Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla (2002) Gojira tai Mekagojira (original title)

Director:

Masaaki Tezuka

Writer:

Wataru Mimura (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 December 2002 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

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

Plot:

After the appearance of a new Gojira (Godzilla), the Japanese government builds a robotic Godzilla from the bones of the original monster that attacked TÃ'kyÃ' in 1954 to stop the beast.

Plot Keywords:

Monster | Godzilla | Gojira | Giant Monster | Monster Movie

Cast

Yumiko Shaku	...	Akane Yashiro
Shin Takuma	...	Tokumitsu Yuhara
Kana Onodera	...	Sara Yuhara (Tokumitsu's daughter)
Kô 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 Musaka	...	Gorou Kanno
Shinji Morisue	...	JSDF 1st Lieutenant Hayama (2nd Lt. Hayama's Brother)
Misato Tanaka	...	Nurse
Hideki Matsui	...	Himself
Katsuo Nakamura	...	Commentator
Tsutomu Kitagawa	...	Gojira / Maser Tank Pilot
Hirofumi Ishigaki	...	Mekagojira / Maser Tank Pilot
Toshiyuki Nagashima	...	Miyagawa
Sawako Kitahara	...	Yuhara's wife
Jun Etô	...	Management
Mitsuru Fukikoshi	...	TV announcer
Tetsu Watanabe	...	Management
Naomi Fujiyama	...	Patient who escapes
Shingo Yanagisawa	...	Man whose house was destroyed
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Baldwin
Maria Theresa Gow
Makoto Kamiya	...	Cameo appearance
Yasuo Kurashiki
Takehiro Murata	...	Cameo appearance (man picking up cans)
Kenji Suzuki	...	Cameo appearance (Maser Tank Pilot)
Masaaki Tezuka	...	Cameo appearance

Directed by
Masaaki Tezuka

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Wataru Mimura		screenplay

Produced by
Takahide Morichi	....	executive producer
Shogo Tomiyama	....	executive producer
Shogo Tomiyama	....	producer

Original Music by
Michiru Ohshima

Cinematography by
Masahiro Kishimoto

Film Editing by
Shinichi Fushima
Shinichi Natori

Casting by
Tadao Tanaka

Production Design by
Toshio Miike

Art Direction by
Yukiharu Seshita

Set Decoration by
Chuichi Yanagihori

Makeup Department
Shihomi Kobayashi	....	hair stylist
Emi Mizuno	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Kiyomi Kanazawa	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kei Hirota	....	additional assistant director
Atsushi Kaneshige	....	first assistant director
Hiroshi Okamoto	....	additional assistant director

Art Department
Nobuhiro Akitaya	....	property master
Mami Ishida	....	property master
Yasuo Kashima	....	set dresser
Yoichi Kitamura	....	property master
Asami Yamaguchi	....	property master

Sound Department
Hideaki Ishii	....	sound engineer
Masatoshi Saito	....	sound assistant
Teiichi Saitô	....	sound recordist
Masashi Tara	....	sound engineer

Special Effects by
Kenichi Eguchi	....	special effects photography
Nobuhiro Ekubo	....	assistant model maker
Kakusei Fujiwara	....	lead sculptor
Nori Honda	....	assistant modelmaker (as Norihiro Honda)
Yûichi Kikuchi	....	special effects director
Shin'ichi Wakasa	....	model maker
Shin'ichi Wakasa	....	suit maker

Visual Effects by
Jamie Clay	....	visual effects
Karl Raade	....	visual effects
Tomoya Ôhata	....	CGI artist

Stunts
Masanobu Amamiya	....	stunt coordinator
Jun Murakami	....	stunt coordinator
Ryuta Takaya	....	stunt coordinator
Yuko Umemoto	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Toshio Iwata	....	camera operator
Takayuki Kawabe	....	lighting assistant
Katsuhiko Kudo	....	still photographer
Taku Mitamura	....	lighting assistant
Atsuo Nishimoto	....	still photographer
Hideaki Odi	....	lighting assistant
Soshi Sato	....	lighting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Shin'ichi Wakasa	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Roger La Prairie	....	telecine colorist
Yumiko Nakaba	....	negative cutter
Kazuko Okayasu	....	negative cutter

Other crew
Takaya Fukutsuka	....	production assistant
Takashi Hirayama	....	production assistant
Yoshikazu Ishii	....	director: making of
Takahiro Kikushima	....	production assistant
Daisuke Nagai	....	production assistant
Seiji Takenobu	....	production assistant
Shin'ichi Wakasa	....	suit designer: Godzilla suit
Shin'ichi Wakasa	....	suit maker: Godzilla suit
Kazunari Yamanaka	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Toho Company

Distributors

• Toho Company

Special Effects

• Marbling FineArts

Also Known As:

"Gojira tai Mekagojira" - Japan (original 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

Certification:

USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Studio 9, Toho Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

All the Japanese Self Defense Force (JSDF) Ground Forces Soldiers and Officers are wearing U.S. Army Ribbon Awards.

Goofs:

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

Quotes:

2003 Prime Minister Hayato Igarashi:Kick his ass!

Movie Connections:

Features Mothra (1961)

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.