Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)

Godzilla films
← Godzilla vs. Megaguirus	GMK	Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla →

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Alternate titles GMK (abbreviated title) See alternate titles Directed by Shusuke Kaneko Producer Shogo Tomiyama, Hideyuki Honma Written by Keiichi Hasegawa, Masahiro Yokotani, Shusuke Kaneko Music by Kow Otani Special effects by Makoto Kamiya Production company Toho Pictures Distributor TohoJP, TriStar PicturesUS Rating Not Rated Budget ¥1,200,000,000[citation needed] Box office ¥2,710,000,000 Running time 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes) Aspect ratio 2.35:1 Rate this film! 4.48 (125 votes)

“	Who will survive?! (生き残るのは誰だ！) The God of Destruction Godzilla lands in Japan! (破壊神ゴジラ日本上陸！) Now, the God of the Sky (King Ghidorah), God of the Sea (Mothra), and God of the Earth (Baragon) have risen! (その時、天の神 (（キングギドラ）)、海の神 (（モスラ）)、地の神 (（バラゴン）)が立ちあがった！)	„
	— Tagline

“	Who will be the last monster standing?	„
	— International tagline

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (ゴジラ・モスラ・キングギドラ 大怪獣総攻撃,   Gojira Mosura Kingu Gidora: Daikaijū Sōkōgeki), popularly abbreviated GMK, is a 2001 tokusatsu kaiju film directed by Shusuke Kaneko and written by Keiichi Hasegawa, Masahiro Yokotani, and Kaneko, with special effects by Makoto Kamiya. Produced by Toho Pictures, it is the 25th mainline installment in the Godzilla series and the 26th Godzilla film overall, as well as the third in the Millennium series. It stars Chiharu Niiyama, Ryudo Uzaki, Masahiro Kobayashi, Shiro Sano, Kaho Minami, Shinya Owada, Kunio Murai, Hiroyuki Watanabe, and Hideyo Amamoto. The film was released to Japanese theaters by Toho on December 15, 2001. The Sci-Fi Channel aired a shortened English-dubbed version of the film on television in the United States on August 31, 2003, after which Columbia TriStar Home Video released the uncut film on DVD on January 27, 2004.

Another continuity reboot to the series, GMK is directed by the Gamera trilogy's Shusuke Kaneko. When Godzilla returns to seek revenge on Japan for all of the souls lost during the Pacific War, the mystical Professor Hirotoshi Isayama awakens the three Guardian Monsters to stop him: Baragon, Mothra, and Ghidorah. As Godzilla makes his way to Tokyo, Japan must place its hope in the Guardian Monsters to triumph over the God of Destruction before he can enact his terrible vengeance.

GMK proved to be a box office success, extending the Millennium series for three more films. It was followed by Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla in 2002.

Plot

Brigadier General Taizo Tachibana speaks to a group of Japan Defense Force soldiers about the greatest threat they have ever faced: Godzilla. In 1954, Godzilla appeared and laid waste to Tokyo, and was later finally killed by the Defense Force. Taizo warns that even though the creature was successfully defeated, the military need to be prepared. Recently, a giant monster similar to Godzilla attacked New York City, and ever since then sightings of giant monsters around the globe have skyrocketed. Taizo dismisses the troops, and is informed by another officer that an American nuclear submarine has disappeared in the waters off Guam. The Defense Force deploys two research submersibles called Satsuma to search for it. They find the sub's wreckage, with what appear to be huge claw marks in its hull. Suddenly, a violent wave causes one of the craft to crash into a rock and explode. The surviving vessel's operator then catches a glimpse of huge glowing dorsal fins passing behind nearby rocks.

