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

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Taglines:

Underground horrors attack!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Family | Sci-Fi

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite widely being considered one of the weakest entries in the Godzilla series, the movie actually received positive reviews by certain American critics upon its initial release in the States, who praised the effects work and the miniatures. In actuality, much of the movie's special effects were rather lazily cobbled together from stock footage taken from earlier films made by Toho Studios.

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Goofs

The doll used to represent Jet Jaguar when he's flying has arms that are way too long for his body, especially when compared to the actor in the Jet Jaguar suit.

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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 Die schlechtesten Filme aller Zeiten: King Kong vs. Godzilla (2018)

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Soundtracks

Megaro wo Yattsukero
("Beat Megalon")
Music by Riichirô Manabe
Lyrics by Jun Fukuda
Sung by Masato Shimon

User Reviews

Godzilla and an Ultraman knockoff battle bad Kaiju

This one is strictly for the kids, but it's still fun if you enjoy rubber suited actors destroying miniature sets (which I do). Megalon, a giant beetle from the sea, and Gigan, a praying mantis-like giant monster, are dead set on squishing puny humans. Enter size-shifting robot Jet Jaguar, who enlists the help of Godzilla to battle the two evil Kaiju. Jet Jaguar was the result of a contest Toho held where kids entered their idea for a new superhero and Jet was the winning entry by an elementary age student who was clearly a fan of Ultraman. Considered by many as one of the weakest Godzilla films, this is certainly among the corniest and the most juvenile of the many films, but I'll admit that I was entertained.