Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

[Mechagigan]

I like that, as with Raids Again, Godzilla fights Anguirus (and wins), even if it was actually MechaG. It makes it tie in well.

[Volrath2242]

this one is my favorite of the lot. I loves me some MechaG!!

[ThunderScore]

[Lain Of The Wired]

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/10736 ... c12ff5.jpg

I used to have Bionic Monster on vhs when I was a kid, if I remember correctly, both my Cosmic Monster and Bionic Monster had a scene cut, where Mechagodzilla's metal shards rain into the ocean after his destruction. I didn't see that scene until I picked up Terror of Mechagodzilla on DvD a year ago.

[ThunderScore]

[Goji]

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/10736 ... c12ff5.jpg

I used to have Bionic Monster on vhs when I was a kid, if I remember correctly, both my Cosmic Monster and Bionic Monster had a scene cut, where Mechagodzilla's metal shards rain into the ocean after his destruction. I didn't see that scene until I picked up Terror of Mechagodzilla on DvD a year ago.

The Bionic Monster title screen has never made it's way to a VHS..so I'm assuming you're just talking about the 1974 film in general (?) Bionic/Cosmic are both the same thing; the edited Cinema Shares cut that premiered in U.S. theaters in '77, and generally people only use that title when referring specifically to that version. The Cosmic Monster cut did make it's way to VHS in the '90s though, so that's probably how you were exposed to it.

This movie went from being released uncut by New World Video in the late '80s, to having two of the biggest budget labels (UAV and Goodtimes) making the edited Cosmic Monster cut widely available in the '90s. Kind of funny.

[ThunderScore]

[Killswitch]

In terms of excitement, it's got a good start, all the way through the first G/MG fight, but I find the mid section really monotonous and filler-y; there's a lot of action and running around, but none of it carries any real dramatic weight. It doesn't pick up for me again until the final battle, and even that doesn't really do much for me.

The whole part on the boat. while being entertaining, is such a waste.
I wonder why the guy struggled so hard to get the idol back?
He knew it was the fake, sure put up a little fight, if the bad guys took it to easily then they might be on to it being a fake.
But the guy keeps chasing him doing some pretty risky things to try and recover a fake idol.
Then after they reveal to the audience that the real one was in the ships safe and everything is fine, the next time we see the bad guys they know that the good guys still have the real idol and are on there way to the temple to fulfill the prophecy.

Who or what company can make a duplicate of that idol so detailed in such a short period of time? And at what cost? LOL

[GodzillaFanatic2001]

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/a2226 ... b23681.jpg

Hi there. I'm curious about the background of this photo. As far as I know, Cinema Shares never released Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla under that title, only under the titles of Bionic/Cosmic Monster, and yet, this poster says Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla with the Cinema Shares logo underneath. We're they planning on releasing the film under its original title at one time?

[Goji]

^ I was going to ask the exact same thing, actually.

[Lain Of The Wired]

Ok, I JUST got finished watching Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla for the first time since I was a little boy.
Now, let me start off by saying, this was always my top favorite Godzilla movie when I was a kid, so when this arrived for me in the mail today, I was ecstatic!
Like I said, I haven't seen this since I owned it on an old, low quality VHS tape, so being able to finally own this movie on DvD is just awesome.

So let's just see if this film still holds up in my eyes as my ALL TIME top favorite Godzilla movie ever…

Imagine a monster with the enormity, ferocity, and strength of Godzilla, only enhanced with rocket-propelled feet, finger, knee, and mouth missiles, lazar eye-beams, a forcefield, and plated with an indestructible space titanium hide. After a huge series of explosions at night are triggered at Mt. Fuji, Mechagodzilla appears, wearing a reptilian disguise, making it look indistinguishable from the real Godzilla. Everyone is baffled as to why "Godzilla" has appeared on a rampage again. But as "Godzilla" unleashes his wrath, another monster appears, Anguirus, and sensing something fishy about this "Godzilla", decides to attack it. After getting his monster ass kicked, Anguirus retreats and "Godzilla" stands supreme, and continues on it's war path.
"Godzilla" then appears at an oil field, destroying everything in sight, but another Godzilla appears and the two super-monsters battle. As they fight, it is revealed that the "Godzilla" who appeared at Mt. Fuji was actually an imposter, a Mechagodzilla, created by evil spacemen with intentions on world domination.
The fake "Godzilla" sheds its reptilian disguise, and at first, even Godzilla is no match for Mechagodzilla, and is defeated and sent flying back into the ocean after an epic beam clash between Godzilla's atomic breath and Mechagodzilla's lazar eye-beams.
Mechagodzilla gets damaged during the battle, and is forced to fly back to base for repairs.
Godzilla is shown washing ashore an island during a violent storm, and after being struck by lightning numerous times, he becomes magnetically charged.
After being repaired, Mechagodzilla is sent out to destroy the one thing the spacemen fear could thwart their plan, an ancient monster called King Caesar.
After being awakened, King Caesar rises out of his mountain side tomb, and the two battle it out.
At first, Mechagodzilla and King Caesar appear evenly matched, as King Caesar can reflect the robot's lazars right back at it.
King Caesar seems to be winning at first, until Mechagodzilla unleashes it's missiles, completely overwhelming King Caesar.
After getting tossed around like a rag doll, King Caesar seems down and out… until Godzilla reemerges, and both Godzilla and King Caesar team up to defeat Mechagodzilla… but still manage to get their ass whipped HARD.
At first, it appears nothing can stop Mechagodzilla, until Godzilla unleashes his newly accuired magnetic pull, which pulls Mechagodzilla towards him, and before his robotic imposter has a chance to escape, Godzilla twists, and rips off the cyborg's head, destroying it.
Godzilla swims back into the ocean, and King Caesar returns to his rocky tomb to slumber, until he is needed again.
The End.

