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

[Killswitch]

Godzilla vs Megalon is like cheap beer. It taste bad, but has all the right ingredients to get you drunk.

[Hedorah]

I have one question, is Megalon a cyborg or not? I always assumed he wasn't.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

The arms certainly seemed to be intended as artificial prostheses, but with a '70s flick? Who knows. I assume the drills were a modification to an otherwise organic bug, but I don't recall any official word to back that up, and could be wrong.

[KaneLocke]

Well, in a 70s flick, a bug with organic drill arms doesn't seem as far-fetched as some of the other stuff from that time period. That's why I don't bother racking my brain trying to figure it out.

As bad as Megalon is, it's a wonderfully brainless popcorn flick. An underground civilization with alien connections? A robot that can randomly become sentient and change size at will? A giant cockroach with drill hands that breathes napalm bombs? Godzilla and Gigan?

It's like an acid trip in motion.

[Svitska Donkun]

What I never understood is why Megalon gets villain stigma in Unleashed. He's basically the same as Mothra. The Seatopians live on earth, and they only used him because the people on the surface where destroying their homeland. Sure, they could've sent diplomats to worldwide governments instead of Severus Snape and a Canadian to hijack a robot in a house that's immune to the local police, but still Megalon is their guardian monster. He's kind of the same as King Caesar and Mothra. I'm sure if aliens started attacking the earth, then they'd send up Megalon right an quick to help defend it....

[GotengoXGodzilla]

As much crap as Godzilla vs. Megalon gets, I do think it does one thing that most other bad Godzilla films fail to do: Be entertaining. Godzilla vs. Megalon is probably the only Godzilla film that I will say falls into the category of "So bad, it's good". Yes, the story sucks, the characters are bland and the logic makes no sense, but it knows that the audience is here to see action and not a story. And Godzilla vs. Megalon packs in as much action as possible, including action that isn't monster-related and still fun (ie, the car chases). It does have a lot of stock footage, but it uses it in the right places, to the point where it really doesn't matter if it's stock footage or not, which is why I personally prefer this film over Godzilla vs. Gigan. Overall, it's not a good Godzilla film by any stretch, but it's still entertaining from start to finish.

Also, the MST3K of it is some of the most entertainment I've seen in an hour and a half.

[Sydney Aradi]

Even though Godzilla vs Megalon lacks a solid story & characters but for me it's a pretty fun film with exciting action. It had a cool villian kaiju in Megalon and Jet Jaguar with Gigan & Godzilla. I loved the zany score for this film as well. I mainly watch this film for the action as the story & characters suck but I'd gladly take this over any of the Heisei films any day of the week

[Svitska Donkun]

People who hate in Godzilla vs. Megalon are the same kind of people that hate on tigers because they have stripes. Godzilla vs. Megalon is possibly the most clear cut case of "it is what it is" in the history of cinema. I mean...that's just it. There's nothing to prove by hating on it. What would be the point? The film is immune from criticism.

[King Caesar]

This film aint my cup of tea. I watched it and I didn't get the feeling of "Wow, I just used a good 90 minutes to see a good movie". Don't know what it was about it, but I don't really like it. Get on my ass if you want, but you're not changing my opinion on the movie.

[Coolface]

I like this movie a lot for giving more personality to the monsters. Gigan is still a sadist, but he's also a coward. Megalon can be powerful, but he's too stupid.
That being said, this movie is still awful. The characters are bland, the special effects are cheap, and the action scenes are ridiculous. But I think that if you go into it with a light heart, you'll find that it can deliver in special ways.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

The simple fact is, Megalon is at the bottom of my personal list because it just doesn't satisfy me at the most basic level. I can see most of the decent destruction scenes in better movies the footage was lifted from. I hate the human characters, and feel like fast-forwarding whenever they show up. A story element so basic as having the Seatopians actually mention their grievence to humanity is totally ignored, missing perhaps the only opportunity for an emotional beat in the whole flick. On top of that, the editing, cinematography, and the direction is bland as hell, no matter how colorful the mise-en-scene may be.

