Story
Godzilla Mothra King Ghidrah All Out Attack: Who will survey?! A century has lapsed trying to take Godzilla down, an encounter of a nuclear submarine with a gigantic monster is suppressed in the news. The defense suspect Godzilla and take precautionary measures. All over Japan there are mysterious case one after the other. The press investigates a mysterious old man and learn of the “Three Sacred Guardians.” Finally, Godzilla appears in Japan. The sacred beasts wake up and work together. (Released December 15, 2001)
The prologue of the film acknowledges the events of the first Godzilla film, while inventing its own timeline, explaining that the capital of Japan was moved from Tokyo to Osaka. The film takes place in an alternate universe with advanced technology, explaining that in 1966, Godzilla attacks the first Japanese nuclear plant in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture. After this, a section of Japanese Self Defence Force was dedicated to fight Godzilla, and was called G-Graspers. In 1996, clean plasma energy replaced nuclear energy, however this did not deter Godzilla from attacking.
In 2001, an experimental satellite-based weapon that fires miniature black holes, called the Dimension Tide, opens a wormhole through which a prehistoric dragonfly enters the present and deposits a single egg before exiting through the wormhole. A boy finds the egg and takes it with him when he moves to Tokyo. The egg starts oozing a strange liquid, so the boy throws the egg in the sewer. The egg, actually a mass of hundreds of eggs, splits up and starts growing when exposed to water, hatching into large dragonfly larva called Meganulon that come out of the sewer to feed. They flood a portion of the city and moult on the sides of buildings, becoming adult Meganula.
Meanwhile, the atomic dinosaur Godzilla appears, in search of a source of nuclear energy, despite the edict shutting down all such attractants after his three previous appearances. While Godzilla is fighting the G-Graspers, who are assisted by rebellious scientist Hajime Kudo, the swarm of Meganula are attracted in turn to Godzilla’s energy, and attack him. Most Meganula are killed, but a few drain some of Godzilla’s energy and return to the sewer. With the last of their strength, the Meganula inject Godzilla’s energy into a huge, sleeping larva that is in a giant, pulsating cocoon. It molts and appears from the water as Megaguirus, the queen of the Meganula.
After destroying part of the city with shock waves generated by her beating wings, Megaguirus heads to the waterfront and faces Godzilla. Being territorial, Megaguirus considers the city to be her hunting ground. As they engage in a lengthy battle, she uses her speed to avoid Godzilla’s attacks, but Godzilla eventually uses her speed against her. As she flies toward Godzilla, he lunges forward with his dorsal fins in her path. She flies into the fins, and one of her arms is severed.
During the battle, a special ability of Megaguirus is revealed: Having been mutated by Godzilla’s energy, she can generate a blast similar to his atomic breath. She fires a huge ball of radiation, knocking Godzilla down. He gets back up, and Megaguirus goes in for the kill. She speeds forward with the stinger on her long tail lowered, trying to stab Godzilla between the eyes. In a climactic moment, Godzilla catches the stinger in his mouth. He bites down, crushing the stinger. Megaguirus rears up in pain, and Godzilla takes the chance to finally blast her with his atomic breath. She bursts into flames and Godzilla blasts her a second time and destroys her.
It is revealed that Godzilla was attracted to the energy of a secret nuclear project housed at the Science Institute, in violation of the ban, by Professor Yoshino Yoshizawa. The G-Graspers continue their mission to destroy Godzilla, but with the Dimension Tide falling out of orbit they are unable to get a lock on Godzilla, until the vengeful Major Kiriko Tsujimori pilots a ship called Gryphon towards Godzilla, ejecting only at the last second. The Dimension Tide is able to lock on to the craft and fires just before burning up on reentry; Godzilla vanishes and everyone celebrates. In a postlude, however, Major Tsujimori again enlists Kudo to investigate suspicious seismic activity; then in an after-credits scene, Godzilla’s roar is heard again as an earthquake strikes Tokyo.
GMK is an ancronym for Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah.
Like its predecessors Godzilla Millennium and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, GMK wipes the slate clean and starts a whole new story timeline. Godzilla has not been seen since 1954 when the oxygen destroyer killed him. General Tachibana (Ryudo Uzaki) of the Japanese Self-Defense Force is starting to suspect that Godzilla is back and responsible for the destruction of a submarine off the coast of Guam.
Tachibana’s daughter Yuri (Chiharu Nîyama), with whom he has a strained relationship, works for a Reality TV show called Digital Q. The show specializes in stories on Blair Witch and Bigfoot type legends which contain a lot of made up details to get ratings. That is, until Yuri and her crew stumble upon the real thing. Yuri meets a mysterious old man (Toho kaiju veteran Eisei Amamoto) who explains that the Guardian Monsters of Japan (Mothra, Baragon and King Ghidorah) are re-awakening to defend the homeland from Godzilla. Yuri decides to report the story at any cost, while her father simultaneously tries to destroy Godzilla.
Expectations were very high for GMK as it was the first Godzilla film to be directed by Shusuke Kaneko, who redfined the genre with his Heisei Gamera trilogy. Unfortunately, the film does not live up expectations in some areas. In the Gamera series, Kaneko was often criticized for having too much story and not enough monsters. Sadly, GMK suffers from the exact opposite ailment. The story is full of holes and the character development is nonexistent. The difficult relationship between Tachibana and Yuri is supposed to be dramatic, but the attempt fails miserably, and the resolution is completely cold. The film lacks the necessary quiet moments and plows through the last forty minutes with non-stop monster action. Also lacking is the musical score by Kaneko regular Ko Otani. There are a few good cues (such as the theme when Mothra breaks forth from her cocoon) but most of the score strays a little too deep into John Barry territory, and loses its own identity. The classic Godzilla theme by Akira Ifukube is only used once, but is as powerful as ever.