Meanwhile, Yuri Tachibana, Taizo's daughter, is filming a fake documentary about a monster that supposedly lives near Mount Myoko. Yuri and her film crew are approached by the mayor of a local village, who tells them to stop filming immediately. Yuri tries to convince the man that the documentary could attract publicity to the village, telling him to imagine if Godzilla appeared in the village. Suddenly, a small earthquake strikes the area, which is enough to sway the mayor to allow filming to continue. Later, Yuri is at a restaurant with her coworkers, where she laments that as a woman she feels she isn't allowed to pursue the stories she wants. One of Yuri's friends, Mitsuaki Takeda, arrives at the restaurant and tells Yuri about a legend involving three guardian monsters that defended Japan in ancient times. That night, Takeda brings Yuri, now extremely drunk, back to her and her father's apartment. Takeda is greeted at the door by Taizo, who apologizes for his daughter's behavior and brings her inside. Back at Mt. Myoko, the village mayor is sitting in a car with his mistress, telling her about the publicity the documentary will bring to their village. They are interrupted when a group of motorcyclists arrive and circle the car. The bikers damage some nearby property, including a small shrine, and then drive away. The bikers drive through a tunnel, which suddenly collapses and buries them all alive. A truck driver witnesses the event, and sees the head of a huge monster inside the tunnel. The next morning, the Defense Force arrives and uses D-03 Missiles to try and dig the bodies from the rubble. Investigators question the truck driver about the incident, and he claims that it was caused by Godzilla. Another incident occurs at Lake Ikeda, where a group of teenagers on a road trip have robbed a nearby convenience store and set up camp on the lake shore, in the process destroying another shrine. A few of the hooligans try to take a dog out into the lake in order to drown it, but their boats are overturned and they are all pulled underwater. A huge brown larva then surfaces from the lake. In the morning, a huge cocoon has appeared on the lake's surface, while the teenagers' bodies are trapped in a smaller cocoon.

Yuri, Takeda, and another coworker visit a police station in the area, where a strange old man has been detained for defacing shrines. Yuri meets with the man, who claims that Godzilla will soon return to seek horrible vengeance against Japan for all of the atrocities committed by the nation during World War II. He states that no weapons can stop Godzilla, but if the three Guardian Monsters are awakened, then perhaps together they can defeat him. Godzilla comes ashore in Magonoté, one of the Bonin Islands, during a typhoon and causes massive destruction. The Defense Force is alerted to the incident, and immediately begins searching the waters around Japan for Godzilla. Yuri and Takeda visit Taizo to tell him about the Guardian Monsters, but he dismisses the story. Taizo then recalls his childhood, when he was present as Godzilla raided Tokyo in 1954. Taizo lost both of his parents in the attack, and is still haunted by the memories of Godzilla and the cries of the monster's victims. In the Aokigahara forest near Mount Fuji, a suicidal businessman tries to hang himself from a tree with his tie. The man stands atop a fallen shrine, only for the ground beneath him to collapse and cause him to fall into a cavern. Inside he sees a giant three-headed dragon seemingly frozen in ice. The man promptly travels to the police station to tell of what he saw, but the police don't believe him. Just then, an earthquake strikes, and the monster from Mt. Myoko surfaces. The creature frees the mysterious old man from the police station, and begins wandering through the countryside. Concurrently, Godzilla surfaces from Yaizu harbor and comes ashore. Godzilla rampages through a nearby town, and uses his atomic breath to obliterate a crowd of civilians. The Defense Force is initially unable to tell which monster is Godzilla, but Yuri and Takeda identify the monster from Mt. Myoko as Baragon, one of the three Guardian Monsters. They determine that Baragon is going to try and fight Godzilla. Eventually, both monsters converge in a forested area and begin fighting. Baragon tries to outmaneuver Godzilla by burrowing underneath him, but Godzilla gains the upper hand with his brute strength. Godzilla begins stomping Baragon into the ground, then blasts him with his atomic breath when he tries to flee. Godzilla blasts Baragon a second time, causing the monster to explode. Godzilla then continues his march across Japan, heading straight for Tokyo once again.

