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

Watched:  05/23/2026

Format:  DVD

Viewing:  Second

Director:  Shûsuke Kaneko

So, I've only seen this movie once before - and while I've long loved Godzilla, I didn't really do a deep dive - mostly because of a lack of availability - until COVID hit.   And when I watched Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001), it was in, like April 2020.  So imagine the headspace I was in.

Anyway - I think around this time was when I was trying to understand what the hell Toho was even doing in the 90's and 00's.  And the answer is - it gets really confusing after Godzilla Vs. Destroyah.  I have no idea if Godzilla 2000 and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus are  in the prior continuity.  They certainly are not tied to this movie, which came next.  

Here's there's a hard break in continuity, basically starting us over (again) as a direct sequel to the 1954 movie.  Just as we'd seen in Godzilla Raids Again (1955)  and Godzilla Returns (1984) and as we'd see in the movie following this one - Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla.  

All-Out Attack is trying on Godzilla as a horrifying antagonist again - or at least turning the movie into something frightening.  Godzilla is a legend here - the youth are a bit suspicious about the stories of Godzilla and many consider the 1954 attacks a legend.  

But an American military sub goes down, and then a Japanese sub spots something spooky under the water.  As the military and bureaucratic government consider the possibility of Godzilla's return (and are in denial) one military leader's daughter is off making television programming that ties indirectly to "The Guardian Monsters".  

As signs start to show that *something* is happening, the girl, Yuri, learns the legend of the The Guardian Monsters and is trying to tell her father about what she thinks is happening.  Meanwhile, events across the country - suggest things are afoot.  And, it eventually explodes with a fight between Godzilla and Baragon.

Like many Godzilla movies, humans are incidental to Godzilla and Baragon here.  As they mostly will be to Mothra and King Ghidorah as they appear.  They're not fighting over the cities - they're fighting for the territory that is Japan.  Human just happen to live there.  And sometimes that means Godzilla walks right through a hospital or Mothra lands on some people.  

I think the thing that makes this more interesting is that it feels like a rough draft for things that will be raised in the best 21st Century Godzilla films - Shin Godzilla and Godzilla Minus One.   

• Godzilla will be seen as a force of nature
• The government will be paralyzed by their desire to manage information and public relations superseding decision making - which must be done through proper channels so any wrong decisions will not embarrass the officials
• Godzilla will be seen as spiritual payback for the sins of WWII
• Big suggestion that the win at the end is temporary

The production looks a whole lot like a 90's Toho Godzilla movie.  It simply does not have the cinematic sensibilities of a theatrical release feature film with cinematography, lighting, etc...  That is until the monsters show up.  And once they do - they look fantastic.  

In the late 90's and 00's, Toho had really sorted out how to up their traditional man-in-suit action, model building, and integrate digital FX.  I may not love this particular movie, but I won't argue with how great the monster suits look or the overall vibe of how they make things like Godzilla's atomic breath look.  Mothra doesn't look like a puppet swinging on ropes - she seems much more fully realized and placed into the frame in a buyable way.  And we only rarely lose sense of scale.  

This maybe isn't my favorite design for Godzilla - who I think goes a little doggy in the face with this design, but overall, it's pretty good.

The actual human actors in this are okay - but I really do like the star, Chiharu Niiyama.  She's very buyable as the woman trying to break glass ceilings and frustrated by the patronizing world she's trapped in.  And how she shows her mettle in her Godzilla coverage. 

The problem is that I so prefer the two following movies about the JXSDF and Mechagodzilla, this just feels like a curiosity along the way - presaging better movies to come.