Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

This article is about the 1974 film. For the 1993 film, see Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II. For the 2002 film, see Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla (1974), Japanese poster
Directed by	Jun Fukuda
Written by	Jun Fukuda Masami Fukushima Shinichi Sekizawa Hiroyasu Yamamura
Produced by	Tomoyuki Tanaka
Starring	Masaaki Daimon Kazuya Aoyama Reiko Tajima Beru-Bera Lin Hiromi Matsushita Gorō Mutsumi Akihiko Hirata Hiroshi Koizumi Kenji Sahara Shin Kishida Isao Zushi
Cinematography	Yuzuru Aizawa
Music by	Masaru Sato
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	March 21, 1974 (1974-03-21)
Running time	84 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (ゴジラ対メカゴジラ, Gojira Tai Mekagojira), is a 1974 Japanese science fiction kaiju film produced by Toho. Directed by Jun Fukuda and featuring special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano, the film starred Gorō Mutsumi, Hiroshi Koizumi and Kenji Sahara. The 14th film of the Godzilla series, it featured a slightly bigger budget with higher production values then the previous few films of the series. The film introduced a mechanical version of Godzilla called Mechagodzilla, and also introduced a character called King Caesar based on the legend of the Shisa.

The film received a very limited theatrical release in the United States in the Spring of 1977 by Cinema Shares as Godzilla vs. The Bionic Monster. After roughly a week into its release, the film was reissued with the altered title of Godzilla vs. The Cosmic Monster.

Plot

In Okinawa an ancient statue is unearthed with a prophecy inscribed on it: "When a black mountain appears in the sky and the sun rises in the West, a monster will arise to destroy the world. But when the red moon sets and the sun rises in the west, two monsters will arise to save the people." The statue of the mythical monster King Caesar, protector of Okinawa, is vital should the prophecy come true.

Before long, the signs appear: a giant black mountain shaped cloud is seen and a mirage creates the illusion of a Western sunrise. Godzilla (or so it seems) emerges from Mount Fuji and begins a destructive rampage. Former ally Anguirus confronts "Godzilla", only to be violently defeated when Godzilla breaks Anguirus' jaw.

Another Godzilla shows up to battle the rampaging Godzilla and reveals it to be an impostor. It is Mechagodzilla, a robot created by ape aliens of the Third Planet from the Black Hole to destroy the real Godzilla and conquer Earth. Mecha-Godzilla unleashes his full arsenal and a wounded Godzilla collapses into the sea. Too damaged to continue the attack, Mecha-Godzilla retreats for repairs. Returning to Monster Island, Godzilla is repeatedly energized by mysterious bolts of lightning.

His repairs completed, Mecha-Godzilla is unleashed to destroy King Caesar, but Godzilla comes to the rescue. After a bloody battle between the three titans, Godzilla generates a magnetic field against Mecha-Godzilla, dragging the metal robot within reach. Godzilla twists Mecha-Godzilla's head off and the robot's body explodes. The aliens' base explodes, and both King Caesar and Godzilla return home.

Cast

• Masaaki Daimon as Gosuke Shimizu
• Kazuya Aoyama as Masahiko Shimizu
• Akihiko Hirata as Professor Hideto Miyajima
• Hiroshi Koizumi as Professor Wagura
• Reiko Tajima as Saeko Kaneshiro
• Hiromi Matsushita as Eiko Miyajima
• Goro Mutsumi as Kuronuma, Black Hole Alien Leader
• Shin Kishida as Nanbara, Interpol Agent
• Godzilla, The King of the Monsters and the titular character of the film who is also prophosised to defeat the mecha-monster MechaGodzilla.
• Anguirus, a giant ankylosaurus creature who fights MechaGodzilla but is severly defeated.
• King Caesar, The Guardian Monster of Okinawa and a giant lion-like deity who represents the Azumi Royal family and awakens to help Godzilla defeat MechaGodzilla, as he is also prophosised.
• MechaGodzilla, The Magnificent Machine and the main antagonist of the film, MechaGodzilla is a alienetic, cybernetic double of Godzilla created by an alien race.

Production

Giant Monsters Converge on Okinawa! Showdown in Zanpamisaki was the original concept for the 20th anniversary film for the Godzilla franchise. The story was created by Shinichi Sekisawa and Masami Fukushima, while the screenplay was developed by Hiroyasu Yamaura and Jun Fukuda and was submitted in 1973. The concept continued the trend of aliens using a monster to try and conquer Earth, and was also the second attempt to try and create an entry in the Godzilla series that took place in Okinawa after the scrapped Godzilla vs. Redmoon. Nami, best known as the princess who awoke King Caesar by singing to him. If she was going to play a similar role with Mothra in this production, or something else altogether, is unknown.

