BLOOD WORK: THE SAGA OF THE KING OF THE MONSTERS ~ PART 9: DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (1968)

THE QUEST FOR THE LOST GODZILLA FILM

I can vaguely remember first discovering Godzilla as a four year old child. This was the VHS era well before the advent of internet. Instant and complete information was not at the click of a button. Back then my obsession was dinosaurs (I still love them) and then dragons (thanks in large part to Peter Dickinson's THE FLIGHT OF DRAGONS and the animated film of the same name). Anyway, when I saw Godzilla it was like someone took my two favorite things and combined them for something greater than the sum of its parts. I went to my local video rental store (back when those were plentiful) and rented every Godzilla movie they had (which was maybe five or six movies in all).

One by one I tracked them all down through various means. It wasn't until discovering Jeff Rovin's book THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MONSTERS at my local library (this was the late 80's or early 90's) where I finally saw a complete list of Godzilla's films. There was one film in that list that remained elusive for almost a decade after that: DESTROY ALL MONSTERS. Today the most elusive Godzilla film is GODZILLA 1985 and before that it was Biollante and Megalon. But one could still find these titles easily on VHS or pirated online somewhere. Back in the 80's and 90's however DAM (Destroy All Monsters) was nowhere to be found, not on VHS, Laserdisc, or television. For me it became the Holy Grail of Godzilla films.

Reading about DAM filled my young mind with wonder and amazement. How could there be eleven monsters in a single movie? Eleven kaiju in one movie! My mind was blown at the thought of it. And to top it all off, three of the monsters were new to me: Manda, Baragon, and Varan. I had seen Manda briefly in stock footage from other Godzilla films and I only knew Baragon and Varan as enemy kaiju in the 1988 Nintendo video game GODZILLA: MONSTER OF MONSTERS.

I built this movie up in my mind as the magnum opus of Godzilla films. The end all be all kaiju epic. The fact that it remained hidden from me for years added all sorts of mystique and intrigue around it. My pursuit of this film was like a treasure hunt. Then in the late 90's/early 2000's while combing through the TV Guide I saw DAM listed on the Sci-Fi Channel (a premium channel at the time). My household only had basic cable! Through a convoluted web of personal connections I found someone who not only had the Sci-Fi Channel but was also willing to record DAM for me on VHS! My quest had reached its end!

Art by Yasushi Torisawa

THE PLOT

In the year 1999 mankind has established a manned outpost on the moon and has regular flights to the moon through advanced rocket ships. On Earth all of the monsters have been collected and contained within a small chain of islands called Monsterland for observation and study. One day Monsterland is attacked by alien invaders calling themselves the Kilaaks. The Kilaaks control the monsters and set them loose on the world destroying major cities around the globe. The Japanese Self-Defense Force, scientists, along with the brave men of the moon rocket SY-3 successfully free earth's kaiju from Kilaak control. The monsters gather at the base of Mount Fuji to battle King Ghidorah in the final conflict to decide the fate of the Earth.

THE GOOD

Kaiju, kaiju everywhere! Let's face it, the only reason we want to see this movie is for the monsters and for the most part this film delivers. The monster role call at the beginning of the film is wondrous to behold. Thanks to beautiful DVD and Blu Ray clarity you can see in more detail the monsters in the monitoring room too, our first tiny glimpses of Varan, Baragon, and Manda in the film. The final kaiju role call at the end of the film is even better, my first time ever seeing Baragon and Varan in close-up glory. But the first big moment is the convergence on Tokyo. Godzilla, Rodan, Manda, and Mothra all attacking Tokyo at once is a major highlight of the film for me. Manda's inclusion in the this sequence, for me, is the standout piece. But everything pales in comparison to the grand battle at Aokigahara.

Art by Yasushi Torisawa

Special Effects Precision. Of all the Godzilla films in the Showa Era none come close to the special effects demands of DAM because no other Godzilla film contained this many monsters. Supervised by the man himself, Eiji Tsuburaya and helmed by Sadamasa Arikawa, the special effects in this movie are nothing short of brilliant. When you watch this movie keep in mind that nearly every monster has wires attached to them. When you have five monsters on screen battling each other you never see a wire and the illusion of these monsters battling is fully realized without any misstep or flaw. That means the actors in their hundred pound kaiju suits knew their blocking, hit all their marks, and the wire-works teams hit all their ques. Add in the explosions, beautiful miniature and breakaway sets, totally convincing matte paintings, and animated energy beams and one's mind is blown that such a sequence exists on celluloid. No CGI. All practical. Mind blown? Yes.

The monsters global assault with Baragon attacking Paris

The Acting. With one or two exceptions (the guy who gets shot in the head on Monsterland), all the actors in the film bring their A-game. To add to the overall serious tone of the film the actors bring a genuine gravitas to their performances. Yoshio Tsuchiya especially stands out even though he is only in the movie for a brief period. Akira Kubo play the man of action and does so without going too over the top. Add in quality supporting roles from Jun Tazaki and Yukiko Kobayashi and Destroy All Monsters stands firm on both the human character front and kaiju front.

The global assault we never got to see.

THE BAD

When I first saw this film it was with a horrible English dub. For most of my Godzilla film viewings I had the high quality AIP dubs to listen to. But this particular dub for DAM was so bad it detracted from my enjoyment of the film. The monster scenes were fantastic but I could barely stand the dubbing. I hated the dubbing so much that when the first DVD release by ADV Films came out I passed on it because that was the only audio choice on the disc. Luckily when the first North American blu ray release debuted it contained the long lost AIP dub of DAM. At last a quality English dub is at my disposal and it is good. Sadly the dubs for the DVD and blu rays of Sea Monster, Son of Godzilla, and Hedorah lack the AIP dub and contain only the horrid International dubs. If anyone is listening please rectify this sin as the AIP dubs (available on VHS only) are far superior.

