Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla
From Wikizilla
Godzilla x Mechagodzilla is the fourth entry in the Millenuim Godzilla series and is a sequel to Godzilla (1954 film). It also refrences Kaiju films like Mothra (1961 film). It was released in 2002.
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Movie Plot
When the mutant dinosaur Godzilla attacks Tateyama in the year 1999, the Diet decide to commission a robot constructed from the original Godzilla's bones, with help from Japan's top scientists. Four years later, the cyborg, called Kiryu, is finished and inducted into the Japan Self-Defense Forces along with its human pilots as the Kiryu Squadron. At the same time, Godzilla shows up once again, even though the JSDF seemed to finally defeat him. In the midst of the first battle, Kiryu's soul is awoken by Godzilla's roar, and brings with it the memories of his death years ago. This action makes Kiryu extremely angry and he proceeds to destroy the city around him. Horrified, the Kiryu Squadron can only watch in terror and alarm as the rampaging cyborg destroys more city property than Godzilla did. Kiryu is brought back to headquarters for further work. Meanwhile, Kiryu's main pilot, Lieutenant Akane Yashiro, tries to settle matters involving second lieutenant Susumu Hayama, scientist Tokumitsu Yuhara and his distressed daughter, Sara. Kiryu was put out of commission, until Godzilla once again attacked. The prime minister of Japan realized how dire the situation was, and he sent Kiryu into battle. Missiles and lasers were fired. The two creatures clashed, slowly knocking into each other. Missiles, masers, the wrist blade, and all of Kiryu's lesser weapons were used to contend with Godzilla at a close range. Kiryu sent Godzilla into a centrifugal throw as it began to charge its ultimate weapon: the Absolute Zero Cannon. Unfortunately, Kiryu was downed before it could be used. Its pilot, Akane Yashiro, managed to take manual control of the robot as the machine was recharged. Kiryu was sent back into battle, disabling Godzilla's heat ray and unleashing its Absolute Zero Cannon! Godzilla managed to survive the brutal attack, although gained a massive chest injury, but Kiryu's power supply was exhausted.
Godzilla returned to the sea, as Japan could only watch on in a bittersweet stalemate.
Production
In this continuity, the original Godzilla's skeleton was not vaporized by the Oxygen Destroyer and Gaira (now a bigfoot creature) was destroyed by maser weapons. Kiryu is only referred to as Mechagodzilla three times in the film; for the rest of the film he is referred to as Kiryu. Japanese Baseball star Hideki Matsui has a cameo in the film due to his nickname "Godzilla".
Box Office Performance
Budgeted at roughly $8,500,000, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla opened in Japan on December 13, 2002, and earned $2,253,231 in its opening weekend. It went on to gross approximately $16,000,000 in Japan, making it the second biggest of the Millennium Godzilla films at the box office. It sold approximately 1,700,000 admissions.
Cast
Yumiko Shaku as JXSDF Lt. Akane Yashiro
Shin Takuma as Tokumitsu Yuhara
Kana Onodera as Sara Yuhara
Kou Takasugi as JXSDF Colonel Togashi
Akira Nakao as Prime Minister Hayato Igarashi
Yūsuke Tomoi as JXSDF 2nd Lieutenant Susumu Hayama
Junichi Mizuno as JXSDF 1st Lieutenant Kenji Sekine
Kumi Mizuno as Prime Minister Machiko Tsuge
Yoshikazu Kanō as Hishinuma
Takeo Nakahara as JXSDF Chief Ichiyanagi
Kōichi Ueda as Dobashi
Midori Hagio as Kaori Yamada
Akira Shirai as Shinji Akamatsu
Naomasa Rokudaira as Dr. Gorō Kanno
Shinji Morisue as JXSDF 1st Lieutenant
Hideki “Godzilla” Matsui as Himself
Tsutomu Kitagawa as Godzilla
Hirofumi Ishigaki as Kiryu
Critical reaction
Mike Pinsky of DVD Talk gave the film three stars out of five, saying: "While I did have some minor complaints, [this is] a fine entry in the series." Pinsky said "the plot is more interesting than most giant monster movies," and "the battle scenes, which are the main reason anyone watches these films to begin with, were great." Matt Paprocki of Blog Critics said the film is "pretty flawed, [but] those of us who still love seeing Japan get trampled are in for a treat." Stomp Tokyo praised the "great monster fight action" but criticized the "uncompelling non-monster scenes." Giving the film a "B+" score, Mark Zimmer of Digitally Obsessed said that it's "a good deal of fun and one of the better entries in the series."Digital Monster Island gave the film a "B" score, calling it "a fun and exciting film that should please most kaiju fans."
