King Ghidora

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Destroy All Monsters

Destroy All Monsters

Sometimes studios have to retire a property for a while. When they do they sometimes try to have a celebration to show just how incredible the franchise was and all the joy it brought to others. Destroy All Monsters was this type of movie and was supposed to be the final Kaiju film from Toho. Then something glorious happened. It reignited the love and kept the series alive.

In the far future, mankind has quarantined the monsters of the world on an island called Monsterland and people no longer have to worry about their rampage. Until an alien race known as the Kilaak take control of the island and release the monsters onto the human race. Now a group of humans must work you to find a way to bring the monster under control and fight back against these alien invaders.

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This movie suffers from a bit too much human interaction. Captain Yamabe and his crew essentially save the planet but they aren’t exactly the most interesting bunch. Also there is the whole “earring” scene where Yamabe removes the device controlling her is a bit disturbing. I mean how many other scenes in movies involve ripping a woman’s earring off her? Not many or at least not in Kaiju scenes. Also, it probably wasn’t the best idea of the Kilaaks to decide not to leave any of the monsters at Monsterland, especially when they decide to make it their base of operations on Earth. For an advanced race they really seem to make a lot of stupid mistakes.

The monsters attacking the world is cool enough. Seeing them rampage at the different locations across the globe is definitely the highlight of the entire movie. The final fight scene at the base of Mount. Fuji is a pretty good beat down against King Ghidora. It would have been better if there had been more evil monsters for the Kilaaks to send against the monsters of Earth. Ghidora had previously defeated by a pair of monsters the last time he came into the picture in Godzilla vs. Monster Zero and in this movie he is terrible outnumbered to the point he doesn’t really stand a chance against the monsters of earth. Also, the whole, firebird monster turning out to be the Kilaak’s ship is totally lame.

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This was supposed to be Tohos last giant monster movie but it did so well they made more. It is good but it could have been better if their was more actual focus on the monsters instead of the humans. Still it resulted in more movies getting made so it’s influence can’t be overlooked.

RATING: C+

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Godzilla vs. King Ghidora

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Ever had that film that does so many things so wrong that you want to writ it off as terrible but keep giving it the benefit of still being entertaining because of a few scenes. That is Godzilla vs. King Ghidora in a nut shell. The movie falls onto its face for most of the film until the very end. the real question though is “Is sitting through the bad parts worth the greatness that comes at the end?”

A flying saucer flies through Japan that turns out to be visitors from the future. They say they wish to help get rid of Godzilla by going back to the past and stopping him from mutating into a his current fire breathing form. But there true intention is far more sinister as they hope to create a monster of even greater force: King Ghidora.

The expression “Jumping the shark” refers to when a series goes far from the original message or theme. You`d think that a film series involving mutant dinosaurs, mystical guardians awakened by song, and space cockroaches disguised as humans. that jumping the shark would be impossible. Still, thanks tot he introduction of time travel, such a feat is accomplished. And man does it make the move feel awkward. That and the humans make several turns with their operations. First they get rid of Godzilla, but need him back then need the defeated King Ghidora to defeat him. You’d think after messing things up the first time they would leave well enough alone and just let things work out. The time space continuum only needs to be messed up so much before you just wish someone would use the time machine to make it so things never got messed up in the first place.

There is also the whole aspect with the Android which really helps to hammer in the “Jumping the shark” aspect. He just feels totally out place during the movie. And before anyone tries to remind me of Katsura from Terror of Mechagodzilla as she was a cyborg, hold your horses. Katsura’s presence as a cyborg was much more underlying and not nearly as overplayed. She wasn’t running down cars in Tokyo in an obvious homage to another movie with killer android disguised as a human from the future.

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Not to say this movie is not without its perks. For starters this is the first time we actually get to see Godzilla fight King Ghidora one on one without any other monsters giving him any aid. The fight is gloriously topped off by the fact that Godzilla does more damage to his winged foe then in any other movie before. The use of Mecha-King Ghidora is a very interesting spin on a classic villain and a better take than Kaiser Ghidora from Final wars. Also Yasuaki Shindo played by Yoshio Tsuchiya is one of the most memorable humans in a kaiju movie. Watching him respectfully bow to an oncoming force of destruction he once come to look upon as a savior was truly touching. Basically since those two aspects come at the end of the movie you’d be better just using the DVD to jump to the last hour to get the best part of the film. Which is the best advice I can give for this movie.

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Rating: C+

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Invasion of Astro Monster a.k.a. Godzilla vs. Monster Zero
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One of the first question people ask when selecting a Kaiju movie is “Would you show this to a newbie to the genre?’ The answer that I give an enthusiastic yes! Why am I so passionate about newbies seeing this movie? Simple. This was my first Godzilla movie.

I still remember like it was yesterday. I was Twelve but had already heard about Godzilla from different shows and cartoons growing up. I was curious and wanted to know more about this legendary creature. On a weekend at my grandmother’s place, she took me to the video store, Grand Video and let me rent movies to watch at her house. That’s where I found it, Godzilla vs. Monster X a.k.a. Invasion of Astro Monster. Once I rented that movie there was no turning back. I was a Kaiju fan.

Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero (Front)

From the beginning with astronauts Fuji and Glen landing on Planet X and finding the Xians, a mysterious alien race being plagued by a being they know call Monster Zero, but the earth knows as King Ghidorah. Wishing to vanquish the threat of the three headed beast, the Xian’s request that Earth allows them the service of two other monsters, Rodan and Godzilla with the reward of a universal cure if the planet is willing to cooperate. What follows is series of events that include betrayal, epic monster battles and a rape prevention device being turned into an alien inventions prevention device. If that doesn’t get you interested in watching this movie then just walk away from the giant monster genre as there is nothing here that will interest you.

Watching this movie as an adult allows a person to have a different appreciations then I did now. Back in the day I found myself enjoying it because it was awesome watching Godzilla shoot at King Ghidora with his nuclear breath. In this day in age…I find it awesome watching Godzilla shoot at King Ghidora with his nuclear breath. That and the mysterious Namikaze played by the incredible beautiful Kumi Mizuno.

It also gave us one of the most iconic moments in Godzilla history, the Godzilla Victory Dance. Sure people give it a bad press and think it’s the start of the series losing its edge. A better way to look at it is that it helps to solidify the Godzilla’s new role as a protector of the people. Together with his buddy Rodan, they won’t let any three headed chumps tear apart their plant earth. Once they break away from alien mind control of course.

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Perhaps the real major problem is that the true intention of the Xian’s are incredible obvious to everyone. Why are humans in sci-fi movies so stupid and trusting? Shouldn’t we have found a way to ensure we had some type of incentive to ensure that the Xian’s didn’t be total screw Earth over? Maybe sneak a bomb on their spaceship when they had their initial suspicions that the controller was up to something? For that matter, what did Glen and Fuji think Godzilla and Rodan were going to do on Planet X? Buy a time share and wait for cable guy to come on Wednesday.

To reiterate this movie is a must watch for Godzilla fans and those who are new to the Genre. The only thing that could have made it better would be if Glen had stumbled into the Xian lady’s Onsen. An entire hotspring of Kumi Mizunos, yes please!

Rating: B+