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[Torgo]

Terror of Mechagodzilla

Japanese Title: Mechagodzilla's Counterattack
Alternate Title: Terror of Godzilla
Release Date: March 15, 1975
Monster Roster: Godzilla, Mechagodzilla, and Titanosaurus
Stock Footage Monsters: King Ghidorah, Rodan, and Manda

Our story begins with a submarine expedition to find the remains of Mecahgodzilla, because through all these years of dealing with giant monsters and space invaders has not taught mankind to just leave s*** alone. At the depths of the ocean, they discover that the scrap metal that was once Mechagodzilla is now missing. Not taking the hint that maybe, just maybe something's not right, they continue on. Eventually, however, they run into a giant monster that destroys them.

The final transmission from the sub dubs it a giant dinosaur. But wait! There's more! Many years ago, a scientist named Dr. Mafune claimed he discovered a massive dinosaur named Titanosaurus in that sea, yet he was labeled a crackpot.

That's right, kids! It's a world with Godzilla, Rodan, Anguirus, Baragon, and Gorosaurus, but when a dinosaur is discovered, our initial reaction is still "What?! That's absurd!"

Anywho, a Japanese agent named Ichinose becomes convinced Mafune was correct, and goes in search of him to learn more. But upon knocking on his door...YOWZAH! Dr. Mafune is hot!!! Oh, wait, that's his daughter, Katsura. Katsura informs him that Dr. Mafune died several years prior. Disappointed, Ichinose leaves, yet confindent that he had just found, what Patrick Swayze would call, "his new Saturday Night Thing."

Unfortunatly, this female is a fembot. For Dr. Mafune isn't really dead, he is just deep in hatred with humanity and hiding from the world. All this because we laughed at him, mocked his work, and kicked him out of his profession? Jeez, what a drama queen. But as it turns out, this seclusion took it's toll on his daughter, who was electrocuted and died in his arms.

Enter the Blue Monkey Space Aliens from Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla Who Are Now Not Monkeys Due to Budgetary Constraints. They put a bunch of cogs and crap into her, and now she's a robot. Thankful that they've spared his daughter's life, Mafune dedicates his services to them. They help him build a device that would allow Mafune to control his discovery, Titanosaurus, and in turn, he helps them adapt that technology to control the new and improved Mechagodzilla, which was being rebuilt in secret.

In the meantime, just because Katsura's heart is cold as ice, doesn't mean she doesn't have womanly needs. She falls in love with Ichinose, and returns to his agency's headquarters to warn him not to go looking for Titanosaurus. He tells her it's too late, they've already built another sub and plan to head out the next day. He asks her to come with them, but she refuses and returns home. Cyborg or not, typical stubborn woman. What's wrong with suicide missions?

The sub finds Titanosaurus, and Titanosaurus attacks them (no s***). But while trying to contact headquarters, Ichinose sends out a supersonic wave by accident and Titanosaurus goes nuts. Claiming the supersonic wave was what caused Titanosaurus to back off, the Japanese government builds a much bigger one, because size does matter (rimshot). Though, while in love Ichinose, Katsura is still loyal to her father. In order to find out what weapon this is that drove their beloved pet wild, she uses her charms to get Ichinose to spill his guts.

Unable to wait for a command by his alien overlords, Mafune sends out Titanosaurus to destroy Tokyo while Katsura sneaks past security and destroys the machine. The plan works, until Godzilla shows up because this is his movie and he's tired of waiting to be called onto the set. Godzilla chases off Titanosaurus and the city is safe, yet the supersonic machine is destroyed.

While the aliens should be pissed at Mafune, ultimatly they feel he had the right idea. They decide it's time to launch Mechagodzilla, just for the hell of it, with Titanosaurus as his sidekick. Together, they lay waste to the city.

But of course, Godzilla hears all the commotion and reluctantly turns back. "I just left, goddamnit! Can't you keep that place clean for 10 minutes?!"

The odds are stacked against Godzilla, two to one, and humanity is racing to rebuild the supersonic machine to defend their world. Will the aliens have the last laugh, or will steamy man on cyborg love conquer all?

Now that's a pornographic fan fiction waiting to happen.

Review

That's better. While not without blemishes due to production values and the fact that Godzilla movies had gone so far down the children's film road that there was no turning back, Terror of Mechagodzilla is hands down the better Mechagodzilla film of the Showa era.

One of the more interesting notes about the film's production is that Toho actually held a contest for young screenwriters for the next Godzilla screenplay. The chosen winner was, of course, Terror of Mechagodzilla , though the final product is reworked from the original screenplay. The primary difference between the screenplay and the finished film is that Titanosaurus was originally two monsters called the Titans who merged together to become the giant Titanosaurus.

