Destroy All Monsters (1968)

Plot Outline: Godzilla and the other giant monsters of Earth are being held on Monster Island. Here they can live in peace without being able to leave the confines of the island thanks to a multitude of technological devices stopping them. But then suddenly the monsters start appearing all over the world and wreaking havoc on major cities. Aliens from another planet have come to Earth and want to use these monsters to destroy it.

The Review: Ah, this is the stuff that kaiju fans dream of. Destroy All Monsters just rules! It was the film that got me into Godzilla films and what a hell of a way to start. It does exactly what you want from a kaiju film and that is deliver monsters, monsters and more monsters. Godzilla, Rodan, Anguirus, Mothra, Ghidorah, Spiga, Minya, Gorosaurus, Varan (briefly) and Baragon all pop-up here at some point. And most of them get some worthy action. There are some great human vs monster fights with the characters running around trying to stop them in vain, plenty of city smashing and then the ultimate monster rumble at the end of the film. Here Godzilla and the others must do battle with Ghidorah, the 3 headed monster. The fight is one of Toho's best yet most simple. There's little in the way of fancy special effects laser beam weapons which dogs the newer films. The monsters just get down and dirty and punch, kick and bite each other not to mention do flying drop kicks and flying tackles. I always found it unfair to see Ghidorah take on 7 other monsters at one time, especially when he was defeated by only 3 of them in Ghidrah, the 3 Headed Monster. The fight is a little one-sided but it's still fun. This is what people expect from their monster films and because this film provides it, it's one of the most popular. There is also a complete thrashing of Tokyo by 4 of the monsters - and believe me this time Tokyo does get pummelled. Akira Ifukube also produces his best musical score yet which is really rousing and accompanies the action like twins. Other Godzilla films have done too much in the way of talking and yes the characters do a lot of talking, but there is way more monster action. Godzilla has never reached a more popular level in my opinion.

Final Verdict: Destroy All Monsters is arguably the pinnacle of Godzilla films. It's everything we've now come to expect from our giant monster friend and more.

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