The original ADV dvd/vhs release cover

Kaiju Inequality. This movie, for me, lives up to the hype. I love it. But it didn't come without a few disappointments. Baragon, Varan, and Manda. Manda doesn't take part in the final battle, but at least Manda had the wonderful monorail attack in the middle of the film (one of my personal highlights of the film). Baragon and Varan receive practically nothing to do in the film whatsoever. As someone who had seen every other Godzilla film aside from this one, I was personally looking forward to seeing the kaiju I was least familiar with the most. I had already seen multiple wonderful representations of Mothra, Rodan, Anguirus, and Ghidorah. Having seen Godzilla Vs Gigan before DAM, Anguirus' battle with Ghidorah was old news. Gorosaurus was fine but he's still a fairly uninspired kaiju (an homage to the Tyrannosaurus Rex that King Kong fights in the original 1933 classic). Gorosaurus is a great kaiju to be sure but he's so bland next to Baragon and Varan.

I only knew Baragon and Varan from the old NES video game and I looked forward to seeing them on screen more so than any other kaiju in the film. They even teased us with a kaiju burrowing into Paris but where it should have been Baragon the kaiju is replaced by Gorosaurus (as if we wouldn't notice! Baragon is even mentioned by name as the kaiju responsible for the Paris attack). Having read several books and done some research I have learned why they are both relegated to simple cameos. The film's budget was minimal and they could only afford to make two new kaiju suits, that of Godzilla and Anguirus. The Baragon suit was in too poor of condition to do much with save a cameo. And the Varan figure was only a high quality puppet used for publicity shots back in 1958. Even now knowing the reasons why, I am still disappointed. However, this did lead me to Baragon and Varan's other film appearances and Varan eventually became my second favorite kaiju behind Godzilla. Little silver linings.

A still of the famous deleted scene from Destroy All Monsters

Destroy All Monsters also contains the holy grail of deleted scenes. During the Tokyo Assault there was a sequence where Manda coiled up the height of a skyscraper. The building eventually collapses under Manda's constrictive pressure when Godzilla happens to be passing by. As a result Manda collides with Godzilla and two kaiju enter a brief tussle. This is the closest we'll ever get to see a Showa Era Godzilla Vs Manda battle. I was fortunate to find this deleted scene on Youtube several years ago. Sadly the video has since been taken down and as of now no North American release of DAM has this scene as a special feature. Why this isn't included on the disc yet the footage floats around on the internet is a mystery and a shame. I'd buy the movie again if this deleted scene was added or better yet cut back into the film as an extended director's cut. Someone with power please make this so.

Ode to what could've been

As with many ideas for movies, sometimes the original concept is far greater than what actually makes it to the screen. There are a few Godzilla movies in the franchise that would look quite different had the original ideas made it to the screen. One of them wouldn't even be a Godzilla film had the original concept carried through. With Destroy All Monsters the pieces left on the table would've only made the film grander and more impressive. And they would've erased any disappointments I'd have with the film.

Art by Fourgreen.

Varan and Baragon were originally supposed to have much bigger parts. Varan was supposed to aid the monsters in the final battle, taking to the air and tag-teaming Ghidorah with Rodan in an epic aerial fight sequence. Promotional art for the film depicts some of these ideas showing Varan battling in mid-flight. In addition to this both Manda and Baragon were to battle Ghidorah as well. Regardless of what some scholars have said Baragon was supposed to have been the kaiju to attack Paris (it fits Baragon's character far more appropriately than it does Gorosaurus who, in reality, couldn't burrow. It's just not physically possible for Gorosaurus to burrow. Look at his arms). Baragon was also supposed to be one of the kaiju defenders of the Kilaak Earth base along with another kaiju who was cut from the film entirely: MAGUMA.

Maguma and Baragon defending the Kilaak Base on Earth. Art by Fourgreen.

Yes, the seldom seen Toho kaiju Maguma was originally supposed to be in the movie as well. The kaiju walrus was supposed to aid Baragon in defending the Kilaaks from the JSDF and of course take part in the epic finale. Personally I would've loved to have seen Maguma receive a proper monster role in a film instead of the six minute afterthought from Gorath. And on top of all of this promotional art exists depicting both Ebirah and Odako (the giant octopus from King Kong Vs Godzilla and War of the Gargantuas taking part in the film as well. However given their nature the inclusion of these two kaiju seems slightly problematic but I'm sure Toho had a plan) Alas the filmmakers were not given enough money to realize everything they had originally wanted. Such is the fact for most films. There is only so much time a film can run and so much money at the studio's disposal. Had all these things happened Destroy All Monsters would be even more epic than it already is and maybe it would've launched other underrated kaiju into renewed stardom.

Odako, Ebirah, Maguma, Varan, and Godzilla all in the same scene.

THE VERDICT

The movie's plot is basically a lesser repeat version of INVASION OF ASTRO MONSTER a.k.a. MONSTER ZERO, but no other kaiju film from any studio in the Showa Era comes close to matching the number of kaiju featured nor the sheer spectacle of effects displayed in DESTROY ALL MONSTERS. Destroy All Monsters is a benchmark for all kaiju films no matter the era. Godzilla: Final Wars attempted to remake DAM and ended up being a big episode of Power Rangers with a lot of Matrix influences thrown in. Final Wars doesn't even come close to touching Destroy All Monsters in my opinion. DAM is the AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR of kaiju films.

Overall Ranking: 9 out of 10

Nigh Perfect! Makes it into my Top Ten. A Rarity.

Category: Transcendence

(a movie appreciated by all ages)