This is the first of two times Toho has done this for Godzilla, the other resulting in 1989's Godzilla vs. Biollante (and which also brought about the existance of the film Gunhed, which was a runner up).

Brought in to bring the champion script to life is none other than the great Ishiro Honda, directing not only his final Godzilla movie, but his final kaiju film and his final film period (not including two co-directing credits with, his lifelong friend, the legendary Akira Kurosawa in the early 90's). After taking a breather from the franchise after the disaster that is Godzilla's Revenge, Honda corrects what Jun Fukuda did wrong in the previous entry by telling a story that not only shows respect for it's franchise, but is playful enough to make it an enjoyable romp.

The human arch, while not groundbreaking, is far more interesting than Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla's half-hearted "spies, monkeys, and sacred relics are cool" script. The story between a man and his cyborg love interest is decently original, and not as boring as it probably could have been. Dr. Mafune's rage against mankind acts as an interesting counter-arc, displaying an argument for the destruction of mankind.

One could accuse this film of being monster-light, however. During an 80 minute span, Godzilla isn't even mentioned until 45 minutes in. The setup demands payoff. How are the brawls?

The monster scenes are energetic and fun, but have one problem that makes them somewhat lacking in retrospect, they defy pretty much the any law of physics that you know via common sense. The monsters are tossed all over the place, yet instead falling in a downward motion like you know they should, they kind of hover and float upward before dropping and hitting the ground. I don't know if this was an intentional stylistic decision or just something they didn't have the money to do better on, but it happens several times during the course of the film.

But for the most part, they're really fun to watch. I believe this is the first time Godzilla has ever had his enemies gang up on him while he fights solo (unless one counts the three Kamacuras in Son of Godzilla). Usually it's the other way around as Godzilla enlists the aid of others to kick some kaiju ass. The new kaiju, Titanosaurus, isn't bad. He doesn't seem to be popular, though, since Toho never opted to include him in any future instalment in the series.

However, the ultimate monster moment happens in Godzilla's entrance in the film. While Titanosaurus is destroying Tokyo, the camera pans to a dark portion of the city where a shadow rises up from behind a building. Cut back to Titanosaurus who gets a facefull of radioactive fire. Pan back to the building and zoom in...Godzilla lets out a mighty roar! That is why Ishiro Honda is the master of the monster, people. That's f***ing amazing.

Ultimatly the problems with the film are that the Godzilla series is on it's last legs and Toho desperatly didn't want this series to die. The aliens from the previous film are changed from Blue Space-Monkeys to scared humanoids with silly helmets. It's a change that goes without explaination, but is obviously just something they did to cut costs and make the film on the cheap.

But by the time Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and Terror of Mechagodzilla came out, the damage done by films like Godzilla vs. Gigan and Godzilla vs. Megalon had already been done and the series was beyond repair. Audiences didn't respond to Toho's late attempt to return the series to form, and Terror of Mechagodzilla became the least attended Godzilla movie of all time (and still is).

And thus, the Showa series ends, not with a bang, but with a solid and energetic entry that leaves a smile on our face. The final image is fitting, as Godzilla just simply swims off in the lonely sea. Goodnight sweet king. See you in nine years.

[Torgo]

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II

Japanese Title: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
Release Date: December 11,1993
Monster Roster: Godzilla, Mechagodzilla, Baby Godzilla, Rodan, and Mecha-King Ghidorah

If there's one thing the government always needs, it's more f***ing awsome firepower. After their first attempt at building a weapon to combat Godzilla, the areal vehicle Garuda, is deemed inadequate, scientists recover the remains of Mecha-King Ghidorah, the monster cyborg from the future. Japan's new Self Defense Force section, G-Force, studies it to the point that they can reconstruct it into the ultimate weapon...

Mechagodzilla! Why all the other nations don't object to Japan having their own giant metal monster, I have no f***ing clue.

Anywho, an expedition at Adona Island find a next that contained two eggs. One has hatched, the other still slumbers. Dreaming about making the world's largest hardboiled egg (somebody call Guiness), the scientists naturally take it into custody. However, the occupant of the hatched egg, a giant mutated Pteranodon named Rodan, appears and sees a bunch of pesky humans stealing his baby brother. Rodan attempts to play "bestest big brother ever" (yet, you know he's going to give his sibling a noogie once he hatches) and tries to save the day, but is interupted from his retrieval by Godzilla. Surfacing from the ocean, Godzilla and Rodan lock into a brutal battle, which Godzilla eventually ends up the victor of. However in the meantime, the scientists have escaped, dreaming of their well deserved lunch they're going with whip this egg into.

