Line #28 Film/DestroyAllMonsters


1	[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/destroy_all_monsters_1968_3899.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:220: Time is running out for the human race!]]
3
4	-> "''Uh, about all I can tell you now, could be looked upon as ancient history. When the monsters first appeared, they meant to destroy the Earth.''"
5	--> ~ '''Dr. Yoshida''', in Titan Productions' dub of the film.
6
7	The ninth ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' film and originally set to be a GrandFinale (though remains this chronologically for the original series). The last time Tomoyuki Tanaka, Ishiro Honda, Eiji Tsuburaya, and Akira Ifukube collaborated together on the franchise, and entitled ''Kaijū Sōshingeki'' ("Attack of the Marching Monsters").
8
9	The year is [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 1999]], where the world has corralled all the world's monsters into a heavily secure island base in the Ogasawara archipelago called Monsterland and a new Moonbase is being established with the brand new rocket ship Moonlight SY-3. However, things go awry when Monsterland is suddenly gassed by aliens and both the monsters and humans are brought under the control of a group of [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe space women]] known as Kilaaks. They've made the Monsterland crew into henchmen and have sent the monsters around the world with Godzilla attacking New York, Rodan to Moscow, Gorosaurus to Paris, and Mothra to Beijing. It is up to the crew of the Moonlight SY-3 to sabotage the Kilaak control device, while the monster attacks intensify and the Kilaaks plot to make things more comfortable for them by raising the temperatures. Upon their success, the monsters rally to attack the Kilaak base at Mount Fuji, but the Kilaaks pull another card from their sleeves: King Ghidorah, leading to a climactic showdown for Earth.
10
11	Canonically, this is the final film of the Showa Godzilla storyline, but it's followed by ''Film/AllMonstersAttack'' in terms of production.
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13	----
14
15	!! This film contains examples of
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17	* AdvertisedExtra: While the film does feature a huge number of monsters, most of them only appear for a few seconds each. In fact, the majority of the film bar the very end has only very brief cuts to monster action, with the focus being on the humans trying to thwart the Kilaaks' control over them.
18	* AffablyEvil: The Kilaak leader.
19	* TheAlcatraz: Monsterland is basically a prison for Creator/{{Toho}} kaiju.
20	* AllYourPowersCombined: ''TEN'' monsters vs King Ghidorah. Geeze.
21	** Though to be fair, only six really do anything.
22	* AlienInvasion: Well, yeah.
23	* ArtisticLicenseGeography: Also from the dub "We will sneak into the Kilaak base from the left." The left of what? Whose left? Your left, or the base's left? This is why modern military jargon uses directions such as west or north.
24	* ArtisticLicenseSpace:
25	** In the dub: "There are many small planets between Mars and Jupiter!" Good grief, just dub it as "asteroids"...
26	** Fully invoked with the plan to invade the Killak's moon base. At one point, the leader going over the plan explains that they will be 'sneaking from the left through the swamp.' On the moon. Which has no atmosphere, and certainly does not have swamps.
27	* BackForTheFinale: Most of the Toho monsters that had their debut before being transplanted with Godzilla prior to 1968 are in the film, them being Anguirus, Rodan, Mothra, Varan, Manda, Baragon, and King Ghidorah. Ghidorah stands out as [[BackForTheDead this is canonically his final appearance]].
28	* BizarreAlienBiology: Though the Kilaaks appear to be merely HumanAliens at first glance, they can only take that form while remaining at high temperatures, their real forms being more like metallic slugs.
29	* BloodFromTheMouth: King Ghidorah during his battle against the Monsters. This should be noted that Eiji Tsuburaya, the SFX supervisor of the film has quote several times before that he'd ''never'' have Godzilla or any of the monsters in Toho bleed... though this is perhaps because his protege Sadamasa Arikawa did the actual directing.
30	* {{Brainwashed}}: The poor workers of the Monsterland facility. The main characters ''had'' to kill them without realizing that they were being mind-controlled {{Mook}}s.