Still, the fights are staged very well, and contain lots of nods and winks to great kaiju battles of the past fifty years. A daylight stand-off between Baragon and Godzilla is pleasantly reminiscent of the Ishiro Honda’s work in such films as Monster Zero and Destroy All Monsters. The special effects and suit designs in GMK are also some of the best ever, with the final battle between Mothra, Godzilla and King Ghidorah being particularly ambitious.
Is GMK better than the last two Godzilla films? You bet it is. Still, if the expectations hadn’t been so high, it would have been even better.
Cast & Characters
立花由里:新山千春
立花泰三:宇崎竜童 / 5歳:春山幹介
武田光秋:小林正寛
門倉春樹:佐野史郎
江森久美:南果歩
三雲中将:大和田伸也
日野垣真人:村井国夫
広瀬裕:渡辺裕之
防衛軍中佐・宮下:布川敏和
丸尾淳:仁科貴
BSデジタルQのディレクター:モロ師岡
小早川時彦:葛山信吾
防衛軍大佐・崎田:中原丈雄
伊佐山嘉利:天本英世
防衛軍将校:石田太郎
官房長官:津川雅彦
F-7Jパイロット:村田雄浩
杉野(さつま女性航行士):杉山彩子
初老の漁師:中村嘉葎雄
和泉村村長:上田耕一
自殺志願者:螢雪次朗
自転車店店主:高橋昌也
清水港の釣り人:村松利史
焼津港の釣り人:一本気伸吾
報道ヘリのディレクター:徳井優
報道ヘリのカメラマン:西岡竜一朗
静岡のタクシー運転手:笹野高史
スーパーの店員(静岡):山本東
静岡のスーパーのおばさん:水木薫
テレビプロデューサー:山寺宏一
和泉村の助役:山崎一
田舎風のホステス(村長の愛人):種子
本栖警察署のウェブ担当警官:松尾貴史
本栖警察署の警察官:野口雅弘
大涌谷のカップル:近藤芳正、奥貫薫
昆虫図鑑を手に持つ箱根ロープウェイのアベック:翁華栄、佐伯日菜子
中華街の中国人:チューヤン
中華街の女:峯村リエ
横浜・地上部隊隊長・本城:角田信朗
池田湖・若者(ヒロキ):塚本高史
防衛軍士官・山口:佐藤二朗
防衛軍将校・夏木:坂田雅彦
若い漁師(マサ):加瀬亮
小学校教師:かとうかずこ
民宿・鯨見の女:竹村愛美、篠原ともえ(山口友恵)
トラック運転手:河原さぶ
民宿の小用の男:温水洋一
暴走族の隊長:木下ほうか
池田湖のケバ女(大学生):鴻口可南
池田湖の大学生:小山雅也、山口翔吾
池田湖のリポーター:野中美里
池田湖の警官:北原万誠
民宿・鯨見の女将:鈴木ひろみ
管制官・富田:真由子
長野気象台の職員:金子奈々子
モスラを見上げる姉妹:前田愛、前田亜季
病院の少年:池田恭祐
新潟の隊長:大久保運
隊員:飯尾英樹、山内健嗣
ゴジラ / モスラを見上げる男(鹿児島):吉田瑞穂
キングギドラ / 漁協職員:大橋明
バラゴン / 漁協職員:太田理愛
バラゴン:佐々木俊宜 ニュー
スキャスター、アナウンサー:笠井信輔(フジテレビ)、森麻緒、野中美里(以上2名、当時テレビ神奈川)、田辺稔、細野俊晴(以上2名、静岡第一テレビ)、竹内朱実(当時静岡第一テレビ)、佐藤陽子(鹿児島テレビ放送)
防衛軍将校:川北紘一、手塚昌明
Staff
メイン
監督:金子修介
特殊技術:神谷誠
製作:富山省吾
プロデューサー:本間英行
脚本:長谷川圭一、横谷昌宏、金子修介
ビジュアルエフェクト:松本肇
視覚効果プロデュース:小川利弘
音楽:大谷幸
ゴジラテーマ曲:伊福部昭
本編
撮影:岸本正広
美術:清水剛
録音:斉藤禎一
効果:佐々木英世、伊藤進一、柴崎憲治
照明:栗木原毅
編集:冨田功
助監督:村上秀晃、熊澤誓人、清水俊文、會田望
スタントコーディネーター:阿部光男
製作担当者:前田光治、川田尚広、金澤清美
アソシエイトプロデューサー:鈴木律子
特殊技術
撮影:村川聡
美術:三池敏夫
照明:斉藤薫
特殊効果:久米攻
造型:品田冬樹
操演:根岸泉
助監督:菊地雄一、岡元洋、吉田至次、田口清隆
その他
ロケ協力:東京ロケーションボックス、横浜フィルムコミッション、指宿市商工観光課、航空宇宙技術研究所、都留市教育委員会 ほか
制作協力:東宝映像美術、東宝サウンドスタジオ、東宝ミュージック、東京現像所、東宝スタジオ、東宝コスチューム、光映新社
Director: Shūsuke Kaneko
Producors: Shogo Tomiyama
Hideyuki Honma
Writers: Keiichi Hasengawa
Masahiro Yokotani
Shusuke Kaneko
Starring: Chiharu Niiyama
Ryudo Uzaki
Masahiro Kobayashi
Mizuho Yoshida
Music: Kow Otani
Cinematography: Masahiro Kishimoto
Editing: Isao Tomita
Studio: Toho
Distributor: Toho
Tristar Pictures