Destroy All Monsters

Destroy All Monsters (1968)
Toho Studios
Director: Honda Ishirō, Arikawa Sadamasa (special effects)

So here’s a great big celebration of Toho’s kaiju eiga to date, an indulgent jam that throws together a whole bunch of their giant monsters in a lightly plotted, high-stakes runaround with rockets and aliens. Plenty of costumed fighting, plenty of showy miniature work for the special effects team, surprisingly little reused footage (although it’s there and it’s not hard to spot).

This might seem odd because 1968 wasn’t a significant anniversary for Godzilla, or for Toho Studios; this is only the ninth Godzilla film, and I don’t think it was a milestone number for the studio overall (assuming they kept count after The Three Treasures (1959), allegedly their thousandth production). The fact is, Destroy All Monsters was meant to be the last Godzilla film (yes, again, for real this time). This was supposed to be a big send-off for the franchise at a time when television was draining away Japanese cinema audiences.

Moreover, Godzilla was now getting the same treatment as Gamera in America – Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) had gone straight to television in the US, and Son of Godzilla (1967) was about to go the same way. The American dub of Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) wouldn’t even find a distributor until 1970, although it would at least debut in cinemas. With its unprecedentedly high monster quotient, Destroy All Monsters might recapture the American market’s attention and give Toho back a foreign theatrical outlet for their tokusatsu films.

Destroy All Monsters did get a theatrical release in America, and it ended up reviving Godzilla’s fortunes, at least for a little while. For the domestic market, Toho found another way ahead and made another Godzilla movie in 1969 (of which, more in the next blog post), but this was certainly the last Godzilla movie of the Shōwa era that was expected to fend for itself in Japanese cinemas.

Most of the kaiju featured have previously appeared in other Godzilla movies, but some may need an introduction. And as ever, being killed in their debut movie is no bar to kaiju making a reappearance. Godzilla, Minilla and Kumonga were all seen as recently as Son of Godzilla, while Rodan, Mothra, Anguirus and (spoiler alert!) King Ghidorah should all have made enough of an impression on everyone’s memory. The others are new to the franchise. Gorosaurus, who looks a bit like a Tyrannosaurus Rex but with an even more disproportionately large head, first appeared in the previous year’s King Kong Escapes (1967). He’s a native of Mondo Island and was last seen re-enacting the famous 1933 “Kong vs random dinosaur” scene. Fun fact: he wasn’t named in that movie, so he’s been promoted from bit player to star cast. Manda, a long wyrm-style dragon with stumpy, barely visible legs, was the monstrous antagonist in Atragon (1963). Atragon is an anti-nationalist fable about a flying submarine with a corkscrew drill attachment on the front. (You heard me the first time.) Fun fact: “Atragon”, a portmanteau of “atomic dragon”, was originally meant to describe Manda, but because that isn’t Manda’s name it’s sometimes mistaken for the name of the flying drilling submarine (which is actually called the Gōtengō). Baragon, the quadruped with a horn and big, floppy ears, comes from Frankenstein vs Baragon (1965, a.k.a. Frankenstein Conquers the World). It seems the costume wasn’t available for Baragon’s first scripted appearance, so Gorosaurus ends up subbing in for him, but he can be seen in the film’s climactic showdown. And Varan, the eponymous star of Varan (1958) who looks like a reptilian flying squirrel, isn’t even named in this film but can be seen floating into shot in a single scene (and it’s not reused footage, either!).

So without further ado, on with the show...

It's the end of the 20th century. There's a UN moonbase serviced by daily commuter rockets. The UN has also established a marine research station underwater near the Ogasawara Islands, where they’re apparently creating new species of fish. While they were there, they’ve also corralled all the world’s giant monsters onto one of the islands, which is now popularly known as “Kaiju Land”. We’ll find out later, in a press conference given by Dr Yoshida, that the island was sealed off from the outside world 10 years ago and the kaiju roundup started 20 years ago. (So around 1979, which I suppose works with the dating of the films so far. But see below.) In a helicopter flypast of the island, we’re shown Godzilla, Rodan, Anguirus, Mothra (in larval form) and Gorosaurus. Gas is automatically released along the coast to prevent the kaiju swimming away from the island, and magnetic force screens stop Rodan from flying away. The whole operation is controlled from an underground base, where we can also see uniformed staff at workstations monitoring Minilla and Manda.

