| There is only one word that
accurately describes the majority of this movie:
dull. Destroy All Monsters is dull, plain
and simple. However, the fans of the kaiju genre
will still adorn this movie with a great deal
of superlative compliments, and the only reason
why is obvious: monsters galore! This movie presents
eleven monsters throughout its course, from the
well known to the obscure, and the final fight
is one of the most climactic in the series! Unfortunately,
it’s tucked away under many grueling minutes
of a stale plot and sub par acting.
The year is 1999. Technology has
advanced greatly. In space, a base has been formed
on the moon. Back on Earth, another remarkable
feat has been accomplished. Ten monsters: Godzilla,
Minilla, Rodan, Anguirus, Mothra, Gorosaurus,
Manda, Kumonga, Baragon, and Varan have all been
captured and are being studied at Monsterland
on Ogasawara Island. Out of nowhere, strange things
begin to happen on the island. Contact is lost
with Monsterland, and the terrain of the island
becomes very unstable. Even more remarkably, the
monsters start to attack the Earth’s major
cities! Rodan attacks Moscow, Gorosaurus attacks
Paris, Mothra attacks Beijing, Manda attacks London,
and Godzilla attacks New York.
In order to investigate this odd
turn of events, astronaut Katsuo Yamabe and
his crew are summoned to return to Earth in
their spaceship: the Moonlight SY-3. When they
land, they learn the awful truth; Monsterland
has been taken over by aliens bent on world
domination. They are the Kilaakian, a race of
aliens from one of many small planets in between
Mars and Jupiter. The Kilaaks have taken control
not only of the Monsterland personnel, but the
monsters as well. The brainwashed staff of Monsterland
is sent to destroy the crew of the Moonlight
SY-3, but the hypnotized scientists are quickly
defeated. Katsuo’s
crew escapes with Dr. Otani, one of the brainwashed
scientists from Monsterland.
Back in Japan, Katsuo Yamabe and
Dr. Yoshido question Dr. Otani, but he commits
suicide before they can extract any real information.
Down on the beach, a number of brainwashed humans,
led by Kyoko Yamabe from Monsterland, attempt
to abscond with the corpse. Their actions are
interrupted by the “Special Police”,
and they are forced to retreat.
Later on, surgery on Dr. Otani’s
corpse reveals that a transmitting device was
implanted in his neck. This was controlling him.
Katsuo takes the Moonlight SY-3 into the sky
to track down similar transmitters. Several are
recovered across the world, hidden in numerous
settings. Their radio range of 2000 kilometers
allows the Kilaakian to effortlessly control
the monsters across the globe.
As this new piece of information
is discovered, tragedy strikes. Rodan, Godzilla,
Manda, and Mothra appear in Tokyo and cause major
destruction. After the attack, it is discovered
that the monsters’ appearances in other
countries were a diversionary tactic, allowing
the Kilaakian to set up their new base near Mt.
Fuji. Kyoko Yamabe suddenly appears among the
scientists, reporters, and military men discussing
the attack. She says that if mankind accepts
the Kilaak’s rule, then the monsters will stop
attacking. Katsuo viciously removes her earrings
and reveals that transmitters hidden inside were
controlling her. Kyoko, having lost her memory
upon removal of the transmitters, can reveal nothing
more about the Kilaak’s hidden base.
The military scrambles to the region
near Mt. Fuji, but Godzilla, Rodan, and Anguirus
intercept them. The following day, Katsuo leads
a small party into the region on foot and finds
a cave. There, the Kilaak’s again give their
peace terms. This time, Katsuo is allowed to leave
with no opposition.
Back on Ogasawara Island, a new
control center is formed to try to bring the monsters
under human control. It is determined that the
radio waves used to control the monsters come
from the moon. The Moonlight SY-3 returns to the
moon and heads toward the Cassini Crater in the
Alpine Valley. Katsuo’s crew decimates the
Kilaak’s moon base, and they manage to destroy
the transmitter.
On Earth, the monsters are brought
under human control and are sent to Mt. Fuji,
where the Kilaakian order King Ghidorah to fight
them. Godzilla, Anguirus, Gorosaurus, Rodan,
Mothra, Kumonga, and Minilla participate in the
battle, as Manda, Baragon, and Varan watch from
the sidelines. King Ghidorah is brutally attacked,
and as it is hit from every corner and angle,
it slowly begins to weaken. Finally, it drops
dead.
