Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by Godzillian »

kamilleblu wrote:
PitchBlackProgress wrote:The final shot consists of Fake Godzilla, safely swimming out to sea, revealing that Mechagodzilla had survived and was choosing to live out the rest of its unnatural life in peace.

Truly a beautiful end to a beautiful series.
what did Honda mean by this?
That the franchise is ending as a hollow shell of its former self, hence why the Fake Godzilla suit was used :lol:
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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by The One and Only »

Cool fan art poster by a bloke who goes by the handle, Art-Tool.
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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by Ivo-goji »

What are the Xiliens doing there?
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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by KaijuCanuck »

Ivo-goji wrote:What are the Xiliens doing there?
It's got their saucers as well.

Maybe this is more of a fan re-imagining of the film as well as simply a cool fan poster? I mean for one thing Godzilla is obviously quite different from his design in the film. Still, awesome poster.
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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by Terasawa »

Also the title and credits are for SpaceGodzilla. Pretty lazy if you ask me.
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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by The One and Only »

Ivo-goji wrote:What are the Xiliens doing there?
Remember, they were featured instead of Simeons in Terror's prologue. Also they were also controlling Mechagodzilla in the NES GODZILLA:Monster of Monsters game.
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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by KaijuCanuck »

There’s really something great about this film. Even though there’s not much narratively that wraps up the Showa era (and in my view DAM does that perfectly anyway), if you watch the showa series in order there’s a kind of ‘return to form’ here, with the character action, Honda’s direction and Ifukube’s score that brings things full circle and wraps the showa era up in a nice bow for me.

At the risk of being a little pretentious, compare the showa series with the Beatles discography. You’ve got the early albums, which are kind of straight up pop-rock, which then lead into the really psychedelic, experimental stuff. But then finally at the very end you have the album Let it Be, which eschewed much of the fancy production techniques of the experimental stuff and brought the band back to its roots of less complicated rock that a four-piece band might actually play on a stage.

Terror of Mechagodzilla is the Let it Be of Godzilla movies. There I said it.
Last edited by KaijuCanuck on Sun Oct 21, 2018 9:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

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KaijuCanuck wrote:There’s really something great about this film. Even though there’s not much narratively that wraps up the Showa era (and in my view DAM does that perfectly anyway), if you watch the showa series in order there’s a kind of ‘return to form’ here, with the character action, Honda’s direction and Ifukube’s score that brings things full circle and wraps the showa era up in a nice bow for me.

At the risk of being a little pretentious, compare the showa series with the Beatles discography. You’ve got the early albums, which are kind of straight up pop-rock, which then lead into the really psychedelic, experimental stuff. But then finally at the very end you have the album Let it Be, which eschewed much of the fancy production techniques of the experimental stuff and brought the band back to its roots of less complicated rock that a four-piece band might actually play on a stage.

Terror of Mechagodzilla is the Let it Be of Godzilla movies. There I said it.
You said it, and I love you for it, because it feels astonishingly right.

But, boy, Let it Be and Terror of Mechagodzilla are both really downbeat endings...
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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by KaijuCanuck »

eabaker wrote:
KaijuCanuck wrote:There’s really something great about this film. Even though there’s not much narratively that wraps up the Showa era (and in my view DAM does that perfectly anyway), if you watch the showa series in order there’s a kind of ‘return to form’ here, with the character action, Honda’s direction and Ifukube’s score that brings things full circle and wraps the showa era up in a nice bow for me.

At the risk of being a little pretentious, compare the showa series with the Beatles discography. You’ve got the early albums, which are kind of straight up pop-rock, which then lead into the really psychedelic, experimental stuff. But then finally at the very end you have the album Let it Be, which eschewed much of the fancy production techniques of the experimental stuff and brought the band back to its roots of less complicated rock that a four-piece band might actually play on a stage.

Terror of Mechagodzilla is the Let it Be of Godzilla movies. There I said it.
You said it, and I love you for it, because it feels astonishingly right.

