Destroy All Monsters
(怪獣総進撃 Kaijū Sōshingeki?, lit. Monster Attack March)
is a 1968 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Toho Company Ltd. and the ninth installment in the Godzilla series as well as the Showa series.
The film was released to Japanese theaters on August 1, 1968.
The film was released theatrically in the United States in the Spring of 1969 by American International Pictures.
The mysterious Kilaaks appear! Shaking the universe, the great battle of 11 monsters!
(謎のキラアク星人出現！宇宙をゆるがす１１大怪獣の大激闘！)
~ Japanese Tagline
The horror of every monster known to man ravaging the Earth!
~ International Tagline
The MONSTERS are in REVOLT...and The World is on the brink of DESTRUCTION!
~ 1st American Tagline
"DESTROY ALL MONSTERS"...The Battle-Cry that could Save the World!
~ 2nd American Tagline
Monsters of mass destruction.
GODZILLA attacks New York! RODAN devastates Moscow! MANDA obliterates London! and MOTHRA smashes Peking! Is this the war-cry that will save the world...
~ Other Taglines
Directed by:
Ishirō Honda
Produced by:
Tomoyuki Tanaka
Screenplay by:
Kaoru Mabuchi, Ishirō Honda
Music by:
Akira Ifukube
Cinematography:
Taiichi Kankura
Edited by:
Ryohei Fujii
Written by:
Ishiro Honda, Kaoru Mabuchi
1st Assistant Director:
Seiji Tani
Director of Special Effects:
Sadamasa Arikawa
Special Effects Supervisor:
Eiji Tsuburaya
1st Assistant Director of Special Effects:
Teruyoshi Nakano
Production company:
Toho Studios
Distributed by:
Toho
Release date:
August 1, 1968 (Japan)
Running time:
88 minutes
Country:
Japan
Language:
Japanese
Budget: ¥200 million
Box office: ¥170 million
Cast
Akira Kubo as Moonlight SY-3 Captain Katsuo Yamabe
Yukiko Kobayashi as Kyoko Manabe, Monsterland personnel
Kyoko Ai as Kilaak Queen
Jun Tazaki as Dr. Yoshida
Yoshio Tsuchiya as Dr. Otani, Monsterland scientist
Kenji Sahara as Nishikawa, Moon Base commander
Kazuo Suzuki as Ogasawara Monsterland control center engineer
Toru Ibuki as Tetsuo Ise, Monsterland engineer
Minoru Ito as Minoru Kudo, Monsterland engineer
Susumu Kurobe as Shin Kuroiwa, Monsterland engineer
Hisaya Ito as Major Tada
Yoshibumi Tajima as Security Commander Sugiyama
Saburo Iketani as Toshio Fukuzawa, announcer
Henry Okawa as UNSC engineer
Andrew Hughes as Dr. Stevenson
Nadao Kirino, Naoya Kusakawa as International Police detectives
Wataru Omae as Arima, Moonlight SY-3 crew member
Chotaro Togin as Okada, Moonlight SY-3 crew member
Yasuhiko Saijyo as Fujita, Moonlight SY-3 crew member
Seishiro Kuno as Tani, Moonlight SY-3 crew member
Ken Echigo as Yoshikawa, Moonlight SY-3 crew member
Ikio Sawamura as Elderly farmer in the village
Yutaka Sada as Village police officer
Kenichiro Maruyama as Moon Base engineer
Yutaka Oka as Newspaper reporter
Hideyo Shibuya as Newspaper reporter
Yoshio Katsube as United Nations Scientific Committee engineer
Kamayuki Tsubono as International Police detective
Tadashi Okabe as TTV announcer
Haruya Sakamoto, Rinsaku Ogata as Joint Defense Command officers
Yukihiko Gondo as Command vehicle soldier
Yoshiko Miyata, Kyoko Mori, Ari Sagawa, Rei Maki, Atsuko Takahashi as Kilaaks
Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla / Joint Defense Command officer
Hiroshi Sekita as Anguirus / Gorosaurus / Hospital doctor
Teruo Aragaki as Rodan
Susumu Utsumi as King Ghidorah
Masao Fukazawa as Minilla (as "Little Man Machan")
Tadaaki Watanabe as Anguirus (uncredited)
International English Dub
Burr Middleton as Captain Katsuo Yamabe
Bud Widom as Dr. Yoshida
Carole Wyand as Kyoko Manabe / Kilaak Queen
Gregory Starr as Major Tada
Robert Dunham as Okada / Security Commander Sugiyama
Titan Productions English Dub
Hal Linden as Captain Katsuo Yamabe
Bret Morrison as Dr. Yoshida
Paulette Rubinstein as Kyoko Manabe
Bernard Grant as Dr. Otani
Lucy Martin as Kilaak Queen
Kenneth Harvey as Major Tada
Jack Curtis as Arima / UNSC Technician / Newscaster
Larry Robinson as Moonlight SY-3 astronaut
Norman Rose as Narrator
AIP (American International Pictures, Inc.) submitted the movie to the US copyright office on May 20th, 1982 under the registration number V1908P198