Yamabe Katsuo, an officer on the moonbase, is in the middle of a videophone call to Manabe Kyōko, who’s just started work as a research assistant studying the inhabitants of “Kaiju Land”. (Their relationship isn’t explicitly spelled out, although they’re probably meant to be boyfriend and girlfriend. Some sources claim that she’s his sister, possibly on the basis of one of the film’s American dubs, but then some sources conflate the characters’ different surnames.) The signal suddenly drops out and the base’s electrical systems are disrupted before the scientists – and, above ground, the daikaiju – are knocked out with gas; all lines of communication with the island are lost. At the UN’s Science Council office in Tokyo, Dr Yoshida tries to re-establish contact and is shocked to see camera footage of the island deserted. Reports then start to come in of kaiju attacks on major cities around the world: Rodan in Moscow, Mothra in Peking, Manda in London, Baragon in Paris and Godzilla in New York. (Of these, we’re actually shown Rodan buzzing a Russian Orthodox cathedral, Gorosaurus destroying the Arc de Triomphe on Baragon’s behalf, although he’s burrowing like Baragon would, and Godzilla flaming New York’s harbour area.)

On a patrol of the lunar surface in his rocket, Moonlight SY-3, Katsuo and his crew see a black saucer-shaped object and try to pursue it. Tetsuo claims this is important because it’s humanity’s first contact with a UFO. (This makes a nonsense of Invasion of Astro-Monster and, although the UN might not know about it, Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster (1964). Just to recap, Astro-Monster was explicitly set in the 1960s, and this film’s set at the turn of the 21st century, but in just 30 years everyone’s forgotten the attempted alien invasion and all the UFOs.) The crew return to base and are ordered to head back to Earth to investigate the island. They’re met by Kyōko and her boss, Dr Otani, who act as if in a trance. Otani demonstrates how his team are remote controlling the destructive daikaiju – on a workstation screen, we see Mothra destroying a train, Godzilla a ship, Rodan an aircraft. The masterminds behind this are the Kilaaks, ensconced in the heart of the island base.

The Kilaaks come from an unspecified asteroid between Mars & Jupiter. They look straightforwardly human and seem to all present as female. We’re only introduced to one at this point. She wears a silver jumpsuit, gloves, cape and head covering. Rather like the Xiliens in Astro-Monster, her voice sounds like it’s being relayed through a PA system. She claims to be on a mission to advance civilisation on Earth. An invisible shield of some kind makes it impossible for the SY-3 crew to shoot or physically attack her. When the crew try to take Kyōko and Otani away with them, the Kilaak gasses them and sets the other base personnel on them. A gunfight breaks out in the control room. The crew succeed in retreating with Otani, whom they take to the UNSC office. Otani doesn’t answer any questions and instead jumps to his death from a window. Kyōko and some of the controlled scientists, armed with alien handguns, try to recover the body and kidnap Katsuo and Yoshida, but are chased away by the police. An autopsy later discovers a small pellet implanted behind Otani’s ear, made from an unfamiliar metal, that seems to be the means by which the Kilaaks are controlling the humans and the kaiju. The control signals are being relayed through devices, roughly the size of a football, concealed all over the world.

Kyōko draws Rodan, Godzilla, Manda and Mothra to Tokyo, destroying the city. The daikaiju then head towards Izu. Kyōko walks into the UNSC’s emergency headquarters to deliver an ultimatum: the Kilaaks have staged the monster attacks to force all humanity to submit to their control. When everyone has been subjugated, the kaiju will be returned to “Kaiju Land”. Kyōko confirms that the Kilaaks’ new base is in Izu, but Katsuo tears off her earrings, through which the Kilaaks were controlling her, and she collapses, unable to remember any further details of their plans.

The Japanese military, accompanied by rocket Moonlight SY-3, tries to storm the Kilaak base in Izu but is routed by Godzilla and Anguirus. Rodan chases the rocket crew away from following a glowing UFO to the alien base, which seems to be somewhere in the vicinity of Mt Fuji. Exploring the area on foot, Katsuo finds a way into the base through a cave with one of his crew and army Major Tada, but they are soon trapped by the Kilaaks (the one seen previously and five others in less sparkly clothing). They repeat their demand that humanity surrender to them or die, then release the three men. Meanwhile, the UNSC has reclaimed control of the “Kaiju Land” base and tracks the Kilaaks’ control signal to the Moon. The SY-3 returns to the moonbase and sweeps the lunar surface in search of the Kilaaks’ headquarters.

Following a black saucer like the one they saw earlier, the astronauts find their target inside a crater. They break in, decompressing the base and causing the Kilaaks to revert to their true form – something like a silver slug with a rocky shell. The crew find an important looking piece of technology and remove it to take back to Earth – this is, as they guess, the aliens’ master control device. They also take a dormant Kilaak back with them. The UNSC boffins believe the Kilaaks to be living metal and that, although they’re essentially immortal, they need warm temperatures to maintain their human disguises and will need even higher temperatures – perhaps several thousand degrees – to revive them once they go into hibernation. Humanity can defeat them by cooling them down.

