Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: The Great Kaiju Total Attack

Directed by
 Written by
 Music by
 Running time
 Budget

Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: The Great Kaiju Total Attack (also known as Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack) is a 2001 toho kaiju film,Directed by Shusuke Kaneko.

## Plot

Half a century has passed since the defense forces repulsed Godzilla that hit Japan . The Defense Forces dispatch a special submarine "Satsuma" to rescue a nuclear submarine that has disappeared off the coast of Guam. Hirose, a crew of "Satsuma" heading to the scene, witnesses the dorsal fin of a giant creature that moves while glowing pale near the remains of the submarine.

On the other hand, in the Otagiri Tunnel in Myokoyama , Niigata Prefecture, a runaway group was attacked by a red monster and fell under the rocks and sediment, and in Kagoshima Prefecture Lake Ikeda , 11 youths who had a party with stolen thread spewed by the monster. A series of mysterious incidents occur in which he is found in a cocoon-wrapped body. "BS Digital Q" reporter Yuri Tachibana notices that the location of the incident coincides with the sleeping place of the three sacred beasts, Baragon, Mothra, and Ghidorah, as described in "God's Holy Beast Biography" Meet the author of the biography, Kari Isayama, to find out the mystery. Then, in the figure of Isayama, who says "Godzilla is a collection of grudges of people who died in the Pacific War," Yuri learns that he is trying to revive the Holy Beast to protect Japan from Godzilla.

Godzilla destroys the Ogasawara Islands and Grandson Teshima , and then landed at Yaizu Port in Shizuoka Prefecture, aiming for Tokyo as it is. Yamanashi Prefecture Motosu appear Baragon in the vicinity, Kanagawa Prefecture, Hakone-machi of Owakudani but fight against Godzilla in, become lost. Meanwhile, a huge cocoon of Mothra emerged at Lake Ikeda, and Ghidora was about to wake up in an ice hole in the Jukai Sea of ​​Fuji.

Defense forces also challenge Godzilla interception, but conventional weapons do not work against Godzilla, and the attack cannot be stopped. Godzilla, Mothra, and Ghidorah begin their death fight in front of the defense forces on the final defense line in Yokohama.

## Cast

* Chiharu Niiyama   as   Yuri Tachibana, reporter for BS Digital Q
* Ryudo Uzaki   as   Admiral Taizo Tachibana
* Masahiro Kobayashi   as   Teruaki Takeda, novelist
* Shiro Sano   as   Haruki Kadokura, BS Digital Q Planning Manager
* Kaho Minami   as   Colonel Kumi Emori, JSDF Information Management Department
* Shinya Owada   as   Lieutenant General Katsumasa Mikumo
* Kunio Murai   as   JSDF Secretary Masato Hinogaki
* Hiroyuki Watanabe   as   Commander Yutaka Hirose
* Toshikazu Fukawa   as   Lieutenant Miyashita, Deputy Captain of Battle Cruiser *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 Battle Cruiser *Aizu*
* Hideyo Amamoto   as   Hirotoshi Isayama
* Taro Ishida   as   JSDF Officer
* Masahiko Tsugawa   as   Cabinet Secretary
* Takehiro Murata   as   F-7J pilot
* Ayako Sugiyama   as   Sugino (*Satsuma* female 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 (Shizuoka)
* Kaoru Mizuki   as   Lady in supermarket in Shizuoka
* 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

## Staff

* Directed by   Shusuke Kaneko
* Written by   Keiichi Hasegawa, Shusuke Kaneko, Masahiro Yokotani
* Produced by   Hideyuki Honma, Shogo Tomiyama
* Music by   Kow Otani
* "Godzilla's Theme" and "Monster Zero March" Composed by   Akira Ifukube
* Cinematography by   Masahiro Kishimoto
* Edited by   Isao Tomita
* Assistant Directing by   Toshifumi Shimizu, Nozomu Aida, Mokoto Kumazawa, Hideaki Murakami
* Special Effects by   Makoto Kamiya
* Assistant Directors of Special Effects   Kiyotaka Taguchi, Masaaki Tezuka

## Titles

* G,M,K (abbreviated title)
* Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: The Great Kaiju Total Attack (Japanese Title)
* Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah Large Monsters All-Out Attack (Japanese Title)
* Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (US Title)
* Godzilla's Revenge (Early title)
* Resurrection of Godzilla (Early title)
* Godzilla x Mothra x Ghidorah (Early Japanese Title)
* The Evil Monster: Godzilla reborn (italy title)

## U.S. release

* 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?"
	+ Teruaki bringing a drunk Yuri home to her father, and two subsequent scenes which reference it.
	+ Shots of a man on the Bonin Islands 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 the Bonin Islands 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 *Satsuma*'s deployment.
	+ Godzilla's second attempt to fire his atomic breath at Yuri and Teruaki 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. 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.

