Terror of Mechagodzilla (1978)

Just as good as its predecessor, if not better. Last time we saw Godzilla teaming up to take down one monster. This time, he has to take down two, by himself. This is a great end to the original series, as it contains all the great elements. Awesome fights, which take us back to more inhabited areas. The country side had become a cheap alternative, but you can't beat city destruction. There is also a lot of heart, as we see a ridiculed scientist and his daughter struggle with their feelings. This film actually contains some human sacrifice. Making us and Godzilla equal again. Very impressed with something that could have been all a little much.

The aliens from the previous Godzilla/Mechagodzilla movie return in this one, rebuilding the gigantic title monstrosity. They receive help from a disgruntled elderly scientist (Akihiko Hirata, who co-starred in the very first Godzilla movie of '54) seeking revenge; it seems fifteen years ago the doctor claimed he was able to electronically control a surviving dinosaur called Titanosaurus and was discredited. Hirata takes some lumps at times for "hamming it up" in an obvious gray old man wig and mustache, but other than one silly moment where he cackles delightfully like a typical monster movie mad scientist, he is fine in his part. Between now remote controlling his Titanosaurus and teaming him up with the aliens' Mechagodzilla, we have two mighty foes to pit against Godzilla. This would be the final Godzilla film for about ten years, and veteran series director Ishiro Honda came back to do it after a substantial absence. Of all the past several Godzilla pictures, this is one of the better offerings, thanks partly to it being of a more serious tone in spite of its outrageous plot. Also included is a pretty daughter for the old scientist who is actually a cyborg! She is an asset to the story, with a complex nature. Godzilla himself is somewhat under-used and doesn't make an appearance until about fifty minutes into the film, but it's worth waiting for. **1/2 out of ****

The currently available English-dub print of this film is a frightfully hash-re-edit from UPA, released to TV syndication in 1978. I hope this is not the best surviving print of the film, but it very well may be. It is transferred in grainy pan-and-scan, and there are obvious bits and pieces missing from it - it is certainly possible to follow the story, but not always possible to follow the action. For instance, there's a moment towards the end when Godzilla is knocked over by a blast of Mechagodzilla's light ray; then suddenly, he's up and swinging, and Mecha-G is sparking from a short-circuit - what happened? We may never know.Quality of surviving prints aside, this is Ishiro Honda's final attempt to remind Godzilla-fans what the series was originally intended to be about. The opening soundtrack is amazing - it begins with a martial snare tattoo; then Akira Ifukube introduces the darkest, most menacing Godzilla music he ever composed - it's really a shame that his "Mechagodzilla theme" was never re-introduced to the later revival-Godzilla films of the 1990s. It is brooding and downright scary without any images - but it enhances some of the stark images of the film very well.These images include the most frightening moment of Tokyo-destruction ever seen in a Godzilla film, when Mecha-G and Titanosaurus march on the Japanese capitol with a sadistic joy rarely exhibited by rubber monsters from Toho. Although the scene is relatively brief, it leaves a huge impact - The cinematography captures the essence of US military documentary footage of experimental nuclear bomb tests - truly frightening. Also, there are some quirky back-screen shots of the monsters wading through the city that manage to capture how insignificant their human victims are to such gigantic creatures - the over-all effect proves to be every bit as scary as Honda must have wished.The opening martial tattoo on the snare tells us what this film is really about - it is a puppet-show metaphor for war, in all its hideously dehumanizing violence.Towards the end, a scientist holds in his arms the dying form of the woman with whom he fell in love, robotized and short-circuited like the Mecha-G. she was used to control, and reassures her(it): "...even if you're a cyborg, I still love you; none of this is your fault - you aren't to blame.' The epitaph of a good chunk of the 20th Century - thank god it's over. The only weird thing is, we survived.Or, perhaps we didn't; it is Godzilla who wades through this film unscathed. Perhaps only the monsters inherit the earth.

Mekagojira no Gyakushu, or Mechagodzilla vs. Godzilla, Revenge of Mechgodzilla, Terror of Mechagodzilla, The Escape of Mechagodzilla & the version I saw called Monsters From an Unknown Planet are apparently a few of it's alternate titles, starts with footage from the previous Godzilla film, Godzilla vs. Cosmic Monster (1974) showing how Godzilla defeated Mechagodzilla. A team of scientists from the 'Ocean Exploitation Institute' are searching for Mechagodzilla's remains when they encounter a new monster, an aquatic dinosaur named Titanosaurus who promptly destroys their submarine. Interpol Chief Tagawa (Tadao Nakamaru) is on the case & teams agent Jiro Murakoshi (Katsumasa Uchida) up with marine biologist Akira Ichinose (Katsuhiko Sasaki) to figure out what happened to the sub. Just before the sub was destroyed the last radio transmission talked of dinosaurs so our agents make a connection between this & a Dr. Shinji Mafune (Akihiko Hirata) who had previously made mention of a dinosaur named Titanosaurus living in the area the sub was destroyed in, but no one believed him at the time. As our two intrepid agents unravel the mystery it seems that an alien race from the 'Thrid Planet' are trying to wipe out mankind so their race can live here, by themselves. They have persuaded Dr. Mafune & his cyborg daughter Katsura (Tomoko Ai) to help them as they control Titanosaurus, the aliens have also recovered Mechagodzilla's remains & repaired him. The alien's think that Mechagodzilla & Titanosaurus together will be enough to destroy humanity, these guys obviously haven't counted on Godzilla who once again must save planet Earth...Directed by Ishiro Honda this is another fun Godzilla film from Japanese studio Toho & Mekagojira no Gyakushu was the 15th film to feature Godzilla, the last of the 'classic' Godzilla's before the next entry in the series 9 years later & was made between Godzilla vs. Cosmic Monster & Godzilla 1985 (1984). The script by Yukiko Takayama is a little on the slow side at times, after the repeated flashback footage during the opening sequence Godzilla doesn't appear again until past the 45 miniature mark which is just too long without any monster fighting fun. We only get a choice of three monsters here, the main man himself Godzilla, the fishy Titanosaurus whom I actually quite liked & felt sort of sorry for as he is naturally peaceful but those nasty aliens are controlling him & the very cool Mechagodzilla who has to be one of Godzilla's best adversary's complete with metal body, rocket launchers, laser beams & an infinite supply of ammo! Unfortunately none of these monsters are used as much as I would have liked & the aliens taking over the Earth plot just isn't that great. For some reason the aliens wear silver suits & ridiculous looking helmets. Mekagojira no Gyakushu is a little more serious in tone than some of the childish Godzilla films that had preceded it, the character's are a bit more emotionally developed & it even contains nudity, some bare breasts no less. Technically Mekagojira no Gyakushu is as good as one can expect from this type of film, the special effects once again consist of men in rubber monster suits, model cars, planes & buildings. They obviously can't compare to today's mega budget CGI but they have that indefinable charm & personality, I think the effects look perfectly OK even if they aren't going to win any awards & as always I like to think that the filmmakers did the best they could using their imagination & resources available. The familiar sounding music, the cinematography & general production design are all acceptable considering Mekagojira no Gyakushu probably had a small budget. The acting is alright from what I can make out but the dubbing as usual is pretty bad with some terrible accents for secondary character's & some very silly dialogue exchanges, but it all adds to the fun in my opinion. I liked Mekagojira no Gyakushu but then I am a Godzilla fan anyway, it is a little slow at get going but once it does it's good fun & the climatic battle between Godzilla, Mechagodzilla & Titanosaurus is cool. Definitely worth watching monster fans!