Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

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.

Directors:

Jun Fukuda, Yoshimitsu Banno (uncredited)

Writers:

Jun Fukuda, Takeshi Kimura (story "Gojira tai Uchu Kaijû")

Stars:

Katsuhiko Sasaki, Hiroyuki Kawase, Yutaka Hayashi

Cast

Credited cast:
Katsuhiko Sasaki	...	Inventor Goro Ibuki
Hiroyuki Kawase	...	Rokuro 'Roku-chan' Ibuki
Yutaka Hayashi	...	Hiroshi Jinkawa
Robert Dunham	...	Emperor Antonio of Seatopia / Motorcycle assailant
Kôtarô Tomita	...	Lead Seatopian Agent
Ulf Ôtsuki	...	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
Kenpachirô Satsuma	...	Gaigan (as Kengo Nakayama)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ralph Jesser	...	Antonio's Aide (Radio Operator in White) (as Rolf Jessup)

Storyline

The underground kingdom of Seatopia sends out Megalon, a giant beetle, and Gigan to destroy the above ground dwellers. In an attempt to stop them, an independently thinking robot brings Godzilla into the fight.

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Plot Keywords:

kaiju | jet jaguar | tokusatsu | giant monster | psychotronic film | 

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Taglines:

For the First TIme in Widescreen and Color

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Family | Sci-Fi

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Did You Know?

Trivia

In the German version of the movie, the robot Jet Jaguar is called King Kong. According to rumors, they even claim that he is supposed to be the giant ape wearing a robot suit, but that is false. The dub merely calls him King Kong, but no reference is made to him being anything other than a human-built robot. The reason for this is that the distributors probably wanted to ride the popularity of the King Kong brand. Curiously, the evil robot Mechagodzilla from the following movie, who has no connection to the benevolent Jet Jaguar, is also called King Kong in Germany.

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Goofs

The Jet Jaguar suit that is kicked back and forth by Megalon and Gigan is empty - the arms flail and bed at the wrists, showing that there is no one inside.

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Quotes

[Jet Jaguar is about to ram into an army helicopter, in which Goro attempts to regain control of the robot with his miniature control transmitter]
Inventor Goro Ibuki: Jet Jaguar, stop!
[Jet Jaguar stops]
Lead Seatopian Agent: [back in Goro's laboratory, looking on Jet Jaguar's POV camera monitor] What the hell's happened? He stopped!
Inventor Goro Ibuki: Get Godzilla! You'll find him on Monster Island!

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Alternate Versions

The 1976 U.S. Cinema Shares release omits approximately 3 minutes from the original Japanese version in order to get a G rating. The deleted scenes include: the opening credits; a brief shot of young Rokuro being abducted and taken away in a car; several shots of the men in a truck, with pages from nudie magazines hanging behind them; an extended fight scene as Hiroshi escapes from the Seatopian; the truck drivers throwing a man off a cliff; the kidnappers asking "what the hell is that?" and yelling "go to hell!"; several brief shots of blood and violence when the brothers break into their home; and the Commander getting crushed to death by a giant boulder. This is the version that remains available on several cut-price video labels.

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Connections

Referenced in Monster Island Buddies: Daddy Issues (2013)

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Soundtracks

Gojira and Jaguar, Punch Punch Punch!
Music by Riichirô Manabe
Lyrics by Shinichi Sekizawa

User Reviews

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!!!

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

April 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Godzilla vs. Megalon

Filming Locations:

Machida, Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$760,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1