Destroy All Monsters (1968) Kaijû sôshingeki (original title)

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Ishirô Honda (writer)
Takeshi Kimura

Release Date:

23 May 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Monsters of mass destruction.

Plot:

Female aliens take control of Earth's monsters and begin using them to destroy the human race.

Plot Keywords:

Monster | Alien | Island | Rodan | Godzilla

Cast

Akira Kubo	...	SY-3 Captain Katsuo Yamabe
Jun Tazaki	...	Dr. Yoshido
Yukiko Kobayashi	...	Kyoko Manabe
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Dr. Otani
Kyôko Ai	...	Kilaak Queen
Andrew Hughes	...	Dr. Stevenson
Chôtarô Tôgin	...	Ogata
Yoshifumi Tajima	...	General
Kenji Sahara	...	Commander Nishikawa
Hisaya Itô	...	Major Tada
Yoshio Katsuda	...	Young Scientist
Heihachirô Ôkawa	...	Engineer (as Henry Okawa)
Kôji Uno	...	Skeptical Reporter
Ikio Sawamura	...	Old Farmer
Yutaka Sada	...	Police Officer
Hiroshi Okada	...	Doctor at hospital
Hideo Shibuya	...	1st Reporter
Nadao Kirino	...	1st Detective
Yutaka Oka	...	2nd Detective
Kamayuki Tsubono	...	3rd Detective
Seishiro Hisano	...	SY-3 Engineer
Ken'ichirô Maruyama	...	Moon Base Employee
Ken Echiyo	...	SY-3 Engineer
Seishirô Kuno	...	SY-3 Astronaut
Wataru Ômae	...	SY-3 Astronaut
Naoya Kusakawa	...	SY-3 Astronaut
Kazuo Suzuki	...	Kilaak Controlled Staffer
Tôru Ibuki	...	Kilaak Controlled Staffer
Susumu Kurobe	...	Kilaak Contolled Staffer
Minoru Itô	...	Kilaak Controlled Staffer
Rinsaku Ogata	...	1st Officer
Keiko Miyauchi	...	Kilaak
Haruya Sakamoto	...	2nd Officer
Yukihiko Gondô	...	Soldier
Atsuko Takahashi	...	Kilaak
Saburô Iketani	...	News Reader
Yoshio Miyata	...	Kilaak
Ari Sagawa	...	Kilaak
Kyoko Mori	...	Kilaak
Midori Uchiyama	...	Kilaak
Wakako Tanabe	...	Kilaak
Michiko Ishii	...	Kilaak
Haruo Nakajima	...	Military Advisor / Godzilla / Baragon
Teruo Nigaki	...	Rodan
Yû Sekida	...	Anguirus
'Little Man' Machan	...	Minya
Susumu Utsumi	...	King Ghidorah
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hal Linden	...	Akira Kubo (uncredited) (voice: English version)
Norman Rose	...	Opening Narrator (uncredited)
Ted Rusoff	...	Dr. Otani (voice: English version) (uncredited)

Directed by
Ishirô Honda

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ishirô Honda		writer
Takeshi Kimura		(as Kaoru Mabuchi)

Produced by
Tomoyuki Tanaka	....	producer

Original Music by
Akira Ifukube

Cinematography by
Taiichi Kankura

Film Editing by
Ryôhei Fujii

Production Design by
Takeo Kita

Production Management
Christian Alexander Moran	....	post-production manager (restored version)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Seiji Tani	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Sadamasa Nishimoto	....	sound effects
Hisashi Shimonaga	....	sound effects
Shoichi Yoshizawa	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Sadamasa Arikawa	....	director of special effects (as Sademasa Arikawa)
Sadamasa Arikawa	....	special effects photographer
Yasuyuki Inoue	....	special effects art director
Kuichirô Kishida	....	special effects lighting
Fumio Nakadai	....	special effects wire work
Teruyoshi Nakano	....	chief assistant director of special effects
Eiji Tsuburaya	....	special effects supervisor
Akira Watanabe	....	special effects art director

Visual Effects by
Sudono Iizuda	....	optical photographer
Yoichi Manoda	....	special effects cameraman
Hiroshi Mukoyama	....	special effects opticals
Sokei Tomioka	....	special effects cameraman

Stunts
Haruo Nakajima	....	stunt choreographer

Other crew
Samuel Z. Arkoff	....	presenter (US version)
Salvatore Billitteri	....	supervisor: US dubbing
James H. Nicholson	....	presenter (US version)

Production Companies

• Toho Company

Distributors

• American International Pictures (AIP) (1969) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Astral Films (1969) (Canada) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Les Films Marbeuf (1970) (France) (theatrical)
• ADV Films (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Fright Video (video)
• Kuk Dong
• Media Blasters (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)

Other Companies

• Toho Studios  sound stages

Also Known As:

"Kaijû sôshingeki" - Japan (original title)

Runtime:

Germany:89 min | USA:88 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:G | West Germany:12 (nf) | Australia:PG

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

In both the Japanese and U.S versions Gorosaurus is accidentally called Baragon when he is attacking France. Baragon was supposed to do that scene. In fact Gorosaurus was given Baragon's roar and was burrowing underground, which is an ability Baragon has, not Gorosaurus! As well in Japan, a painted children's record book based on the movie features Baragon destroying France. The reason for the mix up is that the Baragon costume was on loan to TSUBURAYA Productions to be redressed as various ULTRAMAN monsters and wasn't ready in time for filming. So, Gorosaurus was substituted for that scene.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Obvious "seams" running down the "sky" in many shots, revealing where the sections of the painted backdrop meet.

Quotes:

News Reader:The major cities of the world are being destroyed, one-by-one by the monsters: Moscow by Rodan, Peking by Mothra, London by Manda, Paris by Baragon. And, here's a special news bulletin. Godzilla is now in New York City. The city is being invaded by Godzilla!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Conan: It's Gettin' Hard Out There for a Pope (#1.105)" (2011)

The Buddy System

What happens when a group of aliens take over Monster Island and begin to manipulate the monsters through radar to do their bidding? Why you have the plot of Destroy All Monsters then, which is, for a Godzilla picture, good entertainment. The story is figuratively and literally far-out, but that does not detract from the fun as we see a band of scientists discover how these aliens exercise their control and then unleash the monster's instinctual powers against them. Godzilla, now a good monster, battles with buddies like Rodan, Manya, Varan, and more, against the aliens who plan on world domination. When the aliens no longer can control the monsters, they send for that outer space monster Ghidrah the Three-Headed monster to fight ALL the monsters. SInce he couldn't win against two or three of the monsters in a previous picture - he is made short work of here. Again this is nothing more than entertainment meant to pass some time away. It has an inventive story and a pretty crisp pace. My only major complaint is that the monsters really do not get too much screen time. Honda had the directorial reigns, and the music by Ifukube is outstanding!