. It used the title Destroy All Monsters and was done in a huge batch that contained 376 other films. On February 13th, 1989, a new registration was submitted by Orion Pictures, noted as the legal successor to AIP, and Toho using the registration number V2438P072
. By August 22nd, 1996, Toho appeared to have sole ownership of the US rights, as they submitted it under the registration number PA0000785448
while using the titles Destroy All Monsters and Kaijusoshingeki with no spaces in the Romaji title.
Originally intended to be the last Godzilla film, Destroy All Monsters brings together nearly all of Toho's roster of kaiju, including some who had never appeared in the series before, such as Manda, Varan, Gorosaurus, and Baragon. At the end of the 20th century, all of Earth's monsters are contained on Monsterland
: a facility in the Ogasawara Islands where they can live in peace without threatening humanity's safety. However, alien invaders known as the Kilaaks seize control of the island and its monsters, unleashing them in a destructive campaign around the world. Katsuo Yamabe and the crew of the Moonlight SY-3 find themselves on the front lines of the battle against the Kilaaks as they struggle to discover and disable the source of the aliens' mind control. But even when the Earth monsters are freed from the aliens' control, they must engage in a final confrontation with King Ghidorah, who is now also under the control of the Kilaaks.
Monsters
Godzilla
Rodan
Anguirus
Gorosaurus
Mothra
Minilla
Manda
Kumonga
Baragon
Varan
King Ghidorah
Weapons
Mini-Half Track V2 Rockets
Monster Control Device
Vehicles
C19 Personal Carrier
Exploration Car
GPU-4 Satellite
Half Track V2 Rockets
Hybrid Tank
Kilaak UFO
Moonlight SY-3
SAR-1
Support Helicopter
Type M3A1
Typhoon Devastators
UNSC Moon Base
Locations
Kilaak Base
Races
Kilaaks
Alternate Titles
Monster Total Advancement (literal Japanese title)
Monster Attack March (alternate translation, used on Madman DVD)
Charge of the Monsters (alternate translation)
Attack of the Marching Monsters (alternate translation)
Marching Monster Attack (alternate translation)
Godzilla: The Grand Blitz Operation (ゴジラ電撃大作戦 Gojira Dengeki Daisakusen, Japanese re-release title)
Assemble All Monsters! (オール怪獣集合せよ！ Ōru Kaijū Shūgōseyo!, Japanese 8mm title)
Monster Olympics (怪獣オリンピック Kaijū Orinpikku, Japanese 8mm title)
Operation Monsterland (early English title)
The Invaders Attack (Les envahisseurs attaquent; France; French Belgium)
The Monsters Are Attacking (De monsters vallen aan; Dutch Belgium)
Frankenstein and the Monsters from Space (Frankenstein und die Monster aus dem All; West Germany)
Battle of All Monsters (Kampf aller Monster; German 8mm title)
The Heirs of King Kong (Gli eredi di King Kong; Italy)
Extraterrestrial Invasion (Invasión Extraterrestre; Spain)
The Monsters Are Threatening the World (Hirviöt uhkaavat maailmaa; Finland)
Starfield Monsters (Feza Canavarları; Turkey)
End of Monsters (Canavarların Sonu; Turkey)
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters (Australia)
The Awakening of the Monsters (O Despertar dos Monstros; Brazil)
The Monsters Invade Earth (Los monstruos invaden la tierra; Mexico)
The War of the Monsters (La guerra de los monstruos; Mexican video title)
Frankenstein's Monsters Threaten the Earth (Monsters van Frankenstein bedreigen de Aarde; the Netherlands)
All Monsters Must Be Destroyed (Alla monster skall förstöras; Sweden)
Kill the Monsters (ΕΞΟΝΤΩΣΤΕ ΤΑ ΤΕΡΑΤΑ; Greece)
Monsters Invade the World (الوحوش تغزو العالم; Egypt)
Sometime after Destroy All Monsters was released in Japan, Toho commissioned Frontier Enterprises to produce an English-dubbed version. This international version of the film was subsequently released in some foreign territories, although it would go unreleased in the U.S. until 1996, when the Sci-Fi Channel would license Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla vs. Hedorah for TV broadcast.
