| Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack | |
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Japanese poster |
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| Directed by | Shūsuke Kaneko |
| Produced by | Shogo Tomiyama Hideyuki Honma |
| Written by | Keiichi Hasengawa Masahiro Yokotani Shusuke Kaneko |
| Starring | Chiharu Niiyama Ryudo Uzaki Masahiro Kobayashi Mizuho Yoshida as Godzilla |
| Music by | Kow Otani Akira Ifukube (Godzilla theme) |
| Cinematography | Masahiro Kishimoto |
| Editing by | Isao Tomita |
| Distributed by | Toho TriStar Pictures (Sony Pictures Entertainment) |
| Release date(s) | Japan December 15, 2001 United States: August 31, 2003 |
| Running time | 105 min. |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Budget | $9,400,000 U.S |
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (ゴジラ・モスラ・キングギドラ Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Gidora: Daikaijū Sōkōgeki, also known as GMK) is a 2001 Science fiction Kaiju film co-written and directed by Shūsuke Kaneko. It was the twenty-fifth film to be released in the Godzilla film series. This is the eleventh film to feature Mothra, sixth to feature King Ghidorah, and third to feature Baragon. It is part of the Millennium series (1999–2004) and is a direct sequel to the original Godzilla. The plot involves Godzilla attacking Japan after a fifty year absence, and is opposed by the combined strength of the Japanese military and three guardian beasts.
The film was released in the United States on cable television on August 31, 2003 then followed with a DVD release in early 2004.
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The film begins with Commander Taizô Tachibana briefing cadets about Godzilla's attack on Tokyo 50 years ago. Ironically, a nuclear submarine is reported missing, which is later found to have been destroyed by Godzilla. Commander Tachibana's daughter, Yuri Tachibana film a docudrama with her crew at Mt. Myoko, where a mysterious earthquake randomly ensues. The odd earthquake returns later that burying a biker gang and leaving one surviving trucker who witnesses the monster, Baragon. The next day, Yuri tries to convince her manager to report the incident but gets denied. The Self Defense Force attempts to rescue the buried men using a missile called D-03. The surviving trucker tries to explain to a military official what he saw but can only explain that he believed it was Godzilla. Yuri's friend, Teruaki Takeda, supports her theory that a monster may have been the cause of the mysterious Myoko earthquake by giving her a book on The Guardian Monsters. Meanwhile, a few teenagers at Lake Ikeda in Kagoshima are attacked by an insect monster, Mothra. The Defense Force analyzes underwater footage of what appears to be glowing dorsal fins leaving the destroyed nuclear submarine from before. The conclusion is drawn that the monster is Godzilla. Yuri interviews an old mysterious man named Isayama who foretells the return of Godzilla. he explains to her the legend of the guardian monsters, Baragon, Mothra, and King Ghidorah and goes on that they must be awakened before Godzilla destroys Japan. Yuri and her team visit the guardian monsters shrine where she finds a stone. Godzilla comes ashore to Magonote and attacks the Bonin Islands, leaving few survivors. Yuri returns to interview Isayama and discovers that the poor lost souls of World War II are embedded within Godzilla and wish to destroy Japan after the nation forgotten their sacrifices. A few days later, Godzilla and Baragon finally appear in Japan and engage in a ferocious battle in Hakone. Yuri and Takeda are trapped in the midst of the battle when Godzilla mercilessly defeats Baragon with his atomic breath. After the battle, Yuri receives a minor injury to the head. Fearing for her safety, Takeda refuses to take her to Godzilla's location. Angered, Yuri goes alone. Mothra's cocoon is soon immediately discovered in Lake Ikeda. The SDF dispatch several fighter jets to stop Godzilla but are quickly defeated by the monster. A defense line is soon set up in Yokohama under the command of Commander Tachibana. Mothra and a yet-to-be-grown Ghidorah awaken and fly towards Yokohama where Godzilla is spotted. Mothra arrives first and battles the monster. Ghidorah arrives moments later and joins the fray. After brutally pinning down both monsters, the SDF engage Godzilla with D-03 missiles but to no avail. Angered, Godzilla swiftly destroys nearly the entire defense line in one stroke with his atomic breath. Mothra rises for a surprise attack but Godzilla quickly turns the surprise around and kills her with his atomic breath. Mothra's spirit intertwines with Ghidorah and transforms him into the 3,000 year old dragon King Ghidorah. King Ghidorah manages to successfully injure Godzilla and take the battle underwater. Commander Tachibana and his colleague join the fight via Satsuma submarine. Tachibana plans to shoots a D-03 into Godzilla's wound but fails after several attempts. Yuri and Takeda report the struggle from a bridge that later collapses from Godzilla's atomic breath. Takeda and Yuri hold on but the shrine stone falls from Takeda's pockets and sink into the deep, melting on King Ghidorah's head. Ghidorah's power is strengthen up and takes the battle to the surface once more. Yuri and Takeda barley survive the fall and swim ashore while the monsters continue to fight. Godzilla destroys King Ghidorah with a super power breath and unleashes the spirits of the Guardian Monsters, which sink him down to the deep. Commander Tachibana enters Godzilla's body through his mouth and successfully plants a D-03 missile in Godzilla's wound. Godzilla surfaces to come face to face with Yuri and Takeda but the monster collapses when the missile explodes. Commander Tachibana through Godzilla's wound right before the monster explodes. Japan soon rejoices at their victory against Godzilla. But the monsters heart continues to beat on the ocean floor, foreshadowing Godzilla's return one day.
