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At-A-Glance Film Reviews

Destroy All Monsters (1968)

(aka: Operation Monsterland)

Rating

[2.5]

Reviews and Comments

"Let's go over the plan. You will fly -- just as planned -- right on target."

Destroy All Monsters! was supposed to be the last in the series of Godzilla pictures, but it was successful enough that Toho kept it going. For this would-be finale, the filmmakers went all out. This episode has no less than eleven monsters in it (check list: Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, Angilas, Son of Godzilla, Gorosaurus, Baragon, Manda, Kumonga, Varan, and Ghidorah), more than any other Godzilla film, and as if that weren't enough, there are alien women from the asteroid belt and a sinister plot involving monsters stomping not just Tokyo but cities around the world. Whew!

It goes without saying that this is not a good film. The acting is terrible, pacing uneven, cinematography misleading, and what humor is deliberate is corny. But I have to confess, the film takes absurdity to an occasionally riotous level. When tanks get stuck in swamps on the moon en route to the lair of mind-controlling alien women and monsters have climactic fights accompanied by a radio announcer ("We think Godzilla will probably be the first to attack -- he seems quite ready to fight. . . . Listen to the monsters and their cries of horror and sudden death!"), honestly, how can this not be sort of fun?

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