Gojira tai Mekagojira (2002)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Masaaki Tezuka

Writer:

Wataru Mimura (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 December 2002 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Kidô, Kyômei, Hyôsai (Startup, Resonance, Smashed Ice)

Plot:

After the appearance of a new "Godzilla", the Japanese government builds a robotic Godzilla to stop the beast.

Plot Keywords:

Godzilla | Monster | Gojira | Giant Monster | Bio Organic Weapon

Cast

Yumiko Shaku	...	Akane Yashiro
Shin Takuma	...	Tokumitsu Yuhara
Kana Onodera	...	Sara Yuhara (Tokumitsu's daughter)
Koh Takasugi	...	JSDF Lieutenant Togashi
Yûsuke Tomoi	...	JSDF 2nd Lieutenant Hayama
Jun'ichi Mizuno	...	JSDF 1st Lieutenant Sekine
Akira Nakao	...	2003 Prime Minister Hayato Igarashi
Kumi Mizuno	...	1999 Prime Minister Machiko Tsuge
Takeo Nakahara	...	JSDF Chief Hitoyanagi
Yoshikazu Kanou	...	Hishinuma
Kôichi Ueda	...	Dobashi
Akira Shirai	...	Shinji Akamatsu
Midori Hagio	...	Kaoru Yamada
Naomasa Rokudaira	...	Gorou Kanno
Shinji Morisue	...	JSDF 1st Lieutenant Hayama (2nd Lt. Hayama's Brother)

Also Known As:

Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla (Hong Kong: English title) (DVD title)
Godzilla X Mechagodzilla (Japan: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for sci-fi action and some language.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Filming Locations:

Studio 9, Toho Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

Mechagodzilla's nickname is Kiryu. "Kiryu" means "Machine Dragon" or "Mechanized Dragon".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the blackout, all the lights go out, even the cars.

Quotes:

Akane Yashiro: I'll show you what Kiryu can do!

Movie Connections:

References "Tottoko Hamutaro" (2002)

One of the best

The opening sequence was down right awesome. Right away Godzilla is out and about stomping through town. Right off the bat I have found things I liked about this movie. One thing that I liked was the fact that Godzilla spits his blue radioactive breathe instead of the fire-like breath scene in Godzilla 2000 or Godzilla X Megaguirus. Godzilla's look also resembles that of the Godzilla 2000 and Godzilla X Megaguirus movies, which is a plus in my book. I found it nice that they mention other monsters either then Godzilla like Mothra and Gaira (Green Gargantuan) in as previous monster attacks against Tokyo.

The movie shows some of he science behind the creation of MechaGodzilla instead of say skipping till the end when it is finished or something that some movies do. Other times like Godzilla Vs MechaGodzilla 2 the movie starts with MechaGodzilla already built. This whole thing is another plus for this movie.

The storyline is a little better developed then some of the other Godzilla movies. Some of the characters get a little more development at the beginning. Though it is hard to do in relatively short amount of time this movie still gives a nice storyline to go along with the monster aspect.

Now onto the monsters. Kiryu, or MechaGodzilla, is the best version of MechaGodzilla to date. It is equipped with many weapons, which include the Absolute Zero Cannon that freezes things instantly. This is a nice touch to the massive MechaGodzilla arsenal. It still has some of the same lasers and missiles as previous versions.In all this MechaGodzilla is my favorite monster (aside from Godzilla) in the whole Millenium series.

As mentioned above Godzilla was given his blue radioactive breathe back (he did have it in GMK, but still). This time the breath was a combination of the blue and the fire-like one. Out of all the looks for Godzilla this is one of my favorites. This movie also has Godzilla get powered by electricity as it did in the Showa series.

Favorite part of this movie has to be when Kiryu goes crazy and starts rampaging through the city. The whole triggering of memories because of Godzilla's roar was nice. This is just another good area of the movie. I mean it has the man against machine element brought in here while still having the man against monster element. Which in both cases for this movie it is man against their creations (Nuclear weapons made by man created Godzilla). This continues the great storyline of this movie and makes it a little more interesting.

The battle between Godzilla and Kiryu was nice. They actually had some physical fighting instead of just having Kiryu blast away at Godzilla the entire time. Both Godzilla and Kiryu got knocked around quite a bit. I mean the movie still has the lasers, missiles, and radioactive heat beams as all the previous movies, which is still good in itself. This epic battle is a great one!!

All in all it is an excellent Godzilla movie and should be enjoyed by any Godzilla Fan out there.