Back again for the last two installments of the Showa Era. For the last two Showa Godzilla films Toho would produce, before giving the franchise a decade-long rest, they introduced a new and fearsome threat for "The Big G" to face, one who was every bit his equal, in some ways. And one that would go on to be not only one of his most iconic and popular foes, but also one that would see new versions/interpretations in the subsequent eras. You could argue, the ONLY monster, due to its mechanical nature, to receive literal "upgrades".
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| My first exposure. |
As I'm sure I've related in the past, I didn't get a VCR in my home growing up, until around 1989/90. So while I'm sure it's very possible I may have seen SOME kind of Godzilla film on TV before that, my Godzilla experiences, as far as I can properly recall, began with my grandmother buying a VCR. And the VHS tapes we would buy almost 100% came from the local Walmart, which at the time had relatively recently opened in the town where I lived. There was a specific tape rack, one of those spinning column ones, located out in the aisle, right outside of the electronics section (which also played host to my beloved Nintendo games). It was that rack, which served as a home for almost exclusively ALL of the Godzilla, Super Mario Bros., Bugs Bunny, etc. tapes that would be "my" VHS treasures.
The first such tapes we got from that rack, of course, were Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, and the American release of the original, Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Others would follow, but eventually, one day when going shopping, as I often would, I gravitated towards that magical tape rack once more. It was magical to me, because I never quite knew what kind of gem I would find, as there were often new ones. The problem, of course, as I painfully experienced with Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster, was that I then always had to try to talk my grandmother into actually BUYING said treasure/tape. But luckily for me, the day I saw the box art pictured above, was a day she said "Yes". Just seeing the art mesmerized me, Godzilla fighting some giant ROBOT! And "The Cosmic Monster" sounded incredibly mysterious, whatever could it BE?
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| The REAL title. |
Still just learning my way through Godzilladom, at the tender age of probably 9 or 10 years old, I had no way of knowing beforehand, that such a film existed. But upon reading the back of the box, imagine my shock and awe, at learning that there was a "MECHA-Godzilla"! Sufficed to say, I couldn't wait to get home and pop this bad boy in. I HAD to have this movie when I saw it, and once it was mine, I HAD to see/know what it was all about!
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| Poor Angy. |
Released in 1974, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (alternately titled Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster and Godzilla vs. the Bionic Monster) was directed by Jun Fukuda. He was the director of previous series entries Sea Monster, Son of, Gigan, and Megalon. Mr. Fukuda was the second most prolific director of Showa Era Godzilla films, behind Ishiro Honda himself. In fact, the only Godzilla film (out of the 14 original entries, not counting other Toho sci-fi/monster efforts) to NOT be directed by one of those two men, was 1955's Godzilla Raids Again, the direct sequel to the original film, which was directed by Motoyoshi Oda. While Fukuda's initial 60s turns at the G-wheel were somewhat lighter, island-bound affairs, more typical of the decade in general, his 70s Godzilla films (with the possible exception of Megalon), tended to trend a bit darker.
This is especially evident in this film, as it opens with a great volcanic eruption, and my 2nd favorite kaiju monster, Anguirus, witnessing what appears to be Godzilla rising up and storming off towards Japan. But you see, Angy (as his friends call him) is a smart cookie, and he can tell that something is amiss. So early in the story, as this "Godzilla" is very robotically stomping along, Anguirus ambushes him, and jumps his ass, managing to claw off a chunk of his flesh! Underneath, wouldn't you know it, this strange "Godzilla", whose mechanical roar sounds NOTHING like the real deal, reveals shining silvery metal. Trying his best to put an end to this charlatan, Anguirus takes him on, but the Fake G is too much for him, and in perhaps the most brutal monster scene of the original films, and VERY reminiscent of King Kong (in fact already mimicked in 1967's King Kong Escapes), Fake G straight up forcibly breaks poor Angy's jaw! Seeing that as a kid kinda mortified me a bit. But Anguirus is a resilient bastard, and manages to run away, tunneling underground (an ability he only displays in this movie).