The Defense Force tries to stop Godzilla with fighter jets, but their weapons have no effect against the creature, and they are promptly destroyed by his atomic breath. When Taizo asks how the Defense Force was able to kill Godzilla in 1954, a superior informs him that Godzilla was actually killed by an experimental chemical weapon, whose inventor has since died. The government chose to cover up the truth and have the Defense Force claim credit for the monster's defeat, so as to reassure the public. Yuri takes a bicycle and follows Godzilla, videotaping him from a safe distance. As Godzilla approaches Yokohama, the Lake Ikeda cocoon splits open and the imago form of Mothra, another Guardian Monster, emerges. The old man travels to the cavern in Aokigahara and awakens the final Guardian Monster, Ghidorah, who travels to Yokohama as well. The Defense Force places battleships in Tokyo Bay and sets up a defense line in Yokohama in preparation for Godzilla's arrival. When Godzilla arrives, he is attacked by Mothra, who fires poisonous stingers into his face. Godzilla fires his atomic breath at the giant insect, but Mothra is able to evade it. One blast of Godzilla's atomic breath misses Mothra and strikes the Yokohama Landmark Tower, killing the soldiers stationed inside. Mothra attacks Godzilla from behind, landing on his head and scratching his face. Ghidorah then arrives in the city and enters the battle, biting Godzilla and discharging electricity through his bite. Godzilla is able to overpower both monsters, biting down on Ghidorah's neck and then slamming him onto a building, and blasting Mothra away with his atomic breath. As Godzilla prepares to finish Ghidorah with his atomic breath, Mothra flies into the way and absorbs the blast, sending her flying several blocks away. His enemies subdued, Godzilla turns his attention to the Defense Force, whose D-03 missiles only irritate him, and promptly wipes out most of their forces with his atomic breath. As Godzilla prepares to destroy Taizo's cruiser, Mothra tries to attack him from behind, only for Godzilla to turn around and completely destroy her with his atomic breath. However, Mothra's energy flows into the unconscious Ghidorah, reviving him as the Thousand-Year-Old Dragon, King Ghidorah. King Ghidorah takes flight, surrounded by a golden shield of energy. Godzilla fires his atomic breath at King Ghidorah, but the dragon's shield deflects it. King Ghidorah then releases a ball of energy at Godzilla, blasting him out of the city and into the bay.

As King Ghidorah battles Godzilla, Taizo and Commander Yutaka Hirose dive into the bay via two Satsuma armed with D-03 missiles, hoping to hit a wound formed on Godzilla's shoulder by the energy ball. Yuri reunites with Takeda and the two of them go onto the Yokohama Bay Bridge to film the battle. Hirose fires his missile first, but Godzilla evades, and it hits King Ghidorah instead, knocking him out. A stray blast of Godzilla's atomic breath destroys the bridge, sending Yuri and Takeda falling into the bay. An ancient stone falls out of Yuri's pocket, and re-energizes King Ghidorah, who flies to the surface. When Godzilla surfaces, King Ghidorah begins blasting him with gravity beams fired from his mouths. After withstanding several hits, Godzilla absorbs the energy from King Ghidorah's gravity beams and combines it with his atomic breath, then destroys King Ghidorah with a spiral-wrapped atomic beam. The spirits of all three Guardian Monsters materialize in the sky, then flow into Godzilla, causing him to sink underwater. While underwater, Godzilla swallows the Satsuma, with Taizo still inside. Taizo is knocked unconscious and the sub is damaged, but he regains consciousness after seeing a vision of Yuri. Taizo then fires a D-03 into Godzilla's wound from the inside. Godzilla surfaces and prepares to fire his atomic breath at Yuri and Takeda, but the missile drills through his shoulder wound and explodes, expanding the wound and causing Godzilla to roar in agony. Godzilla promptly charges his atomic breath again, but the ray bursts out of his wound instead of his mouth. Godzilla tries again, and the same thing happens, causing him to fall back underwater. As Godzilla sinks to the sea floor, Taizo's Satsuma manages to escape from the monster's body. Godzilla charges his atomic breath again underwater and tries to fire it at the Satsuma, but the pressure from his previous attempts builds to critical levels and he explodes. The Defense Force celebrates as Godzilla completely disappears from all tracking systems. After learning that Yuri is okay, her boss Haruki Kadokura decides to try and arrange an interview with the old man Yuri interviewed, but a coworker tells him that the man, Hirotoshi Isayama, has been dead for almost 50 years, and has disappeared completely from the interview tape. The Satsuma surfaces, and Taizo exits the craft. As Yuri runs to embrace her father, he warns her to stay back, as he hasn't checked the radiation levels. Yuri salutes her father, who looks out at the sea and tells Yuri not to thank him, but his comrades and the three Guardian Monsters.

Meanwhile, on the sea floor, Godzilla's disembodied heart begins to beat continuously.

Staff

Main article: Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack/Credits.