All that being said, I do like Megalon, Gigan and Jet Jaguar (so sue me, it's my subconscious UltraFan talking), and I get a kick out of their acting. I think the dam sequence briefly elevates the film, and the SFX team deserves respect for their new work, even if the budget forced a reliance on stock footage. At the end of the day, I even enjoy much of Godzilla's anthropomorphism. It isn't my preferred characterization (oh God, how it isn't) but it works in the context of the picture.

In the end, Megalon is a children's film in the strictest sense of the word. Yes, I know it's occasionally violent and such, but everything about it targets kids in a way that's more cloying than All Monsters Attack. At least that film had honestly thoughtful observations that children and adults could take to heart (if anything, parents could be seen as the primary target of Ichiro's situation). Megalon strips even this away, and leaves up with a bright candy shell of pure sugar. If you still have a sweet tooth, more power to you. I can only take this kind of syrup in very small doses.

[Chris55]

People who hate in Godzilla vs. Megalon are the same kind of people that hate on tigers because they have stripes

Stupid tigers and their stripes...taking all our women and tacos...

[Cimmerian Dragon]

Stripes are awesome, not having stripes sucks. Do you have stripes, Chris55? Do ya? Cause if you don't...

[Tyler]

They're grrrreat!

[Lord Gappa]

They're grrrreat!

This post is full of win.

[KaneLocke]

Ya know what the redeeming factor for this film is?

It's like one massive fight scene. The fights are some of the longest and most well-choreographed in the series.

[King Caesar]

^ And THAT is why it's not the worst...no GvM:BftE gets to hold that title.

[Svitska Donkun]

Despite how much I criticized BFTE in my other thread, I feel its script weaknesses are made up for with some really great monster action. The film offers a lot of interesting things to the franchise. It offers up a Nega-Mothra, and one of the best underwater battles in the entire franchise. I thought having Godzilla swim in the Earth's mantle up to Mt. Fuji was a really cool idea. The film has a great looking Godzilla suit, and Mothra is given many interesting new powers. (Is it just me though, or does Larva Battra seem more powerful than his adult form?) This being said, the film is still terrible. Tied with Spacegodzilla for worst in the Heisei series, just not the worst Godzilla film overall.

I've stated my opinions on Godzilla vs. Megalon being exactly what it intended to be.

Godzilla: Final Wars takes the cake for absolute worst, IMO. As I feel it is a complete bastardization of the Godzilla franchise, and a chance for some schmuck director to boost his ego by ripping off every popular sci-fi film ever, rather than make a film about Godzilla. People like to defend GFW as saying it was a homage to the Showa films, but it really wasn't. Sure the monster action followed the same ideas as the films made post 1970, but is that really what a 50th anniversary Godzilla film made in 2004 should have? I feel Godzilla 2000 got the Showa feel best actually. Its so archetypal in its plot structure and cinematographic style, when place in context of Showa Godzilla films. We even got one of those hyper close up shots of someone squinting at a bright light a monster is creating.

I was expecting something to honor Godzilla's dignity and take itself somewhat seriously. I didn't pay money to see the character arch of some Neo rip off named Ozaki. If I wanted that, I'd watch the Matrix, NOT a Godzilla movie. Like, everything with the humans made me so livid because their plot made Godzilla a complete after thought. I kept thinking the whole time what any of anything had to do with Godzilla. What does a metrosexual calling people cattle have to do with the core of the Godzilla franchise, at ALL? The whole film is almost an un-Godzilla film, and a complete insult to Godzilla on his 50th birthday.

[Killswitch]

No doubt Godzilla vs Megalon is a crap fest, but I would love to remake it! The film has all the right elements to be a kick-a$$ Sci-Fi monster flick.

[Space Hunter M]

No doubt Godzilla vs Megalon is a crap fest, but I would love to remake it! The film has all the right elements to be a kick-a$$ Sci-Fi monster flick.

All I'd do is just make new shots to replace the stock footage. Same with Gigan.