31	** King Ghidorah is also mind controlled by the aliens, being used as a weapon of last resort against the Earth monsters. This leads to his demise.
32	* TheBusCameBack: This was Anguirus' first appearance since 1955, thirteen years prior. With ''Godzilla Raids Again'' having been fairly forgettable even for the people of that time, his inclusion here was unexpected but very well-received.
33	* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Remember that this Godzilla is from ''Film/GodzillaRaidsAgain''? The next several films made him even...wackier.
34	* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: The different jumpsuits of the various crews all match. For example, the Moonlight crew all sport yellow rubber suits, while the Moon crew all wear red.
35	* CoolStarship: The Moonlight SY-3.
36	* CrisisCrossover: This film was a mashup of all of the kaiju from Ishiro Honda's films (minus Moguera, Frankenstein, Dogora, the Gargantuas, the Kamacuras, Mechani-Kong, and the Giant Condor, who were KilledOffForReal in their debut films; Ebirah and the Giant Octopus, whose fates are unknown; and King Kong, most likely due to legal issues)[[note]]As revealed under the WhatCouldHaveBeen section, all of the mentioned Kaiju were in the early planning stages to return in this film, including both Kongs but the timing of the rights reverting back to Universal were too close for comfort for the production, meaning that Mechani-Kong couldn't be used[[/note]].
37	** King Kong was in the script for the version of this story that was being considered in 1967 in competition with the winning idea that became Film/SonofGodzilla. Sanda was to have been seen hanging around on Monsterland in one of the late drafts of the script (though he did not participate in the later action). Ebirah was also in later drafts, but didn't make it into the final film.
38	* {{Determinator}}: Anguirus just ''won't...stop...attacking'' during the final battle. Despite being up against King Ghidorah, who is much larger and stronger than he is, the scrappy ankylosaur doesn't let up taking on Ghidorah on his own initially.
39	* DidntThinkThisThrough: As a final ploy after all the Earth's monsters break free of their control, the Kilaaks send in King Ghidorah to kill them all. You know, the one who took Godzilla and Rodan alone to defeat him in [[Film/InvasionOfAstroMonster his last appearance]] (along with Angurius, who helps with Godzilla's fight [[Film/GodzillaVsGigan with him and Gigan]]) and even Mothra [[Film/GhidorahtheThreeHeadedMonster in his debut film]], and now he's up against Godzilla, Rodan, Anguirus, Mothra, and FIVE other monsters working together (technically ten, but Varan, Baragon, and Manda never end up doing anything but spectating due one not having a proper suit [[note]](Varan's suit was long gone following his debut film and there was no time to build a new one)[[/note]], one whose suit was only recently repaired in time, but was risky to use[[note]](Baragon's suit was modified a bunch of times on ''Ultraman'')[[/note]] and the last one requiring a bunch of wires to make it move [[note]](Manda)[[/note]]). You start to wonder if the Kilaaks were really so idiotic that they thought King Ghidorah had a sure victory despite this, or they were just bluffing at that point. Granted every time King Ghidorah lost prior, he just left the battle after giving up or had been just broken out of control and was erratic, whereas the Kilaaks deployed him under their direction.
40	* EarnYourHappyEnding: The humans earn their right to continue to exist by destroying the alien mind control devices and the Earth monsters earn their right to live the rest of their days in peace on Monsterland by killing the world destroying King Ghidorah once and for all.
41	* ExtremeMeleeRevenge: Once Earth's kaiju manage to ground King Ghidorah, they proceed to literally beat him to death. First Anguirus, then Godzilla, Gorosaurus; and the rest all basically dogpile him. Given every appearance of his has had him viciously assault any monster opposing him and he's wiped out entire planets for ''fun'', it's hard to blame the kaiju.
