Godzilla vs. Megalon (1976)

The people of an undersea kingdom named Seatopia are very angry that repeated nuclear tests on Earth are disrupting their tranquility. So they send a cockroach like monster named Megalon topside to do some major damage. Fortunately, the people of Japan are able to rely on a faithful robot named Jet Jaguar. JJ, by the way, has the means of traveling to a distant isle to ask Godzilla for help. And the antagonists respond by summoning the bird like Gigan.Admittedly, this Kaiju series had definitely become juvenile and cheesy, not to mention overly cute. It's not for fans of the Big Green Guy who crave substance in what they watch. It's just "good" dumb fun for a family audience, complete with an extended final showdown between the two heroes and the two villains. Godzilla himself is just too funny, especially considering some of the gestures that he makes. And one of the villains clearly is thinking "you gotta be kidding me" at one point.Yes, this is a very silly movie but a pretty fun one, directed with some panache by Jun Fukuda. Its main human characters are very likable. Our human villains are an amusing bunch of one dimensional goons. The action scenes are competently done, and there are enough laughs and thrills to make this entertaining fluff. The plentiful special effects, the monster costumes, and the vibrant color and widescreen photography help to keep things visually interesting.A funny and lively diversion for people who just want to put their brains in neutral for 82 minutes.Six out of 10.

Don't forget that Seatopia has existed for 3 million years...Godzilla vs. Megalon really should have two separate ratings: one for nine year old Jack and one for 32 year old Jack. The former would probably rate this 9 out of 10 stars, with one star taken off for those moments in the first half where things got a little slow (there's a car chase, largely with two cars going down a steep hill, which is surprisingly dull); the latter has to give it 7 stars, but knows that somewhere deep inside 9 year old Jack still remains. I know this is a bag of Doritos that I got shipped in the mail from Japan, but gosh-darnit, I'll eat the hell out of them! This is a fun movie for kids, and it doesn't get any more complicated than that. And if you're an adult, you're not looking for Robert Bresson or Sergei Parajanov! It's about a couple of guys and their little kid sidekick who create Jetto Jaga (or Jet Jaquar), and how some mad-villainous whoever creates or summons Megalon, a thing that looks like a cockroach and a fly got blended together with two giant drills for arms and hands. Jet and Megalon get to fighting, but with Gigan also in the mix (I just finished the movie and I don't friggin' know exactly how it's summoned, probably I'd know if I saw the other movies it's in), Jet is told, "Hey, we're in Good-Guy Godzilla phase now with these movies, go get him!" So Mr. Jaguar does, and the last 20 minutes are a battle royale.Jet Jaguar was also created as part of a *fan contest* that Toho put on that originally had nothing to do with Godzilla, it was for something else that might or might not involve one of their group of monsters. It was when marketing looked at the numbers and realized a character created by a literal seven year old wouldn't cut the mustard on its own that Godzilla needed to be added in, and one can tell it's kind of an afterthought almost. But to the filmmakers' credit, they end up making amazing use of him, as the actor in the suit has the time of his life doing lots of crazy arm and hand motions, and does most if not all of his signature moves against this warped-quintessential-Godzilla-villain-monster giant insect.It's performed and delivered to its audiences with such sincerity that anyone with a proper conscience can't help but smile and laugh as Godzilla goes into over-drive (with Jaguar's help) and fulfills the dreams of every 6/7/8 year old boy (or girl, let's not be sexist here) who ever wanted to see these things kick the crap out of each other. At the same time I get why this would end up as one of the early entries in Mystery Science Theater 3000's roster (this may be one of those rare times I see the movie as is before I see it riffed too). Don't go in for any deep themes or messages like the original Gojira, which is a completely different tone anyway. If you have a young child this is actually a great place I'd think to start with the franchise, possibly more than the original 54/56 movies. It's bright, colorful, stupid, and features a man in a giant bug costume smashing through a dam. What more do you want?

I love Godzilla vs. Megalon. Although, this was the first Godzilla movie I ever watched as child, so there may be a bit of bias attached to this review.On the surface, there is not much to GvM but how much can one expect from a movie about men in suits smacking each other around for 1/3 of the movie? The first half of the movie contains mostly just human plot and as such is really just a slow roll until the Kaiju appear. And when they do BOY OH BOY do they appear. Megalon is one of the most gnarly and bad-ass monsters to ever grace a Godzilla movie, him being all "Ok I'm sorta a cockroach/beetle man but also look at these sweet drill hands I have." Couple that with his teammate being Gigan in the final showdown? Could you ask for a more killer team? While this is indeed a Godzilla movie, the king does not appear until about the last thirty minutes of the movie. However, his appearance is one of the most incredible one's I have witnessed in any Godzilla film. He strides in across the landscape banging his hands together and pumping his fists in the air as if to say, "Oh you boys dun effed up now! Get ready for the show!!" But I digress. What truly makes this movie one to watch is appearance of my personal favorite Kaiju/robot-man: JET JAGUAR. Goddamn where do I begin? He's a robot the size of a mere man, but once he is imbued with what they refer to as "the spirit and will to fight" he becomes just as tall as the monsters he has set out to fight. And hot hell when he fights boy does he fight. His battle begins with a smack right across the jaw of Megalon and only escalates from there. What I adore the most about the final fight is the tone of the fight. This melee doesn't feel epic, it feels like two sets of thugs just beating the snot out of each, donnybrook style. Kicks are kicks, fists are met with other fist, cheap tactics are used, and bug bombs are met with radioactive breath. All-in-all this fight is just about two bros (Godzilla and JJ) defending their turf from two cocky assholes who think they're all that.Now if this information has not convinced you yet, I will clue you in on what the filmmakers treat us two in the closing moments of the movie: The Jet Jaguar theme song. Yup. And if that still hasn't convinced you to sit back and enjoy this film then I'm sure your presence would be more suited under Godzilla's leathery heel.

Godzilla vs. Megalon was one of the DUMBEST Toho movies in the 1970's. The way they did the monsters in this movie looked embarrassing like Jet Jaguar for an example. By the end of this film, the song called "Jet Jaguar" was worse than the whole soundtrack and it should not have been part of the movie. The fight scenes in this film were so silly. It didn't feel like they were fighting, they looked more like kids playing with each other in costumes. The human scenes were as bad as the monster scenes. Godzilla's face really looked like a monkey instead of a dinosaur face, like it should have. The story was horrible in many ways. This movie didn't really feel like a Godzilla movie at all.