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| Godzilla vs......Godzilla? |
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| The imposter REVEALED! |
Thankfully, Anguirus probably ran back to tell the REAL Godzilla what was up, because before long, Real G shows up to confront Fake G, in a quite literally explosive battle. Godzilla does some real damage, clearly pissed that someone is trying to ruin his good name (wouldn't you be?), and in surprisingly short time, the imposter reveals himself in a blaze of electric flames. Where once the Fake G stood, now you saw the mechanoid terror above, in all of his metallic glory! And let me tell you something, this Mechajerk was no joke! He was outfitted, as you learn throughout the film, with jets for flight, heavy plated armor, re-loadable missile fingers, and bad ass rainbow laser eye beams! And if THAT weren't enough, he ALSO has a chest panel that shoots electric bolts, AND he can create a force field around himself! Those aliens thought of everything! But wait...I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.
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| Those alien BASTARDS! |
I don't know what it is about Earth, but seriously. in Godzilla, many other old sci-fi films, classic comic books, Doctor Who, you name it, our home planet seems to be THE hot spot of the galaxy, that all of these other Cosmic Crumb-Bums want in on. In the Showa series alone, prior to Mechagodzilla, there had been no less than FIVE Toho films (including non-Godzilla fare), which saw dastardly aliens trying to take what's ours. They just won't stop! And the new kids on the block in this movie, inventors of the seemingly all-powerful Mechagodzilla, might just be the biggest jerks yet. Hailing from the "Third Planet of the Black Hole" (wherever the hell that is), where the last few batches of Xenos tried to use multiple monsters to attack us, these pricks are so arrogant, they think they're going to get it done with just ONE monster: Mechagodzilla.
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| Some of our heroes. |
Meanwhile, as is always the case in these monster movies, there do also happen to be human characters milling about, do their thing. In this particular case, a couple of brothers, the Shimizu brothers Keisuke and Masahiko, are busy studying different stuff in Okinawa. While one brother stumbles across an ancient statue (with a prophecy about ancient monsters to boot!), the other goes exploring a local cave, and discovers a chunk of strange, non-terrestrial metal, that comes to be called "Space Titanium". While Keisuke runs off with a hot archaeologist he meets named Saeko, to study more about the statue, Masahiko takes the metal chunk to Professor Hideto Miyajima and his daughter Ikuko, to identify it. It is during these escapades that these guys, these gals, and these professors, get into more adventures, with Dr. Miyajima and crew witnessing the first battle between Godzilla and Mechagodzilla and finding some more "Space Titanium", which sends them on a chase looking for its source.
While the brothers' uncle Dr. Wagura and Co., find themselves assaulted by people who are after the statue. Keisuke and Saeko also keep finding themselves running into a mystery man (pictured above), who claims to be a reporter, but he acts more like a spy. The two professors are of special note, as both are played by frequent Godzilla actors. Dr. Wagura is played by Hiroshi Koizumi, previously starring in Godzilla Raids Again, Mothra, Godzilla vs. Mothra, and Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster, among others). And Dr. Miyajima is played by none-other than Akihiko Hirata, who starred in the original Gojira as Dr. Serizawa, as well as Rodan, Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster, and Latitude Zero, among others.
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| The OTHER other monster. |
I won't spoil TOO much more of the plot, but I will say that around midway through the film, due to some hot coffee to the face of a returning statue thief, it is revealed (no joke), that the alien menace behind Mechagodzilla, are actually weird, green-faced APE men! Far out, right? Though not as far out as, say, the aliens really being giant COCKROACHES, ala Godzilla vs. Gigan. Anyone who's familiar with the old Mystery Science Theater 3000 show, might well be aware that Japan also produced OTHER ape-men science fiction properties in the 70s, and my guess is, someone over there took a real shine to the popular Planet of the Apes movies that were prevalent in the decade.
Godzilla, having faced some difficulty in his first encounter with his robotic doppelganger, certainly wasn't left all by his lonesome in this story. While his good buddy Anguirus was KO'ed by that mecha-bastard, Toho had another brand new monster up their sleeve for just such an occasion. That monster would be of the "Ancient Protector of the Okinawan Royal Family" variety, referred to in the western release as "King Caesar". You know, as in Emperor Caesar, from ancient Rome? Well, on that note, it just so happens not to be the monster's actual name. In truth, the giant fluffy guy you can see above, was really called "King Shisa", which to anyone up on their Chinese mythology, was a kind of guardian spirit, a sort of "Lion-Dog". And that's basically what good ol' "Caesar" is. Except that he can walk upright, he can box like a sonuvabich, and when evil monsters shoot inevitable beam attacks at him, he can reflect them right back AT them, with his own fancy eye beams! All in all, not a bad new monster, one of the cooler ones of the 70s, I think.
