History YMMV / DestroyAllMonsters

* SpecialEffectsFailure: While overall the film's effects are up to Toho's usual standards at the time, with beautifully detailed miniatures (especially the miniature versions of Moscow and Paris) and impressive pyrotechnics, the brief shot of Varan taking flight is ''very'' unconvincing by any measure, as he simply rises straight off the ground without so much as flapping his arms or pushing off with his legs. {{Justified}}, as the Varan suit was long gone by this point and Toho didn't have the budget to build a new one.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Though all the Kaiju are present at Mt. Fuji, Varan, Manda, nor Baragon get in on the fight against King Ghidorah. {{Justified}} in that Manda is a marionette and would’ve been difficult to pull off considering how many wires were being operated already (which is also why Rodan departs the battle early [[note]]though considering how ''well'' Rodan fared against King Ghidorah in their last two films, would have made the resulting CurbStompBattle far worse for Ghidorah if Rodan had participated longer, seeing as most of Ghidorah's defeats were due to Rodan's teaming up with Godzilla, though under the WhatCouldHaveBeen section, Rodan was supposed to aid Varan in the air in fighting Ghidorah which due to the time it would make to make a new suit for Varan, meant the planned scene had to be scrapped[[/note]]). Varan no longer had a costume to work with but why the relatively okay Baragon suit didn't get included remains a mystery [[note]]though it's highly theorized that Toho felt the suit still wasn't ready due to the extensive overuse and didn't want to take chances of having the suit permanently destroyed during the big fight scene[[/note]].
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Both Beijing and London were mentioned as being attacked by Mothra and Manda during the worldwide Kaiju invasion, yet neither city actually appears in the final film. Only Manda's attack on London was outright shown in the Manga adaptation, showing what would have been. [[note]]{{Justified}} in Beijing's case as featuring the capital of China being destroyed on screen by a Japanese movie company (especially by a mind controlled Kaiju who's traditionally seen as a pacifist) would have caused heated tensions between the two long time rival countries to worsen (considering the fact that Mao Zedong was still China's leader at the time), where as the London scene was scrapped due to the extra amount of marionette wires that were used to make Manda move around which was already complicating the filming process.[[/note]]

%% * EvilIsSexy: Kyoko is suddenly more assertive and dressed a bit less formally once under mind control.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Back in 1968, this movie was a big deal for bringing together many of Toho’s famous movie monsters into one ultimate royal rumble, which at the time was seen as innovative since many films hardly did anything to that scale. In today’s world, however, with the popularity of the SharedUniverse concept thanks in part to Marvel, many newcomers to the series (as well as casual audiences) find it to be too slow and felt it didn’t give enough attention to every monster, making some question why it was so special to begin with. Not helped by later films such as [[Film/GodzillaFinalWars Final Wars]] upped the ante regarding the monster roster and fight scenes.

* EvilIsSexy: Kyoko is suddenly more assertive and dressed a bit less formally once under mind control.

* FridgeBrilliance: How is Anguirus able to hang onto King Ghidorah's neck while airborne for so long? He's already done it in 1972...
** Again, with Anguirus-- why is he such a powerful and ferocious adversary in this film while he was a punching bag in the 70s films? He's had twenty-plus years of training with Godzilla to level up.
* FridgeHorror: Remember that bit where the monsters, including Godzilla knows where the Kilaak's base was? Think back to [[Film/Godzilla1954 1954]] and think over that statement again. It's ''horrifying''. Especially when this film is in the same continuity of the first film.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: {{Downplayed}} with Minya. Although fans still didn’t like his inclusion in the film, many felt he was more tolerable here as he was only seen with Godzilla the majority of the time, and was the one to kill King Ghidorah for good.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Though all the Kaiju are present at Mt. Fuji, Varan, Manda, nor Baragon get in on the fight against King Ghidorah. {{Justified}} in that Manda is a marionette and would’ve been difficult to pull off considering how many wires were being operated already (which is also why Rodan departs the battle early [[note]]though considering how ''well'' Rodan fared against King Ghidorah in their last two films, would have made the resulting CurbStompBattle far worse for Ghidorah if Rodan had participated longer, seeing as most of Ghidorah's defeats were due to Rodan's teaming up with Godzilla, thoughh under the WhatCouldHaveBeen section, Rodan was supposed to aid Varan in the air in fighting Ghidorah which due to the time it would make to make a new suit for Varan, meant the planned scene had to be scrapped[[/note]]). Varan no longer had a costume to work with but why the relatively okay Baragon suit didn't get included remains a mystery [[note]]though it's highly theorized that Toho felt the suit still wasn't ready due to the extensive overuse and didn't want to take chances of having the suit permanently destroyed during the big fight scene[[/note]].

** Even more hilarious is that the next time New York City appears in a Godzilla film proper, [[Film/GodzillaFinalWars Rodan would have his own turn to visit the Big Apple after tearing down Moscow. Also said next film appearance also includes Paris only instead of getting attacked by a Kangaroo Kicking Dinosaur which tore the Arc de Triomphe in half, this time the Effiel Tower gets attacked by the flying insect Kamacuras]].

