Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1977)

In the first appearance of the popular 'MechaGodzilla' character, sneaky ape-aliens from "Black Hole Planet 3" disguised as humans build a giant robotic MechaGodzilla and send it out on a rampage disguised as Godzilla (the reason for which is never explained). Godzilla's off-again, on-again buddy "Anguirus" senses that something is wrong and in the course of the resulting battle, a chunk of the disguise is knocked off revealing shiny 'space titanium'. At this point, the real thing arrives on the scene only to have his kaiju-butt kicked by MechaGodzilla, who sheds his disguise. A sub-plot involving an Interpol agent and an ancient statue ultimately leads to the release of the film's fourth monster, King Caesar, who teams up with Godzilla in the final showdown against the mechanical menace while the intrepid Interpol agent deals with the space-simians. Generally, while "Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla" is better than the preceding "Godzilla vs. Megalon" (faint praise indeed), number 15 in the series is a pretty lackluster outing. The story does not bear close scrutiny (especially the pseudo-spiritual prophecy and the statue theft sub-plot) and relies on convenient gimmicks like the professor's trick pipe or Godzilla's sudden ability to become magnetic. The MechaGodzilla outfit is not bad (although the metal clearly bends when the robot is moving) but looks ridiculous when flying. As a new addition to Toho's kaiju farm, King Caesar is unimpressive: a vaguely leonid lizard with immense ears and patches of ratty-looking fur. The Godzilla suit has the standard 1970's look with a reduced snout, bigger eyes and a pronounced brow, giving him a much more benign appearance than his original saurian profile. The trend to anthropomorphise his behaviour continues to the extent that at one point the monster seems to be doing a Bruce Lee impression. I watched an adequately dubbed version that was typical of the era - voices that didn't really match the characters, odd pauses and expressions, and the usual mismatch between what you see and what you hear when a character speaks. Although some of Akira Ikufube's original themes are heard, the film's 'jazzy' soundtrack did nothing for me, and dates the film even more so then the 1970's styles. This was the penultimate film in the Showa-era series, and while an improvement over the preceding two films, likely did little to help keep the franchise viable. Definitely one for fans or students of the genre (and maybe undiscerning kids not too spoiled by CGI mega-pics).

You want to know what this Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla movie is all about? Well, if one remembers that rather (to put it kindly) flawed blockbuster event from DC, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (boy, what a supreme court case that was!), it involved in some part Lex Luthor hatching up a plan to make Doomsday to fight and kill Superman. That's not the only thing that happens, but that's the gist of it, right, and of course we know from the comics that Superman fights Doomsday and it becomes his undoing because, simply, Doomsday is bigger and badderer and can actually *hurt* Superman to the point of killing him practically. This Toho 20th anniversary for the "King of all Monsters" is kind of like that, only with some strange space-men in place of Lex Luthor, and Mecha-Godzilla in place of Doomsday to fight our Superman-like monster in Godzilla.If you think about it in that way it makes sense, and luckily this is a better Batman v Superman movie than what we got from Zach Snyder. But there are many other things that happen in this movie, and largely it's around a plot involving a statue that has some magical abilities, and another monstrous character, King Caesar, who resides on the island of Osaka, and what must be done to summon him to action. The space men are both highly entertaining and yet so silly to the point of being (almost) unable to take it: when they get shot, specifically in the face, part or all of their heads turn into ape-heads, and they become so accordingly. Why are they apes? Uh, I guess why not? I might buy into it more if the masks didn't look like they came discount from the set of the Planet of the Apes TV show at the time or something, it's that ridiculous. And this part of the movie takes up a big chunk of the middle, as the big monsters (plus Angirius in the opening) appear near the start and then go away for most of the movie as Mecha-Godzilla goes away for repairs. The human characters are fairly standard, and the stand-outs to me are the Interpol agent who looks super-slick and bad-ass with his glasses and black get up, and the woman who sings the long but amazing song to summon King Caesar (this was my pleasant surprise of the movie, thinking it would be interminable, but like the twins in the Mothra installments it's a welcome addition to have singing here). I like the movie well enough, and I think if you love the sillier B movie aspects of Godzilla's franchise it'll work just fine. I was with it at times and not at others, and it's neither the very best nor is it the worst these movies have to offer. Also, as a plus, Mecha- Godzilla is a spectacular threat and looks cool.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla brings back a more serious tone. Well, as serious as you can be with the Godzilla movies (not including the original). Here we have an alien race of ape-men, creating their own Godzilla. Meanwhile a prophecy speaks of the resurrection of King Caesar. It's a big old monster mash-up with everything I love about these films. It was also well-shot, and stands apart in the sometimes boring human sections. Here, the intrigue is just as exciting as monsters fighting. We also see a rather horrific jaw breaking scene, and the wonders of wakening a monster with a four minute song. Mechagodzilla is a joy, as he doesn't look as ridiculous as some of the monster creations from the past.

Godzilla who is established in the Showa series of movies as a hero seems to turn on his homeland and begins attacking Japan. We the faithful Godzilla fans know something is up, as the Godzilla attacking has red/orange Atomic Breath... Godzilla's breath is blue... Me thinks something is amiss here.Low and behold this impostor is confronted by the real Godzilla in a spectacular fight on a refinery. But as Godzilla damages his doppelganger we see metallic underlaying... The fake is really a ROBOT!!! created bye space aliens, they built a giant robot version of Godzilla named... Mechagodzilla.The movie progresses like all Godzilla films do, and In the crescendo Godzilla is aided by the guardian deity monster King Ceasar (who looks like those Japanese dog statues) Overall I like this movie in the Showa series. defiantly in my top 5 of the Showa series, but not my overall.