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| It's like looking in a mirror! |
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| Fun Fact: Punching Space Titanium HURTS! |
The only problem, is that to activate your Ancient Okinawan Protector home defense system, you've got to do some serious prayer-singing. In fact, it might take you an entire extended performance on a beach, before you finally get that sleepy giant to wake the hell up! But awake he does, and at first, Caesar actually tries to take on the Marauding Menace all by his lonesome. Without spoiling the WHOLE thing, let's just say he doesn't do so hot. BUT, our hero Godzilla finally shows up just in the nick of time, and these two strangers quickly perform the Mega-Powers handshake, and unite as the greatest tag team this world has ever known...besides Godzilla and Anguirus, that is.
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| A force field is basically cheating, right? |
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| Movie specific power activate! |
Leaving the final battle for you to enjoy yourselves, I will reiterate that those Black Hole jerks weren't messing about when they made Mecha-G. When your killer robot can spin his head around REAL fast, and generate a nearly impenetrable force field that hurts to even try and PUNCH? That's what I call advanced planning. Thankfully, as I've mentioned in more recent previous entries, the 70s Showa films had a bit of thing for introducing new one-film-only abilities that Godzilla employs in his fight against evil. In Hedorah, it was the goofy-as-hell use of his thermonuclear breath to be able to fly through the air...BACKWARDS! In Megalon, it was the somewhat infamous (thanks to MST3K), but in my opinion awesome "Sliding Tail Kick" attack.
And in "The Cosmic Monster"? Well when Godzilla went back to Monster Island to lick his wounds from Round 1 with Mecha-G, he was assailed by a random lighting storm. The lightning struck him several times, and somehow, it infused him with some manner of electromagnetic field. WHICH he conveniently was able to basically store up in his body, until right when he would need it, late in the story. It seems to have been a one-use sort of deal, so you can understand him saving it up, much like in a video game! Godzilla is nothing, if not a master of strategy.
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| In another life, they coulda been pals. |
All things considered, kid me was quite happy with Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla upon seeing/owning it. In fact, for a long time, even though I previously owned Godzilla vs. Megalon on tape, and would come to see Godzilla vs. Gigan and Terror of Mechagodzilla thanks to TNT's Monstervision, this gem would be my favorite 70s Godzilla flick for a long time. It wouldn't be until well into my 20s, that I would come to like Hedorah, aka "The Smog Monster" even better. At first I didn't even love Hedorah that much, as it was so WEIRD. But it really grew on me, and well into my adult years I came to be quite fond of it. But Mechagodzilla is still my 2nd favorite 70s G-flick, with good reason. Even IF Gigan extensively features my boy Anguirus.
I tend to always end these things by suggesting that, if you've never seen this particular film, I really think you should (I mean why would I talk about them if I didn't want you to WATCH them, right?). And Mecha-G is no different. It's one of the best 70s Godzilla films, and while I think it misses out on my personal Top 5, I'd say it's one of the better Showa films overall. It didn't originate the concept of a monster (or hero for that matter) having to face his own bionic double. Toho themselves had done that back in 1967 with King Kong Escapes (another movie I'll have to write about someday)! But if you ask me, while Mecha-Kong was cool, Mechagodzilla is the bee's knees. A perfect, armed-to-the-gills foil for the mighty Godzilla. And between you, me, and the internet, probably Godzilla's deadliest foe, this side of King Ghidorah.
So with this year's Halloween season WELL underway, if you do like I do (and you should), watching horror and monster movies in celebration, make sure to add Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla to your list! You'll thank me later. And with THAT said, there's now officially only ONE last Godzilla film of the Showa series to go! So make sure to keep a look out in October, for not only the last entry in this Godzilla Chronicles adventure (at least for a solid while), but ALSO, the 10 (yes TEN) Year Anniversary of Retro Revelations itself! Make sure to watch plenty of old films, and I'll see you next month!
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Here is the
full list of Godzilla Chronicles articles, if you've missed any:
1. The Beginning
2. Gojira (aka Godzilla: King of the Monsters)
3. Godzilla Raids Again
4. King Kong vs. Godzilla
5. Mothra vs. Godzilla
6. Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster
7. Invasion of the Astro Monster (aka Godzilla vs. Monster Zero)
8. Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster
9. Son of Godzilla
10. Destroy All Monsters
12. Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster
13. Godzilla vs. Gigan