Director Shūsuke Kaneko's original script originally had Anguirus, Varan and Baragon defend Japan against Godzilla, but Toho told him to replace the former two with the more popular King Ghidorah and Mothra, as Anguirus and Varan were not considered bankable enough to guarantee a box-office hit. Skeptical at first, he managed to work the two monsters into the film. American fans were upset that Baragon was chosen to remain instead of Anguirus but the reason for this was that Baragon was popular in Japan despite only appearing in one kaiju film also distributed by Toho.
The film is especially notable for the changes made to the monsters. For example, Ghidorah typically played the villain in previous Godzilla films; this film has him as a hero. In fact, Ghidorah is actually portrayed a few meters shorter than Godzilla; previous incarnations of the character were much larger, and towered over Godzilla.
Originally, Godzilla was intended to walk with his back and tail parallel to the ground however, this idea was dropped due to the strain it put on Mizuho Yoshida (the actor playing Godzilla), and Godzilla retains his traditional posture.
Mothra was also revamped. Like Ghidorah, Mothra is portrayed as being far smaller than normal and looking more like a Butterfly than a Moth. Her poison powder and hurricane wind attacks were removed, and were replaced with a burst of stingers fired from her abdomen. In addition, Mothra's fairy servants, the Shobijin, are dropped completely, (though a homage exists in the form of a pair of twins from Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys who look up in awe at Mothra as she flies overhead).
Baragon was also altered. His heat ray was removed, his roar was changed and his horn is no longer bioluminescent.
Apparently, the reason behind the changes to Ghidorah, Mothra, and Baragon were made in order to make Godzilla seem stronger. Director Kaneko wanted Godzilla to be the most powerful monster in the film. He originally wanted to use monsters who are notably smaller and less powerful than Godzilla, as his opponents. When advised by Toho to replace them, he compensated by making Ghidorah and Mothra weaker than they normally were. Fuyuki Shinada, who designed the monster suits for the film, was disappointed that Varan (his all-time favorite monster) wasn't going to be in the film, so he compromised by putting Varan's facial features on Ghidorah's three heads.
In addition, the radioactive element has been replaced with a more mystical element. Godzilla has origins rooted in Japan's World War II past. Although Godzilla is still a mutant dinosaur created by the atomic bomb, he is also described as an incarnation of those killed or who were left to die at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War. The extent to which his nuclear and spiritual origins balance is never specified. Kaneko, a lifelong pacifist, did this to boost the anti-war angle of the original Godzilla. It was also because he knew that audiences wanted a realistic Godzilla, but there was no realistic way to explain a 60-meter mutant dinosaur, so he thought it worked better with a fantasy element.
Produced with a budget of $9,400,000, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack opened in Japan on December 15, 2001 on a double-bill with an animated film called Hamtaro: Ham Ham Big Land Adventure.[1] In its opening weekend, it grossed approximately $1,900,000.[1] By the end of its box office run, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack grossed a total of approximately $20,000,000, with 2,400,000 admissions.[1] It was the largest-grossing Godzilla film of the Millennium series in Japan.
Upon being released to the United States, the film premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel August 31, 2003 during its labor day weekend. Sony's dubbed, edited version of the film was broadcasted along with Godzilla vs. Megaguirus. Both film's were then later released on DVD in their uncut editions on February 2004.
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack holds a 54% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on thirteen reviews.[2] Troy Guinn of Eccentric Cinema gave the film a score of 8/10, calling it "one of only three Godzilla films I would recommend to anyone besides giant monster-movie fans or sci-fi buffs, the other two being the original Gojira and Mothra vs. Godzilla."[3] Bryan Byun of DVD Verdict gave it a positive review, calling it "one of the most exciting entries in Godzilla's long cinematic history."[4] Stomp Tokyo gave the film a score of 3/5, calling it "one of the better-looking entries in the series, albeit one of unfulfilled potential."[5] John Wallis of DVD Talk felt that "the story is quite weak and somber" and that "this new take on [Godzilla] doesn't really work,"[6] while Gemma Tarlach of the Milwaukee Journal said that "GMK is best when it embraces its unabashed cheesiness. But when it tries to make Statements with Meaning, whether on Japan's past aggressions or ersatz samurai ruminations on the duty of a warrior, the movie flounders like a giant lizard hogtied by power lines."[7] Film critic Leonard Maltin gave it three out of four stars, one of only two Godzilla films to receive more than two and a half stars, with the other being Godzilla 2000.
Sony Pictures
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