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

• Directed by   Shusuke Kaneko
• Written by   Keiichi Hasegawa, Masahiro Yokotani, Shusuke Kaneko
• Executive producer   Shogo Tomiyama
• Produced by   Hideyuki Honma
• Associate producer   Ritsuko Suzuki
• Music by   Kow Otani
• "Godzilla's Theme" and "Monster Zero March" composed by   Akira Ifukube
• Cinematography by   Masahiro Kishimoto
• Edited by   Isao Tomita
• Production design by   Takeshi Shimizu
• First assistant director   Hideaki Murakami
• Director of special effects   Makoto Kamiya
• First assistant director of special effects   Yuichi Kikuchi
• Visual effects supervisor   Hajime Matsumoto

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right. Chiharu Niiyama   as   Yuri Tachibana, reporter for BS Digital Q Ryudo Uzaki   as   Rear Admiral Taizo Tachibana Masahiro Kobayashi   as   Mitsuaki Takeda, novelist Shiro Sano   as   Haruki Kadokura, BS Digital Q Planning Manager Kaho Minami   as   Colonel Kumi Emori, Japan Defense Forces Information Management Department Shinya Owada   as   Lieutenant General Katsumasa Mikumo Kunio Murai   as   Japan Defense Forces Secretary Masato Hinogaki Hiroyuki Watanabe   as   Commander Yutaka Hirose Toshikazu Fukawa   as   Lieutenant Miyashita, deputy captain of the Aizu Takashi Nishina   as   Jun Maruo, Assistant Director of BS Digital Q Morooka Moro   as   Director of BS Digital Q Shingo Katsurayama   as   Major Tokihiko Kobayakawa Takeo Nakahara   as   Colonel Sakita, captain of the Aizu Hideyo Amamoto   as   Hirotoshi Isayama Taro Ishida   as   Japan Defense Forces officer Masahiko Tsugawa   as   Cabinet Secretary Takehiro Murata   as   F-7J pilot Ayako Sugiyama   as   Sugino, female Satsuma operator Katsuo Nakamura   as   elderly fisherman Koichi Ueda   as   Mayor of Izumi Village Yukijiro Hotaru   as   suicidal man Masaya Takahashi   as   bicycle store owner Toshifumi Muramatsu   as   fisherman at Shimizu Harbor Shingo Ippongi   as   fisherman at Yaizu Harbor Yu Tokui   as   news helicopter director Ryuichiro Nishioka   as   news helicopter cameraman Takashi Sasano   as   taxi driver in Shizuoka Akira Yamamoto   as   supermarket clerk in Shizuoka Kaoru Mizuki   as   woman in Shizuoka supermarket Koichi Yamadera   as   television producer Hajime Yamazaki   as   Izumi Village assistant official Taneko   as   country hostess (mayor's mistress) Takashi Matsuo   as   police officer in charge of website at Goto Police Station Masahiro Noguchi   as   police officer at police station Yoshimasa Kondo and Kaoru Okunuki   as   couple in Owakudani Ou Huarong and Hinako Saeki   as   man and woman together with insect picture book in hand on Hakone Ropeway

