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Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*

Destroy All Monsters 1968: Godzilla's Kaiju in Combat

Today · 51 min · Episode 64 · 74.3 MB
0:00-51:34

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Translation for Intro:

"Fire Dragon can reduce Tokyo to ashes in just a few hours."

Godzilla ROARS.

"It's Godzilla!"

As always there are spoilers ahead!

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If you are interested in the plot of the film you can read an overview on the wikipedia page here.

Correction: In the intro I say Japanese Air Base when I mean Japanese Moon Base.

Welcome to the podcast!

TIME FOR PANIC TO ENSUE!!! We are in 1968! It's finally here! Am I ready for the 2001: A Space Odyssey? No, I am not! But I'm getting there. Please bear with me.

In the meantime, I shall distract you with a chat about one of the most visually delightful of Kaiju Films (Although one of our guests' recommendations may have it beat in visual delights). You can see an array of the stills from Destroy All Monsters on my Instagram account. This is the swinging 60s Japan style!

In 1968 ToHo studios decided to wrap up the Godzilla Franchise with a big bang! A Kaiju extravaganza featuring 11 monsters. Let me list them for you.

  1. Godzilla
  2. Rodan
  3. Angurius
  4. Mothra (very tragically in larva form)
  5. Gorosaurus
  6. Minilla (Godzilla's son who gives me the creeps. Sorry!)
  7. Kumonga
  8. Baragon
  9. Manda
  10. Varan
  11. King Ghidorah

Due to international success the franchise continued on. Hoorah!

I have two gargantuan guests for you. (They actually are, as far as I am aware, human sized although I have no proof.)

Yuki Miyamoto is Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Humanities Center at DePaul University. Her work focuses on the ethics around nuclear discourse.

Blair Davis is a Professor of Media and Cinema Studies at DePaul University. He has written a lot about cinema and comics and including the book The Battle for the Bs: 1950s Hollywood and the Rebirth of Low-Budget Cinema.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

01:33 Sci-Fi films from 1950s to 1968

03:14 Comparison to Godzilla 1954

05:23 1960s Japan

08:49 Blair's love of the film

09:59 The intentions behind the film

11:14 The 'Monster Rally' tradition

13:53 Visual delights

14:36 The first 10 minutes

18:22 The island connections

21:14 The Showa Era and Japan on the global stage

24:49 Aliens! The Kilaaks

29:38 The Izu Peninsula and Shogun

30:16 The Kaijus

40:17 The final battle

43:12 A changing Godzilla

46:52 Legacy

49:26 Recommendations

Recommendations:

Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)

Godzilla in Hell by James Stokoe

NEXT EPISODE! Next episode (if all goes well) we will be talking about the Je t'aime, je t'aime (1968) which is available on BFI player in the UK (which is accessible through Apple TV) but seems very elusive elsewhere. There is a version on YouTube but it is in French. The English title (I Love You, I Love You) did not seem to help. The BluRay is also available but for slightly silly prices outside of the UK from what I can see. I wish you luck in finding it!