American International Pictures released Destroy All Monsters theatrically in North America in 1969.
The Americanization was handled by Titan Productions, formerly Titra Studios.
There were some minor alterations done to prepare the film for U.S. release:
Dialogue was dubbed to English (featuring the voices of actors such as Hal Linden).
Dialogue: The first line of opening narration was changed from "It's the end of the 20th Century"
to the specific year, "The year is 1999".
AIP moved the credits to the end of the film. Instead of the futuristic design employed in the Japanese and international versions, AIP's credits play out in white text against a black background. The original Akira Ifukube
cue was retained, however.
Deleted: After the destruction of Tokyo, an establishing shot of a Japanese sign reading "Integrated Defense Headquarters"
.
Deleted: A shot of Minilla frenzying amid the battle with King Ghidorah.
Deleted: Another shot of Minilla covering his eyes and looking away as King Ghidorah drops Anguirus.
This version has been replaced on home video and television by Toho's international version. While uncut and widescreen, it features an English dub track produced by William Ross' Tokyo-based Frontier Enterprises used to sell the film to overseas markets in 1968. When American International Pictures was provided with this dub initially, it found the dubbing to be substandard and handed the film over to Titan Productions in New York to record a new English dialogue track.
Although AIP chose to produce its own English version instead of using Toho's existing international version, both dubbed versions share dialogue that is notably different from the Japanese version. Significantly, the opening narration in both dubs sets the film in 1999; the narration in the Japanese version sets the film in "the end of the 20th century".
Titan's script may have been based on the Frontier dub.
AIP's version of the film remained in syndication through the early 1980s.
The film, however, would be the last Showa Godzilla film released on home video in the United States.
Toho's international version would finally be released on VHS in 1998 and DVD in 1999 (and again on DVD in 2004, this time packaged with the film's soundtrack on CD, in celebration of Godzilla's 50th Anniversary
) by A.D. Vision.
In 2011, Media Blasters released Destroy All Monsters on DVD and Blu-ray with both English dubs and the Japanese language track but Toho forced the company to pull the discs from circulation after about a month due to rights issues pertaining to the special features.
Media Blasters reissued the film on DVD and Blu-ray in 2014 without the Titan dub or any of the special features.
United Kingdom Release
Warner-Pathe brought AIP's version of Destroy All Monsters to UK theaters in 1969, as part of a double feature with Killers Three. It received an X rating from the British Board of Film Censors, preventing children under 16 from seeing it. The international version of the film was first released in the UK in 1992, when PolyGram Video released it on VHS with Invasion of Astro-Monster and Ebirah, Horror of the Deep. 4 Front Video reissued the film on VHS in 1998. Sony released the Japanese version of the film on Blu-ray in 2019 as part of The Criterion Collection's Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975
box set, with the international English dub available as a secondary audio option.