The UNSC redeploys the daikaiju, now under their control, to the Kilaak base near Mt Fuji, while the JSDF lines up the artillery in support and the press gives running commentary. The monster army consists of Minilla, Godzilla, Mothra (still only in larval form), Anguirus, Manda, Baragon, Gorosaurus, Kumonga (who only appears in reused footage from Son of Godzilla) and Rodan. (Varan puts in a brief appearance in the montage but isn’t named.) In response, the Kilaaks send in King Ghidorah, who isn’t among the kaiju now under human control. (Poor old Ghidorah, controlled by aliens again. It’s never stated whether the Kilaaks are his original owners or have him on loan. The shot of his materialisation is lifted from Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster.) A pitched battle ensues, in which Godzilla, Anguirus and Gorosaurus seem to do most of the work in taking down King Ghidorah. Ghidorah doesn’t fly away this time but looks as though he might actually be dead. The Kilaaks have one more trick up their sleeve, releasing a “Fire Dragon” that dogfights briefly with Rodan then strafes the UNSC base on “Kaiju Land”, destroying the stolen master control device. Godzilla takes the opportunity to break into the Kilaaks’ base – even though he’s no longer under control, he clearly views the aliens as enemies. With their base destroyed, they all go into hibernation. The SY-3 chases down and destroys the Fire Dragon, which turns out to be one of the Kilaaks’ flying saucers.

In a return to the status quo of the film’s opening scenes, our heroes Katsuo, Kyōko and Yoshida take a helicopter tour of “Kaiju Land” to see all the daikaiju peacefully returned there.

And what a send-off it would have been. There’s a literal fin-de-siècle feel to this movie, set in the barely imaginable future of the end of the 20th century with its moonbase and videophones, reflected in the sheer decadent indulgence of the proceedings. The global scope is refreshing and raises the movie above the usual run of the mill, making it feel like the stakes are as high as the alien invasion plot wants them to be. Having Toho’s kaiju constantly attack Japan before may have been no more ridiculous than the antagonists in American pulp SF movies only ever attacking America, but it’s nice to go a little further afield. So far Godzilla and his pals have only ventured outside Japan to visit fictional Pacific islands or outer space (or “New Kirk City” in Mothra (1961)) – I can hardly believe it’s taken them this long to get around to France. Alas, the international scenes are far too brief.

The model work and matte shots are great all round. It's painfully obvious that there are no people in the scenes of Moscow, Paris and New York, but that’s perhaps the only blemish on what would otherwise be an excellent showcase for Toho’s post-Tsuburaya special effects department. The big monster battles towards the end certainly deliver plenty of spectacle, and the crew have managed to sidestep any wire-related problems by not using the imago Mothra and only bringing Kumonga in through reused shots, allowing them to concentrate on manipulating Ghidorah’s three heads. As obvious as that reused material is, it’s used sensibly and woven into the story quite well.

The real problem is the plot, which is perhaps the most superficial one yet in this series of movies. Some aliens want to take over humanity because they just do, they use remote controlled kaiju to devastate a few major cities in arbitrary displays of intimidation, and they all spontaneously curl up into inert metallic balls the minute their bases are overrun. The characterisation is close to non-existent – just look at the complete lack of development around the relationship between Katsuo and Kyōko. Are they lovers or siblings? The lack of obvious concern on his part while she’s under alien control and the cold violence with which he frees her from that control don’t offer much hint either way. That said, Kubo Akira (making a quick return after starring as the journalist Goro in Son of Godzilla) gives the liveliest performance of the movie as Katsuo. Tsuchiya Yoshio (also recently seen in Son of Godzilla) is wasted as Dr Otani and Tazaki Jun (most recently seen as the lead villain in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep) doesn’t fare much better as Dr Yoshida.

Perhaps the greatest wasted opportunity is the concept of “Kaiju Land”. The idea that humanity has somehow tamed all of these near-supernatural creatures – reduced them again to pest animals and handled them as such – and contained them on an island is one that needs more consideration than it gets here. There’s a brief voiceover explaining the premise right at the start, and after that we’re expected to take it as much on trust as the rest of the plot. We see Rodan fishing a dolphin out of the island’s waters, but what do the rest of the kaiju eat? There’s not that much wildlife to be had, apart from other kaiju or scientists; there’s not even a nuclear reactor to keep Godzilla perked up. Don’t they get under each other’s feet the whole time? Do they get territorial in this foreign, enforced territory? What actually are the consequences of taking them all out of their natural habitats? Who’s defending Infant Island, or indeed the entire planet, if Mothra’s been locked up here?

With hindsight, the real legacy of “Kaiju Land” is that it establishes the idea of a single “home” for Earth’s giant monsters, a toybox they can be pulled out of and go back into as the situation demands. This idea will take on greater significance in films to come, starting with the very next one.