But, before that happens, the egg hatches. Much to the surprise of the team who stole it from it's nest...er, I mean studied it in the interest of science, the egg is not that of a Pteranodon, but a small baby Godzillasaur. Dubbing him the very original name of Baby, the newborn adopts a scientist named Azusa as his mother.

Awww.

But the heart warming Full House moment is not to last, for Godzilla is rampaging Japan in search of Baby. The time has come to unleash Mechagodzilla. After a long and tedious sequence of closeups featuring every possible angle of the f***ing robot, Mechagodzilla is launched into battle with the mighty King of the Monsters. While Mechagodzilla proves effective at first, one of it's weapons backfires and knocks it out. Confused as to what happened to his opponant, Godzilla just walks away and starts playing in the streets again. Eventually, like all frustrated people who have lost something, he searches for two minutes and gives up. It's hopeless!

But G-Force has been studying Baby in the meantime, and discover that he has a second brain shoved up his ass that controls his lower body functions. G-Force decides to use this discovery to their advantage. By bringing psychic hottie and Heisei Godzilla series regular Miki Saegusa, they convince her to use her psychic link with Godzilla to lock in on the second brain so Mechagodzilla can target it and destroy it, leaving Godzilla crippled and unable to walk.

All this and more! G-Force has taken Baby into custody in order to use him as a decoy to lure Godzilla into their trap, something both Azusa and Miki object to strongly. G-Force doesn't listen to their whining, because they see it more as an asset instead of a pet (you have to admit, even though having your own Dinosaur would make for the greatest guard dog ever, imagine the dog house you'd have to build!).

Sensing Baby's need for help, Rodan mutates even more heavily and is now equiped with a heat beam of his own (New and Improved! While supplies last!). Rodan flies into Japan to save Baby, only to wind up squaring off with both Mechagodzilla and Garuda, and becomes mortally wounded in the process.

Not long after Godzilla arises, falling for G-Force's trap. Mechagodzilla and Garuda combine into the Kaiju-Megazord...er, I mean Super Mechagodzilla, and the final battle begins. Could this be the end for Godzilla?

Review

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (despite the title, is not a sequel to 1974's Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla) is probably the most love it or hate it film of the Heisei series, because I've seen both passionate embracing of it's non-stop action and passionate despising of it's silly nature and annoying characters. I'm of the former myself. This flick's an action packed thrill-ride.

Godzilla first appears 15 minutes in, and is a constant presence throughout. The redesigns for Mechagodzilla and Rodan are top notch, and the melee action is gripping. The downside? Both Mechagodzilla and Rodan are both very limited in movement. In the case of MechaG, the Heisei series has opted for a heavier feel instead of kinetic tooth-and-claw brawling, making it feel more like a vehicle instead of a living creature. MechaG is primarily a beam weapon that walks. Rodan, on the other hand, is a very ambitious design that had to be portrayed by puppet. Unfortunatly, the puppet is very stiff and features little to no movement below the neck, other than a slow wing flap. The result is a very strange feel as Rodan kind of glides instead of flying. It really doesn't look that good, but I give them kudos for trying.

There's also the case of giving Rodan a heat beam. Why was that neccessary? Wasn't he already cool enough without it?

On the human side of things, the "adopted mother" story with Azusa and Baby is very sweet and decently enjoyable. However the majority of it is ruined by the primary male character of Kazuma, who is less of a hero and more a nuisance. Had the character been erased from the film entirly, I have no doubt the film would have been much more warmly recieved by those who detract from it.

Other than stiff monster work and our main anti-hero, the film has no glaring faults. Though, as of right now, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II is the only film of the Heisei series to be released with a Japanese audiotrack in the United States. Unfortunatly, for those willing to watch it with subtitles, you're in for quite a strange experience. The subtitles used are actually just a closed captioning for the dubbing. Not that big of a deal, mind you, except a good portion of the military scenes are portrayed in English, leaving the subs unneccesary. The English speaking scenes also feature some dreadful acting, but considering that Asia has never had much luck with English speaking actors in the first place (see Dragon Wars for a prime example), it's forgivable. In fact, the thick Asian accents on some of the crew makes the subtitles quite handy.

Call me crazy, but I've always enjoyed this movie. It's one of my fave Heisei era G films. I wouldn't reccommend it outside to established Godzilla fans, though. This one is for the fanboys.