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Though all the Kaiju are present at Mt. Fuji, Varan, Manda, nor Baragon get in on the fight against King Ghidorah. {{Justified}} in that Manda is a marionette and would’ve been difficult to pull off considering how many wires were being operated already (which is also why Rodan departs the battle early [[note]]though considering how ''well'' Rodan fared against King Ghidorah in their last two films, would have made the resulting CurbStompBattle far worse for Ghidorah if Rodan had participated longer, seeing as most of Ghidorah's defeats were due to Rodan's teaming up with Godzilla[[/note]]). Varan no longer had a costume to work with but why the relatively okay Baragon suit didn't get included remains a mystery.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Both Beijing and London were mentioned as being attacked by Mothra and Manda during the worldwide Kaiju invasion, yet neither city actually appears in the final film. Only Manda's attack on London was outright shown in the Manga adaptation. [[note]]{{Justified}} in Beijing's case as featuring the capital of China being destroyed on screen by a Japanese movie company (especially by a mind controlled Kaiju who's traditionally seen as a pacifist) would have caused heated tensions between the two long time rival countries to worsen (considering the fact that Mao Zedong was still China's leader at the time), where as the London scene was scrapped due to the extra amount of marionette wires that were used to make Manda move around which was already complicating the filming process.[[/note]]

* HilariousInHindsight: This wouldn't be the last time that [[Film/Godzilla1998 Godzilla attacked New York]].
** Even more hilarious is that the next time New York City appears in a Godzilla film proper, [[Film/GodzillaFinalWars Rodan would have his own turn to visit the Big Apple]].

** Same could also be why the worldwide destruction montage was cut short, as Godzilla, Rodan and Gorosaurus only appears in New York City, Moscow and Paris for one brief attack before appearing elsewhere. Imagine Godzilla destroying the Empire State Building and especially the Chrysler Building (long before [[Film/Godzilla1998 his own counterpart would indirectly do the same]], Rodan leveling St. Basil's Cathedral or Gorosaurus tearing down the Eiffel Tower.

** Even more hilarious is that the next time New York City appears in a Godzilla film proper, [[Film/GodzillaFinalWars Rodan would have his turn to visit the Big Apple]].
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: {{Downplayed}} with Minya. Although fans still didn’t like his inclusion in the film, many felt he was more tolerable here as he was only seen with Godzilla the majority of the time, and helped kill King Ghidorah.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Both Beijing and London were mentioned as being attacked by Mothra and Manda during the worlwide Kaiju invasion, yet neither city appeared in the final film. Only Manda's attack on London was shown in the Manga adaptation. [[note]]{{Justified}} in Beijing's case as featuring the capital of China being destroyed on screen by a Japanese movie company (especially by a mind controlled Kaiju who is traditionally a pacifist) would have caused heated tensions between the two long time rival countries (considering the fact that Mao Zendong was China's leader at the time), where as the London scene was scrapped due to the extra amount of marionette wires that were used to make Manda move around which was already complicating the filming process.[[/note]]

** Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra and Manda’s attack of Tokyo.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: While overall the film's effects are up to Toho's usual standards at the time, with beautifully detailed miniatures and impressive pyrotechnics, the brief shot of Varan taking flight is ''very'' unconvincing by any measure, as he simply rises straight off the ground without so much as flapping his arms or pushing off with his legs. {{Justified}}, as the Varan suit was long gone by this point and Toho didn't have the budget to build a new one.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Though all the Kaiju are present at Mt. Fuji, Varan, Manda, nor Baragon get in on the fight against King Ghidorah. {{Justified}} in that Manda is a marionette and would’ve been difficult to pull off considering how many wires were being operated already (which is also why Rodan departs the battle early [[note]]though considering how well Rodan fared against King Ghidorah in their last two films, would have made the resulting CurbStompBattle far worse[[/note]]). Varan no longer had a costume to work with but why the relatively okay Baragon suit didn't get included remains a mystery.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Though all the Kaiju are present at Mt. Fuji, Varan, Manda, nor Baragon get in on the fight against King Ghidorah. {{Justified}} in that Manda is a marionette and would’ve been difficult to pull off considering how many wires were being operated already (which is also why Rodan departs the battle early). Varan no longer had a costume to work with but why the relatively okay Baragon suit didn't get included remains a mystery.
* UnintentionallySympathetic: Although Ghidorah is a heartless bastard of a kaiju, one common critique of the film is that the final "battle", while incredibly cathartic, is just a no-holds-barred CurbStompBattle with seven monsters teaming up to fight just one (one with three heads, admittedly). Whichever way you look at it, it's a pretty unfair fight for Ghidorah and the resulting smackdown ends up looking unfortunately similar to a lynch mob. Ghidorah unquestionably deserves such a fate after doing the same to countless planets, but one shot focusing on one of his necks being crushed into paste by Godzilla's foot while the connected head wails in agony can still induce a wince.
* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The destruction of Tokyo, in particular when [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BgZOFtcV4Fo/U0NxCNHpmFI/AAAAAAAAOpE/TrBLZyLg2G0/s1600/Destroy-All-Monsters-Godzilla-Manda-Tokyo.png Manda is on the bridge with Godzilla in the background]], is among one of the many well remembered special effects shots from the era.

** Even more hilarious is that the next time New York City appears in a Japanese Godzilla Film, [[Film/GodzillaFinalWars Rodan would visit the Big Apple]].