| Sometimes, a series reaches
a stature where even the "lesser" films
can't hurt it due to the other strong entries
over the years. Godzilla vs. Megalon is
not of the those "lesser" films. Love
it or hate it, one can't deny the amount of harm
Godzilla vs. Megalon has and will continue
to do to the franchise. The dubious claim could
be made that had it not been for Godzilla vs.
Megalon Godzilla might never have picked up
in the states, as this was the film which started
America's pop culture fascination with the monster.
Truth be known, the success of Godzilla vs.
Megalon was more due to the advertising, including
the elaborate posters of Godzilla and Megalon
fighting on the World Trade Center, than the film's
merits, and had just about any other entry been
placed in a similar situation the ending result
would most likely have been the same. Its place
in pop culture aside, Godzilla vs. Megalon
takes the largest heat for simply failing to do
anything right: the story is unfitting for a full
length feature, the actors have nothing to portray
with their undeveloped characters, the new kaiju
seem out of place for a Godzilla film, there is
little special effects work involved, and the
music is simply horrendous.
Perhaps a sign of things to come
with Godzilla's appearance in the Zone
Fighter TV series, but Godzilla vs.
Megalon features a story more appropriate
for a half hour episode slot than a full blown
movie. In short, the story is as follows: Monster
Island is nearly destroyed, while an inventor
named Goro is attacked and the controls to his
invention (Jet Jaguar) are taken over by an undersea
race called the Seatopians, who seek revenge for
the devastation their society has received from
humanity's underwater nuclear tests. The undersea
civilization begins to use Jet Jaguar to complete
their own objectives, using it to guide the race's
"savior," Megalon, on a path of destruction
throughout Japan. However, their efforts are met
with a setback when Goro retakes control of his
invention using a voice activated back up controller.
Goro then sends Jet Jaguar to bring Godzilla while
the Seatopian's call for assistance from Space
Hunter Nebula M, requesting the use of the monster
Gigan. Jet Jaguar completes his mission, and grows
to a giant size himself as he joins the fray in
a four way battle between himself, Megalon, Gigan
and Godzilla.
Condense the story a little, and
one would have themselves a decent plot for a
Zone
Fighter episode. Unfortunately, that isn't
the case, and the lack of focus from the story
is made all the more apparent during its hour
plus running time. Why is their no closure on
the Seatopian's attack? Is the audience made to
believe that they won't try a similar attack in
the future, or even made to understand their current
blight and desperation in sending Megalon? Look
no further than Atragon
(1963) to see this aspect played out much more
effectively. Granted, the submerged race in that
film was destroyed in the climax, but the Empresses
swimming off to join her dying race certainly
gave the audience more of a feeling behind their
ethics as whole. A stark contrast compared to
the generic "rent an attacking race"
feeling one gets with the Seatopians.
The simplicity of the story aside,
the actors showcased here certainly do nothing
to liven up the material. The lead actor, Katsuhiko
Sasaki playing Goro, gives his performance by
the numbers here. Although this pretty much could
be said of any of his roles, as it's no surprise
the actor never really caught on with Japanese
audiences. As for the rest of the cast, and I
say this with the utmost sincerity, they aren't
even worth mentioning. Yutaka Hayashi as the other
lead, if that's what he could be called, is hardly
given anything to do, and makes no commendable
effort with what the little he did have to work
with either. Most of the focus is placed here
on child star Hiroyuki Kawase, whose performance
is far less appealing when compared directly with
his role in Godzilla
vs. Hedorah (1971), as he plays the part
with a slight cockiness to his delivery.
As expected from the harsh reflection
of the acting in the film, the character development
itself is obviously poor, and actually gives the
cast here a slight level of flack as they really
had nothing to work with in the first place. The
inadequacies of the character development in this
film can be easily summed up by what we learn
of the characters during the course of the film.
To run this off, the audience learns that the
lead is an inventor, has a friend named Hiroshi
who visits on a frequent basis, and is in the
"company" of his little brother, Rokuro.
I use the vague term "company" here
as their relationship isn't even touched on in
the film. Does Rokuro live with Goro? Is Rokuro
just visiting? Did their parents pass on? None
of this is explored in the least as, god forbid,
it might allow the audience to actually have grown
attached to them. The characters are filled with
lost opportunities to explore their motives here,
and the film seems to be banking more on the appeal
of the child star than anything else.
Looking past the poorly developed
human element of the movie, one doesn't see much
hope in respects to the new kaiju used this time
around either. The new title monster, Megalon,
feels like he would be more at home in a "Sentai"
based show than a Godzilla film. Megalon's drill
hands, and obvious humanoid shape for a bug creature,
make the kaiju far too over the top to be credible,
although one must admit that the production value
on the suits itself is much better than what the
airwaves were reduced to at the time. Despite
all the problems with the Megalon design, he seems
right at home in a Godzilla film when compared
to the design for the film's other new kaiju:
Jet Jaguar. The giant robot, spawned from a "create-a-character"
contest Toho held for the film, is the most infamous
thing to ever emerge from the Godzilla series.
As the name would suggest, the appearance itself
is enough to raise eyebrows. Featuring a gray,
red, blue and yellow color scheme, Jet Jaguar's
"mouth" is in the shape of an eerie
grin, while his arms look to be a combination
of several rings joined together. One just has
to smile every time he tries to karate chop either
Megalon or Gigan, although this probably won't
be much of an issue by the movie's end when Godzilla
does his infamous "lunge kick" against
Megalon.
In terms of special effects, everything
done wrong in Godzilla
vs. Gigan (1972) is repeated here, and
then some. The stock footage is even worse this
time around as this film manages to lift many
of the same scenes its predecessor did just a
year before. What little new special effect work
that is present is none to memorable, save for
the impressive scene where Megalon breaks through
the dam; consequently, giving one the impression
that they blew nearly their entire allotted budget
to achieve it. The movie conveniently takes place
in the country side, and when Megalon does make
it to a populated city, the audience is greeted
with a aerial shot of Megalon firing his beam
at the city below which is then complemented by
stock footage of King Ghidorah's gravity beams
hitting the actual cityscape. To finish the scene
off, Megalon does land in the city, but one never
actually sees Megalon inside the metropolitan
area. Instead, stock footage shots of Gigan's
lower torso attacking the city from the previous
film is played, which makes this easily the worst
use of stock footage in a Toho film to date.
Despite the lack of effort shown
on the special effects, one might at least take
some reassurance in knowing that, unlike Godzilla
vs. Gigan (1972), Godzilla vs. Megalon
does feature an all new score. However, such assurances
will quickly be dashed as people will likely be
wishing for a soundtrack comprised of stock Akira
Ifukube music upon learning that Riichiro
Manabe, the same individual who can take blame
for the atrocious Godzilla
vs. Hedorah (1971) score, was in
charge of composing for this film. While Manabe
does a more competent job this time around, it's
still none to pleasant to listen to. As before,
Manabe does manage a few worth while themes. In
the case of Godzilla vs. Megalon, the best
would be the unlikely choice of the eerie Self
Defense Force march, which, to be honest, sounds
totally out of place as the SDF is mobilizing
a defense and people are evacuating; in fact,
it probably would have been better suited to being
coupled with an invading force preparing their
troops, but is still an interesting piece of contemporary
1970's music.
In conclusion, Godzilla vs.
Megalon is a film which will tarnish the Godzilla
franchise for years to come. No matter how far
the series manages to go, it seems likely that
the general US populace will still associate Godzilla
with this film.
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(1/5)