But, boy, Let it Be and Terror of Mechagodzilla are both really downbeat endings...

:lol: someone had to say it!

Downbeat how, in your opinion?
Last edited by KaijuCanuck on Mon Oct 22, 2018 4:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

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KaijuCanuck wrote:
eabaker wrote:
KaijuCanuck wrote:There’s really something great about this film. Even though there’s not much narratively that wraps up the Showa era (and in my view DAM does that perfectly anyway), if you watch the showa series in order there’s a kind of ‘return to form’ here, with the character action, Honda’s direction and Ifukube’s score that brings things full circle and wraps the showa era up in a nice bow for me.

At the risk of being a little pretentious, compare the showa series with the Beatles discography. You’ve got the early albums, which are kind of straight up pop-rock, which then lead into the really psychedelic, experimental stuff. But then finally at the very end you have the album Let it Be, which eschewed much of the fancy production techniques of the experimental stuff and brought the band back to its roots of less complicated rock that a four-piece band might actually play on a stage.

Terror of Mechagodzilla is the Let it Be of Godzilla movies. There I said it.
You said it, and I love you for it, because it feels astonishingly right.

But, boy, Let it Be and Terror of Mechagodzilla are both really downbeat endings...

:lol: someone had to say it!

Downbeat how, in your opinion?
Both just have kind of mournful tones. In the case of Let It Be, some of that impression probably comes from the movie rather than the album.
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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by KaijuCanuck »

eabaker wrote:
KaijuCanuck wrote:
eabaker wrote:
You said it, and I love you for it, because it feels astonishingly right.

But, boy, Let it Be and Terror of Mechagodzilla are both really downbeat endings...

:lol: someone had to say it!

Downbeat how, in your opinion?
Both just have kind of mournful tones. In the case of Let It Be, some of that impression probably comes from the movie rather than the album.
Yeah, I got you. The human story in ToMG has a pretty tragic ending for everyone involved - Ichinose loses his love, Katsura and Dr. Mafune both die, and the Simeon's civilization is pretty much doomed I suppose. Titanosaurus also appears to just get straight up executed (although I know this is up to some debate among fans), and even Godzilla's departure has a touch of melancholy.

And yeah Let it Be... while I haven't seen the movie, I'm aware of the band history and it totally does colour that album, regardless of the songs, with a tinge of sadness. Just knowing that at the time this was being put together, arguably the most important band in history was breaking up.
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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by edgaguirus »

That is a well done poster. It makes Titanosaurus look quite fearsome.
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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by 123go »

Say what you will about Titanosaurus, but he had some pecs. Very large pecs. Wonder what he benched?

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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

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https://youtu.be/4tTPiQviZeg

Clair de Lune was played in the cafe scene! This makes the KOTM trailer even more epic!
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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by LegendZilla »

Godzillian wrote:
kamilleblu wrote:
PitchBlackProgress wrote:The final shot consists of Fake Godzilla, safely swimming out to sea, revealing that Mechagodzilla had survived and was choosing to live out the rest of its unnatural life in peace.

Truly a beautiful end to a beautiful series.
what did Honda mean by this?
That the franchise is ending as a hollow shell of its former self, hence why the Fake Godzilla suit was used :lol:
Quit trying to ruin the mood.

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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by Grievous »

For me...its the choppy editing & rough effects work that hold this one back.

Its a shame because it has some great elements & being a direct sequel does
help it...but I do prefer the other Godzilla films from the 70's
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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by Rhedosaurus »

I actually saw this movie when I was just beginning to be a Godzilla fan. It was one the first. I liked it and I still do. But for some reason, I consider it to be...off. Like that the Showa series should have ended with Mechagodzilla's first movie. I guess the bittersweet ending that I remember the movie having just rubs me the wrong way a bit.

Again, it's a good movie, but for me, it was the wrong one to end the Showa series.

