139) Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

Halloween 2022's Godzilla-Maniapalloza Extravaganza #14...For the Love of Godzilla.

All Hail, the Monster King!

"Stupid Godzilla! You're mistaken if you think your powers are a match for Mechagodzilla." 

Director

Jun Fukuda

Cast

Masaaki Daimon - Keisuke Shimizu

Kazuya Aoyama - Masahiko Shimizu

Hiromi Matsushita - Ikuko Miyajima

Hiroshi Koizumi - Professor Wagura

Gorō Mutsumi - Kuronuma, Black Hole Alien Leader

Beru-Bera Lin - Princess Nami

Isao Zushi - Godzilla

Kazunari Mori - Mechagodzilla
Kin'ichi Kusumi - Anguirus & King Caesar

The Godzilla franchise returns to a more terrorizing tone with "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla." A few of the previous films, namely "Ebirah, Horror of the Deep," "Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster," "Son of Godzilla," and "All Monsters Attack" leaned a little too much into the realm of dull, juvenile, or just plain weird. 

Now, Toho turns up the carnage and warfare in their 13th Godzilla film. 

Released in the United States in 1977 under the title "Godzilla vs. The Bionic Monster," it later went through a rerelease under the title "Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster." How many titles does one movie need? 

"Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla" marks the 20th anniversary of the King of the Monsters. And it's quite a spectacle. There's explosions and destruction galore!

The story takes place in Okinawa. A priestess named Princess Nami (Beru-Bera Lin), who lives in a warrior tribe called the Azumi, has a vision of the future in which the city is being destroyed by a giant monster. Considering Japan's history with Godzilla and other kaiju in the movies, a premonition of Okinawa destroyed by a monster is a reasonable scenario to come to. 

Keisuke Shimizu (Masaaki Daimon) and his brother Masahiko (Kazuya Aoyama) are attending the traditional Okinawan ceremony Princess Nami is performing when she has this frightening vision.

She freezes in absolute terror, and then collapses in fear. Her grandfather comes to her rescue when she relates the vision she had. And, really, what can anyone do? 

Afterwards, Masahiko heads to Gyokusen Cave where he's working as an excavator. He discovers an unusual metal that he's unfamiliar with.

He takes it to a scientist professor, Hideto Miyajima (Akihiko Hirata), to assess just what kind of metal it is. 

Miyajima is certain this metal came from space and refers to it as "Space Titanium."

Shortly after he comes to this conclusion, an earthquake strikes. 

His daughter, Ikuko (Hiromi Matsushita) comments that earthquakes have been a common occurrence in the area recently. 

Meanwhile, Keisuke and a government archaeologist named Saeko Kanagusuku (Reiko Tajima) investigate an unexplored cave in which they discover a prophetic mural along with a statue of a monster deity, King Caesar. 

King Caesar protects the Azumi royal family in Okinawa. His name is based on "Shisa," the stone lion statues derived from Chinese guardian lions.

Saeko is able to translate the text of the prophesy, which says, "When a black mountain appears above the clouds, a huge monster will arise and try to destroy the world; but when the red moon sets and the sun rises in the west, two monsters shall appear to save the people."

They take the statue, but little do Keisuke and Saeko know that two shady looking agents are following them. 

One of these mysterious guys tries to steal the statue from them, but without success. 

The prophesy begins to come true when a black cloud that looks like a mountain appears. Once it does, Godzilla emerges from Mt. Fuji. 

Though Godzilla has been tolerant of humans in the last several films, he goes on an all-out destructive rampage destroying everything in his path. 

His old ally, Anguirus reveals himself and fights him. During the scuffle, Anguirus tears off a bit of Godzilla's skin revealing glistening metal. But Godzilla attempts to kill him by trying to rip his jaw apart. 

Though seriously wounded, Anguirus survives and retreats to safety. 

Godzilla continues rampaging through Japan making his way towards Tokyo. 

And then, another Godzilla emerges! It turns out to be the real Godzilla. 