Eventually, this idea was taken back to the drawing board for a heavy reworking. In its next phase of script writing, Mothra and Garugan had been replaced by King Barugan and Mechagodzilla respectively while this new draft was titled Showdown in Zanpamisaki: Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla. The Garuga Aliens were also replaced with the Black Hole Aliens, while the disguise aspect of Mechagodzilla was added in. In terms of King Barugan, the creature was a crimson and bronze colored monster that was 50 meters tall, weighed 30,000 tons, boasted prism reflective eyes and horns that were said to deliver the final blow to his enemies. During the concept phase, the horns were dropped and the name was changed to King Caesar, leading to the final version of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974).

Box office

According to The Godzilla Fan News Letter by Richard H. Campbell, the film sold approximately 1,330,000 tickets in Japan - modest business, but an improvement of about 350,000 over the previous last 5 Godzilla films.

English versions

Cinema Shares theatrical posters for the 1977 U.S release of the film. The film was originally released as Godzilla vs The Bionic Monster (left), before being renamed Godzilla vs The Cosmic Monster (right) roughly a week into its release.

In 1977, Cinema Shares purchased the rights to Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and released the movie through Downtown Distribution under the title Godzilla vs. Bionic Monster. As they had done with Godzilla vs. Megalon the previous year, Cinema Shares simply utilized the Toho-produced English dub. In July 1977, Universal Studios filed a lawsuit threat against Cinema Shares, claiming that the title was too similar to their TV productions, The Six Million Dollar Man and its spin-off The Bionic Woman. Cinema Shares retitled the film Godzilla vs. Cosmic Monster.

As with most of the other 1970's Godzilla films, the Japanese version of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla featured several scenes with violent content and strong language. Strangely, Cinema Shares retained the violent monster action, including a shot of Godzilla spraying blood. The edits include:

• A new title card. In the Japanese and international versions, Godzilla's name flashes several times while a mountain explodes in the background. As Masaru Sato's music plays, the full title is revealed. In the Cosmic Monster version, the screen turns bright red (covering up the original title) and the film title and copyright information appear. Widescreen versions of the title sequence feature the poster art to the right of the title, but this is not visible in the 16mm prints that have circulated since the early 1980s.

• The opening credits have been deleted.

• Also deleted is a scene in which Nanbara, the INTERPOL agent, strangles one of the aliens. The final shoot-out between Nanbara and three of the simian invaders is similarly edited.

• At the end of the Japanese version, King Caesar returns to his resting place and Godzilla to the sea. In a short epilogue, the Azumi princess runs through her homeland celebrating with many of the characters. One of the King Caesar statues appear as the Japanese symbol for "end" appears. Cinema Shares cut this short epilogue, with the exception of the final shot of the statue. A red bar appears on the right side of the screen, with "THE END" overlaid on it.

In 1988, New World Video released the film along with Godzilla 1985, and Godzilla vs. Gigan. This print was Toho's original, uncut international version, which restored all the cuts made by Cinema Shares. The film was shown on The Sci-Fi Channel throughout the 1990s under the title Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster, although this version was in fact Toho's international version with a new title card.

In 2004, TriStar released the international version on DVD. The original Japanese audio was included as an extra audio track.

File:Gvsmgonset.jpg

Ise Mori (Mechagodzilla), plays around with some school children visiting the set of the film during production.

Titles

• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla - Japanese title, Toho's official English title, and the UK and US home video title.

• Godzilla vs. The Bionic Monster - Original American title.

• Godzilla vs. The Cosmic Monster - Second American release title and UK theatrical release title.

Reception

The movie has become popular among fans in recent years for its exotic music, colorful special effects and entertaining monster fights. The film's robust themes and fairly complex plot stand out against a time when the Godzilla franchise was being fueled by increasingly lower production values.

Outside of the circle, however, public reception is luke-warm at best and the movie garners only 6 stars (out of a possible ten) at IMDB. However, it does retain an above-average score (60%) at Rotten Tomatoes.

References

"Godzilla vs. Bionic Monster; Who can resist the transistor terror?" in Famous Monsters of Filmland, July 1977 (#135). Cover, and p. 16-25. (pictures & synopsis)

External links

• Godzilla on the web (Japan)
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla at IMDb
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla at Rotten Tomatoes
• "ゴジラ対メカゴジラ (Gojira tai MekaGojira)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-07-18.