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.

Director:

Jun Fukuda

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 | megalon | godzilla | gigan | jet jaguar | 

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Taglines:

Titan against Titan! Giant against Giant, in the most spectacular battle yet!!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

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)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,803,446

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Teruyoshi Nakano, the Godzilla suit used in this film (nicknamed the "Megaro-Goji" suit) was made in a week, making it the fastest Godzilla suit ever made to date. They didn't have time to make the eyes work correctly, something they had more time to fix for Godzilla's appearances on Toho's superhero TV series Ryusei Ningen Zon (1973), which was produced around the same time.

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Goofs

Shots of the 'nuclear test blast' that affect Monster Island are lifted from "Destroy All Monsters" (when the aliens gas Monster Island).

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Quotes

[Jet Jaguar, controlled by the Seatopians, is spotted by our heroes flying around Megalon]
Inventor Goro Ibuki: Hey! Isn't that Jet Jaguar there?
Rokuro 'Roku-chan' Ibuki: Yes it is! It's him all right!
Inventor Goro Ibuki: Damn! They're controlling him!
Rokuro 'Roku-chan' Ibuki: It's a pity we can't send Jet Jaguar to go and get Godzilla!

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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 Godzilla: Kaijuu Daikessen (1994)

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Soundtracks

Gojira to Jetto Jagâ de Panchi Panchi Panchi
("With Godzilla and Jet Jaguar, Punch Punch Punch")
Closing Theme
Music by Riichirô Manabe
Lyrics by Shin'ichi Sekizawa
Sung by Masato Shimon

User Reviews

Not bad

I've seen every Godzilla movie at least once, but this one is something of a special case. They say this film was started and completed in the same month, which is an incredibly short amount of time for a feature film to be made. I can't say it has the best plot, basically Atlantis is pissed out of nowhere and sends a giant bug to attack Japan of all places, while "agents" of their Caucasian race attempt to take control of a simplistic Robot that looks like a gymnastics instructor. Well, all that put aside, the movie isn't actually that terrible. It was fun to see Gigan in another film besides his own, I feel he was always a bit under rated.