42	* FailedFutureForecast: Averted, when Rodan attacks Moscow, no mention is made of the Soviet Union.[[note]]Rather HilariousInHindsight seeing as by the time the actual 1999 came around in real life, the Soviet Union would be long dissolved to make way for present day Russia.[[/note]]
43	* ForegoneConclusion: This is this the chronological final film in the Showa Era. Meaning everything happening after this film will be set up with this one. Such as King Ghidorah appearing in ''Film/GodzillaVsGigan''. King Ghidorah's fate is already set in this film.
44	* HumiliationConga: For King Ghidorah.
45	* KilledOffForReal: King Ghidorah is finally killed by Earth's monsters. This is the Showa King Ghidorah's canonical death, all later appearances are set before this.
46	* MonumentalDamage: With this many kaiju and locations, it's inevitable, here we have:
47	** Godzilla destroying the United Nations Building with his Atomic Breath while attacking New York City, the Empire State Building likewise appears in the background, though the Chrysler Building and the Statue of Liberty are nowhere to be seen, though it's implied Godzilla destroyed them both off-screen.
48	** Rodan leveling the historic domes of Ivan the Great's Bell Tower with his mighty wings while invading Moscow, USSR, with both the Kremlin Wall and the Parliament building cameoing, though St. Basil's Cathedral is missing in action (though it was likely destroyed off-screen due to its close proximity to the Bell Tower).
49	** Gorosaurus burying underneath the Arc de Triomphe causing it to collapse in half while terrorizing Paris, France with the Eiffel Tower briefly appearing [[note]]though only in the trailer[[/note]] right before Gorosaurus pops up.
50	** Mothra Larva smashes through Beijing, China (here it's called Peking) though the city itself doesn't appear at all in the film proper with the event taking place off-screen, the closest we get to anything Beijing-related is Mothra attacking a Chinese train near the Chinese capital.
51	** Manda likewise levels London completely off-screen (which was shown in the Manga adaptation of the film)[[note]]this was cut due to requiring a lot of wires to move Manda around and that Toho wanted to build their own version of London, distinct from the version that was seen in ''Film/{{Gorgo}}''[[/note]].
52	* {{Mythology Gag}}: ''Film/{{Rodan}}'' was written as an allegory for the Soviet nuclear threat, so it was no surprise that the Kilaaks would send Rodan to attack Moscow, Russia.
53	* NewscasterCameo: For the umpteenth time in a Toho sci-fi film (Look carefully, his cameos go as far back as the original film), Japanese news reporter Saburo Iketani appears as himself, even though the film is set in 1999. Maybe it's his son?
54	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: How many of those missile attacks during the Tokyo scene hit the buildings more than the monsters?
55	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: When King Ghidorah bites Anguruius, causing him to fall, Angurius's impact causes an earthquake that uncovers the Kilaak's base.
56	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: The battle with Ghidorah turns into this towards the end, culminating with Godzilla and the others mercilessly stomping Ghidorah's brains out. If you look carefully, [[BloodFromTheMouth blood spurts out of Ghidorah's mouths]].
57	* OhCrap: The Kilaak leader's reaction to hearing Godzilla's roar towards the end of the movie, realizing that he's found her base and that it's all over. It's a brief yet satisfying moment, especially after the humans and the viewer have been treated to the Kilaaks' smug and arrogant attitude throughout the film.
58	* PayEvilUntoEvil: King Ghidorah's death is very brutal, but considering the guy liked to destroy planets for fun, he had it coming.
59	** It gets worse for him when you realize he died as a slave instead of with the freedom he so enjoyed using to kill others.
60	* PostClimaxConfrontation: Just following King Ghidorah's brutal death sequence at the hands of the countless other Kaiju, a so-called "burning monster" suddenly appears out of nowhere and confronts the human protagonists, only for them to soon shoot it with a freeze-ray of some sort and subsequently reveal it to been nothing more than yet another UFO in disguise all along as it explosively crash-lands down onto the Earth's surface, also resulting in the Kilaak's true final defeat immediately thereafter.
