Godzilla vs. Megalon
From Wikizilla
Plot summary
In the film, the undersea civilization Seatopia has been heavily affected by nuclear testing conducted by the surface nations of the world. Naturally upset by this, they unleash their civilization's protector, Megalon, to the surface to destroy those who would — unknowingly or not — destroy them. The ground openes to reveal Megalon, who goes on a rampage outside of Tokyo. Meanwhile, Two Seatopian Agents attempt to steal the newly-constructed super-robot Jet Jaguar, which can apparently be used to guide and direct Megalon. They also capture the robot's inventor, Goro Ibuki, his kid brother Rokuro and their friend Hiroshi Jinkawa. One of the Agents stays with Jinkawa and directs Jet Jaguar towards Megalon. The other agent takes Rokuro and Goro into a cargo container and bribes a p[air of truckers to dump the container in the lake. Things get out of hand, though, and the seatopian agent is thrown from the truck after threatining the two truckers with a pistol. Soon afterward, Jinkawa, Goro and Rokuro are reunited and try and convince the Military into using Jet Jaquar to re-direct Megalon, who is attacking Tokyo. Goro manages to regain control using his hand-held voice-command devise, and sends Jet Jaguar to Monster Island to bring Godzilla back to fight Megalon. An extended fight scene then takes place, with Godzilla and Jet Jaguar, the latter newly giant-sized and self-directed, fighting Megalon in a generic small field. The Seatopians, however, summon Gigan to aid Megalon. The film ends with Megalon and Gigan (who for the second time abandons an ally) defeated, Godzilla returning to Monster Island, and Jet Jaguar returning to his previous, human-sized state, reuniting with Goro, Rokuro and Jinkawa to sing songs with them.
- Cast
- Goro Ibuki- Katsuhiko Sasaki
- Rokuro Ibuki- Hiroyuki Kawase
- Hiroshi Jinkawa- Yutaka Hayashi
- Robert Dunham- Emperor of Seatopia
- Lead seatopian Agent- Kotaro Tomita
- Wolf Otsuki- Assistant Seatopian Agent
- Dump Truck Driver- Gentaro Nakajima
- Dump truck Assistant- Sakyo Mikami
- Commander of Unit One- Fumiyo Ikeda
- SDF Chief- Kanta Mori
- Godzilla- Shinji Takagi
- Megalon- Hideto Odachi
- Jet Jaguar- Tsugutoshi Komada
- Gigan- Kenpachiro Satsuma
Critical reaction
In his review of July 12, 1976, Canby says "'Godzilla vs. Megalon' completes the canonization of Godzilla... It's been a remarkable transformation of character-- the dragon has become St. George... It's wildly preposterous, imaginative and funny (often intentionally). It demonstrates the rewards of friendship, between humans as well as monsters, and it is gentle."
Canby was one of the few critics who enjoyed the film however, as it currently holds a "rotten" 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 16 reviews.
Godzilla vs. Megalon was given a high-profile prime-time network premiere the next year, with an introduction and bumper segments by John Belushi in a Godzilla suit.
Godzilla vs. Megalon has attracted the ire of many Godzilla and kaiju fans in the decades since its original release. The film is largely responsible for the reputation of Godzilla films in the United States as cheap children's entertainment that should not be taken seriously. It's been described as "incredibly, undeniably, mind-numbingly bad" and one of the "poorer moments" in the history of kaiju films.
In particular, the special effects of the film have been heavily criticised. One review described the Godzilla costume as appearing to be "crossed with Kermit the Frog" and another stated that sneeringly compared it to Godzilla vs. Gigan, stating that it did "everything wrong that Gigan did, and then some". However, most of the criticism is of the lack of actual special effects work, as most of it consists of stock footage from previous films, including Godzilla vs. Gigan and Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, and at least one piece of effects work has garnered praise, specifically a scene where Megalon breaks through a dam.
The other aspects of the film have been similarly skewered. The acting is usually described as flat and generally poor, and as not improving, or sometimes, worsening, the already weak script. One part of the film, on the other hand, has garnered almost universal praise: Godzilla's final attack on Megalon, a flying kick. It has been called the saving grace of the film, and was made famous by the mock exclamations of shock and awe displayed on Godzilla vs. Megalon's appearance on Mystery Science Theater 3000. The episode is available on volume ten of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 DVD series, which has become rare because the DVD was discontinued due to rights issues with the Godzilla franchise, and the collection was released shortly afterward with The Giant Gila Monster instead of Godzilla vs. Megalon. Despite all this, the film is also one of the most widely seen Godzilla films in the United States—it was popular in its initial theatrical release, largely due to an aggressive marketing campaign, including elaborate posters of the two title monsters battling atop New York City's World Trade Center towers. These posters in particular have been greeted with some embarrassment by fans. Also, several unauthorized VHS tapes have been released in the early 90's, making it the Godzilla movie with the boots to some fans.
Robert Dunham's voice was dubbed over in Japanese for releases in Japan. It's unknown where his voice in the movie is heard from.
In Japan, Godzilla vs. Megalon sold approximately 980,000 tickets. It was the first Godzilla film to sell less than one million admissions.
Trivia
- When Toho held a contest to create a [Jet Jaguar], an elementary school kid was the winner.
- The movie took 3 weeks to film.
- There are no female characters in this film except for the Seatopian dancers.