The other Godzilla is an imposter which reveals itself to be a giant robot...Mechagodzilla! 

This new foe inflicts some serious injuries on Godzilla, but Godzilla manages to get in a few blows before both titans retreat. 

Miyajima comes to the conclusion that Mechagodzilla is of alien origin based on the massive amount of artillery in bears as well as its space titanium construction. 

Keisuke and Saeko decide to return the King Caesar statue back to the temple, but while they're on the boat heading towards the Azumi temple, one of the people following them steals it while Saeko is asleep. 

When the thief is caught and tries to run from Keisuke around the boat, he's shot by a mysterious assailant. As he lays dying, he transforms into his true nature - an apelike alien creature. 

Meanwhile, Godzilla heads back to Monster Island and is struck by lightning several times which increases his energy and stamina. 

Masahiko, Miyajima and Ikuko explore the cave again where the titanium was found. They're captured by more of these apelike creatures. It turns out these aliens are from the

King Caesar takes on Mechagodzilla in
"Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla." 

 "Third Planet of the Black Hole." They're leader is Kuronuma (Gorō Mutsumi).

His dastardly plan is to use Mechagodzilla to ultimately conquer the Earth, and defeat Godzilla while he's at it. 

As luck would have it, a lunar eclipse takes place. This results in a red moon and a mirage of the sun rising in the west, thus fulfilling more of the prophesy. 

Now is the best time to awaken King Caesar. 

When the statue is returned to the temple, the priestess sings to awaken King Caesar. 

He appears from within a mountain, teams up with Godzilla, and the two battle Mechagodzilla for an ultimate showdown to save the entire world. 

The action and carnage starts around the 30-minutes mark. And when it's on screen, it doesn't hold back.

The writers knew what audiences and Godzilla fans came to see. They make it a point not to disappoint. 

Mechagodzilla can shoot missiles from his fingers, toes, knees, and can also shoot lasers from his eyes. He also spins his head around to shoot what's behind him while simultaneously shooting whatever is in front of him. 

He can also create a force field around his body. As these monsters tromp through buildings and avoid missals, it's one explosion after another.  

"Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla" seems to be one of the most ambitious Godzilla movies yet. It mixes ancient Japanese culture mixed with what was current science fiction at the time. 

In this movie, Godzilla teams up with a new kaiju titan whose history lies in Japanese myth and traditions. 

The two of them face off against the heavily weaponized robotic monster, designed by an alien race. 

When the priestess has to sing to awaken King Caesar, it goes on and on for several minutes.  

The antagonist of the movie, the Black Hole alien leader, Kuronuma, could easily fit within the rogue's gallery of James Bond villains. His appearance in a shiny silver suit with a patch of grey discoloration around his left eye makes him look like he's an agent of Spectre. His evil plans to take over the world with a giant robot also seem standard material for a James Bond movie plot. 

The story is a little difficult to get into. None of the characters are interesting enough to really care about. I think part of that is due to their being rather conventional. 

The fight between fake Godzilla and Anguirus is reminiscent of the duel in "Godzilla Raids Again."  

The initial Godzilla being evil makes Godzilla both villain and hero in one movie. 

All the standard Godzilla movie tropes continue on, with the action being the only aspect that's more intense than before...to some degree. 

The camera work is better when compared to previous movies, especially, "Ehirah, Horror of the Deep." The images are steady rather than constant close-ups, quick cutaways, and shaky camera work done in previous films, which left me wondering what I was looking at. 

One awesome scene includes a closeup of Godzilla peering over a mountain with anger clearly in his eyes. You can see that shot in the Japanese trailer. Another scene shows Mechagodzilla looming above buildings and structures burning in a conflagration of flames glistening off his metallic body. Iconic! 
King Caesar, by the way, shows up again via brief stock footage in the next movie, "Terror of Mechagodzilla" and again in 2004's "Godzilla: Final Wars." 

Toho clearly wants audiences to see Godzilla take on a titan greater than before. In that regard, the movie definitely delivers.