers getting out of the truck during the first assault on the Kilaak base was groan-inducing. The lackluster destruction sequences and sloppy sfx sucked a lot of the impact out of it for me.

Ok, now that I got the bad stuff out of the way, there was plenty of good sfx work, and overall, I loved it. Fire Dragon didn't ruin anything for me, and yelling "DO A BARREL ROLL!" helped.

But, man, oh, man, the reporter on the scene at Fuji-san as the monsters appeared...I caught myself clapping. I was in total kid-mode - I think my heart was actually beating faster.

[JVM]

Finally sat through this.

Despite everything, the ending sold the movie for me. Seeing most of the monsters team up against Ghidorah was just perfection. Most of the monster stuff, besides some weaknesses in Rodan, was pretty good. The human stuff all felt almost pointless, however - I felt nothing for the human characters as individuals, only for the whole of humanity. The Killiaks weren't even particularly menacing or sympathetic villains.

[RedZillaKing]

JVM... two things. 1, who quotes themself in a signature... 2, what's with the anti Godzilla series sentiment in said signature?

Anyways, this movie had the potential to be so much more. Just the actual inclusion of Baragon and Varan would've knocked it up a couple notches.

[Goji]

I almost asked the same thing a little while ago, then I realized; it's JVM.

Also, what's this "weakness of Rodan" business?

[RedZillaKing]

Maybe he's referring to the fact that the Fire Dragon took him out with ease. I dunno.

[Legion1979]

It didn't take him out. It just set his back on fire and Rodan flew off in the other direction.

Sometimes I feel like people LOOK for reasons to dislike this movie.

[Goji]

Yeah, it's not like we saw a horrible Rodan miniature twirl, and smash into a nearby mountain.

[RedZillaKing]

Well it certainly isn't my favorite Showa film. And it sure looked like it knocked him down to me.

@Goji: Lol... You forgot "in ridiculous slow motion".

[Tyler]

The movie might deliver on spectacle but it's actually one of Honda's weaker entries. It's like Battle in Outer Space with monsters.

[miguelnuva]

For anyone asking about Rodan's weakness in the film I assume he means when Rodan gets hit with Gravity beams and runs away from the battle where in Monster Zero they barely have an effect on him.

I chalk it up to old age.

[Kaiju-King42]

For anyone asking about Rodan's weakness in the film I assume he means when Rodan gets hit with Gravity beams and runs away from the battle where in Monster Zero they barely have an effect on him.

I chalk it up to old age.

I chalk it up the the humans controlling him. Maybe they wanted to keep him unharmed in case they needed him to help out somewhere else. After all, Rodan was the fastest they had.

[menschenjaeger]

To me, the Rodan effects were not that great at a few points. I assume that's what is meant by "weakness" because that was my impression of him during the movie (which I like a LOT. Like, "like" it, like it. ), too.

[Goji]

The flying Rodan marionette is pretty poor in comparison to the wonderful one from MONSTER ZERO. It's just kind of...stiff.

[Rody]

Rodan's '68 suit is downright terrible. It saddens me to see my favorite kaiju look so miserable.

[miguelnuva]

Out of all the monsters in DAM Rodan's suit is the only one that makes me think the film takes place in 99 instead of 68. Does anyone know what happened to Rodan's 68 suit?