Suddenly, Rodan is attacked by
a fiery craft in the sky. The craft is revealed
by the Kilaak’s to be the “Fire Dragon”.
The Fire Dragon hurries to Ogasawara Island, where
it destroys the controls on Monsterland. Luckily,
Godzilla still knows who his enemy is without
human control. He kicks away at the Kilaak’s
hidden base (exposed during the battle) and the
aliens are defeated.
Meanwhile, the Moonlight SY-3 grapples
with the Fire Dragon and ultimately reveals it
to be a UFO. The Moonlight SY-3 finally destroys
it, and peace is restored.
In the end, Katsuo, Kyoko, and
Dr. Yoshido watch the victorious monsters that
have returned to Monsterland. They get a glimpse
at each and every monster, and finally end on
a touching scene of Godzilla and Minilla.
The acting in this movie is sub
par. Just about everyone comes across as stiff
and far too dramatic at times. Akira Kubo doesn’t
translate into a serious role very well. He is
far too unnatural, and is much more suited to
the roles he played in Invasion
of Astro-Monster (1965) and Son
of Godzilla (1967). Yukiko Kobayashi
and Yoshio Tsuchiya‘s characters are on
screen, for the most part, while they are brainwashed.
Since their characters are meant to be cold and
stiff in this state, it is difficult to judge
their true acting talent in this film. In the
short periods of time that the audience does see
their characters “un-brainwashed”,
they too seem to suffer from the same flaws as
Akira Kubo. Jun Tazaki and Andrew Hughs are also
paralyzed by their roles. They are the “solemn
scientists” of this movie, and unfortunately
blend in with the other bland roles. Kyoko Ai’s
character comes across as a rather forgettable
alien leader, and it is simply because she is
not given much to work with. Overall, everyone
did a somewhat satisfactory job with what they
were given. At least it’s not as bad as
it could be.
While the actors are relatively
blasé, the monsters really shine in this
movie. Godzilla is looking the best he has since
his first movie. Unfortunately, every movie between
Godzilla
Raids Again (1955) and Son
of Godzilla(1967) features a Godzilla
that attempts to look ferocious. This unfortunately
fails each time. Destroy All Monsters embraces
the fact that Godzilla is no longer the ferocious,
mindless mutant of the first movie, and Godzilla’s
new personality finally shows in his facial features:
a heroic monster with an attitude.
The other suits are also right
on the money. Anguirus is looking absolutely phenomenal.
Given a few adjustments and the right lighting,
it could pass off as a Heisei-style suit. Perhaps
that’s an exaggeration, but Anguirus truly
has a refreshing look in this film. It is definitely
an improvement over the floppy, unrealistic suit
presented in Godzilla
Raids Again (1955). Rodan is looking
about the same as always. There are no real changes,
and thus no real complaints. The Gorosaurus suit
is looking great, and the hunch in the costume
gives an impressive illusion of a dinosaurian
stance. Kumonga is also looking fantastic, as
is Mothra. Manda is looking rather sophisticated
as well, and luckily has lost the gaudy horns
that the character sported in Atragon
(1963). From what little is seen of Baragon, the
suit appears a little aged, but it still looks
nice. Varan has an excellent prop in this movie,
with a reptilian-green color that was non-existent
in his black-and-white 1958 classic. It is unfortunate
that it's used so minimally.
The special effects as a whole
are absolutely superb in this movie. The pyrotechnics
are fantastic, the miniatures are detailed, the
suits are organic, and the matting is flawless.
As far as the rotoscoping is concerned, Godzilla’s
beam is looking nice, and King Ghidorah’s
beam is actually improving. It’s brighter
on the inside and smoother on the outside, giving
it a plasma effect. Despite all the good, the
major problem with the special effects in this
movie is the rotoscoping of all of the technological
beams. From the magnetic rays, to the lasers,
and the force fields, this movie has some big
rotoscoping problems. The specific complaint is
that the beams look too cartoonish, and the minimalist
approach used in Invasion
of Astro-Monster (1965) was far more
believable.
