Japan Release: 2001
Running Time: 105 minutes

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

ゴジラ・モスラ・キングギドラ: 大怪獣総攻撃
[Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Gidora: Daikaiju Sokogeki]

After nearly half a century of peace, Godzilla is a distant memory for most of Japan. The serenity is broken, though, when a US nuclear submarine is attacked and destroyed: Godzilla is back. Meanwhile, fictional documentary reporter Yuri Tachibana spots a mysterious old man near Mt. Myoko in Niigata who promptly vanishes. That night, the area is attacked by a creature described as "Red Godzilla". The beast turns out to be Baragon. Yuri begins to research and uncovers a book stating that Baragon is one of three guardian beasts along with Mothra and King Ghidorah. The book was written by Hirotoshi Isayama, who it turns out was the mysterious old man near Mt. Myoko. Hirotoshi foretells that the guardian monsters must be awakened to meet the oncoming threat of Godzilla...

Live Action Science Fiction KaijuGodzilla

Titles

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
US Distributor: Tristar (2003) / Time: 89 Minutes

Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
[Literal translation]

GMK
[Abbreviated title]

Monsters

Aliens, SDF & Misc.

Staff

Cast

Posters

Box Office

DVDs and Blu-rays

CD Soundtracks

Background and Trivia

• Toho submitted the film to the US copyright office on December 21st, 2001 with the registration number PA0001195981. The movie was submitted with a variant of its Romaji title in the form of Godzilla Mothra King Ghidorah: Daikaiju Sokogeki, which uses the English names of the monsters. There are two additional names on the application. One is the movie's international title, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. The other is Godzilla vs. the Guardians, which was possibly considered as either an international or the US title at one stage.
• Director Shusuke Kaneko noted that, in terms of his kaiju films, he was careful to avoid emphasizing casualties in his first two Gamera films during scenes of city destruction. In the third, the casualties are more numerous to give a sense of impact to these scenes, but impersonalized as the victims remain "anonymous". To give the 2001 Godzilla film a different felling, victims were "personalized, individualized" by being often seen and heard before being killed, to add to the tragedy of the destruction. Cited in G-Fan #67 from 2004.
• When director Shusuke Kaneko was asked about the teenagers in the film who meet their demise, he responded that "it's true that today's teenagers are not as respectful as they used to be. Sometimes the punishment they meet at the monsters' hands is symbolic of my feelings toward Japanese teenagers, probably because I can feel myself getting older…". Brought up in G-Fan #67 from 2004.
• Special effects director Shinji Higuchi helped with the production's special effects story boarding process. However, unlike past movies from Shusuke Kaneko in the kaiju genre, he was not involved in the directing of the special effects sequences. Noted by Norman England.
• On the subject of CGI for the 2001 Godzilla film, part of the reason for its downplayed use is budget and time constraints. However, Shusuke Kaneko also gave the reason that it's a lot of fun to be on the set and actually see the sutimation actors visualising the scenes during production. Referenced in G-Fan #67 from 2004.
• In an earlier draft, titled Godzilla X Varan, Baragon and Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, the trio of guardian monsters included Varan, Baragon and Anguirus. However, both Varan and Anguirus were substituted for Mothra and King Ghidorah for the final version.

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