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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by eabaker »

Rhedosaurus wrote:I actually saw this movie when I was just beginning to be a Godzilla fan. It was one the first. I liked it and I still do. But for some reason, I consider it to be...off. Like that the Showa series should have ended with Mechagodzilla's first movie. I guess the bittersweet ending that I remember the movie having just rubs me the wrong way a bit.

Again, it's a good movie, but for me, it was the wrong one to end the Showa series.
It is definitely a huge tonal shift, but for me that's part of what makes it an ideal ending for a series so all-over-the-map. The fact that said shift was to a particularly elegiac tone is what really ties it together.

But I'm one of those rare fans who's pretty lukewarm on the first MG flick.
Last edited by eabaker on Thu Nov 29, 2018 3:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by Rhedosaurus »

eabaker wrote:But I'm one of those rare fans who's pretty lukewarm on the first MG flick.
It's interesting, because I also have a slightly odd history with the first MG dualogy myself in that I saw this one first before G vs MG. I really liked Terror of MG, and still do. But G vs MG just amazed me.

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Re: Talkback: Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Post by UltramanGoji »

Gave this one a chance tonight because I've always thought it wasn't as good as many made it out to be.

Well...I was wrong. This is probably my new favorite of the 70s films. Very well done film and one I'm ashamed I brushed off so many years ago.

The characters are the best part. Mafune and Katsura each go through a tragic arc where they're unsure of their alliance with the Black Hole Aliens (just gonna call them "Simeons" now for convenience's sake) and they both become nothing but pawns for them which ultimately ends with their deaths. Ichinose and Murakoshi are also fun to watch, though not quite as complex as Mafune and Katsura. There's also little bit parts scattered throughout such as when Ichinose and Murakoshi ask a pair of locals about Mafune and the pipe worker who was given the space titanium by the Simeon escapee. This gives the film a very distinct "Honda" feel to it, like these are characters you would see in some of the early 60's films like Mothra vs. Godzilla or Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster. I also like how there's little character-driven dialogue snippets that really flesh them out as characters. Murakoshi and Ichinose's happy reactions to seeing each other again at the meeting and Mugal proclaiming how Earth travel tires him out were two that stood out to me.

The cinematography and shot composition are great. There's lots of shots focusing on eyes and the intial reveal of Mechagodzilla 2 starting outside the viewport and then slowly pulling back until we're inside the Simeon base was a real treat. The opening sequence with Titanosaurus attacking the first research vessel was also well-shot.

Music is fantastic. Mechagodzilla's new theme is honestly the best he's ever had. It's quite interesting that Mechagodzilla films seem to bring out the best of the franchise's composers, Ifukube's works here and in Mechagodzilla '93, Masaru Sato's bombastic themes in the first MechaG film, Michiru Oshima's wonderful orchestrations in the Millenium series, they're all beautiful works each fitting for their films but also nice to listen to on their own.

I remember eabaker mentioning his love for the film's slow pacing and I agree that it works to the film's favor. There's a steady buildup of events and many twists and turns throughout the story that make it really engaging. I think it kind of muddles once the third act comes into play. By that point the film just kind of starts hurrying and wrapping things up quickly. There's not much left to see except Godzilla, Titanosaurus, and Mechagodzilla's battle.

Speaking of, the effects in this film are good but probably not the highlight of Teryuoshi Nakano's career. A lot of the matte shots are pretty sloppy such as Mugal entering Mechagodzilla (he becomes super blobby), Titanosaurus rampaging across Japan, and when Katsura and the Simeon goon are escaping the Interpol agents (they just...pop out of existence). Titanosaurus also has a lot of embarrassing effects shots. There's a quick miniature shot in the opening scene that's very unflattering but also his "jump attack" at the jets during his first rampage looks really awful. There's a lot of scenes where the suits are "floaty" and they don't look good at all.

But overall, this is another 70s film that excels with its characters and delivers satisfactory monster sequences on the side. Definitely moved up in my overall rankings since I last gave it a shot.
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