Talkback Thread #10: All Monsters Attack (1969)

[Megalon-5]

I really wish Toho brought Gabara back in something. Perhaps as a "monster of the ID" type of thing to tie into his imaginary nature.

[Ethan]

Godzilla's Revenge is metafiction. In that film, Godzilla and his pals are all part of Japan's pop culture. Very similar concept to Wes Craven's New Nightmare.

[DaveTheAnalyzer]

I was always very curious about what happened to Ichiro's actor. I know he appeared in Kamen Rider and some period piece, but otherwise I can't find anything about him.

Guess acting with fun, but wasn't his true passion. *shrug*

[JVM]

You didn't know Ishiro was schizophrenic?

[matrix]

Thats a long word!

[SoleMan]

Thats a long word!

No it's not,pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is.

And what, pray tell, does that mean?

Anyway, I agree with what Megalon 5 said: It might be possible that Gabara manifested as an "Id" Monster, and Ichiro's connection with him could be what caused him to see the creature, and the subsequent battles on Monster Island.

Or, I'm just Severly overanalyzing this film.

[JAGzilla]

Just watched this one for the third time last night. It's... a mixed bag, but overall nowhere near as bad as it's often made out to be.

Pros:

- Gabara. A very different, unique, and memorable kaiju villain. His cat-ogre hybrid design really stands out from the crowd, as do the electric hands. I love his roar, too. It's weird, but it fits him, and even managed to sound kind of intimidating in a few scenes. They did a good job of making him feel 'scary' from the perspective of a small, weak character like Minya or Ichiro, while still showing how pathetic he is against someone that can actually fight back. Watching Godzilla kick the shit out of him was very satisfying.

- Godzilla as a dad is pretty entertaining to watch. I'll never be a fan of Minya, but their interactions are still funny.

- This is a pretty solid kaiju movie for kids. It focuses on kid characters that they can relate to, and features plenty of monster action with minimal story to get in the way. My little sister actually sat through the whole thing, and definitely cared about Ichiro and Minya's respective plights. She kept reassuring me (and by extention herself) that Gabara and the robbers weren't that bad, and wouldn't actually kill anybody. Her summary at the end was the best part, though: "That wasn't even funny, and all the monsters were just a dream." Six years old, and she's already annoyed that the kaiju aren't 'real' in this movie.

Cons:

- The stock footage. Yeesh, there was a lot of it. I'd forgotten about the Giant Condor and fighter jet scenes. Again, the kids won't care, but it annoys me. The fights mostly feel pointless, just tacked on to make the movie longer and hammer the 'fight your own battles' message home.

- Ichiro putting the moral into practice at the end of the movie. Yeah, he stood up to and beat down Gabara, but what the skreeonk was with him giving into the gang's demand and messing with the painter? I get that he was showing that he wasn't 'chicken', but it's not like the painter did anything to deserve what he got. It feels like the message is 'become the thing you hate.' And I don't think that was what Honda was going for, so... yeah. A strange and questionable scene.

3/5. Not one of the series' great by any means, but fine for what it is. Fun in a 'shut your brain off and watch monsters kill each other' kind of way.

[Mincecraft]

James Rolfe puts it best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe9v1jsN7Tg

EDIT: Thats how I see it.

[Mincecraft]

James Rolfe puts it best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe9v1jsN7Tg

"Any way you look at it, it's absolutely awful".

So no, James Rolfe really didn't put it best. Because I don't agree with that assessment at all.

Sorry! I meant that thats how I see it!

[Ethan]

I've never hated Godzilla's Revenge. For years I've seen it from a "hey's it's not as bad as they say" perspective, but recently I've realized it's better than most Heisei and Millenium films.

[Giga Kaiju]

When i was a kid i loved it (Didnt knew of SOG, Ebirah and DAM at the time so i enjoyed a lot).
But know that after figuring out that is just a lot of Stock Footage with some new scenes...
It is still entertaining but not as much as before.

[Rody]

AMA isn't a good film, but I would certainly watch it over RAIDS AGAIN, FINAL WARS, and probably most/all of the 90's films.

[tymon]

I liked it as a kid. I watched it once as an adult and haven't bothered since (whereas all the other Godzilla DVDs I purchased last year have been watched multiple times). It's definitely an awful film.

[Gojira1963]

I rented this on Netflix a few weeks ago. I had not seen it as a kid. As a kid I did not know how much stock footage it had of all the monsters. I hated it as a kid, it bored me to tears. As an adult I had an appreciation for what they were trying to do but I still don't care for it and have no desire to own this one.

[tymon]

I liked it as a kid. I watched it once as an adult and haven't bothered since (whereas all the other Godzilla DVDs I purchased last year have been watched multiple times). It's definitely an awful film.

Considering there are people who actually DO like it, it certainly isn't DEFINITELY an awful film.

People like Final Wars too. Are you denying that FW is awful?

[Julia Bristow]

To me, AMA isn't a godawful film. Sure its not Shakespeare & some of the acting is bad & yes it has countless amounts of stock footage but for what it is, AMA is a decent kid's movie (at least to me it is)

[Destroyer]

This film I've seen a thousand times as a kid. I saw it not too ago for nostalgia, but didn't get it. It's a really bad film, I never realized how much stock footage there was. Then the moral at the end is thrown out the window, so we end up getting a messed up film. Might be the worst Godzilla film.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

Disliked it as a kid. Dislike it as an adult.

Same for me. I never liked it as a kid because I only watched the film for Godzilla, and all of the Godzilla bits could be seen in other Godzilla films, making AMA pointless. I don't like it as an adult for reasons I've said earlier in this thread.

[Rody]

I didn't watch the movie much as a kid, but that had less to do with how much I liked it & more to do with it being recorded on the same tape as HEDORAH - which terrified me.

Hey, I was around 5 years old.

[Ethan]

I liked it as a kid. I watched it once as an adult and haven't bothered since (whereas all the other Godzilla DVDs I purchased last year have been watched multiple times). It's definitely an awful film.

Considering there are people who actually DO like it, it certainly isn't DEFINITELY an awful film.

People like Final Wars too. Are you denying that FW is awful?

There's no such thing as true objectivity in works of fiction. Godzilla Final Wars and Godzilla's Revenge/i] can either be considered terrible or great. Even the generally well recieved Forrest Gump can be seen as mediocre.