Destroy All Monsters 12A

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From the archive

This film was last shown on 21 July 2024

In the far-off future of 1999, man and kaijū co-exist peacefully, with the giant monsters confined to an island known as Monsterland. An alien race, the Kilaaks, invades Earth, mind-controlling Godzilla and co, and setting them loose upon the world’s major cities. Humanity works to free the monsters from their controlling invaders but, before peace can be restored, they must team-up to take on the aliens’ secret weapon: the all-powerful space monster, King Ghidorah!

Featuring Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, Anguirus, Baragon, Manda, Gorosaurus and more, this all-out monster showdown brings together creatures from across the many kaijū movies produced by Tōhō following the success of Godzilla (1954). This is the Avengers Assemble of giant monster flicks, way before Marvel built their own cinematic universe and with a heck of a lot more rubber suits.

In response to waning cinema attendance in Japan, Destroy All Monsters seeks a more family friendly appeal, trading seriousness for silliness. By this point in the franchise, the portrayal of Godzilla and other monsters had changed from frightening forces of nature to heroic figures that protected Earth from alien invaders.

With the thoughtful, contemplative nature of the series’ origins long gone, the emphasis is now placed elsewhere: more monsters, more fighting, and more action in an effort to emulate professional wrestling, which was wildly popular in Japan at the time.

Showing as part of KaiJuly, a season of films celebrating Japan’s giant monsters, to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Godzilla. Purchase our season pass to access all of the films in our KaiJuly season for just £25.

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Director
Ishirō Honda
Year
1968
Duration
1 hour 29 minutes
Language
Japanese with English Subtitles
Cast
Akira Kubo, Jun Tazaki, Yukiko Kobayashi

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