All Monsters Attack, aka. Godzilla’s Revenge

All Monsters Attack, aka. Godzillas Revenge (1969)

Synopsis of All Monsters Attack

All Monsters Attack (aka Godzillas Revenge) is the story of a young, bullied child. His parents are both working all the time. He dreams of visiting Monster Island. In his dreams he becomes friends with Minilla/Minya (Godzillas son). And he learns life lessons to help him stand up against bullies and a pair of robbers.

Review of All Monsters Attack

All Monsters Attack is a children’s movie. It deals with a young boy (Tomonori Yazaki) named Ichirô. He‘s a latchkey kid, with very few friends. His father works long days for the railroad, his mother works long hours. And a neighbor in their apartment building (a toymaker played by Hideyo Amamoto) looks after him. Every day, he faces bullies at school, and in short, his life is unhappy.

He finds refuge in fantasy. He dreams of visiting Monster Island where he becomes friends with Godzillas son Minila (or Minya, depending on the Japanese or American version). Minila is similarly younger picked on by a bully.  Godzilla encourages his son to stand up to the bully. A lesson that the young boy realizes in his own life.   The plot is further complicated by a pair of bank robbers who fear that the boy can identify them, and try to kidnap him.

It’s an enjoyable movie for children, with some odd psychedelic moments as well. There is a fair number of monster battles, with appearances by:

• Gabara (the bully picking on Minila/Minya)
• Kamacuras/Gimantis
• Ebirah (the Sea Monster)
• Kumonga (giant spider)

In short, All Monsters Attack / Godzillas Revenge is an enjoyable kids movie. If you have young children, they’ll enjoy it and you’ll enjoy watching it with them.

Editorial review of All Monsters Attack courtesy of Amazon.com

Sounds like what happens when you visit too many off-the-beaten-path sushi shops, doesn’t it? Godzillas Revenge is number 10 in the Godzilla series, directed by the first and best of the Godzilla directors, Inoshiro Honda. Essentially a childhood power fantasy, the film concerns Ishiro (the director’s namesake), a youngster whose mind-tripping dreams on Monster Island help him gain the resolve to rout a gang of criminals and the neighborhood bullies who’ve been plaguing him. Part child’s fantasy story,

Part child’s fantasy story, part monster movie with extended battle sequences, Godzillas Revenge may be one of Hondas most consistently entertaining films, despite the fact that the colorful monster footage is reused from earlier movies. This is recommended fare for the juvenile or juvenile-at-heart. The DVD gives you a choice of cropped-frame or letterboxed in tantalizing Tohoscope, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround or Mono, and some more extras. It is also available in a boxed set with four of the other best Godzilla flicks by director Inoshiro Honda. Jim Gay