All Monsters Attack

All Monsters Attack

Original poster
Directed by Ishirō Honda
Produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka
Written by Shinichi Sekizawa
Starring

Tomonori Yazaki

Kenji Sahara

Hidemi Ito

Eisei Amamoto

Sachio Sakai

Kazuo Suzuki

Music by Kunio Miyauchi
Cinematography Sokei Tomioka
Edited by Masahisa Himi
Production
company
Distributed by Toho
UPA/Maron Films (USA)
Release dates
  • December 20, 1969 (1969-12-20)
Running time
69 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

All Monsters Attack, released in Japan as Gojira-Minira-Gabara: Ōru Kaijū Daishingeki (ゴジラ・ミニラ・ガバラ オール怪獣大進撃, lit. "Godzilla, Minilla, and Gabara: All Monsters Attack'"), is a 1969 Japanese Kaiju film produced by Toho. Directed by Ishirō Honda, the film starred Tomonori Yazaki, Eisei Amamoto, and Kenji Sahara. The tenth film in the Godzilla series, this was also the first film specifically geared towards children. While credited with the special effects work, Eiji Tsuburaya was not directly involved with the production of this film. The "Special Effects Supervised by" credit was given out of respect, since he was still the head of the Visual Effects Department. The effects were handled by Ishirō Honda himself, with assistance from Teruyoshi Nakano.

The film was released theatrically in the United States in the winter of 1971 by Maron Films as Godzilla's Revenge, where it was paired up nationwide on a double bill with Night of the Big Heat (aka Island of the Burning Damned).

Plot

Ichiro Miki (Tomonori Yazaki) is a highly imaginative but lonely latchkey kid growing up in urban (and at that time, polluted) Kawasaki. Every day he comes home to his family's empty apartment. His only friends are a toymaker named Shinpei Inami (Eisei Amamoto) and a young girl named Sachiko (Hidemi Ito). Every day after school, Ichiro is tormented by a gang of bullies led by a child named Sanko Gabara (Junichi Ito). To escape his loneliness, Ichiro sleeps and dreams about visiting Monster Island. During his visit he witnesses Godzilla battle three Kamacuras and Ebirah, a giant sea monster. Ichiro is then chased by a rogue Kamacuras and falls into a deep cave, but luckily avoids being caught by Kamacuras. Shortly afterwards, Ichiro is rescued from the cave by Godzilla's Son, Minilla. Ichiro quickly learns that Minilla has bully problems too, as he is bullied by a monstrous ogre known as Gabara.

Ichiro is then awoken by Shinpei who informs him that his mother must work late again. Ichiro goes out to play, but is then frightened by the bullies and finds and explores an abandoned factory. After finding some souvenirs (tubes, a headset, and a wallet with someone's license), Ichiro leaves the factory after hearing some sirens close by. After Ichiro leaves, two Bank Robbers (played by Sachio Sakai and Kazuo Suzuki) who were hiding out in the factory learn that Ichiro has found one of their drivers licenses and follow him in order to kidnap him.

Later, after his sukiyaki dinner with Shinpei, Ichiro dreams again and reunites with Minilla. Together they both watch as Godzilla fights Ebirah, Kumonga, and some invading jets. Then in the middle of Godzilla's fights, Gabara appears and Minilla is forced to battle it, and after a short and one-sided battle Minilla runs away in fear. Godzilla returns to train Minilla how to fight and use its own atomic ray. However, Ichiro is woken up this time by the Bank Robbers and is taken hostage as a means of protection from the authorities.

Out of fear and being watched by the thieves, Ichiro calls for Minilla's help and falls asleep again where he witnesses Minilla being beaten up by Gabara again. Finally, Ichiro helps Minilla fight back at Gabara and eventually Minilla wins, catapulting the bully through the air by a seesaw-like log. Godzilla, who was in the area watching comes to congratulate Minilla for its victory, but is ambushed by a vengeful Gabara. Godzilla easily beats down Gabara and sends the bully into retreat, never to bother Minilla again. Now from his experiences in his dreams, Ichiro learns how to face his fears and fight back, gaining the courage to outwit the thieves just in time for the police called by Shinpei to arrive and arrest them. The next day, Ichiro stands up to Sanko and his gang and wins, regaining his pride and confidence in the process. He also gains their friendship when he plays a prank on a billboard painter.

English version

Maron Films theatrical poster for the 1971 U.S double bill release of Godzilla's Revenge and "Night of the Big Heat (aka Island of the Burning Damned)''.
Ishiro Honda gives instructions to Minilla (Marchan the Dwarf) and Ichiro (Tomonori Yazaki), during filming.

The film was dubbed in English and released in North America on December 8, 1971 by Maron Films as Godzilla's Revenge on a double bill with Island of the Burning Damned. Maron Films later re-released the movie on a double bill with War of the Gargantuas.

There are some minor alterations between the Japanese version and the English dubbed version:

Cast

Character Japan Japanese actor United StatesCanada English dubbing (1971)
Ichiro Miki Tomonori Yazaki
Kenkichi "Tack" Miki Kenji Sahara
Shinpei Inami Eisei Amamoto
Sachiko Hidemi Ito
Sanko Gabara (Mitsukimi-bully) Junichi Ito
Bank Robber Senbayashi Sachio Sakai
Bank Robber Okuda Kazuo Suzuki
Minilla Marchan the Dwarf (suit actor)
Midori Uchiyama (voice)
Michiko Hirai (voice)
Godzilla Haruo Nakajima
Gabara Yasuhiko Kakuko
Yû Sekida (voice)
Sachiko's Mother Yukiko Mori (uncredited)
Landlady of the Inn Yoshiko Miyata (uncredited)

English dubbing staff

Box office

In Japan, the film sold 1,480,000 tickets. This was over a million tickets less than the previous Godzilla film, Destroy All Monsters (and it was the first Godzilla film to sell less than 2 million tickets).

DVD releases

Classic Media

Stock Footage

Godzilla's Revenge is known for its stock footage, which includes stock footage from King Kong Escapes when Gorosaurus makes an appearance; stock footage from Destroy All Monsters when Manda and Anguirus make an appearance; stock footage from Son of Godzilla when Godzilla fights the Kamacuras and Kumonga; and stock footage from Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster when Godzilla fights Ebirah, the giant Condor and when he destroys the Red Bamboo jets.

References

    External links

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