## Award history

* 20th Golden Gloss Award Excellent Silver Award

## Production

Director Shūsuke Kaneko cycled through various script ideas when attempting to conceive this film. In the earliest known script, Godzilla would have faced off against a revamped version of Kamacuras, but this idea was scrapped since Godzilla had fought another insect-like kaiju in the previous film (*Godzilla vs. Megaguirus*). A second idea involved Godzilla battling a new alien monster in a futuristic setting, but the script was considered too dark for a *Godzilla* film. The Guardian Monsters concept came next, though Kaneko's original script originally had Anguirus, Varan and Baragon defend Japan against Godzilla. Toho told him to replace the former two with the more popular King Ghidorah and Mothra, as Anguirus and Varan were not considered bankable enough to guarantee a box-office hit. Skeptical at first, he managed to work the two monsters into the film.

The film is especially notable for the changes made to the monsters. For example, Ghidorah typically played the villain in previous Godzilla films; this film has him as a hero. In fact, Ghidorah is actually portrayed a few meters shorter than Godzilla; previous incarnations of the monster were much larger, and towered over Godzilla.

Originally, the idea was to have Godzilla to walk with his back and tail parallel to the ground however, this idea was dropped due to the strain it put on Mizuho Yoshida (the actor playing Godzilla), and Godzilla retains his traditional posture.

Mothra was also revamped. Like Ghidorah, Mothra is portrayed as being far smaller than normal and looking more like a butterfly than a moth. Her poison powder and hurricane wind attacks were removed, and were replaced with a burst of stingers fired from her abdomen. In addition, Mothra's fairy servants, the Shobijin, are dropped completely, (though a homage exists in the form of twins from Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys who look up in awe at Mothra as she flies overhead).

Baragon was also altered. His heat ray was removed, his roar was changed and his horn is no longer bioluminescent.

Apparently, the reason behind the changes to Ghidorah, Mothra, and Baragon were made in order to make Godzilla seem stronger. Director Kaneko wanted Godzilla to be the most powerful monster in the film. He originally wanted to use monsters who are notably smaller and less powerful than Godzilla, as his opponents. When advised by Toho to replace them, he compensated by making Ghidorah and Mothra weaker than they normally were. Fuyuki Shinada, who designed the monster suits for the film, was disappointed that Varan (his all-time favorite monster) wasn't going to be in the film, so he compromised by putting Varan's facial features on Ghidorah's three heads.

In addition, the radioactive element has been replaced with a more mystical element. Godzilla has origins rooted in Japan's World War II past. Although Godzilla is still a mutant dinosaur created by the atomic bomb, he is also described as an incarnation of those killed or who were left to die at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War. The extent to which his nuclear and spiritual origins balance is never specified. Kaneko, a lifelong pacifist, wanted to give the film an anti-war angle. The nuclear origin was left in because he knew that audiences wanted a realistic Godzilla, but he thought it worked better with a fantasy element.

## DVD

**Universal Laser & Video** DVD (Year Unknown)

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

**Toho** DVD (2002)

* Region: 2
* Audio: Japanese

**TriStar** DVD (2004)

* Region: 1
* Discs: 1
* Audio: Japanese (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
* Special Features: Trailers
* Notes: A 2014 release packaged this disc with *Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah* and *Godzilla vs. Mothra*.

**Madman** DVD (2005)

* Region: 4

**Toho** Blu-ray (2009)

* Region: A/1
* Audio: Japanese

**Sony** Blu-ray (2014)

* Region: A/1
* Discs: 2
* Audio: Japanese (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1), English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1)
* Special Features: Teaser trailer for Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack and trailer for Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla
* Notes: Packaged with Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla.