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

[Arrow]

Godzilla vs. Megalon



Screw Godzilla (1954), Mothra vs. Godzilla, and GMK. This is the greatest Godzilla film EVER!

Use this thread to discuss 13th Godzilla film.

[Hedorah]

This one is a weird one for me, it's one of my favorites, yet I also hate it. It's just so quirky and fun to watch. Megalon is a insane. Jet Jaguar is a foam robot with a creepy smile. The MST3K episode with this is hilarious "Wouldn't it be funny if the earthquake destroyed your robot?" "Yeah wouldn't it be funny if the earthquake killed your family?" Oh and GOdzillas flying kick for the WIN!

[HayesAJones]

This movie is pure, mindless entertainment. Megalon is cool and Jet Jaguar is a lot of fun. Godzilla's flying kick alone is enough reason to watch this film.

[Hedorah]

Had to post this

[g2kmaster]

I thought this was a fun film... till I lost my recording of the Sci-Fi Channel print which was in widescreen and was the international print. Having now watched the film for the past 4 years via 2 bad VHS tapes and such, only the kaiju scenes interest me. Everything else is just... meh. Kaiju yay. Humans nay. And Megalon is one awesome creation. Too bad he was wasted with this film. Should have just added him to Godzilla vs. Gigan.

Though I cannot say to many bat things about this film. This film helped establish the "super hero" Godzilla image, the one which Marvel saw for their comics and what cemented Godzilla'sm pop culture status.

[ZigraDude]

It's a really dumb movie, but a lot of fun. Megalon is a great addition to the Godzilla franchise and it's hilarious when he starts to whine or when things don't follow as planned. Jet Jaguar is awesome as well. Plus, the flying kick scene and Jet Jaguar's song are just made of epic win. All in all, a very fun movie and IMO out of all the Godzilla movies (WIih perhaps the exception of Godzilla vs. Gigan), it's the best example of being so-bad-it's-good. I have more fun with this film than with most of the Heisei and Millennium films.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

Yeah, the story and characters really suck in this one. But honestly, if you're watching Godzilla vs. Megalon for the story or the characters, there's something wrong with you. Most people watch movies like this for the action. And boy, does the action in this one kick ass. The monster fights, the military attacks, even the car chase sequences are all awesome.

So, this is a very entertaining Godzilla film and one of the more underrated ones.

[ThunderScore]

Seems like it gets a lot of negative reviews, but I like it more than most of the later entries...

[Arrow]

but I like it more than most of the later entries...

Same. Godzilla vs. Megalon may not be a masterpiece, but at least it doesn't bore the hell outta me *glares at the '90s movies*.

[ThunderScore]

...and I know there's plenty of stock footage in MEGALON, but not as much as in, say... GODZILLA VS GIGAN, which I'd still enjoy more than "the later entries"...

[godzilla1996]

Watch for the fight scenes. Anything with a monster in this movie, watch it. However, I don't understand why it goes from night to day. I always thought that it was because Toho wanted to show us how long the fight is. Megalon is pretty cool. He is a hard to find toy though. I don't know what to say about Jet Jaguar. He's no that cool, but the concept is nice. I also really like this Godzilla suit.

[Arrow]

Watch for the fight scenes. Anything with a monster in this movie, watch it. However, I don't understand why it goes from night to day.

Stock footage and poor editing, probably.

[JVM]

I can't make up my mind whether this is overrated or underrated.

I mean, I consider it the worst Godzilla film aside GR and G98, but I love it to death, if mostly because GoodTimes left me a nice package of nostalgia.

[Arrow]

I can't make up my mind whether this is overrated or underrated.

I don't think it's either. Most anyone who loves it admits that it's not a good movie. Yet, I see Godzilla vs. Megalon receive a lot of praise within the fanbase. It's easy to see why - a lot of people saw it as kids, it still manages to be entertaining, and it features some nice action scenes. On the other hand, whenever someone wants to justify GINO of GFW by knocking down another Godzilla movie, their first target is usually this one. And more than anything else, it's Godzilla vs. Megalon that's accused of "ruining Godzilla". So it goes both ways.

[Ethan]

Oh I love it. It's such a fanstastic guilty pleasure. Richiiro Manabe's music is awesome, and the Jet Jaguar song is so freaking addictive...

The sun came up. They were fighting clear through the night. Honestly though, Godzilla vs Mothra and Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla are much worse with this. It goes from night time to daylight in a single shot in both films.

Which Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla? I don't recall that happening in Godzilla vs. Mothra except when Battra dies. I didn't find all that abrupt though. The biggest offender is Godzilla vs. Gigan with that crude blue tint they added.

[DaikaijuSokogeki!]

...and I know there's plenty of stock footage in MEGALON, but not as much as in, say... GODZILLA VS GIGAN, which I'd still enjoy more than "the later entries"...

At least Godzilla Vs. Gigan shot new footage for the city destruction scenes...

Anyways, this is a fun film although flawed to the MAX. It has a strange quirky charm to it. It's rarely boring and, much like Gigan, makes sure that the characters don't get in the way of the action. The music is another Manabe score I can't help but dig, and the theme song sung by Masato Shimon is downright legendary. The suits look strange yet inventive, although I don't like the new squished face look Gigan touts. The villains are bland, the stock footage usage lazy, and the acting desirable. But it's a short children's movie that doesn't enforce a half-assed moral onto the audience. There is SOME effort here, but it was the toughest times Toho had ever seen. It was the best they could do with the budget they were given.

So overall, it's a mindless and entertaining kaiju flick that means no harm.

[Goji]

...and I know there's plenty of stock footage in MEGALON, but not as much as in, say... GODZILLA VS GIGAN, which I'd still enjoy more than "the later entries"...

At least Godzilla Vs. Gigan shot new footage for the city destruction scenes...

Yeah, BARELY. Most of the stuff is still stock footage, with a few new (brief) shots of Gigan f'kin stuff up. I don't count the oil refinery as "city destruction". There are also a few shots from THE LAST WAR, which came out 11 years prior...

I love this damn movie. A guilty pleasure all the way. Great monsters, lots of action, and an awesome funky (and unorthodox) soundtrack. Yes, the movie is clearly awful, but it's also extremely entertaining, definitely more so than most of the stuff we got in the 90's-on.

[HedorahLives]

I'll be the voice of dissent. I like ALL of the 90s movies better than this one. =)

Godzilla vs Megalon has two things going for it, IMO. First, the nuclear testing pissing off the Seatopians kinda brings the series back to its anti-nuclear roots, with emphasis on kinda. Two, this is the only cinematic appearence of Megalon, who truly looks like a guy in a suit far more than a cockroach, but he's still a cool dude nonetheless. I like his battles with the military and the dam scene was fun times.

Anyway, if any Godzilla film was practically tailor made for MST, it's this one. One can only marvel at its dumbness. All the lame elements are here---stupid villains, illogical inventions, annoying kids, loads of stock fottage, cheesy 70s fashion, tedious plotting, bad James Bond-esque chase scenes, a final fight that more resembles a professional wrestling exhibition than a real life or death struggle (at least Godzilla vs Gigan had that going for it), and, to top it off, the most cutesy looking Godzilla ever committed to cinema.

Oh and Jet Jaguar. I shake my head is exasperated shame whenever he's on screen. I probably like him better than King Seezar, but that's not saying much.

So yeah, a terrible movie, but when you're in the mood to make fun of something mercilessly, there's few better, I suppose.

[Guardian7]

I have to admit. GODZILLAvMEGALON is a guilty pleasure of mine.

IT certainly isn't perfect. But frankly speaking so few of them are. Though we still find them entertaining!