61	* SeriesFauxnale: The film was intended to end the series, but it proved to be so popular that more films ended up being made. Though it should be noted, chronologically, this film is still the ending of the Showa Era timeline.
62	* SmugSnake: The Kilaaks' leader. Throughout the film, she treats the protagonists and their efforts against her people's conquest with dismissive arrogance, taunting them repeatedly. Even when the humans break the Kilaaks' mind control and create their own device, the Leader remains unfazed and smugly pulls out King Ghidorah as a trump card, only for the Earth's kaiju to soundly defeat him. And even after ''that'', she ''still'' won't admit defeat, continuing to taunt the humans after unleashing the Fire Dragon as a final act of defiance. But just as she's vowing to use the Fire Dragon to burn what remains of Tokyo [[note]]which was already severely damaged by 4 rampaging mind controlled Kaiju earlier[[/note]] to the ground, [[MightyRoar she hears Godzilla's roar.]] In a brief yet satisfying moment, her smugness gets wiped right off her face, [[OhCrap as it finally hits her that the party's over]] as Godzilla personally destroys the Kilaaks' base, ending their threat permanently.
63	* SympathyForTheDevil: While it’s not hard to argue that he deserved every single minute of it, King Ghidorah’s death at the hands of the collective NoHoldsBarredBeatdown delivered by Earth’s monsters can be very hard to watch (especially for fans of Ghidorah). After putting up a good fight initially, the monsters knock King Ghidorah down, and what follows is absolutely ''brutal''. One head has its neck mangled by Anguirus, while another gets stomped on by Godzilla, with the other monsters pitching in as they see fit, all while King Ghidorah ''wails'' in agony, with the camera frequently cutting to shots of its tails spasmodically rising and falling, over and over again, growing weaker every time, until, finally, he goes deathly still.
64	** He also died a slave instead of the free agent of evil he was introduced as.
65	** And to add further insult to an already grievous injury, he's killed off by the son of his top arch-nemesis to boot.
66	* TimeSkip: All of the other ''Godzilla'' movies were set in the time that they were made (or in the vague "near future"), but this one is set in the then-future year of 1999.
67	* TruthInTelevision: [[TerrorDactyl Rodan]] is shown diving into the water to catch dolphins, fossil evidence seems to indicate that real ''Pteranodons'' would hunt this way as well.
68	* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny: Brought together most of the players in Toho's Kaiju Universe (With the exception of [[Film/TheMysterians Moguera]], [[Film/FrankensteinConquersTheWorld Frankenstein]], [[Film/{{Dogora}} Dogora]], [[Film/WarOfTheGargantuas the Gargantuas]], [[Film/EbirahHorrorOfTheDeep Ebirah and the Giant Condor]], [[Film/SonOfGodzilla the Kamacuras]], the [[Film/KingKongVsGodzilla Giant]] [[Film/WarOfTheGargantuas Octopus]], and [[Film/KingKongVsGodzilla King]] [[Film/KingKongEscapes Kong]]) for an Epic Battle For The Fate of Earth.
69	* UnexplainedRecovery: Anguirus' jaw must have healed some time between ''Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzilla'' and this movie. ''Destroy All Monsters'' was made first, of course, so perhaps Toho just forgot about that detail when making the former film. Or the jaw breaking healed and made him come back stronger.
70	* VichyEarth: What the Kilaaks want to turn Earth into.
71	* {{Zeerust}}: Even for its time, the aliens seemed dated with their all-silver suits and 50's style saucer ship.
72	* ZergRush: No matter how much of a badass you are, being outnumbered still isn't good. King Ghidorah, the most badass of Toho's evil monsters, finds himself outnumbered by all of Earth's monsters. Although it must be noted that a lone bear can defeat a pack of wolves so the numbers thing doesn't always work in real life but numbers can be a very good factor in a fight. However, in this case this includes three monsters (Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan) who Ghidorah was beaten by in his first appearance, now with a lot of backups, so his death is to be expected.

Context Film / DestroyAllMonsters