Toho Kingdom

I can’t help but find GvMG vastly more entertaining

While TOMG has the better soundtrack and mood and tone though

I’m conflicted

Honestly...after the funky over the top fun of Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla...
Terror Of MechaGodzilla is a bit of a downer. Its TOO serious compared
to the 4 films before it.

Its the 70's...lets have some campy fun!

I really want to love ToMG, but its main problem is that it never escapes the shadow of its predecessor. It’s a fundamentally flawed film in that it fails to adjust certain elements to match its more depressing tone. Everything is shrouded in this cloud of bleakness that really nullifies the enjoyability of the ridiculous kaiju fights and hammy acting.

Ideally, this film would’ve been written by Honda and directed by Fokuda. Katsura’s subplot wasn’t what made the tone so miserable. It was the presentation of the whole thing.

All that aside, the kaiju fights are just redundant and sometimes outright inferior to vsMG. All in all I can’t find a reason to go back to this one.

I saw this one before it's predecessor, this is the film that started it all for me. Being a Godzilla fan and a growing lover of filmmaking. I think it's human drama is far better than the film before it.

I don't care what the first GvMG did, this is absolutely a sequel but it was better to give it it's own feel. All thanks to Honda and student writer Yukiko Takayama.

MechaGoji Bro7503 wrote:I don't care what the first GvMG did, this is absolutely a sequel but it was better to give it it's own feel. All thanks to Honda and student writer Yukiko Takayama.

Yeah, I feel like often times the best way to make a sequel is to take a radically different approach than the prior film. You avoid the trap of just re-hashing the earlier entry, and when it works well both movies are stronger when viewed as complementary halves of a pair. A few examples, off the top of my head, would be Frankenstein/The Bride of Frankenstein (the dark humor of the sequel in contrast to the more straightforward melodrama of the original), Star Wars/The Empire Strikes Back (the more mannered performances, straightforward storytelling and montage-driven rhythm of the first versus the naturalistic performances, sometimes elliptical storytelling and longer takes of the second), Friday the 13th/Friday the 13th Part II (the almost vérité sensibility of the original juxtaposed with the formalist approach of sequel), and Alien/Aliens (kind of a disingenuous inclusion, since I think the original is perfect and doesn't have any room to benefit from the sequel, but for most they seem to function as a perfect complementary pair).

eabaker wrote:

MechaGoji Bro7503 wrote:I don't care what the first GvMG did, this is absolutely a sequel but it was better to give it it's own feel. All thanks to Honda and student writer Yukiko Takayama.

Yeah, I feel like often times the best way to make a sequel is to take a radically different approach than the prior film. You avoid the trap of just re-hashing the earlier entry, and when it works well both movies are stronger when viewed as complementary halves of a pair. A few examples, off the top of my head, would be Frankenstein/The Bride of Frankenstein (the dark humor of the sequel in contrast to the more straightforward melodrama of the original), Star Wars/The Empire Strikes Back (the more mannered performances, straightforward storytelling and montage-driven rhythm of the first versus the naturalistic performances, sometimes elliptical storytelling and longer takes of the second), Friday the 13th/Friday the 13th Part II (the almost vérité sensibility of the original juxtaposed with the formalist approach of sequel), and Alien/Aliens (kind of a disingenuous inclusion, since I think the original is perfect and doesn't have any room to benefit from the sequel, but for most they seem to function as a perfect complementary pair).

Well put! I wish more films would do that nowadays, be it a sequel part of a trilogy or just the next chapter.
One of the reasons the Godzilla franchise is beloved by me is how diverse things are in the same story. (Same story as in a continuation, not directly picking up the narrative) I'm mostly refering to the Showa G series, it makes them much more layered.

MechaGoji Bro7503 wrote:

eabaker wrote:

MechaGoji Bro7503 wrote:I don't care what the first GvMG did, this is absolutely a sequel but it was better to give it it's own feel. All thanks to Honda and student writer Yukiko Takayama.

Yeah, I feel like often times the best way to make a sequel is to take a radically different approach than the prior film. You avoid the trap of just re-hashing the earlier entry, and when it works well both movies are stronger when viewed as complementary halves of a pair. A few examples, off the top of my head, would be Frankenstein/The Bride of Frankenstein (the dark humor of the sequel in contrast to the more straightforward melodrama of the original), Star Wars/The Empire Strikes Back (the more mannered performances, straightforward storytelling and montage-driven rhythm of the first versus the naturalistic performances, sometimes elliptical storytelling and longer takes of the second), Friday the 13th/Friday the 13th Part II (the almost vérité sensibility of the original juxtaposed with the formalist approach of sequel), and Alien/Aliens (kind of a disingenuous inclusion, since I think the original is perfect and doesn't have any room to benefit from the sequel, but for most they seem to function as a perfect complementary pair).

Well put! I wish more films would do that nowadays, be it a sequel part of a trilogy or just the next chapter.
One of the reasons the Godzilla franchise is beloved by me is how diverse things are in the same story. (Same story as in a continuation, not directly picking up the narrative) I'm mostly refering to the Showa G series, it makes them much more layered.

That's why the other eras of the Godzilla franchise mostly pale in comparison to the Showa series, in my opinion. The Showa series was always shifting tone and blending genres. It felt like they were constantly experimenting. After that, the rest of the films usually (but not always) ended up having the same tone as each other. Look at the Heisei series from Godzilla vs. Mothra to Godzilla vs. Destroyah. They all kind of feel like the same film. The same thing happened again with Godzilla vs. Megaguirus and the Kiryu Saga. I'm not saying that any of those movies are necessarily bad because of that, but that they all lack their own identity. Luckily we seem to be out of that point in the franchise at the moment, due to the amount of different studios and creative minds that have been involved with the franchise in recent years, but I'm worried that once Toho starts up their World of Godzilla thing we'll be right back at that point again.