[Torgo]

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla

Japanese Title: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
Release Date: December 15, 2002
Monster Roster: Godzilla and Kiryu
Stock Footage Monsters: Mothra and Gaira

Millennium Timeline: Godzilla attacked in 1954 exactly the way Godzilla, King of the Monsters said, with only one exception. The Oxygen Destroyer that vaporized Godzilla only vaporized his flesh and organs, not his bones. Since 1954, Japan has been attacked by different Kaiju on different occasions, the only confirmed being Mothra and Gaira, bringing both Mothra and War of the Gargantuas into continuity, and (via connection to War of the Gargantuas) Frankenstein Conquers the World, as well. It has often been theorized that the films Rodan, Varan the Unbelievable, Atragon, and King Kong Escapes take place in continuity also, though the film itself never confirms it. Kamoebas from Space Amoeba appears in the follow up, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., but the origin of the beast and it's fate in Space Amoeba makes it's inclusion into continuity unlikely.

In the year 1999, Japan is caught off-guard by the appearance of a second Godzilla. Japan launches it's Anti-Mega Losses Force (I s*** you not, that's their actual name) and the uber awsome Maser Tanks that have failed to work on so many monsters in the past, but are too damn cool to get rid of. Amung the A.M.L. Force soldiers is Akane, who was hired for her fine ass, but kept because she is bad ass. The A.M.L. Force engages Godzilla, and promptly fails, but during the confusion of the battle, Akane accidentally gets an entire group of soldiers killed through a slapstick routine of klutzy mistakes that would make the Three Stooges proud.

In the wake of Godzilla's attack, the Prime Minister approves the construction of a giant cyborg to combat Godzilla...a Mechagodzilla (what else?). Scientists have retrieved the remains of the original Godzilla from 1954 and build the ultimate machine around them.

Four years pass, and Mechagodzilla is finally completed. Dubbed "Kiryu" for some dumb reason that's never explained, the machine is backed up by Squadron Kiryu (as stupid as this name is, you have to admit it's a step up from Anti-Mega Losses Force) and Akane at the helm controling the cyborg, ready to take revenge on the monster. But she is haunted by the claims that her comrads loss of life was her fault, and now she has something to prove.

So gear up the giant robot and get ready for some lizard wrasslin'! Godzilla has just surfaced again, and Kiryu is ready for action! In what is probably the brightest move ever concieved by the Japanese military since giant monsters appeared, Kiryu is unmanned, and is controlled by Akane onboard of three areal ships that accompany Kiryu into action, but from a safer distance.

Kiryu engages Godzilla, and nails the lizard's tail to the wall. Godzilla pretty much gets his ass handed to him, until he gets the bright idea of bellowing a mighty roar. At the sound of this, Kiryu freezes, allowing Godzilla to escape in the nick of time. Kiryu then begins to move by himself and goes on a rampage that would make it's tissue doner proud. Eventually, Kiryu runs out of power and shuts down.

What happened? Godzilla's roar awakened the tortured soul of the original Godzilla deep inside the bones that Kiryu was built around? Nah, that's about as insane as turning a dead giant lizard into giant robot to defend humanity. Oh wait...now it's starting to sound better.

Politics come into play, and the Mechagodzilla project is on the verge of being shut down. It's bad enough that a monster surfaces from time to time, now the government is using taxes to build them too. Still, repairs are underway on Kiryu and, sure enough, Godzilla arises again. But should Kiryu be given a second chance?

What would our finale be without some giant monster action?

Review

The previous film, Godzilla; Mothra; King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, brought in the most acclaim of the Millennium series, and the most box office as well. The wisest move Toho probably could have made was ask Shusuke Kaneko to come back and helm more Godzilla flicks and redefine Godzilla for a new era. That didn't happen. Instead they invited back Masaaki Tezuka, director of the much less successful Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, and returned to the tired same old formula.

Good.

I don't hate Kaneko or GMK, I just don't get what I want in a Godzilla flick out of him. He can f*** around with Gamera all he wants, but when you play with Godzilla, you're playing with something personal to me. GMK was a decent change of pace, but I'm not sure if I want any more of it.

Masaaki Tezuka, on the other hand, is more of a blockbuster action director and less of a craftsman than Kaneko, but that's more in tune with what I want from a G flick. You can claim Godzilla has the souls of the dead Japanese crammed inside him all you want, but in the end when I'm disecting your cryptic message in your giant monster movie, the most startling revealation I find is that I genuinly don't give a s***.

Tezuka delivers what I love about the Godzilla series and crams it into one entertaining package. Energetic monster action, property damage, and fantasticly absurd science blending together into a silly, escapist Science Fiction/Fantasy extravaganza.

