Destroy All Monsters DVD/CD set
DVD
- Picture: C+ Sound: C Extras: D Film: B-
CD - Sound: B- Music: B
When Toho
Studios made the first Godzilla fifty years ago, they had no idea that they had
launched a giant monster cycle. This
cycle hit its peak in the 1960s and 1970s, creating a whole gallery of giant
creatures. Some were more successful
than others, but they have had a fan following ever since. After Toho helped the James Bond producers
make their 1967 epic You Only Live Twice,
they decided to do an epic of their own with their hit cycle of films. The result was Destroy All Monsters a year later.
The
bringing together of a dozen of the Toho Monsters was like nothing since the
old Universal Monster parings and what you might see in terms of team-ups in DC
& Marvel Comics. This was what we
would now think of as a Pop Culture event, even if it was not necessarily
thought of as such when it happened.
Recently reattempted by Toho (which we will get into at a later date),
in part to erase the disastrous 1998 American Godzilla, Destroy All
Monsters very much wanted to recall You
Only Live Twice with the villains having a mountain hideaway, an unusual
emphasis on TVs and media, and moiré gunfights than usual. These were all Bond and also a way for Toho
not to spend as much on the giant monster battles. It always seemed anti-climactic to see the
battles and destruction early on optically printed on dummy TVs, instead of in
TohoScope, the reason to watch these films to begin with.
The
non-monster moments do have a tendency to be interesting, but Ishiro Honda, the
master filmmaker of the cycle, is not always able to juggle everything
well. When it does work, which is more
often than not, it is fun as these films should be. It is also additionally entertaining to see
such a film without any bad digital effects.
That the monsters are traveling all over the world, just happening to
visit the capital cities of the world to destroy is never explained. No one ever asks which of them is so good
with an Atlas. Maybe when you are a
giant monster, it just comes naturally.
The
letterboxed 2.35 X 1 image is missing a sliver on each side of the screen, and
is not anamorphically enhanced as an icon in extremely small print on the back
of the DVD box would suggest. Despite
this, the print is color correct for the most part, though it has some
artifacts and damage here and there. Cinematographer
Taiichi Kankura mixes the past way these films have been shot with Freddie
Young’s work on You Only Live Twice
with interesting results. Though it is
not as pristine as the prints Toho has supplied AnimEigo on their DVDs of the
original Zatoichi, Lady Snowblood and Lone Wolf & Cub films, the color is pretty equal. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono offers only the
old and amusing English dubbed version, which shows its age and technical
limits, but are fun. There are no extras
on a DVD dubbed a 50th Anniversary Edition (based on the first Godzilla release and not this film’s
release), but there is a CD soundtrack with thirty tracks by composer Akira
Ifukube that sounds like it is sourced off of some kind of optical mono master.
It is the
first time I have ever heard music from any of these films outside of watching
the films and despite some repetition, this is better music than I
expected. Fans will especially want to
get this CD while supplies last, as who knows how long this will be in
print. It is sold separately, but the
set is more desirable. The metallic
labeling is also a nice plus, but there was room for extras on the DVD for
something (trailers, commentary, a new sound remix), so that does
disappoint. Otherwise, this set is
recommended.
- Nicholas Sheffo
