Gojira tai Mekagojira (1974)

Director:

Jun Fukuda

Writers:

Jun Fukuda (writer)
Masami Fukushima (story)

Release Date:

March 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Put the Monster to the Metal!

Plot:

Apelike aliens build a robotic Godzilla to destroy Japan, and the true Godzilla may not be powerful enough to destroy it.

Plot Keywords:

Godzilla | Alien | Prophecy | Sequel | Lightning

Cast

Masaaki Daimon	...	Keisuke Shimizu
Kazuya Aoyama	...	Masahiko Shimizu
Reiko Tajima	...	Saeko Kanagusuku
Akihiko Hirata	...	Professor Hideto Miyajima
Hiromi Matsushita	...	Ikuko Miyajima
Hiroshi Koizumi	...	Professor Wagura
Masao Imafuku	...	Tengan Kunito, the Azumi Royal Family High Priest
Beru-Bera Lin	...	Nami Kunito, the Azumi Royal Family Princess
Shin Kishida	...	Interpol Agent Nanbara
Goro Mutsumi	...	Alien Supreme Leader Kuronuma
Daigo Kusano	...	Yanagawa, Alien Agent #1
Takayasu Torii	...	Interpol Agent Tamura
Kenji Sahara	...	Ship's Captain
Yasuzô Ogawa	...	Construction Foreman
Takamitsu Watanabe	...	Alien Henchman # 1

Also Known As:

Godzilla vs. Bionic Monster (USA)
Godzilla vs. Cosmic Monster (USA) (reissue title)
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (USA)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Norway:12 (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | UK:15 | USA:G | West Germany:12 (nf)

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

The metal in the bowl of Professor Miyajima (Akihiko Hirata)'s magnetic pipe is made of a fictional element called Astanopkaron ("Asutanopukaron" in Japanese), which was made up just for this film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Mechagodzilla is fighting Anguiris, the strings to pick Anguiris can be seen clearly.

Quotes:

Saeko Kaneshiro: When the red moon sets, and the sun rises in the West, two monsters will appear to save the people.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "South Park: Chinpokomon (#3.11)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Beat Mechagodzilla

The Penultimate Film

This film was pretty much the beginning of the end of the Showa era. This film was very fast paced and had a lot of good fight sequences between the two monsters. However, the story left a little bit to be desired. In fact, the non monster scenes almost cause this movie to grind to a halt. At least the battle at the end featuring the new monster King Seesar helps to keep the film from going totally down the tubes. Also, this film isn't really for the faint of heart due to the fact that it is probably the bloodiest of all the Godzilla films. This film may not have been among the best in the series, but it still was pretty decent.