Destroy All Monsters has received acclaim among Godzilla fans. The New York Times did not review the film upon release, but film critic Howard Thompson
gave it a positive review on a re-release at a children's matinee with the Bugs Bunny short Napoleon Bunny-Part in December 1970. He commented that "the feature wasn't bad at all of this type. The trick photography and especially the blended sweep and skill of the miniature settings provided the visual splash. The human beings, with good dubbed English voices, were a personable lot as they wrestled with some outer space culprits who had rounded up Japan's favorite monsters and turned them against the planet Earth."
Among modern critics, Steve Biodrowski
of Cinefantastique wrote, "In the end, Destroy All Monsters is too slim in its storyline, too thin in its characterizations, to be considered a truly great film. It is not as impressive as the original Godzilla and it is not as hip as name Zero. But for the ten-year-old living inside us all, it is entertainment of the most awesome sort." Matt Paprocki
of Blogcritics said the film is "far from perfect" and "can be downright boring at times" but felt that "the destruction scenes make up for everything else" and "the final battle is an epic that simply can't be matched" .
*Was re-released in 1972 in Japanese theaters as part of the Toho Champion Festival under the very different title "Godzilla: The Grand Blitz Operation" (ゴジラ電撃大作戦 - Gojira Dengeki Dai Sakusen). The movie played as a triple bill with the films Daigoro vs. Goliath (1972) and Panda! Go Panda! (1972).
*Like with Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966), Teisho Arikawa was the actual special effects director for the movie, although Eiji Tsuburaya is credited for it. In reality, Tsuburaya had more of a supervisor role in regards to the special effects. Noted in Japan's Favorite Mon-Star (ISBN: 1550223488)
.
*Uncredited special effects director Teisho Arikawa recalled that at the time of planning the 1968 movie it was originally going to end the Godzilla series. He noted that "producer Tomoyuki Tanaka figured that all the ideas had run out." Naturally this was not the case, as the movie was followed the very next year by All Monsters Attack (1969). Mentioned in Japan's Favorite Mon-Star (ISBN: 1550223488)
.
*Director Ishiro Honda was fascinated by the concept of a "monster farm
", in particular the idea of how humanity could feed them. He noted that a "huge amount of protein"
would be needed and envisioned cloning along with undersea farming to accomplish this. However, despite the director's fascination with this concept, the final movie devotes very little time to it outside of the brief introduction to Monsterland and showing Rodan feasting on a dolphin. The director laments that of the original complex idea only the basic "idea of Monster Island survived"
. Noted in Age of the Gods
, while The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Godzilla
cites it was budgetary reasons that it wasn't focused on more in the movie.
*During the big 4 monster attack on Tokyo (by Godzilla, Rodan, Manda and Mothra) there was a few minutes of footage shot of Godzilla and Manda fighting. It was later decided that it was out of character for the monsters to start fighting, as they were under Kilaak control. The scene was immediately scrapped. However, evidence points to the scene being shot on the "spur of the moment
" and that the special effects team were just simply having a bit of fun (having Manda attack Godzilla), and Tsuburaya just let the cameras roll during this. Planned or not, footage of this still exists and had been shown many times at fan conventions.
*#*Cut Scene:
Godzilla vs. Manda
**While rampaging through Tokyo, the monsters Godzilla and Manda come across each other. The hissing viper-like kaiju snaps at the towering behemoth, as its coiled mass was wrapped around one of the remaining skyscrapers. In response, Godzilla reaches out with his clawed hands, grasping Manda's head. The King of the Monsters then yanks the fanged serpent from its support, taking the building with him.
*#*Background:
**Supposedly improvised by suit actor Haruo Nakajima
. The suit actor had improvised on other projects before, which sometimes resulted in new scenes such as when Godzilla shakes off the dirt from his body in Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964). This was not one of those cases.
*Of all the monsters featured in this film, Varan and Manda are the only ones that never do battle with another monster in any Toho kaiju movie.
*The Manda puppet is the same one used in Atragon (1963). However, a new head was designed for it minus the horns due to the fact that the old one looked too similar to King Ghidorah's.