In the case of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, Tezuka takes a concept that was planted in the "Monster Wars" episodes of Godzilla: The Series and expands it into a feature film. In that American Saturday morning cartoon show, the remains of the original Godzilla that attacked New York in 1998 were recovered by aliens and turned into Cyber-Godzilla. Upon seeing another member of his species, the Godzilla of the series questioned his allegance to humanity and followed the cyborg blindly. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla is the same thing, except there are no aliens and roles are reversed. In this case, Mechagodzilla is the being that's awoken by attacking his own flesh and blood.

The new Mechagodzilla design, Kiryu, is badass. It manuvers and brawls far better than either the Showa or Heisei era designs could ever have dreamed of. I love the concept of this Mechagodzilla being built around the remains of the original Godzilla as well, breathing new life into the concept of the giant cyborg. His new arsenal of missles and lasers bring some hardcore firepower to the stage, and his newest weapon, a freezing weapon called Absolute Zero, is breathtaking.

The kaiju scenes are kinetic and fun. The final battle, in particular, seems anime inspired in some of it's stylistic choices. It's one of the most unique Godzilla fights I've ever seen. Godzilla's new design isn't bad, as it tries to cross the original Millennium design with that of the Heisei Godzilla. It looks akward at times with it's giant doll eyes, but overall it's a much more appealing suit than the one used in GMK.

And what review of GXMG would be complete without mentioning the fine and foxy Yumiko Shaku, who's womanly form is damn fine, but looks just as sexy (if not sexier) in military uniform. I'd watch this movie seven times a day just for her. Growl.

And the award for "Hottest Babe in a Godzilla Movie" goes to..."

I think I can definatly say that Masaaki Tezuka is one of my favorite directors of the G series. He may deliver familiar material, but he delivers it in a way that outshines those that are trying something new with it. Sometimes something new isn't as much fun. Tezuka's trilogy of Millennium films may never wind up fan favorites, but they're definatly on my guilty pleasure shelf. And Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla is the best of the three.

[Torgo]

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

Japanese Title: Godzilla vs. Mothra vs. Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.
Release Date: December 13, 2003
Monster Roster: Godzilla, Kiryu, Mothra, and Kamoebas

Millennium Timeline: Sequel to Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla.

It is one year after the battle between Kiryu and Godzilla. Kiryu is still under repair and Godzilla has remained unsighted since. An unidentified flying object is sighted flying over the Pacific, and during the military encounter with the aircraft, a single photo was taken. It looks like a giant, colorful moth wing.

Guess who?

Later on, old man Shin'ichi Chujo is payed a visit by the two fairy Shobijin of Mothra, whom he met in the 1961 film Mothra. Not at all put off by the fact that two tiny women are stalking him, they proceed to have a delightful conversation.

"How ya' doing?"

"Oh same old, same old. Riding giant moths, singing to eggs, getting pissed off about the bones of a giant lizard being used to make a giant robot to combat similar lizard."

"...I'm sorry?"

"Oh yeah, haven't you heard? If the bones of the original Godzilla aren't returned to their watery grave, Mothra will kill you all. Well, gotta run. Have a nice day!"

Startled by this revelation, Shin'ichi goes to Squadron Kiryu and demands they shut down the project because the tiny fairy woman and their giant moth told him to. While Shin'ichi make an ::ahem:: interesting point, the government ultimatly decides to keep repairing Kiryu.

Meanwhile, the carcass of a giant monster sized sea turtle named Kamoebas has washed ashore with giant bite marks on his neck. Now if this were Amity Beach, we'd have Roy Schieder screaming about another shark, but since it's Japan, that means Godzilla is ready to arise once again.

Eventually, Godzilla does arise in Tokyo, but the final checkups on Kiryu haven't been completed. While Tokyo is evacuated, Shin'ichi's grandson Shun, who was present during the Shobijin visit, decides to mark his schoolyard with Mothra's symbol. Why? Well, the entire school is empty, when else can you vandalize it and not get caught? Fortunatly enough, Mothra's symbol also acts as a call for help, and soon after it's formed, Mothra appears in Tokyo to battle Godzilla.

The battle wages well into the night, but Mothra becomes mortally wounded. Let's face it, a moth against a lizard...who would you place your money on? Kiryu is launced to aid Mothra, and the battle goes on.

On Himago Island, we find the Shobijin singing to Mothra's egg. After all these years of Mothra movies, I know one thing, if your Mothra gets damaged, there's always a replacement on the way or your money back. Now that's service! The egg hatches into not one, but two larvae. The baby Mothras head to Tokyo to aid their mother, because that's what every newborn should do.

