Eleven monsters in one film: Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Anguirus, Minya, Spiega (aka Kumonga), Baragon, Gorosaurus, Manda, and Varan. Get in!
It is the future (1999) and all of Earth’s giant monsters have been collected and confined to Ogasawara Island (christened “Monsterland” by the United Nations Scientific Committee who put them there) in an effort to study the creatures as well as keep them out of mischief. The island is a peaceful zoo-like animal preserve until nefarious aliens (the Kilaaks) invade Earth and take control of the monsters’ minds.
The evil alien invaders send the monsters to trash the world (Godzilla to New York, Rodan to Moscow, Mothra to Peking, Manda to London, Gorosaurus to Paris) and eventually, four of the giant brutes (Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and Manda) gang up on Tokyo in a spectacular special effects extravaganza.
It is up to the daring crew of the super rocket ship Moonlight SY-3 to infiltrate the aliens’ headquarters (both on the moon and on Earth) before the monsters and the Kilaaks’ protector, King Ghidrah, annihilate the planet.
The result is a frenzied, thrilling, and noisy climax at the base of Mt Fuji.
Akira Kubo headlines as the brave astronaut Captain Katsuo Yamabe with the lovely Yukiko Kobayashi as his pretty girlfriend Kyoko who becomes possessed by the aliens’ mind control device.
Jun Tazaki plays brilliant scientist, Dr Yoshida, with an authoritative demeanour, while Yoshio Tsuchiya has a small role as alien possessed Dr Otami. Kyoko Ai also has a memorable role as the evil Kilaak queen flashing her demonic smile as she sets about conquering everything in sight.
The intent of Toho studios was for this to be the final Godzilla movie as the popularity of Kaiju films was waning. However, the movie was so successful that Toho changed their mind and went on to create more Godzilla films in the 1970s.
Capt. Katsuo Yamabe
Akira Kubo
Dr Yoshida
Jun Tazaki
Dr Otami
Yoshio Tsuchiya
Kilaak Queen
Kyoko Ai
Kyoko
Yukiko Kobayashi
Nishikawa
Kenji Sahara
Dr Stevenson
Andrew Hughs
Director
Ishiro Honda