All Monsters Attack (1969) "Review 10"

[abraxas]

All Monsters Attack (in Japan as Godzilla, Minilla, Gabara: All Monsters on Parade), is a 1969 giant monster film, also known as Godzilla's Revenge (chronologically set after the movie Son of Godzilla but before Destroy All Monsters). The 10th film in Toho Studio's Godzilla series, it was directed by Ishiro Honda, who also directed the special effects, assisted by Teruyoshi Nakano. This is the second film to feature Ebirah and Kamacuras. It is the third film to feature Gorosaurus, Anguirus, Kumonga, Manda, and Minilla.

Despite the credits in both versions, Eiji Tsuburaya had nothing to do with this film, aside from the featured stock footage. The "Special Effects Supervised by" credit was given out of respect, since he was still the head of the Visual Effects Department.

In contrast to previous films in the series, this film is openly aimed at children. As such, most reviewers have distinctly negative impressions of the film.



I have finally arrived at what most fans consider to be the absolute ruin of the Godzilla franchise.

I do admit that this film is inferior to the rest of the series, except Destroy all monsters, it is for all intensive purposes, a kid film. The entire film is basically the dream of a small Japanese boy, and so non of the action takes place in "reality" for this reason Gabara, the main antagonist in the film was never put into another Godzilla film. Basically nothing in the movie ever really happened, this is very confusing in terms of the film which came after this one, that being Destroy all Monsters. That film uses "All Monsters Attack" as a justification for all the monsters being on the same island, but this is rather convoluted if you really think about it.

A little boy with a very vivid imagination is being bullied by Gabera, another boy from school, his parents are never home and so he is left without anyone to protect him. In his imagination he travels to Monster Island to visit Minilla "Godzilla's son" (who now as the ability to speak and sounds a lot like Barney Rubble). In his mind the monster Gabera is a representation of the bully at school. Like Ichiro Minilla (now the size of a human child) is being bullied by his own Gabera, this one far more dangerous, for he is equipped with an electrifying touch.

Godzilla once again fights the giant lobster and Spiga (giant spider), even though both were killed in the previous film. Godzilla wants to teach Minilla (also possessing the ability to grow to monster size at will......somehow) how to fight Gabera, and from this Ichiro learns to deal with the bully at school.

The Godzilla suit in this film was the same used in the last few movies.

There is also a subplot about two bank robbers

In Japan, the film sold 1,480,000 tickets. This was over a million tickets less than the previous Godzilla film, Destroy All Monsters (and it was the first Godzilla film to sell less than 2 million tickets).

4 out of 5 roars for this one

I would have given it a 3 if not for the fact that this particular Godzilla film was such a big part of my childhood, it is by far the one Godzilla film that I saw the most times on television.

[GL]

I prefer the Japanese one over the US one, that version at least makes the film a little more respectable-looking, but the film is still an utter bomb in my eyes. The kiddie approach means the battles are lame, nothing really spectacular happens because it's meant for them to enjoy, and everything is way to simplified. Gabara is an absolute embarrassment, a total joke of a monster and his costume looks exactly like one would be, and as you pointed out, the convoluted storyline is not all that welcoming.

Still, though, it does have some good parts. If you evaluate the film not as a Godzilla movie but as entertainment for small children, that just so happens to feature Godzilla, then the film deserves a fair amount of praise. The film is an obvious attempt by Toho to take on the Gamera series by Daiei, a kiddie-oriented, simple-minded take on the genre and this one beats them all hands-down. By featuring a little boy whom any kid, especially Japanese kids with busy parents can identify with, feeling lonely at times, being picked on by bullies and has an active imagination fueled by the films of the various monsters he idolizes, he becomes just like any normal kid in the audience. By having the little boy endow Minya with many of his own personal traits, the overcoming of Gabara at the end and the eventual realization of those same successful tactics against the robbers at the end, and eventually standing up to the gang of bullies and earning their respect, it becomes a way to not only entertain kids, again the primary target, but also to teach them a lesson about being comfortable with yourself and not to give in to the demands of peer pressure in a way which is neither condescending nor heavy-handed, which is one of the more impressive qualities about the film.

As a Godzilla film-1/5.
As a teaching tool-4/5.