Destroy All Monsters

This article is about the film. For the band, see Destroy All Monsters (band). For the video game, see Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee.

Destroy All Monsters
Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Kanji怪獣総進撃
Transcriptions
Revised Hepburnkaijuu sou shingeki
Directed byIshirō Honda
Special effects bySadamasa Arikawa
Screenplay by
Produced byTomoyuki Tanaka[1]
Starring
CinematographyTaiichi Kankura[1]
Edited byRyohei Fujii[1]
Music byAkira Ifukube[1]
Production
company
Distributed byToho
Release date
  • August 1, 1968 (1968-08-01) (Japan)
Running time
88 minutes[2]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Budget¥200,000,000 (equivalent to ¥729,524,213 in 2019)[3]
Box office¥170,000,000 (equivalent to ¥620,095,581 in 2019)
(Japan rentals)[4]

Destroy All Monsters (Japanese: 怪獣総進撃, Hepburn: Kaijū Sō-shingeki, lit. 'Monster All-Out Attack') is a 1968 Japanese epic kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects directed by Sadamasa Arikawa and supervised by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film, which was produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, is the ninth film in the Godzilla franchise, and features eleven monster characters, including Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Anguirus, and Minilla. The film stars Akira Kubo, Jun Tazaki, Yukiko Kobayashi and Yoshio Tsuchiya.

In the film, humans have achieved world peace by the year 1999, and various giant monsters are confined to an area known as Monsterland. The monsters are freed from the area and are mind-controlled by aliens known as Kilaaks, who send them to attack major cities. When the monsters are freed from the Kilaaks' influence, the aliens send Ghidorah to challenge the other monsters.

Destroy All Monsters was released theatrically in Japan on August 1, 1968. The film was released by American International Pictures with an English-language dub in the United States on May 23, 1969. Contemporary American reviews were mixed, with praise mainly held for the climactic monster battle. Retrospectively, the film has received more praise, and is considered a favorite among Godzilla fans for its "audacious and simple story", "innovative action sequences",[5] and a "memorably booming" score by Akira Ifukube.

The film was followed by the tenth film in the Godzilla franchise, All Monsters Attack, released on December 20, 1969.

  1. ^ a b c d e Galbraith IV 1996, p. 149.
  2. ^ a b Galbraith IV 1996, p. 150.
  3. ^ Ryfle & Godziszewski 2017, p. 244.
  4. ^ Ryfle & Godziszewski 2017, p. 247.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Criterion was invoked but never defined (see the help page).