Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

[Living Corpse]

Oh don't get me wrong the film would be a blast with him I'm just pointing out that he wasn't made until after the fact so if we were making the movie at the time he wouldn't be available.

[Lord Gappa]

I'm with Legion. I actually dislike questions like this because "how could it have been better?" makes the assumption that there's something wrong with it in the first place. I, for one, adore it.

...There is something wrong with it. It's a skreeonk terrible movie.

[MothraPeanuts]

I'm with Legion. I actually dislike questions like this because "how could it have been better?" makes the assumption that there's something wrong with it in the first place. I, for one, adore it.

...There is something wrong with it. It's a skreeonk terrible movie.

That's just your opinon.

Has everyone completely missed my point?

[Living Corpse]

I'm with Legion. I actually dislike questions like this because "how could it have been better?" makes the assumption that there's something wrong with it in the first place. I, for one, adore it.

...There is something wrong with it. It's a skreeonk terrible movie.

That's just your opinon.

Has everyone completely missed my point?

Yes, yes it is. Just as it's your opinion that there is nothing wrong with it.

[MothraPeanuts]

Yes, yes it is. Just as it's your opinion that there is nothing wrong with it.

Yes, it is my opinion. Again, missing the point of my original post.

Eh, I don't feel like arguing over this.

[Legion1979]

I'm with Legion. I actually dislike questions like this because "how could it have been better?" makes the assumption that there's something wrong with it in the first place. I, for one, adore it.

...There is something wrong with it. It's a skreeonk terrible movie.

Sure, but it's a terrible movie lots of people love anyway. And it doesn't need to be fixed with stupid ideas like replacing Jet Jaguar with Zone Fighter or making Godzilla more animalistic.

This isn't a bad thread if the ideas people come up with are actually things that the crew in 1973 could actually have done to make it a stronger film. If there was no choice but to use stock footage that's fine. But why use destruction footage that had just been used a year before? Who were they fooling sticking in shots of Gigan's claw picking off planes during a sequence just involving Megalon? Again, use stock footage if you have to, but diversify it a bit and don't be so obvious with it. Did we need to see the same city destruction shots and maser attacks twice in a row. As corny and hilarious as the car chase sequence is, it really slows down the film and hurts it. That didn't need to be there. Neither did the constant stair climbing shots.

This is all stuff that could have been altered by the crew making it in 1973. It would have been pretty much the same film, but no doubt a little bit stronger. And you wouldn't have need to have been a physic or have a time machine to make these changes. There's thoughtful intelligent discussion about what could be done to make a movie stronger...

...then there's just spouting out random nonsense without logic or any basis in what could happen in reality.

[Hellspawn28]

And a lot of people think there are things wrong with a lot of movies.

Yeah no one is happy with the movies that we got. Fans just wanted stuff change and are so crazy over lost projects then will post shit like "I hope Toho could change Godzilla vs. Gigan and digitally add Rodan in the film". It's like they want Toho pull a George Lucas on the films .

It's a skreeonk terrible movie.

It's not like the movie is on the same level of Battlefield Earth (2000). The movie is supposed to be a silly dumb action movie similar to the Adam West Batman series or Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978), it was made in 1973. People take this movie too seriously.

[Tohosaurus]

Yeah no one is happy with the movies that we got. Fans just wanted stuff change and are so crazy over lost projects then will post shit like "I hope Toho could change Godzilla vs. Gigan and digitally add Rodan in the film". It's like they want Toho pull a George Lucas on the films .

There are the aspects of the fandom you mention here, and then there's the issues that were in movies like Megalon. Two different things, one being execution, the other being the plot and core itself. I don't have a problem with the plot or virtually any of the elements. I don't have a problem with being it being a child-friendly production. I don't have a problem with it being campy. It's about execution, and the execution was lousy. Not everyone that isn't a fan of this movie dislikes it for those aspects of the film.

In terms of this thread itself, I find it odd that those who are so against threads discussing a movie, especially ones on how a movie could've been improved, take the time to post in these threads repeatedly (not you and not this thread, but generally). It seems fairly easy to just keep scrolling down the list of new posts or however you see threads like this turn up.

[shinmattiathekaiju]

I heave issues with the production,the execution and Godilla's personality.

[therealmccoy]

In terms of this thread itself, I find it odd that those who are so against threads discussing a movie, especially ones on how a movie could've been improved, take the time to post in these threads repeatedly (not you and not this thread, but generally). It seems fairly easy to just keep scrolling down the list of new posts or however you see threads like this turn up.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

There's a lot of things that could have been done to make this film better. To think otherwise is utter arrogance. The story could be reworked, better casting, less stock footage, the monsters' personalities could be changed, etc...

This is not a question of how bad the movie is; it's a question of how it could be fixed. It irritates me the people who, when approached with a question like this, be it Godzilla vs. Megalon or Godzilla's Revenge or whatever, turn up their nose and say nothing could ever be done.

I love this film, and there would be some things I would like to be changed, but they won't be. I will not, however, be so blind as to say that nothing could have been done to make it better.

[Bentley]

This film is such a wild ride I fully enjoyed it. Crazy film, fun film.

If there is one thing I would've changed, maybe it would be the back of the costumes and as others mentioned already, more Godzilla. Maybe a tiny bit more development over Gigan's involvement, if only because Gigan was gold at everything he did.

[FlamingZilla23]

1. add a women character
2. NO STOCK FOOTAGE
3. More background on Jet Jaguar

[Goji]

I love this film just the way it is. It's a product of it's time, and I enjoy every damn minute of it.

Though I will say it was sad to not see Nakajima playing Godzilla again..but then again, as a kid, I didn't know the difference anyway.

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

Scrap the entire film and start over.

Since Japanese special effects at the time were limited, I'll leave Megalon's design alone.

Get rid of the Seatopians or revise them so they aren't aliens-but-not-aliens. Get rid of the little kid (or make a better one).

Find a more interesting why to bring in Megalon into the story if you get rid of the aliens.

Hell, I'd make the Seatopians insane religious peeps with more threatening henchman on the surface.

Those are just a few stream of conscious thoughts.

[Biollante]

Revise the car chasing scenes and take out the blatant stock footage, that's all I would really ask for. Some more Godzilla screentime would be nice, though I understand it's not exactly a Godzilla movie.

[Goji]

Aw, come on. It's greatest car chase in the history of film, and you know it.

[therealmccoy]

Aw, come on. It's greatest car chase in the history of film, and you know it.

That car chase makes the chase in Bullitt look like they're riding tricycles.

The stock footage just doesn't bother me here. It doesn't look so out of place as it does in Godzilla vs. Gigan. I'm not saying that it should be left there, but I don't think it kills the film like everybody says it does.

A woman protagonist would be nice, and a revised, more fleshed-out story would help it.

Would I change it? Hell no. I love this movie.

[Tyler]

Treating the production like Mechagodzilla or even Gigan would've improved it a lot.

[Goji]

I honestly wonder if this film would be treated as harshly if it ended up being a vehicle for the Jet Jaguar character, which is what it was originally conceived as. Maybe the quality of the production wouldn't have suffered as badly if the budget allowed for more $ being allocated to building miniature environments, and only two monster suits (Jet and Megalon) instead of four.

For the record, I think Megalon's suit is pretty impressive, all things considered. He certainly looks the best out of the four, IMOHO.

[Rody]

^ Poor Gigan looked downright retarded in the film. I understand why they made a new suit, but think they could have done better.

Rodan had the same problem, actually.