Mekagojira no gyakushu (1975)

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Yukiko Takayama (screenplay)
Yukiko Takayama (story)

Release Date:

March 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Metal meets monster.

Plot:

Godzilla comes to the rescue when an alien race rebuilds Mechagodzilla to destroy Earth's cities. A traitorous scientist gives them a second weapon: Titanosaurus.

Plot Keywords:

Godzilla | Mechagodzilla | Alien | Scientist | Dinosaur

Cast

Katsuhiko Sasaki	...	Biologist Akira Ichinose
Tomoko Ai	...	Katsura Mafune
Akihiko Hirata	...	Dr. Shinzô Mafune
Katsumasa Uchida	...	Interpol Agent Jiro Murakoshi
Goro Mutsumi	...	Alien Leader Mugal
Tadao Nakamaru	...	Interpol Chief Tagawa
Shin Roppongi	...	Yûichi Wakayama
Tomoe Mari	...	Yuri Yamamoto
Tôru Ibuki	...	Tsuda (bearded alien)
Kenji Sahara	...	Army Commander Segawa
Kotaro Tomita	...	Professor Ôta
Ikio Sawamura	...	Mafune's Silent Butler
Masaaki Daimon	...	Submarine Captain Kusakari
Toshio Kirishima	...	Alien Henchman #2
Kazuo Suzuki	...	Alien Henchman #1

Also Known As:

Mechagodzilla vs. Godzilla
Mechagodzilla's Counterattack (Japan: English title) (literal title)
Monsters from an Unknown Planet
Monsters from the Unknown Planet
Revenge of Mechagodzilla
Terror of Mechagodzilla (USA) (video box title)
The Escape of Mechagodzilla
The Escape of Megagodzilla
The Terror of Godzilla (USA)

Runtime:

83 min | UK:89 min | USA:79 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Norway:11 (video premiere) | UK:15 | USA:G | West Germany:12 (nf)

Company:

Henry G. Saperstein Enterprises Inc.

Trivia:

In the original script, the final battle was supposed to take place entirely in Tôkyô (which would be devastated by the end of the film), but Tôhô deemed this too expensive, so the entire battle was placed in the more cost-effective countryside near the city.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In several shots when Godzilla is being blown aside by an explosion, kicked across the landscape, or flung high into the air by his upper lip, it is obvious that he is actually an empty suit, because he looks inexplicably thin.

Quotes:

[the Interpol staff watches on live TV as Mechagodzilla completely wipes out part of a city with his new improved Finger Missiles]
Interpol Chief Tagawa: Revolving missiles... Mechagodzilla has new weapons!
Interpol Worker: It's terrible! Godzilla might lose!!
[an alarm buzzes, indicating that Godzilla is approaching, as Wakayama stares in grim silence]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Little Red Riding Hood (2009) (V)

strange yet satisfying

Man, this series got strange in a hurry. The original "Gojira" is a Japanese classic, a somber and thoughtful meditation on the terrors of the atomic age. This film is a not-so-somber and not-so-thoughtful meditation on the terrors of Mechagodzilla, but hey, at least it's entertaining.

When I was a kid, I watched "Gojira" many times, and later I tracked down copies of the obscure 1990s Godzilla films. I got used to seeing an evil, unstoppable Godzilla and some halfway decent SFX. So, I still can't quite get a handle on the 60s and 70s films - they just look so bad, and Godzilla is a cute dog-faced hero. Bizarre. Yet "Terror of Mechagodzilla" (1975) is undoubtedly one of the best films of its era, probably because it was directed by the late, great Inoshiro Honda. Look past the tacky production values and you'll see that he's taken care to set up some moody shots and striking camera angles. It's just a shame that he didn't have a budget worthy of his vision.

Even though the cash is in short supply, the climatic battle scenes are well done. Titanosaurus is nicely designed, and there's some exciting city destruction. After having struggled to defeat Mechagodzilla in the previous film, Godzilla really takes his robotic opponent to school here, which is fun to watch.

The opening moments of this film say it all. It starts with a beautiful, moody shot of a woman in a flowing dress (played by the gorgeous Tomoko Ai, the best part of the movie) and then quickly cuts to a silly-looking model submarine. Money, money, money! Where's the dang money? Why is everything I like so cheesy?

Ah, I suppose it doesn't matter. This is still fun stuff. I'll take a gorgeous cyborg woman and a cute Godzilla over most of today's sci-fi.