Talkback Thread #9: Destroy All Monsters (1968)

[LamangoKaijura]

Has it ever been stated why Rodan just took off and left the battle at the end?
Was the suit too damaged to take part in the full fight, or?

It's totally random when he leaves the fight so I always wanted to know if their was a reason for it.

It would have been a nightmare. All the wire works.

[LockBite]

This remains the only classic Godzilla film I haven't seen. I'm really hoping it comes off as a sort of belated sequel to the Showa series as I saw it. Recently picked it up.

[UltramanGoji]

This remains the only classic Godzilla film I haven't seen. I'm really hoping it comes off as a sort of belated sequel to the Showa series as I saw it. Recently picked it up.

Just don't go in expecting a whole buncha monster action and you'll be fine.

[edgaguirus]

Probably to lessen the amount of monsters. It would make things easier.

[Goji]

This remains the only classic Godzilla film I haven't seen. I'm really hoping it comes off as a sort of belated sequel to the Showa series as I saw it. Recently picked it up.

That's actually kind of cool, considering this was originally supposed to be the last Godzilla film. It's not the best in the Showa series, but it's got a lot of great sequences. The last 15-20 minutes are of course, phenomenal.

[Goro]

I enjoy it a lot. It's in a different category from the other Showa films to me, because I never saw it growing up. Which brings me to a question: Was DAM out of US TV release at all during the seventies? I don't understand how I could have possibly missed it that entire decade. I checked the tv guide every week for monster movies before the days of VCR, and I swear I never missed one showing. And yet the first time I saw DAM was in the eighties on the original Sci-Fi Channel (RIP) Does anyone know?

[szmigiel]

In the Detroit area it was a regular part of the "Monster Week" on the 4 O'clock movie during the late 70's into the early 80's. I don't know how many times it was played but it was definitely one of the ones they ran several times. But this was well before the VCR era.

[Goro]

Hmmm, interesting. Maybe it was just me. They played Godzilla vs the Thing, Rodan, Mothra and G vs Kong a lot. But somehow I never saw DAM.

[edgaguirus]

Same here. It was years later I first saw DAM, but I enjoyed finally seeing it.

[Goji]

IAnd yet the first time I saw DAM was in the eighties on the original Sci-Fi Channel (RIP) Does anyone know?

You mean the '90s? The Sci-Fi channel didn't start until '92, and DAM didn't air on there until '96.

[Goro]

Yup, I guess it was the nineties. Way after I saw all the other sixties Godzilla films.

[Lain Of The Wired]

I have a question, what was the original title of this film? The one based on the story of a great peasant uprising or something?

[Lain Of The Wired]

Someone should take the scene of King Kong on the beach in KKE right before he goes after the giant sea snake, and splice it with the final scene in Destroy All Monsters where the helicopter is flying over and looking at all the monsters
Do that and post it on YouTube as "Destroy All Monsters Deleted Scene"
It'd look legit

[edgaguirus]

You could try that with almost any monster as well. Show Ebirah rising up from the water; The Condor just before it attacks Godzilla; You might even go as far to put in Gaira.

[Crazy Jim Films]

Just rewatched my Classic Media Blu tonight. The human story really drags but there are some excellent monster scenes and the score is quite good. The Monster Island concept was really cool but something in the execution is a little lacking. That buildup to the monsters coming up to Mt. Fuji is EPIC though. The final firebird moment feels as anticlimactic now as it did when I was younger.

[Lain Of The Wired]

Kamacuras really has it bad in this film, getting killed by Kumonga as the rest of the monsters are arriving to Mt. Fuji and all...

[eabaker]

The human story really drags

I used to feel that way, but these days something about the cold, brutal nature of the human scenes intrigues me. Plus I find them to be some of the best photographed scenes in the entire series. There are some really dynamic compositions in there.

[Lain Of The Wired]

I enjoy the human scenes in DAM, I dont feel they drag as much as say, Raids Again?

[Zarm]

I found the GAR human scenes to be the most engaging part of the movie. In DAM, they are (for me) the least engaging.

[edgaguirus]

I find the human element slightly comical at times, especially the captain of the sy3. He's the master of the obvious, and he's entirely too bold.