Godzilla vs. Megalon

Original title: Gojira tai Megaro

1973
G
1h 18m

IMDb RATING

4.8/10

7.2K

YOUR RATING

Home Video Trailer from Toho Film Company

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Animal Adventure Dinosaur Adventure Kaiju Superhero Action Adventure Family Sci-Fi

An inventor creates a robot that is seized by an undersea kingdom to guide their monster god in attacking the surface as retaliation for the nuclear tests that have devastated their society.An inventor creates a robot that is seized by an undersea kingdom to guide their monster god in attacking the surface as retaliation for the nuclear tests that have devastated their society.An inventor creates a robot that is seized by an undersea kingdom to guide their monster god in attacking the surface as retaliation for the nuclear tests that have devastated their society.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

4.8/10

7.2K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
While the film was all but ignored in Japan, becoming the least attended entry at the box office, it was a huge hit in the United States and is often regarded by fans as one of the main reasons why the Godzilla franchise has become so misunderstood in the west. Its American distributors, Cinema Shares International, built up a large advertising campaign around the movie, and a drastically shortened version that cut the film down to around 40 minutes premiered on prime-time TV on the NBC network. The film's VHS releases were also mistakenly believed to be in public domain, which made it more easily accessible and adding to the movie's notoriety in the US. Despite the film being disliked by the majority of fans, the movie actually received positive reviews from critics upon its initial release in the States. Vincent Canby praised Godzilla's development stating that "the dragon has become St. George" and wrote that the film "demonstrates the rewards of friendships, between humans as well as monsters, and it is gentle." Variety also praised the special effects work and the miniatures work as superb and "reflecting a creative understanding of the camera". The English film critic Phil Hardy also lauded the film's visuals as expertly done.

Goofs
When Godzilla is bouncing Megalon up and down, the Megalon suit is empty (the legs bend and collapse, showing no one is inside the suit).

Quotes
Antonio's Aide: We've got a message coming from Star Hunter "M" Universe. "We are sending you the monster Gaigan, as requested."

Alternate versions
The German dub of the film infamously renamed Jet Jaguar to King Kong in an attempt to fool audiences, but it also contained other differences. Most importantly, Goro was changed from being Rokuro's much older brother to his father. And instead of contacting the aliens of M Space Hunter Nebula, the Seatopian people contact a certain "Alpha Base".

Connections
Edited from The Mysterians (1957)

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

User reviews117

Review

Featured review

6/10

You haven't lived until you've seen that Godzilla flying kick.

The people of an undersea kingdom named Seatopia are very angry that repeated nuclear tests on Earth are disrupting their tranquility. So they send a cockroach like monster named Megalon topside to do some major damage. Fortunately, the people of Japan are able to rely on a faithful robot named Jet Jaguar. JJ, by the way, has the means of traveling to a distant isle to ask Godzilla for help. And the antagonists respond by summoning the bird like Gigan.

Admittedly, this Kaiju series had definitely become juvenile and cheesy, not to mention overly cute. It's not for fans of the Big Green Guy who crave substance in what they watch. It's just "good" dumb fun for a family audience, complete with an extended final showdown between the two heroes and the two villains. Godzilla himself is just too funny, especially considering some of the gestures that he makes. And one of the villains clearly is thinking "you gotta be kidding me" at one point.

Yes, this is a very silly movie but a pretty fun one, directed with some panache by Jun Fukuda. Its main human characters are very likable. Our human villains are an amusing bunch of one dimensional goons. The action scenes are competently done, and there are enough laughs and thrills to make this entertaining fluff. The plentiful special effects, the monster costumes, and the vibrant color and widescreen photography help to keep things visually interesting.

A funny and lively diversion for people who just want to put their brains in neutral for 82 minutes.

Six out of 10.