[HorrorScience] Godzilla VS MechaGodzilla (1974)

Reading time: 6 minutes

Qualification

Gojira Tai Mekagojira

Year

1974

Duration

84 minutes

Director

Jun Fukuda

Distribution

Masaaki Daimon, Kazuya Aoyama, Akihiko Hirata, Hiroshi Koizumi, Reiko Tajima, Hiromi Matsushita, Goro Mutsumi, Shin Kishida, Takayashu Torii, Beru-Bera Lin, Masao Imafuku, Daigo Kusano, Kenji Sahara, Isao Zushi, Ise Mori, Momoru Kusumi, Kinichi Kusumi

Script

Shinichi Sekizawa, Masami Fukushima

Today I am going to comment on the penultimate film in the classic Godzilla saga, the last one directed by Jun Fukuda, who had been the main director of the previous films, in which the quality had plummeted, even by the standard of this series.

However Godzilla VS MechaGodzilla It's not just another movie, well It is the debut of one of the most beloved monsters For fans of the Japanese saurian saga, I'm obviously talking about MechaGodzilla, the robotic version of Godzilla.

This film is commonly known as Godzilla VS MechaGodzilla, but as happened with some of those already mentioned, it had more names than necessary, so it is not unusual to find posters or old versions of this film under the name Godzilla VS Bionic Monster either Godzilla VS Cosmic Monster. In Spain the initial title was CyberGodzilla, machine of destruction fulfilling once again the mania of deleting Godzilla from the title, although I have also heard of it as Godzilla Vs CyberGodzilla, machine of destruction.

MechaGodzilla has been used in all three stages of the character, so There is more than one movie with the same name as this one, which may cause some confusion.

According to a prophecy from Okinawa, the end of the world is near and it will come from the hand of a monster. Shortly after, Godzilla begins his usual rampage of cities and factories, until he encounters his former rival and current ally, the armored monster Anguirus, whom he beats to death.

During that fight Godzilla suffers a wound that seems to shine brightly and will reveal that he is actually a robotic version of Godzilla controlled by aliens, something that will be demonstrated when he encounters the original Godzilla.

[HorrorScience] Godzilla VS MechaGodzilla (1974) — Godzilla vs. Godzilla

The original Godzilla and his robotic double will engage in a battle in which MechaGodzilla seems to have a large advantage, as its weapons and resources are apparently unlimited. From that moment on it seems that The only thing that can help defeat the alien robot is King Caesar (or King Seesar) the protective spirit of Okinawa.

Godzilla VS Mechagodzilla It is a desperate attempt to try to save the series from burning after having systematically drowned it with budget cuts and forcing the directors to focus them on the children's market and the truth is that Although it offers an improvement over what was seen in the previous films, it is nothing out of this world.

The human plot is more complex than what is seen in Godzilla Vs Megalon and it resembles to a certain extent what was seen in the films of the previous decade, with all the good and bad that this entails. This film tries to sneak in a plot of aliens (taken from the third planet of the black hole...), James Bond-style secret agents, mythological monsters and still has plenty of time to include 2 or 3 more characters such as an inventor and his acquaintances. The film's soundtrack also seems to be somewhat scattered, as we find epic songs, marching rhythms and light music worthy of romantic comedies, in addition to the inevitable chant to awaken the sacred monster.

The alien invasion plot is so burned out in this saga, I'll just comment on how funny it is that evil aliens actually are. first cousins of those of the Planet of the Apes. Of course all the inconsistencies that you can expect from these invaders are fulfilled, such as being able to create a tremendously complex robot like MechaGodzilla but then needing the help of a human who has never seen it before to correct the operating problems.

The story of King Caesar is still the same as Mothra, but with a sacred object to justify minutes lost in explaining legends, prophecies, scenes of robbery and chase of the statue that must awaken the monster, which has a curious design but when push comes to shove it doesn't do much either. And since I'm talking about monsters that don't do much, Anguirus's role in this film is terrible, as he appears only to receive a beating.

MechaGodzilla is the best thing about the movie. Its design is very good, it has a very marked malevolent appearance and is full of weapons in the most literal sense of the word. MechaGodzilla does that The battles are an authentic festival of special effects and explosions, increasing the spectacularity to an unexpected level in the midst of the series' decline. Another thing that increases the quality of the monster scenes is that scenes from other films have not been used to fill in (it is sad to have to celebrate something like this, but since in this saga that is common, it is worth applauding when that disastrous resource is not used).

Overall, the film is entertaining, full of stupid moments and repeated ideas, but enjoyable nonetheless and much better than things like Godzilla Vs Gigan, Godzilla Vs Megalon either Godzilla's Revenge. Jun Fukuda managed to make something halfway decent again just when no one expected anything good after his last films.

Curiosities about the film:

En USA la película se llamó Godzilla Vs Bionic Monster para aprovechar el éxito de The Bionic Woman, pero por temas de derechos de autor tuvieron que renombrar la película como Godzilla VS Cosmic Monster.
Al principio de la película, cuando la Princesa de la familia Azumi tiene la visión profética sobre el monstruo que viene a destruir el mundo se puede ver claramente a King Ghidorah, personaje que no aparece en la película.
Esta película es la favorita de Ryuhei Kitamura, director de Godzilla: Final Wars.