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right. Xie Zhaoren (as Chuyan)   as   Chinese person in Chinatown Rie Minamura   as   woman in Chinatown Nobuaki Kakuda   as   Honjo, commander of ground troops in Yokohama Takashi Tsukamoto   as   Hiroki, young man at Lake Ikeda Jiro Sato   as   Yamaguchi, Japan Defense Forces officer Masahiko Sakata   as   Natsuki, Japan Defense Forces officer Ryo Kase   as   Masa, young fisherman Kazuko Kato   as   elementary school teacher Aimi Takemura   as   woman at Whale-Watcher Inn Tomoe Shinohara (as Tomoe Yamaguchi)   as   woman at Whale-Watcher Inn Sabu Kawahara   as   truck driver Yoichi Nukumizu   as   small man at inn Houka Kinoshita   as   boss of motorcycle gang Emi Ota   as   female college student at Lake Ikeda Masaya Koyama   as   college student at Lake Ikeda Shogo Yamaguchi   as   college student at Lake Ikeda Misato Nonaka   as   reporter at Lake Ikeda Makoto Kitahara   as   policeman at Lake Ikeda Hiromi Suzuki   as   proprietress of Whale-Watcher Inn Mayuko   as   Tomita, air controller Nanako Kaneko   as   Nagano Meteorological Observatory staff Ai Maeda and Aki Maeda   as   twin sisters looking up at Mothra Kyosuke Ikeda   as   boy in hospital Hakobu Okubo   as   captain of the Niigata Hideki Io   as   trooper Kenji Yamauchi   as   trooper Mikisuke Haruyama   as   Taizo Tachibana (5 years old) Mizuho Yoshida   as   Godzilla / man looking up at Mothra in Kagoshima Akira Ohashi   as   King Ghidorah / fishery staff Rie Ota   as   Baragon / fishery staff Toshinori Sasaki   as   Baragon Shinsuke Kasai (Fuji TV), Mao Mori, Misato Nonaka (Television Kanagawa), Minoru Tanabe, Toshiharu Hosono (Shizuoka Daiichi Television), Akemi Takeuchi (Shizuoka Daiichi Television), Yoko Sato (Kagoshima Television Station Co., Ltd.)   as   newscasters/announcers Koichi Kawakita   as   Japan Defense Air Force officer (uncredited) Masaaki Tezuka   as   Japan Defense Army officer (uncredited)

International English dub

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

• Andrea Kwan   as   Yuri Tachibana
• Craig Allen   as   Rear Admiral Taizo Tachibana
• Colin Shevloff   as   Mitsuaki Takeda
• Rik Thomas   as   Hirotoshi Isayama / Lieutenant General Katsumasa Mikumo / Mayor of Izumi Village / taxi driver in Shizuoka / television producer / Honjo / Japan Defense Army officer
• Henry Coombs   as   Major Tokihiko Kobayakawa / police officer in charge of website at Goto Police Station

Appearances

Monsters Godzilla (GMKGoji) Mothra King Ghidorah Baragon Issie (sign) Giant creature resembling Godzilla (mentioned) Yamata no Orochi (mentioned)

Weapons, vehicles, and races Satsuma Taiho D-03 Missile Mitsubishi SH-60J Ohio-class submarine F-7J Bell 205 DDH-147 Aizu DDH-148 Ako Oxygen Destroyer (mentioned indirectly)

Gallery

Main article: Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack/Gallery.

Soundtrack

Main article: Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack/Soundtrack.

Alternate titles

• GMK (abbreviated title)
• Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah Large Monsters Total Attack
• Godzilla Against the Giants (Godzilla contra los gigantes; Mexico)
• The Invasion of Godzilla (La invasión de Godzilla; Mexico)
• The Great Battle of Monsters (Wielka bitwa potworów; Poland)

Theatrical releases

View all posters for the film here.

• Japan - December 15, 2001   [view poster]
• South Korea - January 2002

U.S. release

U.S. GMK DVD cover

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack premiered in the U.S. at the Pickwick Theater on July 19th, 2003, as part of G-Fest X. Its U.S. television premiere took place on August 31st, 2003, when the Sci-Fi Channel aired an 88-minute version of the English dub, recorded in Hong Kong. Deleted footage included:

• The mayor of Izumi gloating to his mistress about his BS Digital Q interview before the biker gang circles their car and breaks an ancient statue.
• The terrified truck driver identifying Baragon as Godzilla the following day.
• Yuri complaining to Jun about sexism at BS Digital Q: "As a woman, you're expected to do what you're told. That sucks, don't you think?"
• Mitsuaki bringing a drunk Yuri home to her father, and two subsequent scenes which reference it.
• Shots of a man on Magonoté urinating before Godzilla crushes him.
• A suicidal man in Aokigahara forest stumbling upon Ghidorah's lair after trying to use an ancient statue to help hang himself, and his subsequent attempt to convince a police officer of what he saw.
• A woman hospitalized after Godzilla's attack on Magonoté thinking he's walked past her, only for his tail to swing into view and kill her.
• Godzilla's atomic breath generating a mushroom cloud.
• Establishing shots of a hospital after the battle between Godzilla and Baragon and Yuri's conversation with a young boy.
• Godzilla killing soldiers inside the Yokohama Landmark Tower while trying to hit Mothra with his atomic breath.
• Godzilla drawing blood as he bites Ghidorah's neck.
• Godzilla sending soldiers flying through the air with his atomic breath.
• Buildup to the deployment of the two Satsuma.
• Godzilla's second attempt to fire his atomic breath at Yuri and Mitsuaki before sinking underwater.
• One utterance apiece of "hell" and "damn".