*This film has the greatest number of monsters to appear in one Godzilla film in the Showa series, and the second greatest number out of all the films, surpassed only in 2004 by Godzilla: Final Wars. While the film stars many familiar faces from the Godzilla series, such as Minilla, Rodan, Mothra, Anguirus, Kumonga, King Ghidorah, and of course Godzilla himself, the film also incorporates four other monsters that had previously starred in their own films in separate continuities. These monsters are Manda, Varan, Gorosaurus, and Baragon.
**Originally, the film was going to feature Ebirah and Maguma. Both were swapped out for Minilla, Anguirus, and Gorosaurus. The first draft for this film called for Kamacuras and even Sanda and Gaira to appear. A later draft gave Sanda a cameo as a Monsterland resident.
**Kamacuras makes a brief unintentional appearance in the film anyway; in a shot from Son of Godzilla meant to show Kumonga joining the assembly of kaiju at Mt. Fuji, a dead, webbed-up Kamacuras can be glimpsed in the bottom-left corner.
*In Godzilla: The Series, there was a three-part story arc called "Monster Wars". During these episodes, aliens known as the Leviathan Aliens appear and take control of the monsters of Earth, sending them to attack the planet's major cities (which, in this story, are identical to the Toho film except for Washington, D.C. and Hong Kong being substituted for New York and Beijing, respectively). They are eventually defeated and their base of operations, which they called Site Omega, is turned into Monster Island.
*Destroy All Monsters was intended to be the last Godzilla film, but due to its success, Toho decided to continue producing more films. However, the next film, All Monsters Attack, was comprised primarily of stock footage from previous films due to the massive budget required for Destroy All Monsters.
*Destroy All Monsters is the first, and so far only film where Mothra appears without the Shobijin
. The only other was Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.
*Of all the kaiju in the film, Varan and Baragon are the least prominent. Both monsters are only seen in two brief shots in the entire film. This is because the suits used for both creatures were in a state of disrepair during the shooting of Destroy All Monsters. The Varan suit was 11 years old and not in good shape, and the Baragon suit had been altered considerably to portray multiple different monsters in Tsuburaya Productions' Ultraman series. Repairs on the Baragon suit continued even during shooting, and the planned scene of Baragon's attack on Paris had to be altered. Gorosaurus was placed in the sequence instead, meaning the monster gained Baragon's burrowing ability. In the scene where news of the monsters' attacks on the world's major cities is reported on TV, the news anchor states that the monster attacking Paris is, in fact, Baragon. This inconsistency occurs in the Japanese version and both English dubs. Baragon himself only appears in one shot during the final battle and later on Monsterland during the film's ending, though he is mentioned to be stationed at Izu, guarding the Kilaaks' base of operations. Varan is portrayed using only a small prop that appears briefly during the same two scenes and is one of only two monsters in the film that is never mentioned by name at all (the other one is Minilla).
*The 1968 manga adaptation of Destroy All Monsters includes several significant differences from the film, most notably Manda, Varan and Baragon directly taking part in the final battle against King Ghidorah. The Fire Dragon is also more true to its name, assuming the full-fledged appearance of a dragon made of flames, despite it still being a Kilaak UFO within. Baragon takes the place of Gorosaurus during the attack on Paris, while Manda's rampage in London is also shown.
**Minilla can be seen holding a giant shark on Monsterland at the beginning of the manga.
*Along with Invasion of Astro-Monster and Godzilla vs. Megalon (which take place in the unspecified years 196X and 197X, respectively), Destroy All Monsters is one of the few Showa Godzilla movies not to be set in the year of its release. As with the aforementioned films, the exact year in which Destroy All Monsters takes place is at best ambiguous, although it is the final film in the Showa Godzilla series regardless. Narration in the Japanese version places the events at the end of the 20th century; the year is given as 1999 in both English language versions. Prop newspapers to be used in the film were reportedly printed with the year 1994, although this cannot be seen on-screen at any point in the completed film.
*In the movie Monsters vs. Aliens, the evil alien Galaxar commands his army to "destroy all monsters
". If one listens to the audio commentary, the creators say that the line was put in as a tribute to the Toho film. They also called it the greatest film of all time.
*This film marks the second time Godzilla, Rodan, and King Ghidorah were under alien mind control since Invasion of Astro-Monster. This is also the first, and so far only, time Mothra was mind-controlled by aliens.