How come every infant I come across isn't that helpful? Sheesh, what babies.

The battle wages on until the adult Mothra dies and Kiryu goes offline. Can Kiryu be repaired in time? Or are the baby Mothras on their own?

Review

I liked Masaaki Tezuka's Godzilla vs. Megaguirus and Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla much more than I was led to believe by other fans, so I was looking forward to Tezuka's third step into the Kaiju genre. Unfortunatly I was met with disappointment. Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. is the most boring of Tezuka's energetic line-up, and also the weakest of the entire Millennium series.

The ideas of Tokyo S.O.S. are promising, making the disturbed spirit of the original Godzilla the heart of the story, but ultimatly nothing exciting results from it. The human drama is flat and uninteresting. Hell, we don't even have Akane from the previous film to gawk at anymore (though Yumiko Shaku has a slight cameo early on, it's disappointing she couldn't reprise her role further). There is so little to give a rat's ass about here that when the monsters aren't onscreen, my attention wandered. This is a problem when you go 40 minutes before you finally get some Kaiju payoff. The closest thing to compelling human drama in the film doesn't happen until much later in the film, when a character is forced to fix Kiryu from the inside, only to get trapped inside during the process. He lies to his superiors and claims he made it out safely so the battle could continue. If only the rest of the script was as exciting as that, then we'd have something special on our hands.

I've always liked the continuity of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Tokyo S.O.S. best out of all the Millennium films. I love the way it worked the Godzilla that attacked Tokyo in 1954 and made it relevant to the script. I love the way it opened up and said other monsters had attacked Japan, allowing fans to make up their own timeline. It made the series mythological and brought back many fond memories of the Showa series while growing up. And working the original Mothra into continuity and directly sequeling it in this film was fun. Unfortunaty Mothra, neither character nor film, has never been a favorite of mine, so the link and appearance didn't really excite me much beyond that.

Plotwise, Tokyo S.O.S. is pretty much the same as Godzilla vs. Mothra, only instead of Godzilla and Mothra fighting over a giant egg, they're fighting over Kiryu...and Kiryu is an egg that fights back. I love Godzilla vs. Mothra, but Tokyo S.O.S. takes too many notes from it for my liking. Too many beats feel far too familiar, and I knew what was going to happen long before the film reached that point. Adding Mechagodzilla to the mix is interesting (since neither Mothra nor Mechagodzilla have ever shared the screen before), but it doesn't add any particular spice to the film to make it feel fresh.

The one saving grace to the film is that it is by far the most polished and visually appealing film of the entire series (American Godzilla notwithstanding), and when your film ends with 45 minutes of nonstop Kaiju action, that is a very good thing. Everything about the film looks great. Godzilla and Kiryu are the same designs from the previous film, and the Mothra puppet is the best I've ever seen. Even the Mothra larvae feel more organic than they usually do.

But that only amounts to very little, in the end. The first half is a chore, the second merely has it's moments. Tezuka's heart is in the right place by giving us one hell of a dominate battle, but he needs to spiffy his screenplay up.

[Torgo]

Atragon

Japanese Title Undersea Battleship
Release Date: December 22, 1963
Monster Roster: Manda

During a model photo shoot at the beach, when they are disrupted by a crazy car chase and something steamy and scaley climbing out of the water...the HORROR of Party Beach!

Sorry. But if you're a MSTie, that's what immediatly comes to mind.

Anywho, the car drives into the ocean and the pait of photographers saw every second of it. The deduce that this "Vapor Man" (no relation to The Human Vapor) is related to the disappearances to scientists across the Earth.

Paying attention? Good. The rest of the movie has very little to do with this. After that false start, to movie waits a few minutes, jiggles the keys, and finally gets the engine running.

Visited by a reporter, a retired Admiral named Kosumi is grilled about an old collegue during World War II who supposedly died during the final days of it, Captain Jinguji. He denies it and ghtey go about their lives.

Wait a minute...the movie's stalled again. Give me a second, I have to get jumper cables............

::click::click::click::VROOM:: THERE IT GOES!

Kosumi and his daughter Makoto are abducted by a taxi driver (I could say a certain line from a certain Robert DeNiro movie at this point, but I'll leave that to your imaginations). This taxi driver is an agent of an acient empire under the sea called Mu. It used to be Moo, but over the years, they decided it was silly to let their most sacred animal, the cow, name their empire and thought it was in their best interests to shorten it to something that can be taken more seriously. Finally the opening begins to have something to do with the movie, and Mosumi and Makoto are saved by the photographers, Susumu and Yoshito, and the Mu agent jumps into the ocean and never surfaces.