MAJOR BAD POINT FOR ME? No female lead (which is really a cryin shame). I personally wouldn't have minded seeing Kumi Mizuno (Who played Daiyo in GvE/EhotD) get another part in a G-Film.

Not enough background on Goro Ibuki (Katsuhiko Sasaki) Jet Jaguar's inventor, Hiroshi Jinkawa (Yutaka Hayashi) Goro's buddy and nothing mentioning what the relationship between Goro and Rokuro Ibuki (Hiroyuki Kawase) is. At least in MOTHRA they took the time to establish the relationship between ethnologist and linguist Professor Shinichi Chujo (Hiroshi Koizumi) and his younger brother Shinji Chujo (young actor: Akihiro Tayama). The relationship between Goro and Rokuro is left open. Which makes me assume that it is his possibly a younger brother or nephew.

It definitely has that 70ish camp JBond thing going on. The car chases are actually kind of fun (to me). I wonder what he was going to do if he had caught them? Was he armed? or just a butt kicker like Tomoko Tomoe-artist Gengo's girlfriend (Yuriko Hishimi) from GODZILLAvGIGAN?

A lack of the Military and the lead characters interacting.

A lack of a Military leader taking the forefront (Other than stock footage).

Not enough of the actual Seatopians and too much of their agents (Same problem I have with GtTHM and Princess Mas Selina Salno of Sergina (Akiko Wakabayashi) and her country's lack of screen time).

BUT... I do like Megalon. I thought the suit design was awesome, if not a bit on the Giganish side.
Megalon is definitely a powerhouse and has an impressive array of attacks and defensive skills, including flight. Though it was never shown. One could likely assume that Megalon would have been at home in the water as well (As it seems most Kaiju are - including Toho Kong). Plus... with his masters having a name like Seatopians... well come on.

Gigan of course is a welcome edition to this film. It would be his second to last appearance (see my Zone Fighter Spoiler for the whole story - viewtopic.php?f=4&t=622).
I like Gigan. He is crafty, likes to fight and is a bit on the posturing side! (But then again... everyone was in this film).
I still would have liked to have known exactly what he was. Where his species came from (Though I feel the same way about Ghidorah).

Jet Jaguar. Well I love him. I always have since I watched this particular movie when it was televised in the 70s.
Though JJ may come on the heels of such great characters as Ultraman and Inframan. I wasn't really much aware of them at that time. SO... for me he was the first. Yeah I know how it works now. But it doesn't change my opinion about him. I thought his abilities were cool. I think he has a kick ass look as well. GREAT COLOR SCHEME!
THOUGH... as with many people I wouldn't have minded knowing a bit more of the "WHY's & How's" where JJ was concerned. How did Goro build such a hugely intelligent... virtually sentient AI program?
How did he alter himself? (Where did all that extra mass come from?)
How did he reprogram himself?
Questions that were never answered... and to be honest Goro himself seemed rather perplexed about the whole thing. Especially JJ's independence.

Godzilla is of course in heroic mode in this film to a HUGE degree. But I don't mind that. I love it when he does the same thing in Zone Fighter and continued to do it in GODZILLAvMECHAGODZILLA and TERRO OF MECHAGODZILLA.

I can tell you... the Japanese version of this film is not much different than the American one. I am not even sure if I saw many differences. I will have to look again.

The movie was simplistic and lacked a lot on many levels. But it is still a good film in my eyes. Plus it has that nostalgic hold over from my childhood.

I guess as movies go it really isn't anything to write home about. Still. It is a Godzilla film nevertheless so that is good enough for me!

G7

[Shadowplay]

I am honestly surprised that it has not been released in the US yet. From what I remember from Godzilla on My Mind and various other sources, due to an aggressive marketing campaign, this was the movie that shaped the American public's perception of Godzilla and kaiju films in general. Which makes sense, really, given that this takes the camp and cheese found in most kaiju films and takes it up to absurd levels, so of course this is the movie that gets stuck in the public's collective memory.