*There is one brief use of stock footage, from Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, when King Ghidorah makes his first appearance.
*This film marks the return of Anguirus, who had not been seen in a Godzilla film for 13 years. The character's new suit would go on to appear in Godzilla vs. Gigan, Godzilla vs. Megalon, and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, the last film with its fangs missing.
*Gareth Edwards
stated that if the 2014 American Godzilla film was successful enough to spawn a sequel, he would do a Destroy All Monsters-type sequel.
*The 2011 DVD and Blu-ray releases of this film by Media Blasters remain the only official home video releases of a Godzilla film to include two English dubs.
*Destroy All Monsters was re-released at the Winter Toho Champion Film Festival on December 17, 1972, under the title Godzilla: The Grand Blitz Operation (ゴジラ電撃大作戦 Gojira Dengeki Daisakusen), alongside the kaiju film Daigoro vs. Goliath and an animated film called Panda! Go Panda!.
*King Kong appears on some of the French, Belgian, and Italian posters for the film, while the male and female Gappas are featured on the Turkish poster.
*Some of the trailers for this film include inconsistent roars for the monsters. In one trailer Mothra has a slightly altered Varan roar, Gorosaurus has Anguirus' roar combined with his own, and Manda has Rodan's roar. In another, Manda again has Rodan's roar, while Godzilla strangely possesses both Rodan's roar and Mothra's chirp.
*Though the new SoshingekiGoji
suit was used for the vast majority of Godzilla's screen time, the DaisensoGoji
suit returned for Godzilla's aquatic attack on New York City (its dorsal plates can be seen to be bending), and the MosuGoji
suit can be glimpsed in a shot recycled from Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster of Mothra spraying King Ghidorah with her webbing.
*The first episode of the 1971 Tsuburaya Productions series Return of Ultraman, directed by Ishiro Honda
, is also called 怪獣総進撃. However, the 2020 American Blu-ray release of the series by Mill Creek translates it as the international title of Honda's
next Godzilla film, All Monsters Attack.
*The 2013 kaiju film, Pacific Rim, shares a similar concept of aliens trying to take over the Earth by using kaiju under their control.
*This is only the second film since the original 1954 movie in which Godzilla himself actually appears in or attacks Tokyo. In Godzilla Raids Again (1955) Godzilla appears in Osaka, in King Kong vs. Godzilla he never actually makes it to the city, in Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) he appears in Nagoya, in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) he appears in Yokohama, in Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) he emerges from Lake Myojin and battles in the Nagano Prefecture, while both Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) & Son of Godzilla (1967) take place on fictional islands.
*The Japanese title of this film actually translates as "Monster Total Advancement". The title "Destroy all Monsters" was Toho's international tile used for overseas sales. These were usually changed when released in the U.S. or Europe, however the title was kept.
*This was the last Godzilla movie made with all 4 "Godzilla Fathers
": TANAKA (producer), HONDA (director), IFUKUBE (music) and TSUBURAYA (special effects: although he only worked as an advisor).
*As an apparent inside gag, the television broadcast showing the humans under Kilaak control warns the viewers to "Be on the lookout for Andrew Hughes, an American
". Andrew Hughes is the name of one of the other actors. He is the older gentleman playing Dr. Stevenson.
*Gorosaurus from this movie is officially stated to be the dinosaur introduced in King Kong Escapes (1967). This causes continuity issues, since the Gorosaurus was supposedly killed by King Kong in that movie and it was said to be 35m tall, whereas in this film, Gorosaurus is the same height as Godzilla (50 m). In addition, Baragon was supposedly killed by Frankenstein in "Frankenstein Conquers the World" but came back to make an appearance in this movie. And, Anguirus from "Godzilla Raids Again" and Kumonga from "Son of Godzilla" were defeated by Godzilla in their respective movies but also make appearances in this film. However, it can be assumed that Gorosaurus and Baragon survived in "King Kong Escapes" and "Frankenstein Conquers the World" since their fates were left somewhat ambiguous in those films, while the Anguirus and Kumonga that appeared in this film are different creatures than the ones in "Godzilla Raids Again" and "Son of Godzilla" because their bodies were incinerated by Godzilla's fiery breath in those movies.