Later while at a police station, a package arrives for Kosumi from the Mu Men of Mu (no that's not what they're called, but it was fun to type). Their immediate thought is a bomb, but instead of evacuating the room, the resident bomb expert decides it would be more fun to let the intended victims watch while he opens it. It turns out to not be a bomb, but a film. Oh god, please not another fan made Star Wars prequel from fanboys who claim they know more about Star Wars than George Lucas. Luckily it was just a film declairing world domination. The Mu people claim life underwater is boring and the Earth should prepare to be conquered, because their weapons are useless against them. All but one, the Atragon submarine being developed by the surviving Captain Jinguji (oh good, let's point out our one weakness in our declairation of war). The people of Mu ask the land mammals to destroy this submarine for them, and they won't kill too many of them.

The people of Earth refuse, and Mu destroys many cities around the globe in potentially exciting action sequences that we don't see a minute of.

Kosumi can't hold his tongue any longer, Jinguji is still alive and he knows where he lives. He also lets it slip out that Mokoto is not his daughter, but Jinguji's. Akward moment , moving on. Kosumi seeks out the aid of Jinguji with Mokoto, the two photographers, and that damned reporter guy from the beginning of the movie who you know for a fact is a Mu agent, but the movie hasn't said so yet, so you play along.

They find Jinguji, and he's a total asshole. He has built Atragon (despite the fact that it's often refered to as Atragon and it's the title of f***ing movie , the ship is actually called Gotengo), but he won't use it to save the world because he built it for Japan, and Japan alone! Of course, that's sound logic. The Mu people can destroy the entire world, but they'll never touch Japan!

Fairly soon, the Mu reporter that was a secret Mu agent shows himself to be from (dun dun DUN) Mu, and kidnaps Mokoto and her new photographer friend Susumu and are taken to Mu, where they are threatened to be fed to Manda, the giant sea serpent god of Mu.

It takes the kidnapping of his daughter to finally get Jinguji off his lazy ass and do something. Will Atragon be effective? Can they save them in time? Could this movie have even less action in it?

Review

I think I've seen a good amount of Ishiro Honda's films, including some that aren't covered on this site like Matango, Dogora, and Latitude Zero, and I really enjoy them. I really wanted to like Atragon, I found the ideas cool and potential for a lot of fun. But in the end, this is probably the worst Honda film I've ever seen (not including Godzilla's Revenge, which is at least 1/3 a Jun Fukuda movie by stock footage).

For a movie that sports a badass submarine that actually flies , it's light on Atragon/Gotengo action. The title ship doesn't really do anything until the last ten minutes, and when it does, it takes Mu out with so much ease that you'd have to wonder if an entire movie devoted to this story was actually worth the effort put into it.

The pacing is beyond slow and the movie seems to be trying attempting an adventurous vibe without actually being adventurous. It's easy to tell that it's a story about the ill-effects of blind patriotism, but the movie's lack of spectical is almost as stuborn as the submarine captain that refuses to save the entire world because he can't look past his own country. There's a meaning behind the story, it's just not any fun.

The special effects have their ups and downs. The giant explosion at the end is eye-catching, and some of the Atragon model-work is pretty good. But a lot of the matte shots are horrible and the undersea sequences lack any dynamic qualities.

Getting the worse end of this is the Kaiju, Manda, who would be showcased with better effect in Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla: Final Wars. Manda is a really cool design, and is a monster I reguard fondly, but his puppeteering in Atragon is very poor. It's often obvious that he isn't underwater most of the time, and, unfortunatly, all of his scenes take place there. His motions are too fast and akward for water pressure, and when they aren't, that's because he's floating motionless with very little effect.

Ultimatly, there isn't much to say about this bland movie. I think it was made many years before it should have been, when special effects were ready to make things like this faster and more intense, and on the whole make it a lot more exciting. Instead we got a forgetable feature that tried it's best, but that wasn't enough.

[Torgo]

Godzilla Raids Again

Japanese Title: Godzilla's Counterattack
Alternate Title: Gigantis, the Fire Monster
Release Date: April 24, 1955
Monster Roster: Godzilla and Anguirus

Something fishy is going down in Japan this time (Rimshot! I got a million of 'em! Ha-cha-cha!). Searching for fish in the seas, pilot Kobayashi has engine trouble and lands on a remote island. Rescued by fellow pilot and friend Tsukioka (wow...that's a name), they encounter rumblings afoot. By merely turning around they discover they are not alone on this island.

Richard Attenborough: "Welcome to Jurassic Park!"

