Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Gidorâ: Daikaijû sôkôgeki (original title)

Director:

Shûsuke Kaneko

Writers:

Kei'ichi Hasegawa
Shûsuke Kaneko
(more)

Release Date:

15 December 2001 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Who will be the last monster standing?

Plot:

Three ancient guardian beasts awaken to protect Japan against Godzilla.

Plot Keywords:

Japan | Disaster | Baragon | Mothra | Ghidorah

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Chiharu Niiyama	...	Yuri Tachibana (BS Digital Q reporter)
Ryûdô Uzaki	...	SDF Adm. Taizô Tachibana
Masahiro Kobayashi	...	Teruaki Takeda (science writer)
Shirô Sano	...	Haruki Kadokura (Yuri's boss)
Takashi Nishina	...	AD Aki Maruo
Kaho Minami	...	SDF Intelligence Capt. Kumi Emori
Shin'ya Ohwada	...	SDF L:t. Gen. Katsumasa Mikumo
Kunio Murai	...	SDF HQ Secretary Masato Hinogaki
Hiroyuki Watanabe	...	Yutaka Hirose
Shingo Katsurayama	...	SDF Intelligence Maj. Tokihiko Kobayakawa
Toshikazu Fukawa	...	Adjutant Miyashita
Masahiko Tsugawa	...	Chief Cabinet Secretary
Hideyo Amamoto	...	Prof. Hirotoshi Isayama the Prophet
Nobuaki Kakuda	...	Commanding Sector officer (as Nobuo Kakuda)
Takafumi Matsuo	...	Mototsu Station police officer
Kazuko Katô	...	Schoolleacher
Katsuo Nakamura	...	Yaizu harbor fisherman
Kôichi Ueda	...	Village headman
Yôichi Atsumi	...	Man in hostel bathroom
Takehiro Murata	...	Cameo appearance (jet fighter pilot)
Yoshimasa Kondô	...	Eyewitness
Kaoru Okunuki	...	Eyewitness
Okina Hanasaka	...	Ropeway guest
Hinako Saeki	...	Ropeway guest
Yukijirô Hotaru	...	Cameo appearance (suicidal man)
Masaya Takahashi	...	Cameo appearance (bicycle shop owner)
Chiu Yan	...	Yokohama street hippie (speaking Chinese)
Masaaki Tezuka	...	Cameo appearance (SDF officer)
Mizuki Kanno	...	Cameo appearance (communications soldier)
Kôichi Kawakita	...	Cameo appearance (SDF officer)
Mizuho Yoshida	...	Gojira / Bystander in Yokohama (behind twin girls)
Akira Ohashi	...	Kingugidora / Man in Yaizu harbor office
Rie Ôta	...	Baragon / Woman in Yaizu harbor office
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shingo Ippongi
Tarô Ishida	...	SDF officer
Ryo Kase	...	Fisher
Miyuki Komatsu
Ai Maeda	...	Cameo appearance (Twin girl in Yokohama)
Aki Maeda	...	Cameo appearance (Twin girl in Yokohama)
Rie Minemura
Tomoe Shinohara	...	Teenage girl at hostel and hospital
Kôichi Yamadera	...	TV studio producer

Directed by
Shûsuke Kaneko

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kei'ichi Hasegawa
Shûsuke Kaneko
Masahiro Yokotani

Produced by
Hideyuki Honma	....	producer
Shogo Tomiyama	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Kô Ôtani

Cinematography by
Masahiro Kishimoto

Film Editing by
Isao Tomita

Casting by
Tadao Tanaka

Production Design by
Toshio Miike

Art Direction by
Toshio Miike
Isao Takahashi

Production Management
Kôji Maeda	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nozomu Aida	....	assistant director
Makoto Kumazawa	....	assistant director
Hideaki Murakami	....	first assistant director
Toshifumi Shimizu	....	assistant director

Art Department
Maki Kobayashi	....	set designer
Hiroshi Sagae	....	miniature builder
Fuyuki Shinada	....	monster designer
Thunder	....	miniature builder

Sound Department
Teiichi Saitô	....	sound recordist
Eisho Taira	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Junko Aoki	....	script supervisor: special effects unit
Makoto Kamiya	....	special effects director
Shûsuke Kaneko	....	special effects consultant
Yûichi Kikuchi	....	special effects assistant
Takayuki Matsuno	....	production manager: special effects unit
Kiyotaka Taguchi	....	assistant special effects director
Shinji Higuchi	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Hajime Matsumoto	....	visual effects supervisor
Toshihiro Ogawa	....	visual effects producer
Kaoru Saitô	....	special effects lighting supervisor
Masaaki Tezuka	....	director: composite footage

