Happy 18 Years to Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack!

G. H. (Gman)

It's been 18 years since Shusuke Kaneko's Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack--The movie that took the Monster King and his adversaries into a controversial direction. The risk paid off after saving the Millennium series for another three entries.

The success of this movie, the reasons behind its controversial decisions, the relevant themes it carried and the long road to Kaneko's dream of directing a Godzilla film is all chronicled in my following article:

Before Shin Godzilla - Retrospect of the Last Era, Part 3: Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah

JurassicKaiju14

I haven't gotten to see this film in full, but man, the visual effects and Ko Otani's music are phenomenal.

But I still think they should have gone with their original plan to have it be Baragon, Anguirus, and Varan in this movie.

Gmkgoji

Happy birthday to my favorite millenium film. GMK!!!!!!

TheLazyFish

Happy Birthday, GMK

G. H. (Gman)

The film is one of my top three favorite in the franchise and the last one I consider truly great. Even with King Ghidorah's unusual role, it's a successful venture into Japan's growing problems at the time. Its themes have became more and more relevant over the years--We need GMK.

Im Durp

Not a movie I care for much but clearly a film held highly by the fanbase.

Gomi: Ninja Monster

Like the majority of the fanbase I will forever be peeved that Anguirus and Varan were snubbed, but aside from that this movie is fantastic, easily some of the best suitmation the franchise has to offer. Reading the article, I'm curious why the dorsal plates on Godzilla were built to retract, it seems both odd and potentially cool. By any chance does anyone know if there is footage of that feature?

JurassicKaiju14

Gomi: Ninja Monster I've heard it said that you can kind of see the dorsal spines extend slightly when he charges up his atomic ray, but I haven't been able to catch that myself.

Trash panda

I loved this movie! Happy Late-Birthday, GMK!

G. H. (Gman)

Gomi: Ninja Monster,
JurassicKaiju14 is correct. The dorsal plates extend slightly as he powers up his atomic ray, though it doesn't show up very well on-screen.

You can see how the dorsal fin casts and mechanism worked as they're building the suit here.

Gomi: Ninja Monster

JurassicKaiju14, G. H. (Gman)
Hmm, I'll have to pay closer attention next time I watch it then.

Wow, that wasn't at all what I was thinking when I read "retract." I was thinking they sunk into his back, but that looks seriously awesome, I'd love to see them revisit the idea in a future film, maybe to make Godzilla more expressive or to pulse upwards while charging his Atomic ray. Thanks for the help!

MinecraftDinoKaiju

Yes, finally. This movie, along with Godzilla: Final Wars and Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, is probably one of the Millennium Era Godzilla films.

Happy 18th Anniversary, GMK. :)

Xenotaris

I have yet to watch this one

MinecraftDinoKaiju

I highly recommend it. It's awesome, and as far as I'm aware, it is the only Godzilla film to be made by a pacifist.

If that doesn't say awesome, then I don't know what does.

G. H. (Gman)

MinecraftDinoKaiju,
I don't know if Kaneko has ever called himself a pacifist, but he's certainly against a lot of things that were going on in Japan at the time that have evolved into the issues we see today.

Honda was a pacifist, though.

MinecraftDinoKaiju

@G. H. (Gman)

But like I said, I wasn't sure.

Thanks for the clarification, though.

Jamaal

GMK is one of my favorite entries in the Series. It has always impressed me as being a Showa Era film made in the 2000's. Its characters, especially Yuri and Taizo Tachibana, are memorable and beloved. Hideyo Amamoto's performance as the mysterious Prof. Hirotoshi Isayama is riveting and unforgettable. Godzilla as the unstoppable vehicle of the anger of the souls who perished in WWII is completely convincing and overwhelming. The Narrative about the Guardian Beasts of Japan gives GMK a fable, storybook like feel. That an ancient record, a book about them, should factor so prominently in the story is most proper. Shusuke Kaneko brings the characters close to us through scenes at restaurants and at home with the Tachibanas. The decisive nighttime sequence in Yokohama is dreamlike. Then, there's the tips of the hat: to the Shobigin with the Maeda sisters in identical dresses as Mothra flys over; to the frenzied, beleaguered Insp. Osaka from the Gamera Trilogy by way of Yokijiro Hotaru's terrified, and would be suicidal, salaryman who stumbles into Ghidorah's lair; Godzilla peering over the hill at Hakone hot springs in an eerie shout-out to his reveal on Odo Island in the 1954 classic film. And then there's the tenacious, doggedly determined Baragon. What a joy to see him again through a memorable performance by Rie Ota. 

This movie is satisfying on so many levels.

The promise of a Kaneko Godzilla was fully realized.