TriStar Pictures released the film on DVD in the United States on January 27, 2004. Along with Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, released the same day, it marked the first time an American home video release of a Godzilla film included its original Japanese dialogue. TriStar's HD mastered transfer uses an approximation of Toho International's export version, which opts to digitally recreate superimposed titles where applicable - rather than reusing the optical originals seen on Toho's prints - the exceptions being the film's title card and ending credits roll. The subtitles included in this release use the English dub's script, which often deviates from the Japanese dialogue. An extreme example is the scene where King Ghidorah is struck by a D-03 Missile intended for Godzilla. In the original Japanese dialogue, Lieutenant Miyashita shouts an expletive equivalent to “Shit!” or "Fuck!” while he strangely shouts "Got it!” in the English dub and “Excellent!” in the English DVD subtitles. The English subtitles in Sony's 2014 Blu-ray release of the film fixed this particular error. Another dramatic change in the English dub occurs when Japan Defense Force soldiers pass through Yokohama's Chinatown prior to the final battle. In the Japanese version, a man played by Xie Zhaoren wishes the soldiers good luck in Mandarin (加油, 士兵大哥!,   Jiāyóu shìbīng dàgē, lit. Add oil, soldiers!) and a woman played by Rie Minamura who is standing next to him interprets his speech into Japanese. In the dub, the man wishes the soldiers good luck in English and the woman next to him sarcastically exclaims, "Yes, good luck everyone! You're going to die!"

Reception

GMK has been considered a fan favorite for many reasons. Many praise it for its music, story, special effects, characters, the decidedly darker and more violent fight sequences, and how it made Godzilla terrifying once again. Despite this, the film has received a little criticism for the role-reversal of King Ghidorah and Godzilla. The film boasts a 73% audience score from over 7,000 ratings on the review aggregating site Rotten Tomatoes compared to a 63% Tomatometer (critic) score from 16 reviews, the average score of which is 5.29/10. It holds a user rating of 7.1/10 on IMDb after roughly 5045 ratings. One critic, Bryan Byun of DVD Verdict, stated the movie was "one of the most exciting entries in Godzilla's long cinematic history." While many reviews were positive, GMK received negative reviews as well, with one critic stating, "GMK is best when it embraces its unabashed cheesiness. But when it tries to make Statements with Meaning, whether on Japan's past aggressions or ersatz samurai ruminations on the duty of a warrior, the movie flounders like a giant lizard hogtied by power lines."^{[citation needed]}

Box office

The double feature of Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack and Hamtaro: Ham Ham Big Land Adventure made $1.9 million in Japan during their opening weekend. The pairing went on to earn roughly $20 million, with an attendance of 2,400,000, making GMK the eighteenth most-attended Godzilla film and the most successful of the Millennium series.

Video releases

Universal Laser & Video DVD (year unknown)

• Region: 3
• Discs: 1
• Audio: Japanese and Cantonese (2.0 Mono)
• Special features: None
• Notes: Includes traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles. Out of print.

DVD Toho DVD (2002)

• Region: 2
• Audio: Japanese

TriStar DVD (2004)

• Region: 1
• Discs: 1
• Audio: Japanese and English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English and French
• Special features: Trailers for GODZILLA (1998), Returner (2002), Alien Hunter (2003), The Medallion (2003), and So Close (2002)
• Notes: Subtitles correspond to the film's English dub. A 2014 Triple Feature release packaged this disc with Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah and Godzilla vs. Mothra.

Madman DVD (2005)

• Region: 4

TOHO Visual Entertainment Blu-ray (2009)

• Region: A
• Audio: Japanese

Sony Blu-ray (2014)

• Region: A
• Discs: 2
• Audio: Japanese and English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1)
• Subtitles: English
• Special features: Teaser trailer for Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack and trailer for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
• Notes: Packaged with Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla.