*The island that all the monsters live on is officially called Monsterland
, not Monster Island
. Monster Island would not be introduced until the subsequent film and is a different location than Monsterland.
*The "friendly" look continued in Godzilla's appearance from 1968 to 1972. Godzilla, by this time, was perceived as the "hero of the world
" in his movies instead of an indestructible demon from the nuclear age. This Godzilla suit went on a diet by being slimmed down a lot to fit the actor better and for better mobility while filming Godzilla's battles. Godzilla's neck became much longer and his head more rounded. His pupils were made a little smaller and the width of his mouth became much longer, traveling down to the upper part of his neck. His dorsal fins became smaller in size and like the head, was also rounded. His two end dorsal fins became much smaller and appear as mere little bumps traveling down the back of the suit. The tail was also made shorter.
*Even though a new Godzilla costume was designed for this film, the one used for the attack on New York is the one that was used for Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) and Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966). Older Godzilla suits were used in certain "stunt" scenes (particularly in scenes with Godzilla in water) to keep the newer suits in good shape.
*Haruo Nakajima
, the man inside the Godzilla suit, has an out-of-suit cameo in this film.
*This was Mothra's and Rodan's final regular appearance in a Showa era film. They later would return in the Heisei series but with their powers drastically altered.
*Varan was going to have a larger role in the film. Unfortunately, when the producers saw how deteriorated the costume was after years in storage, it was decided to use a puppet and film it at a very long range.
*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.
*Toho decided to include monsters that have not been seen in a while, along with some of their other monsters whose movies were not connected to the Godzilla series. Anguirus had made his first appearance since Godzilla Raids Again (1955), Baragon was last seen in Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965), Gorosaurus starred in King Kong Escapes (1967), Manda was in Atragon (1963) and Varan starred in Varan (1958).
*This features the final film appearance of Varan and Gorosaurus.
*The film in the planning stage was called "Kaiju Chushingura" or "Monster Chushingura". "Chushingura" is a very popular Kabuki plot based on a real story of a band of Samurais taking revenge of their master who was killed. The name of the antagonist of "Chushingura" is "Kira" which was merged with "Aku" which is the Japanese word for "evil". "Kira-Aku" was respelled as Kilaak in the English translation.
*The budget of this film was three times that of the original Godzilla film, which, at its time, was one of the most expensive Japanese films ever made.
*Destroy All Monsters (1968) brought Ishirô Honda
back as director and Akira Ifukube
as the musical composer for the first time in three years. The previous two Godzilla movies, Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) and Son of Godzilla (1967), were directed by Jun Fukuda
, while the score was composed by Masaru Satô
. During this time period, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka
wanted to see if another team was capable of directing kaiju movies. The installment after this, All Monsters Attack (1969), would be Honda's last time directing the series until its last entry: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975).
*Originally, the writers wanted to depict some of the benefits of future scientific advancements, like settlements on the Moon or genetically enlarged fruit, but these concepts were dropped due to budget constraints.
*The giant pterosaur Rodan is shown hunting and eating sea life by completely submerging into the water and emerging with his prey in his beak. This behavior was probably inspired by actual gannet birds, but around the 2010s, paleontologists concluded that real-life pterosaurs would have also used a similar hunting technique as opposed to the traditional "skim feeding" hypothesis. Water resistance would have made it near impossible for pterosaurs to stay aloft while skimming their beak on the water surface to catch a meal but scientists think they were good swimmers and may have dive-bombed into the water with their entire bodies.
*In the first draft of the script Maguma from the film Gorath (1962) was going to be the monster who attacked Paris. However, it was later changed to Baragon and eventually Gorosaurus. However, in some storyboards as well as promotional stills Gorosaurus was the monster who wound up attacking that city.
*Despite the title, King Ghidorah is the only monster that gets killed/defeated in this film and it's by the other monsters.
Destroy All Monsters TITANS 1968 || Kaiju ANIMATED SIZE COMPARISON