The music is rather pleasant in
this movie. It is a compilation of Akira
Ifukube’s classics, and the most prominent
theme is the music that plays during the opening
credits. It has a nice “marching”
quality that fits a kaiju movie perfectly. King
Ghidorah’s theme also makes a triumphant
return. As for the Godzilla theme, it suffers
the same structural problem that it did in Ghidorah,
The Three-Headed Monster (1964), merely
because it flows too quickly and too directly
into Rodan’s theme. The Godzilla theme in
Mothra
vs. Godzilla (1964), which fed into a
very dark score, is greatly desired. It would
be out of place in the atmosphere of this movie,
however. The only real downfall in the music category
is the theme that plays as the astronauts destroy
the transmitter on the moon. It sounds like the
sort of theme that would accompany a moving train
in an old movie. The scene it is attached to lasts
far too long on its own merits, but coupled with
this ineffective theme, it just goes on and on.
The dubbing is very different in
this movie. It’s more pronounced and louder,
giving it a very unnatural flow. Concerning what
is actually said in the dubbing rather than how
it sounds, the names of several monsters are different
from the spelling and pronunciation that they
would take in later years. Anguirus is pronounced
“Angilas,” and would continue to be
pronounced this way until Godzilla
vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), when it would
change to “Anguirus”. Kumonga is called
“Spiega”. This would change in the
upcoming dub of All
Monsters Attack (1969). Also, the “King”
in King Ghidorah is not extant. This is the third
alteration of the creature’s name. King
Ghidorah was pronounced, “Ghidrah”,
in Ghidorah,
The Three-Headed Monster (1964); the
creature was called “King Ghidrah”
in Invasion
of Astro-Monster (1965); the creature
is called “Ghidorah” in Destroy
All Monsters; and finally the creature would
come to adopt the modern English pronunciation,
“King Ghidorah”, in Godzilla
vs. Gigan (1972). Some monsters’
names weren’t even addressed in this movie.
Minilla is referred to as simply “the son
of Godzilla”, and Varan appears so infrequently
that he his name never comes up.
There are a few moments in the
movie that are confusing. A news reporter mentions
that “Baragon” attacked Paris, when
it was obviously Gorosaurus. Another confusing
moment occurs when Jun Tazaki’s character
refers to an incident 20 years earlier, “Remember
that typhoon? We must be on our guards!”
This statement is so out-of-the-blue that it makes
no sense. Apparently in the Japanese version of
the movie, it is revealed that a typhoon ravaged
Monsterland in 1979 and caused several technical
problems. Unfortunately, this elaboration is left
out of the International version. The arrival
of the Special Police is another dead end in the
plot. There is neither mention of the Special
Police prior to nor after their appearance, and
their techniques and technology don’t seem
to warrant the adjective “special”
at all. Other errors seem to occur when the missile
launchers are released before the battle in Tokyo.
The scene looks so far removed from the correct
scenery for a metropolis that it looks almost
as bad as the stock footage errors in Godzilla
vs. Gigan (1972). The use of King Ghidorah’s
theme during this scene is also rather confusing.
During the ensuing battle, Mothra suddenly appears
from inside what appears to be a landlocked train
station. At least Rodan, Godzilla, and Manda appeared
as though they could have easily come ashore,
but Mothra just seems to materialize in the middle
of the city. Finally, there seems to be a slightly
minor mistake in the Kilaak’s moon base.
After the entrance is destroyed, and it is assumed
that the air would simply escape, the laser’s
wire catches fire. Even without any oxygen to
feed it, it blazes brilliantly. This one may be
nitpicky, but it is worth mentioning
One of the more disappointing aspects
of this film is the extremely ineffective and
infrequent use of two of the monsters. Baragon
and Varan are simply ignored during the course
of the plot. Baragon’s name does come up
a few times, but it is often in passing. Baragon
seems to show up only during the final battle
and in the final scenes at the end. Looking closely,
it also appears as though Baragon appears in the
far left monitor in the Monsterland facility,
but it is difficult to tell for sure. Varan appears
even less frequently than Baragon. To the untrained
eye, it looks as though Varan is only thrown in
during the very ending scenes. Looking closely
at the left side of the screen, Varan’s
right half can also be seen descending toward
battle just before the final fight. Even still,
these monster cameos are far from satisfying,
and their lack of movie time seems to have bred
some pretty intense and frustrated fan followings
for each.
It may be weak in many areas, but
this movie does have a massive fan base. Destroy
All Monsters has caught major attention for
just one reason: eleven monsters. Perhaps it is
a shallow reason to rate a Godzilla movie so highly,
but one has to face the fact that the entire genre
would lack potency without monster fights. Making
a movie that revolves simply around an all-out,
several monster brawl is a necessity from time
to time. It may not be a solid movie, but the
fights it brings to the series can be solid fun.
|
(2/5)