I can remember why this one was always my favorite, the plot was interesting, the battles were cool, and King Caesar and Mechagodzilla were both really cool new monsters.
And everyone always rags on the fact that King Caesar gets his ass kicked, but remember, so did every one else who tried to fight Mechgodzilla, am I wrong? Anguirus got his jaw broken and didn't do anything to Mechagodzilla, Godzilla was sent flying back into the ocean with a bubbling geizure of blood, and all he managed to do was temporarily mess up Mechagodzilla's controls.
At least King Caesar actually managed to take Mechagodzilla down, and dent Mechagodzilla's "indestructible" space titanium armor, something Anguirus and even Godzilla couldn't manage to do.

So all in all, a great film in the series, and I can still proudly say, this is STILL my favorite Godzilla movie ever

[edgaguirus]

It's one of my tops as well.

[Noble Saber]

First Godzilla film I watched, and still one of my favorites. All the blood during the fights, plus the black hole aliens and their ape faces, creeped me out as a kid, but I loved it. Gonna start revisiting the Showa series now.

[Israha]

Probably my favourite Godzilla movie by Fukuda. Sometimes I tend to prefer G vs. Gigan because of the monster fights, but this one is a far more enjoyable experience overall. Love the oldschool adventure movie vibe it has. Ancient civilizations, prophecies, archaeological research, secret agents, lot of travelling...throw in some monster action and aliens, and you got a lot of fun.

And O.G. Mechagodzilla is such a great villainous kaiju. So much evil personality for a giant robot.

[djkgoji]

A fantastic film, made even more exciting in recent years by becoming far more difficult to obtain. I've always loved it, but I never realized just how much until I found myself unable to afford a new copy to replace one that was "borrowed" and never returned.

[eabaker]

It's so weird for me to think of this as a movie that's been considered difficult to find, since I remember how easily obtainable it was back in the VHS era.

I wonder if that scarcity in recent years is part of what's lead to the extremely high status its assigned by so many fans these days. I mean, as far back as I can remember, the general consensus was always that it was the best of the 70s flicks (I think for a long time American opinions of Terror were colored heavily by the re-cut version being by far the most readily available), but that was usually with the caveat that it still didn't touch the Honda/Tsuburaya ventures. These days, a lot of fans seem to rank it in their top three or so.

[djkgoji]

It's so weird for me to think of this as a movie that's been considered difficult to find, since I remember how easily obtainable it was back in the VHS era.

Had many a VHS copy back in the day, on various labels. But since that lone DVD came and went, it's become tougher and tougher to track down. The weird part for me is the fact that it's only received one DVD release. We all know about the rights issues with ROG/Godzilla 1985, but what's holding up a new release of GVMG? Surely it can't be more expensive for a distributor to procure than any of the other 70s or Mechagodzilla films. And it's not as though it doesn't have some commercial value, considering its recognizable antagonist and the exorbitant prices the earlier DVD version commands online.

Anyone have any insight on why this once readily available movie has become so obscure and expensive to obtain?

[Lain Of The Wired]

I wonder if they gave Mechagodzilla 3 the name Kiryu because Mechagodzilla is dubbed as a "dragon" in King Caesar's wake up song?

[Goji]

A fantastic film, made even more exciting in recent years by becoming far more difficult to obtain.

Not sure I understand how there is a correlation between it's rarity on home video and how good of a movie it is

It's so weird for me to think of this as a movie that's been considered difficult to find, since I remember how easily obtainable it was back in the VHS era.

Right? Even when the New World VHS went OOP, the Starmaker tape was readily available only a few years later, and the Anchor Bay one not long after..and that's not even counting the several VHS releases of the Cosmic Monster edit.

I wonder if they gave Mechagodzilla 3 the name Kiryu because Mechagodzilla is dubbed as a "dragon" in King Caesar's wake up song?

No way. That's reeaally reaching.

[Lain Of The Wired]

I wonder if they gave Mechagodzilla 3 the name Kiryu because Mechagodzilla is dubbed as a "dragon" in King Caesar's wake up song?

No way. That's reeaally reaching.

I'm not sure what you mean by "reaching"?