Videos

Trailers

Japanese GMK teaser Japanese GMK trailers Japanese GMK trailer (subtitled) Japanese GMK TV spots Thai GMK trailer

Miscellaneous

Wonda Coffee commercial

Trivia

• Prior to arriving at the idea to pit Godzilla against three Guardian Monsters, director Shusuke Kaneko considered other stories featuring Kamacuras or a mutated astronaut called M as Godzilla's foes.
• Kaneko's original script for this film, titled Godzilla X Varan, Baragon and Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, while still similar to the finished product, featured several notable differences. This draft featured Anguirus and Varan as two of the Guardian Monsters along with Baragon, as well as more futuristic military weaponry like Maser Cannons and the Gotengo. When Kaneko presented the script to Toho, they asked him to work the monsters Mothra and King Ghidorah into the film for marquee value, likely due to the poor box office performance of Godzilla vs. Megaguirus. Kaneko compromised by retaining Baragon in the finished product, and replaced Varan and Anguirus with Mothra and King Ghidorah. This is partially the reason for the vastly different portrayals of Mothra and King Ghidorah compared to their previous incarnations, as the film is notable for the many changes it makes to the monsters.
  • The incarnation of Godzilla in this film has no pupils. Kaneko intended his version of Godzilla to be evil, and felt that Godzilla's eyes shape the audience's perception of the monster. While many fans enjoy this interpretation of Godzilla, many other fans felt that Kaneko's approach to Godzilla diverged too far from Ishiro Honda's approach to Godzilla, as an allegory to the atomic bomb. Other fans were also outraged of Kaneko's unsympathetic outlook on the creature. Honda's original Godzilla was made out to seem as much of a victim of the consequences of the H-bomb as his own victims he killed within his rampage. Kaneko's Godzilla by contrast is a nigh-invincible impersonal evil and does not draw any sympathy from the audience. The film also places a more heavily increased focus on the people murdered during Godzilla's rampages than any other film before it, further vilifying Godzilla.
  • King Ghidorah is typically portrayed as the villain in previous and subsequent movies; this movie portrays him as a benevolent monster for the first time. In fact, King Ghidorah is actually portrayed a few meters shorter than Godzilla; whereas all other incarnations of the character are much, much larger, and tower over Godzilla. These changes are a result of his replacing Varan and Anguirus from Kaneko's original story, and the character's portrayal in the film remains controversial among fans.
  • Mothra was also revamped. Like King Ghidorah, Mothra is portrayed as being far smaller than normal. Her poison scale and hurricane wind attacks were removed, and were replaced with a shotgun-like burst of projectile stingers fired from her abdomen. This new attack of Mothra's proved to be deadly enough to topple the much larger Godzilla. She also could transfer her spiritual energy to another monster if she was destroyed, like her comrade, Baragon. In addition, Mothra's miniature priestesses, the Shobijin, do not make an appearance in the film, although they are referenced in one scene.
  • Baragon was altered as well. His heat ray, which is comparable to Godzilla's atomic breath, was removed. However, Baragon obviously still retains his burrowing ability. Like Mothra, Baragon is also able to transfer his spirit to the other guardians if he is defeated.
• Godzilla's atomic breath returns to its original blazing-blue color in this film, for the first time since a brief moment in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah.
• Fuyuki Shinada, who designed the monster suits for this film, was disappointed that Varan, his all-time favorite monster, wasn't going to be in the film, so he compromised by putting some of Varan's facial features on King Ghidorah's three heads.
• The King Ghidorah design used in Rebirth of Mothra 3 appears in the shot where the Satsuma uses its thermal imagery on King Ghidorah.
• At the beginning of the film, Brigadier General Taizo Tachibana mentions that a large reptilian monster recently attacked New York City. One of the soldiers asks another next to him if the New York attack was Godzilla, with the other replying that the Americans seem to think so, but their guys "have their doubts." This is a joking reference to the 1998 American film and its version of Godzilla, which were incredibly controversial and widely criticized among fans.
