Gojira tai Megaro (1973)

User Rating:

3.4/10   

Director:

Jun Fukuda

Writers:

Jun Fukuda (writer)
Takeshi Kimura (story)

Release Date:

April 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Underground horrors attack!

Plot:

The undersea nation of Seatopia sends the gigantic Megalon to destroy the world above - and it's up to Godzilla and a size-shifting robot, Jet Jaguar, to defeat him.

Plot Keywords:

Godzilla | Megalon | Jet Jaguar | Jet | Gigan

Cast

Katsuhiko Sasaki	...	Inventor Goro Ibuki
Hiroyuki Kawase	...	Rokuro 'Roku-chan' Ibuki
Yutaka Hayashi	...	Hiroshi Jinkawa
Robert Dunham	...	Emperor Antonio of Seatopia
Kotaro Tomita	...	Lead Seatopian Agent
Wolf Otsuki	...	Seatopian Agent
Gentaro Nakajima	...	Truck Driver (as Gen Nakajima)
Sakyo Mikami	...	Truck Driver's Assistant
Fumiyo Ikeda	...	Man from Unit 1
Kanta Mori	...	Japan Special Defense Forces Chief
Shinji Takagi	...	Gojira
Hideto Odachi	...	Megaro
Tsugutoshi Komada	...	Jetto Jagâ
Kenpachiro Satsuma	...	Gaigan (as Kengo Nakayama)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rolf Jessup	...	Antonio's Aide (Radio Operator in White)
Eisuke Nakanishi	...	Asuka Island Nuclear Test (Narrator)

Also Known As:

Godzilla vs. Megalon (USA)

Runtime:

USA:78 min | Japan:86 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:PG | USA:G | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec)

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

This film was originally produced in 1973 but was not released in the United States until 1976. A small US distributor, Cinema Shares, hoped to ride on the popularity of 'Dino De Laurentiis' 's highly promoted production King Kong (1976). This became especially apparent in the US poster art, which depicted Godzilla and Megalon battling each other on top of the World Trade Center towers.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Obvious wires in numerous monster scenes.

Quotes:

[Hiroshi is tied to a chair in Goro's lab, held hostage by the lead Seatopian agent]
Hiroshi Jinkawa: Where are you taking my friends?
Lead Seatopian Agent: To the kingdom of Seatopia.
Hiroshi Jinkawa: Seatopia?
Lead Seatopian Agent: That's right. It's a country below the surface of the sea. It was engulfed in an earthquake millions of years ago, and most of its people survived. They managed to create their own oxygen supply, and later were able to construct their own sun.
Hiroshi Jinkawa: So the legend's true!
Lead Seatopian Agent: We are a very advanced people. Our scientists are much superior to yours.
Hiroshi Jinkawa: Well, if you're so damn clever, why steal our robot?
Lead Seatopian Agent: We have few people. We need to have robots in order to build up an army. Now, we don't have the time to invent them.
Hiroshi Jinkawa: Oh yeah? You mean you're too dumb!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Shin seiki evangerion: Hito no tsukurishimono (#1.7)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

Gojira to Jetto Jagâ de Panchi Panchi Panchi

How can a film so shoddy be so much fun?

Godzilla Vs Megalon is often regarded by Godzilla fans as the low point of the series. Indeed,in terms of conventional movie making,this is indeed a bad film. Stupid plot,zero characterisation,shoddy effects,awful music,you name it. There's even a brief bit where the actors stand still waiting for 'action'-obviously no one cared to edit this out. However,sometimes a bad film can be fun,and this is a case in point.

The film is so fast moving and action packed it's as if all the so-called 'dull'bits have been edited out. No slow build-up to the monsters here-the human part of the story is a constant series of vehicle chases,fights and kidnaps. The friendly flying robot Jet Jaguar has such a goofy charm that can't really dislike him,despite the shameless pandering to small kids,and Megalon and the previously seen Gigan really make a surreal pair of evil monsters. As with Godzilla Vs Gigan,the film is rife with footage from previous Godzilla films,but you have to almost admire the nerve in scenes like Megalon's attack on Tokyo,where all the exploding buildings are from the Ghidorah attack sequence in Ghidorah the Three Monster,the filmmakers almost getting away with it because Ghidorah's ray looks a bit like Megalon's. Oddly enough,the uncut version {many versions are badly cut} is surprisingly violent considering the target audience.

The phrase "so bad it's good"was made for this movie. Badly made in every way,and with no artistic merit whatsoever,but inspite of,or maybe even because of this,it's FUN!!!