Hello, all! I know, I haven’t posted since November. I’m back, though with a little over a month before Godzilla hits theaters, there’s no way I’ll finish reviewing the entire franchise. Too bad, right? Still, I’d be remiss if I didn’t get to my absolute favorite Godzilla film…Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla!
In the 1970s, the Godzilla franchise was all but dead. Toho had lost its grip on adult audiences entirely, and the studio had sunk to lows even the grabbiest of American cash grabs could only imagine. With films like Godzilla vs. Gigan and Godzilla vs. Megalon being filmed and released in a matter of weeks, with dirt cheap budgets and made almost entirely with stock footage, there wasn’t much hope for the King of the Monsters.
We’re screwed…
That is, until Toho gave one last effort and turned over the reigns to director Jun Fukuda. Increasing the budget and determined to up the production value, the studio tried one last time to jump start the franchise, and the result is one of the best Showa Era films and a consistent favorite among fans.
On the island of Okinawa, a priestess receives a terrifying vision that the world will be destroyed by a giant monster. Just another day in Japan, right? A type of metal not found on earth is discovered in a cave by a spelunker, Masahiko Shimizu, who takes it to Professor Miyajima for examination. An excavation led by Masahiko’s brother Keisuke accidentally uncovers a chamber filled with ancient artifacts and a mural bearing an ominous prophecy: “When a black mountain appears above the clouds, a huge monster will arise and try to destroy the world; but then, when the red moon sets and the sun rises in the west, two more shall appear to save humanity.” Keisuke is joined by archaeologist Saeko Kaneshiro, who translates the prophecy and takes one of the artifacts, bearing the likeness of the legendary monster King Caesar, to study. Two men stalk them, one who speaks to them and claims to be a reporter interested in the story, the other of whom attempts to steal the statue from them but fails and flees.
Eventually, one of the first signs appears; a giant black cloud that resembles a mountain. As the prophecy promises, a giant monster rises from Mt. Fuji to go on a rampage. Surprisingly, the monster is none other than Godzilla himself. The people are understandably perplexed, as Godzilla had been a friend and ally to humanity for the better part of a decade. What could have possibly annoyed him enough to rekindle his human hating habits?
I have seen your future, and it is Bieber.
Even more surprisingly, Godzilla is confronted and attacked by Anguirus, his longtime ally. The battle is swift and brutal, ending with Anguirus mutilated and forced to retreat…but not before ripping off a chunk of Godzilla’s skin, revealing a metallic glint beneath. Curiouser and curiouser!
As Godzilla makes his way towards Tokyo, he is confronted again. This time, by a second Godzilla!
But the worst enemy you can meet will always be yourself; you lie in wait for yourself in caverns and forests.
As the monsters fight, it is revealed that the challenger is the real Godzilla, and the other is an impostor; a highly advanced robot with an arsenal of weaponry and a nasty attitude. He is MechaGodzilla! Godzilla proves to be no match for his doppelganger, and sustains massive injuries, though not before dishing out some damage of his own. Both monsters retreat, leaving Miyajima to do some impressive mental gymnastics to conclude MechaGodzilla must be built from the strange metal, and is likely an alien superweapon.
Been there, done that
Keisuke and Saeko try to take the statue of King Caesar back to the temple in Okinawa, but are ambushed by the thief. After a protracted gun battle, their lives are saved by that reporter dude again (who has to be the badassest reporter in the world). The thief is killed, and his face melts off, revealing him to be…a monkey. Which is just freakin’ creepy.
Meanwhile, Godzilla is struck by lightning on Monster Island, seemingly healing him.
Hooray!
Masahiko, Miyajima and his daughter Ikuko go to the cave looking for more of the metal, but are captured by the damn dirty apes. They are aliens from the Third Planet from the Black Hole (wherever the hell that is), and they have come to conquer Earth. Typical, since this has happened a half dozen different times in the Showa Era. They built MechaGodzilla specifically to remove the one obstacle to their conquest, their reasoning being that only Godzilla can defeat Godzilla. Obviously, they learned from Ghidorah and Gigan’s failures, so there’s some intelligent characterization happening.
The aliens force Miyajima to repair MechaGodzilla…which is at least one place the movie doesn’t make sense. If the aliens built MechaGodzilla, why the hell do they need a human professor to fix him? Shortly after, the trio are rescued by Keisuke and the reporter, who reveals himself to be an undercover Interpol agent investigating the aliens. They escape the alien base, retrieve the statue, and make their way to Okinawa to awaken King Caesar.
The aliens are all like, “Hell naw!” and dispatch the repaired MechaGodzilla.
You were expecting, perhaps, someone else?
The heroes manage to awaken Caesar (by use of one of the longest songs in the 60 years of Godzilla movies, even including the singing by Mothra’s fairies…seriously, it goes on forever and seems inconvenient given how dire the situation is). Godzilla jogs onshore to assist King Caesar, but even together, they’re no match for MechaGodzilla’s vast array of badassery.
Haha, come on that tickles!
King Caesar gets knocked out of the running, leaving Godzilla to lose on his own. MechaGodzilla unleashes hell on the monster king, and you can’t help but feel sorry for the big lizard.
Oh, now you’re just screwing with me
When it looks like Godzilla is about to lose, he suddenly decides he’s magnetic…something to do with the lightning. He uses these newly discovered powers to draw MechaGodzilla close and rip his head off, shutting down the big robot’s controls and putting him out of the fight. Godzilla gets it done, folks.