• Actress Kaho Minami, who stars in the film as captain Kumi Emori, was married to actor Ken Watanabe, who plays Ishiro Serizawa in Legendary Pictures' Monsterverse, from 2005 to 2018.
• Actresses Ai and Aki Maeda cameo as the two twin girls who witness Mothra fly over Yokohama. Ai Maeda portrayed Ayana Hirasaka in Kaneko's earlier film Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, in which her younger sister Aki portrayed the young Ayana in flashback scenes. Aki Maeda previously had a small role in Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, also directed by Kaneko.
• Akira Ohashi and Rie Ota, who portray King Ghidorah and Baragon in the film, respectively, cameo as workers in a fishery office who witness Godzilla rise from the sea. Mizuho Yoshida, who plays Godzilla, cameos as a man who witnesses Mothra fly overhead in Kagoshima.
  • Ohashi and Yoshida previously appeared together as Gamera and the Mother Legion, respectively, in Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, which was also directed by Shusuke Kaneko. Toshinori Sasaki, who controlled the back half of the Mother Legion suit, serves as Rie Ota's stunt double for Baragon in this film.
• Rie Ota's portrayal of Baragon in this film marks the first-ever instance in the Godzilla series of a kaiju being portrayed by a woman. However, she is not the first woman ever to portray a kaiju, as Yumi Kameyama previously played Super Gyaos in Gamera the Guardian of the Universe, another kaiju film directed by Shusuke Kaneko.
• Actor Yukijiro Hotaru, who portrayed Tsutomu Osako in each film of Shusuke Kaneko's Gamera trilogy, appears as the suicidal man who discovers King Ghidorah in this film. This role continues a running joke from the Gamera trilogy in which Hotaru's character encountered a kaiju in each film.
• During the scene where King Ghidorah is revived by Mothra's energy, a sign with the Warner Bros. logo can be seen on top of a building.
• Miniatures from the Yokohama set used in this film appeared in the 2003 film Kill Bill: Volume 1, standing in for Tokyo. Toshio Miike directed the brief shoot in Nikkatsu Studio, which was arranged by Shinji Higuchi.
• The Satsuma's first encounter with Godzilla takes place on May 14, 2002, as shown on the video the submersible recorded.
• In a scene where Yuri Tachibana stops at a closing bicycle shop, the shop owner wonders what the "BS" in her program's name stands for, thinking it means Bridgestone. The true meaning is "Broadcasting Satellite", a common prefix for Japanese television channels.
• BS Digital Q's slogan is「Q〜ッと絞りたて！！デジタルQ」or "Freshly squeezed Q!! Digital Q"
• Yuri Tachibana, Haruki Kadokura, and Jun Maruo appear in the reference-filled end credits of Godzilla Singular Point, watching Hedorah fly overhead.
• Coincidentally, the final scene of GMK bears similarities to the end of the 1961 Danish-American film Reptilicus, with a body part of the villainous giant monster shown to have survived on the sea floor and possibly beginning to regenerate.
• Godzilla makes landfall in Yaizu, the home port of the Lucky Dragon 5, a Japanese tuna fishing boat whose exposure to fallout from a U.S. hydrogen bomb test in 1954 influenced the first Godzilla film. Additionally, a shot inside a building in the same scene shows a poster with the Lucky Dragon No. 5 on it.
• This is the Godzilla film with the shortest trailer, clocking in at just 43 seconds.
• An episode of the television series The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy is titled "Giant Billy and Mandy All Out Attack", referencing this film's title.
• In April 2025, Castem released an iron hammer in the shape of Godzilla's foot, created using a 3D scan of the suit from this movie.
• Numerous aspects of this film's universe were incorporated into the 2025 Marvel comic book Godzilla vs. Thor. It also acts as a sort of continuation, with Godzilla being resurrected from the heart left in the sea.
  • Besides the comic's featuring of Marvel superheroes, a discrepancy arises in the appearance of the "Self-Defense Force of Japan"; in GMK, Japan was never stripped of its military and therefore never founded a self-defense force.

External links

• List of firearms used in the film

References

This is a list of references for Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: ^[1]

Bibliography

• Motoyama, Sho; Matsunomoto, Kazuhiro; Asai, Kazuyasu; Suzuki, Nobutaka; Kato, Masashi (28 September 2012). Toho Special Effects Movie Complete Works (1st ed.). villagebooks. ISBN 978-4864910132.
• Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Toho SF Special Effects Series SPECIAL EDITION. Toho. 2001. ISBN 4-924609-80-3.

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