From the very first I heard of Godzilla's Revenge, I somewhat dreaded it. It was supposed to be the absolute bottom wrung for the King of the Monsters. However, I am a completist, and (with very few exceptions) I do not collect any series unless I'm going to collect all of that series. So, I bellied up, shelled out the cash and brought home a dvd copy of "All Monster's Attack" alias "Godzilla's Revenge"

And you want to know something? I liked it. I actually, really liked it.

Now, to be fair, I've only seen the Japanese version in subtitles, so I have no idea how the dubbed version looks or plays, but I found the film to be a light hearted tale of escapism in a troubled childhood. I think the film this movie reminded me of the most was Val Lewton's "Curse of the Cat People". In as much as "Curse" was a rather disjointed followup to "The Cat People" so is the fanciful tone of "All Monsters Attack" a rather unbalanced follow up to "Destroy All Monsters" (and I do realize that technically DAM came after AMA since DAM is set in the far future, but since AMA was the first Godzilla movie made after DAM it still counts as the follow up feature ... in real world time at least).

Anyway, that is a hangup for both films, but if you look at each one on it's own, independantly of the rest, (and when dealing with AMA that's a good way to look at it since all the Godzilla stuff is a dream, so it never really happened in the big G's universe or anywhere for that matter) you're left with a morality play with a dreamlike fairytale setting.

I like movies that explore fantasy both relating to and interacting with children, because when you're that young, you can still believe such things can happen and even accept them.

Say what you will, but as far as this monster kid is concerned, "All Monsters Attack" remains one of the most unique experiences in the Godzilla Universe, and for that matter, a pretty darn good entry into the series.

Superman: Dreams save us! Dreams lift us up and transform us. And on my soul, I SWEAR ... Until my dream of a world where Dignity, Honor, and Justice become the reality we all share, I'll never stop fighting. EVER!

Doctor Who: No, don't tell me! I'm a dangerous man when I don't know what I'm doing.

Optimus Prime: Megatron must be stopped. No matter the cost!

Godzilla: Rawr!

Checkout my fan blog if you dare ...

A Lone Fan Crying In The Wilderness