I see fans comparing the two Showa Mechagodzilla movies a lot, and I suppose that's inevitable, but I don't know, I appreciate both. I prefer vs. Mechagodzilla because of the breakneck pace but I think Terror is the more well-crafted film. They're both favorites.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla was among the first Godzilla movies I ever saw. I didn't own the version pictured below but I saw that artwork in every video store I'd visit. I remember poking around Sam Goody with my dad one weekend looking for more Godzilla movies and I almost dismissed the later Paramount version of Terror because it looked so similar. We eventually checked it out anyway and he bought it for me when I realized it was a different movie.

Terasawa wrote:

That particular Paramount box art is wildly inaccurate, but I love it anyway. Nostalgia hits me like a brick when I see those Paramount covers.

Dr. Professor wrote:

Terasawa wrote:

That particular Paramount box art is wildly inaccurate, but I love it anyway. Nostalgia hits me like a brick when I see those Paramount covers.

Amazing how it's literally a poster for the previous movie. Movie promotion, especially of foreign films, was just such a wild west back then. You just can't get away with that shit any more.

MechaGoji Bro7503 wrote:I think it's human drama is far better than the film before it.

I just don't think the 70's films were the best place for "serious" human drama.

The 70's films were loud, colorful, crazy & campy...and that's why I love them...
but Terror of MechaGodzilla is too serious for its own good.

Not to mention there are some serious lapses in the effects work & editing...
and yes I'm talking about the proper uncut Japanese version.

I know some Godzilla fans hate & despise the campy elements of the franchise...
but I truly find those campy elements fun & creative...and Terror of MechaGodzilla
is trying too hard to be serious.

Honestly...Terror of MechaGodzilla feels more like a sequel to Monster Zero than
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla...at least in tone & themes...and for me that doesn't
work.

Be serious or be campy...don't try to do both because then your audience won't
know what to feel.

Grievous wrote:Be serious or be campy...don't try to do both because then your audience won't
know what to feel.

I like movies that invite the audience to feel multiple - even contradictory - things.

But, then, as I've made it clear on this board over the years, I tend to think that (a.) audiences, like rules, were made to be broken and that (b.) juxtaposition is one of an artist's most powerful weapons.

Dr. Professor wrote: That particular Paramount box art is wildly inaccurate, but I love it anyway. Nostalgia hits me like a brick when I see those Paramount covers.

I mean, hell, the Gargantuas one is my avatar here and I've used others as avatars on other forums. I love those crazy things too.

Some of the original paintings were up for sale on eBay a few years ago and I only wish I'd had enough money to justify buying a few of them.

Terasawa wrote:

Dr. Professor wrote: That particular Paramount box art is wildly inaccurate, but I love it anyway. Nostalgia hits me like a brick when I see those Paramount covers.

I mean, hell, the Gargantuas one is my avatar here and I've used others as avatars on other forums. I love those crazy things too.

Some of the original paintings were up for sale on eBay a few years ago and I only wish I'd had enough money to justify buying a few of them.

Damn, I'd love to own one of those.

I was watching the movie last night and I notice in the restaurant scene when Akria tells Katsura that super sonic waves affects TitanSaurus the music was the same in the trailer of the one that's coming this May... watch the film if you notice like me!

Grievous wrote: Be serious or be campy...don't try to do both because then your audience won't
know what to feel.

I don't know. I don't feel too much camp with this one. The tone has always felt dark and creepy. Mechagodzilla II literally levels city blocks. The music is slower and even eerie at times. I've never felt too conflicted with this one. Definitely one of my Top 10.

Freebleeper wrote:I was watching the movie last night and I notice in the restaurant scene when Akria tells Katsura that super sonic waves affects TitanSaurus the music was the same in the trailer of the one that's coming this May... watch the film if you notice like me!

Y'all act like you're such geniuses when noticing that while Ultraman Ace episode 28 keeps slipping under everyone's radar.
https://youtu.be/OuleU2-Af5A?t=17

Maritonic wrote:I don't know. I don't feel too much camp with this one. The tone has always felt dark and creepy. Mechagodzilla II literally levels city blocks. The music is slower and even eerie at times. I've never felt too conflicted with this one. Definitely one of my Top 10.

That's fair...

I just think the 70's elements (campy kaiju fights & silly costumes)
clash with the dark & creepy tone.

Grievous wrote:

Maritonic wrote:I don't know. I don't feel too much camp with this one. The tone has always felt dark and creepy. Mechagodzilla II literally levels city blocks. The music is slower and even eerie at times. I've never felt too conflicted with this one. Definitely one of my Top 10.

That's fair...

I just think the 70's elements (campy kaiju fights & silly costumes)
clash with the dark & creepy tone.

I don't see how the fights in Terror are campy, and the costumes are the same as the are for every other film. So.

Maritonic wrote:

Grievous wrote:

Maritonic wrote:I don't know. I don't feel too much camp with this one. The tone has always felt dark and creepy. Mechagodzilla II literally levels city blocks. The music is slower and even eerie at times. I've never felt too conflicted with this one. Definitely one of my Top 10.

That's fair...

I just think the 70's elements (campy kaiju fights & silly costumes)
clash with the dark & creepy tone.

I don't see how the fights in Terror are campy, and the costumes are the same as the are for every other film. So.

The scene where Titanosaurus bites Godzilla's jaw and uppercuts him repeatedly, I assume.