7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Female aliens take control of Earth's monsters and begin using them to destroy the human race.
Starring: Akira Kubo, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Kyôko Ai, Yukiko Kobayashi, Jun TazakiForeign | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 44% |
Fantasy | 28% |
Action | 12% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.41:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
How can you not love a film that has every mutant Japanese monster ever created (or at least most of them) in one all-star, singing and dancing extravaganza? Okay, forget the singing and dancing part, but you get the idea. Destroy All Monsters is a goofy-wonderful 1968 offering from Toho Studios, those thoughtful, introspective people who gave us Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan and (King) Ghidora, The Three-Headed Monster, not to mention a rather large coterie of second string behemoths like Gorosaurus, Manda, Minilla, and Baragon (I’m quite sure there are others, but it’s so hard to keep track when your city is being demolished by giant dinosaur feet). These mutant monsters are known as kaiju in Japan, and Destroy All Monsters is often thought of as the be-all, end-all of kaiju films, and perhaps not just for the reason that it proffers, in the words of the excellent commentary included on this Blu-ray, a “Justice League” of sorts of every major kaiju star of the preceding couple of decades. This was one of the final films of Ishiro Honda, the iconic Japanese director who gave us the first Godzilla, as well as Mothra and numerous other kaiju movies, and many fans consider Destroy All Monsters to be Honda’s magnum opus. Now all of this may lead some to assume that Destroy All Monsters is some kind of undiscovered masterpiece, the Citizen Kane of kaiju films. While it’s hard for me to burst that bubble, the fact is Destroy All Monsters is silly, hyperbolic and just flat out funny at times (unintentionally, one hopes). But it’s also suffused with a certain kind of childlike wonder that no doubt appealed to both Japanese and American kids at the time of its release. (The film was licensed by American-International, that arbiter of the truly classy in United States movies, and released here in an English dub some time after the original Japanese exhibition). There’s something immensely appealing about seeing a guy in a big rubber dinosaur costume traipsing through what is obviously a miniature of a major metropolis, smashing just about everything in sight, and if that is your kaiju cup of tea, you’ve arrived at the right movie.
Destroy All Monsters is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Media Blasters with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.41:1. While information online is spotty and Media Blasters didn't provide any press releases with their screener, a helpful Blu-ray.com member has insisted that this new release comes from an HD master, though results are highly variable, to say the least. Colors are fairly listless throughout, with fleshtones barely registering at times and the overall palette looking kind of drab. The biggest complaint most videophiles will have with this release is its general fuzziness, a softness which runs virtually from the first frame to the last. There are some notable exceptions, particularly a couple of extreme close-ups of human faces that finally pop with a little high definition detail. And truth be told the print here is generally free of damage, with only a couple of blemishes dotting an individual frame or two. I owned an old DVD of Destroy All Monsters years ago, and I would say that this has perhaps marginally better clarity but certainly nothing like what would be evident from either better source elements.
There's much better news with regard to Destroy All Monsters' audio options. Though it may not be clear from the specs above, there are actually two English dubs included, both in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. I am the first to admit I am not the "Godzilla scholars" the commentators are advertised as being on the back cover of this Blu-ray, but my assumption is that the first, much better sounding dub, might be from the International version and the second one is the American-International Dub, (something confirmed by a helpful Blu-ray.com member). The second English dub is noticeably compressed sounding (even in its lossless iteration) and sports considerable damage along the way, with pops, cracks and even weird splices that leave syllables overlapping at times. The original Japanese track is presented in both DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and a decent Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix. The better English DTS track and the Japanese DTS track really have surprisingly fulsome low end, with some great LFE along the way, and both sport excellent fidelity. I frankly gave up on the second English dub after a while due to its much spottier audio quality and the abundant damage it contains.
Destroy All Monsters is one of those films whose fans seem to know about its intrinsic silliness and even wackiness, but who love it perhaps not in spite of those traits, but because of them. Sure, one can pontificate about the Japanese psyche's penchant for allegorizing the horrors of the Atomic Bomb (and in fact I've done so myself) with regard to the whole kaiju phenomenon, but that misses the salient point of most of these films: they're just flat out escapist fun. The image quality on this new release leaves a lot to be desired, but the great selection of audio options and some fantastic supplements may help to ease fans' pain. With the major caveat of image quality taken into consideration, this release comes Recommended.
ゴジラ対メカゴジラ / Gojira tai Mekagojira
1974
地球攻撃命令 ゴジラ対ガイガン / Chikyû kogeki meirei: Gojira tai Gaigan / Godzilla vs. Gigan
1972
怪獣大戦争 / Kaijû daisensô / Godzilla vs. Monster Zero
1965
メカゴジラの逆襲 / Mekagojira no gyakushu
1975
ゴジラ対メガロ / Gojira tai Megaro
1973
ゴジラ対ヘドラ / Gojira tai Hedora / Godzilla vs. Hedorah
1971
モスラ対ゴジラ / Mosura tai Gojira
1964
三大怪獣 地球最大の決戦 / San daikaijû: Chikyû saidai no kessen
1964
キングコング対ゴジラ / Kingu Kongu tai Gojira
1962
怪獣島の決戦 ゴジラの息子 / Kaijûtô no kessen: Gojira no musuko
1967
ゴジラ・エビラ・モスラ 南海の大決闘 / Gojira, Ebirâ, Mosura: Nankai no daiketto / Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
1966
ゴジラの逆襲 / Gojira no gyakushû
1955
ゴジラ・ミニラ・ガバラ オール怪獣大進撃 / Gojira-Minira-Gabara: Oru kaijû daishingeki
1969
ゴジラvsデストロイア / Gojira vs. Desutoroiâ / Godzilla vs. Destroyer
1995
ゴジラ ファイナルウォーズ / Gojira: Fainaru uôzu
2004
ゴジラ×メカゴジラ / Gojira x Mekagojira
2002
ゴジラ・モスラ・キングギドラ 大怪獣総攻撃 / Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Gidorâ: Daikaijû sôkôgeki
2001
ゴジラvsメカゴジラ / Gojira vs. Mekagojira
1993
Gamera tai Bairasu
1968
ゴジラ2000 ミレニアム / Gojira ni-sen mireniamu / Godzilla 2000: Millennium
1999