Stunts
Mitsuo Abe	....	stunt coordinator: monster suit stunts
Toshinori Sasaki	....	stunts: Baragon

Camera and Electrical Department
Masahiro Kishimoto	....	director of photography: live-action unit
Katsuhiko Kudo	....	set photographer
Takashi Nakao	....	still photographer

Editorial Department
Roger La Prairie	....	telecine colorist

Music Department
Akira Ifukube	....	composer: theme music

Other crew
Miho Iizuka	....	script supervisor
Takuya Yamabe	....	suit builder: Godzilla and King Ghidorah
Tetsuya Yoshida	....	suit builder: Baragon

Production Companies

• Toho Company

Distributors

• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Kuk Dong
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting (2008) (Japan) (TV)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Marbling FineArts (miniatures and models)

Other Companies

• Attractive Action Club (AAC)  extras
• Central Kodomo Talent  extras
• Fame Stage  extras
• Gekidan Himawari  extras
• Gekidan Tohai Corporation  extras
• Hoei Project  extras
• Hoei Shinsha  extras
• Hoei TV Production  extras
• KM Cinema  extras
• Toho Studios  sound stages
• Tokuma Japan Communications Co. Ltd.  soundtrack

Also Known As:

"Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Gidorâ: Daikaijû sôkôgeki" - Japan (original title)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Filming Locations:

Studio 1, Toho Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

Cameo: [Mizuho Yoshida]The pink-shirted young man (wearing a black baseball cap) standing behind the twin teenage girls in Yokohama when Mothra flies over the area. Yoshida is also the stuntman playing Godzilla.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: As King Ghidorah rises out of the ocean after being revived for the second time, Godzilla also rises to the surface. We can hear Godzilla roaring, but you can see in the background here that Godzilla's mouth is not open to roar at all.

Quotes:

Adm. Tachinaba:I had been very proud, up to this moment, that I had never seen any real combat in my life.
Captain:You felt that way too?
Adm. Tachinaba:I think everyone feels that way.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Soundtrack:

Godzilla Theme

Well, I was kinda disappointed...

The rap among Big-G. fans is that this is - as one reviewer put it - "the best of the best". And after reading about the historical-spiritual content of the plot, I really had high hopes for it.

But I was disappointed. Because my hopes were so high, my disappointment may be clouding my judgment; but the problem is simple: at the beginning of the film, there's a great to-do made about Godzilla representing the souls of those slain in WWII, and also a subplot initiated, about Mothra, Ghidorah and Baragon being mythic protectors of Japan.

But, ultimately, not much of this is used to tie up any of the narrative threads; and the issues get more confused as the film progresses and it becomes unclear whether the problem of the past is what actually happened, or whether it is simply that the government was dishonest about it.

The issues do introduce the monsters and get them into battle. And then, at the end of each battle - especially the last - the mythic element is brought back into play to account for some highly impressive special effects. This is no doubt the most sophisticated special effects display we've seen in any Godzilla movie, and it is way better than the trashy cgi show of the American Godzilla rip-off of '98.

I like the special effects, and it's always a pleasure to see the Big Green Guy (looking nastier in this movie than he ever has) knock down a few buildings and kick monster butt. I also appreciate the humor, e.g., the "Blair Witch" parody. The acting is very effective all around, and the direction is above par for the series. Still, really, this film has a tad less "spiritual" clout than "Godzilla vs. Mothra" - and I'm referring to the 1960s version (AKA "vs. the Thing"). Partly this is because the story seems to be struggling for a compromise: the stupidities of the past are counter-balanced with the social stupidities of the present - many of the victims of the monster mêlée suffer because they wander into the battle zone like tourists, unable to comprehend the destructive forces around them. The point is well taken; but it's unclear what the long range consequences of this might be. None of the loose ends are tied up - not even the meaning of Godzilla's ever-beating heart (which we know, from countless other films, is actually a nuclear reactor).

And just as a side note, I REALLY object to Ghidorah being portrayed as a "good" monster - the beast is utterly brainless, that's what makes watching Big G. slap him around so much fun.

I just feel that more effort was needed on the story, even if at the expense of the special effects.