The Interpol agent and Miyajima kill the alien leader, who is understandably upset that his plan was ruined by a deus ex machina, and the alien threat is no more. King Caesar goes back to being a statue, Godzilla wanders off into the sunset, and the human heroes rejoice.
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla remains my absolute favorite Godzilla film of all time. It was the first movie I saw, when I was six, and absolutely captured my imagination. I rented the tape from our local video store so often I’m surprised they didn’t force my parents to buy it from all the wear. It sparked my love for the series and for the character, and is one of the only Godzilla films to actually make it on my list of favorite films in general, alongside Aliens, Jurassic Park and Pan’s Labyrinth.
While the film doesn’t quite measure up to earlier Showa efforts, such as Mothra vs. Godzilla or Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster, it is far and away better than the seven films before it.
Oh man, that’s BS.
For one thing, the special effects are excellent. Toho decided to cut the crap and allow a semi-decent budget this time around, not to mention finally getting rid of the old, crumbling Godzilla suit in favor of a new one. While not my favorite design of the Big G (he looks a bit too…cartoony for my tastes and always has this quizzical look going on) it’s nice that pieces of the suit aren’t falling off onscreen and he does look a bit like his old self.
The special effects surrounding MechaGodzilla are superb for the time period, and you can tell the studio went all out to bring this bad guy to life. True, some of the effects (like the electric zapper weapon in his chest) look a little hokey, but the pyrotechnics are spectacular, the hailstorm of missiles and lasers are stunning, and he’s a great looking monster with a menagerie of abilities.
The special effects translate over to the fight scene. The previous films had become ridiculous martial arts movies with monsters. Sure, there’s still some “beat ’em up” tag team action going on here, but it’s scaled down in favor of more plausible brawling between giant dinosaurs. The initial fight between Godzilla and MechaGodzilla, in a burning industrial park, is incredibly shot and the final fight is absolutely packed with technical goodness. Many of the scenes are shot cleverly enough to hide the “still-not-Hollywood” budget, and you have to admire some of the artistry here.
The aliens (called “Simians” by fans) are clearly inspired by the Planet of the Apes franchise, which was still very popular at the time, and while the make-up is nowhere near as impressive as what Apes was doing, they don’t look half bad. In particular, the rotoscoping used for when they transition from human to ape is impressive.
“Damn dirty Kaiju!”
One thing that always stands out to me about this film is how ridiculously bloody it is. Godzilla vs. Gigan was the first time Godzilla bled onscreen, and it was horrifying. Movies afterward would occasionally show some blood too, but damn. This movie is packed with it, and not just from the monsters. When the Simians are shot, they bleed. And I mean full on arterial spray. Sure, it’s green, but I’m still surprised my parents let me watch that as a kid.
The monster blood is pretty spectacular too. MechaGodzilla rips Anguirus’ jaw open, spraying blood everywhere. And in the final battle, Mecha-G’s missiles turn Godzilla into a blood fountain. It’s over the top, and definitely not the standard for the franchise. Still, I have to give it props for doing something a little different.
‘Tis only a flesh wound!
And what’s a Godzilla movie without monsters? Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla gives us a total of four monsters, though Godzilla and MechaGodzilla are definitely the stars. MechaGodzilla remains my #1 favorite Kaiju of all time because he is all villain, all attitude, and no BS. Even though he’s a giant robot, he’s under the control of the Simians the way Ghidorah and Gigan were controlled; remotely. There’s no pilot drama, he’s actually a monster in his own right, and a nasty one. He’s a remorseless bastard, and I love him for it.
Godzilla is pretty much the same old Godzilla, though they thankfully scaled down some of his human characteristics in this film. No shaking hands with his allies, no talking, no victory dance; he’s a bit more badass again. Anguirus’ appearance is brief, and it would be his last for the next 30 years, but his fight with MechaGodzilla was a nice nod to his first appearance in Godzilla Raids Again.
King Caesar is an interesting Kaiju, and a popular one despite only showing up twice in 60 years. He’s basically a lion god, inspired by those cool Chinese lion statues you see at P.F. Chang’s. While the song used to awaken him is agonizing, once he joins the battle he doesn’t slack off. He has a slew of his own abilities, and he’s not nearly as stupid as Jet Jaguar from Godzilla vs. Megalon (please, please don’t get me started on Jet Jaguar. I’m not looking forward to reviewing that film).
Thanks for the laughs, Godzilla, but now Zordon needs me.
Caesar is definitely a different monster from most of the Godzilla pantheon, and he gets a pretty awesome facelift in Godzilla: Final Wars, so I can understand why people like him.
The #8 is a spicy sunuvabitch
Whew, I’ve gone on a bit about this one, haven’t I? Well, there’s one last bit to talk about and that’s the human story. It’s not bad. It’s a fun mix of espionage thriller and alien invasion story. There’s a lot of intrigue, mystery, and a few well-filmed shootouts. None of the characters are terribly compelling, as usual (though the crazy eyed old man from Okinawa is pretty hysterical) but the human bits are more fun to watch than some of the film’s recent predecessors. It was tolerable enough that I could sit through it, even as a kid.
I love this movie. It’s cheesy, over the top, and sometimes downright hilarious in an unintentional way. But it’s so much damn fun, and the series needed that. The soundtrack is catchy, the psychedelic 1970’s cinematography is kitschy and awesome, the monster action is high octane, and it’s just an all around treat.
Sadly, the film is ridiculously hard to find on DVD. Luckily, there are a few places to watch it online (Vudu, for one) so if you haven’t seen it, do so!
FINAL SCORE: 9/10 RIVETS
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