Well...close, but not quite. But there are Dinosaurs on this island. Two giant reptiles, one standing upright with spinal plates on his back, and the other on all fours with a rock solid shell of spikes. After trying to figure out just how in the hell they went so long on the island without discovering two giant Dinosaurs fighting to the death, they ultimatly just shrug it off and enjoy the action. The two Dinosaurs tumble into the ocean, and don't arise.

Tsukioka and Kobayashi return to the mainland and tell their story to their employers. Normally, they'd be labled insane, but since a major reptile tore down Tokyo the year before, they caught their attention. A group of scientists are called in, one of which is Dr Yamane from Godzilla, King of the Monsters (w00t! Cameo guest star! We're officially a sequel now!) and he confirms that the creature that walked upright was indeed another Godzilla.

So...there were two? Where was the other one while the other one was having all the fun trampling citizens last year? Perhaps they were seperated to "reflect upon their relationship."

Anywho, the shelled one was described as an agressive species of Anklyosaurus called Anguirus (or Angilas, whatever. He's a monster too good for one name). Forgiving the fact that no such species of Anklyosaurus exists, the plot moves on.

Of course their biggest concern is that Godzilla will find his way to the mainland. And since a sequel to Godzilla, King of the Monsters can't leave out city destruction (comercialize it more! Sell! Sell! Sell!), Godzilla appears outside of Osaka. Instead of combating Godzilla head on like they did last time (and would do many times in the future), the Army actually tries to outthink the monster for a change. They shoot flares into the night sky and try to lure it away from the mainland. It works too...until a bunch of convicts f*** things up. Escaping during the evacuation, a group of prisoners get caught in a carchase and wind up crashing and blowing up. This bigger fire and roasted humans itrigues Godzilla far more than the flickering lights in the sky, and he heads back toward Osaka.

However, the lightshow has caught Anguirus' attention as well, and he surfaces to dance with Godzilla once more. The battle wages and Osaka falls. Godzilla emerges victorious and Anguirus is killed. Satisfied with his work, Godzilla heads back to sea.

During the aftermath, Tsukioka and Kobayashi join the hunt for Godzilla at sea. Kobayashi eventually spots Godzilla on a giant ice island (they have those in Japan?), and he keeps an eye on him until military aircraft and things that blow up real good are brought in. When those are uneffective, Kobayashi goes kamikaze and dives into Godzilla, only to get a face full of radioactive breath and eventually collides with a wall of ice, bringing an avalanche onto Godzilla.

So much for the emotional moment. The sacrifice of his best friend only succeeds in giving Tsukioka an idea. Immediatly the aircrafts begin bombing the walls of ice in hopes of entombing Godzilla.

How a giant lizard that can breath fire can get trapped by ice, I don't know. But we have to have an ending, don't we?

Review

Boy, how times change. Godzilla Raids Again used to be the rarest Godzilla movie in the States (along with Godzilla vs. Hedorah, but at least that one aired on the Sci-Fi channel once in a while). I remember winning it on eBay when I was younger, and being proud because it was the only G movie I hadn't seen. I got it in the mail and my life would be complete.

Then Classic Media aquired it and released it on DVD, shallowing up my proudest moment (though at least I didn't pay $150 for it, like those poor suckers on Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie before it got re-released. Heh, dumbasses). Now those of us that own Godzilla vs. Megalon, Godzilla 1985, and Godzilla vs. Biollante are the lucky ones (or at least as lucky as those who have seen Godzilla vs. Megalon can be).

I still remember popping it in for the first time. I was so excited, not even a second Godzilla's Revenge could have possibly disappointed me. As I watched it, it was official, I had just aquired the greatest Godzilla movie of all time.

Maybe I was a little too excited.

Honestly, I still enjoy this film a lot. Mostly because the kaiju action is too good for me to pass up. The highlight of the film is Godzilla's first monster brawl, against his future ally Anguirus. It's weird to see Godzilla and Anguirus at each other's throats after seeing them fight side by side in Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla vs. Gigan, but the fight is fast and furious. This is my favorite fight of the entire series, not because it's first, but because of how beastial the monsters act. In one of the more infamous goofs in Toho histroy, the effect of the fight happened by accident. It was intended to be slower than normal speed for an impression of mass. Instead of over-cranking the camera, they under-cranked it, and the monsters wound up fighting in fast-motion instead. Appearantly, the effect was enjoyed and kept. I'm glad, because it makes you feel as if Godzilla and Anguirus are really going at each other with everything they've got.

Unfortunalty, as a sequel to Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Godzilla Raids Again lacks oomf. Godzilla isn't a powerful metaphor anymore, and just a monster. Not neccessarily a bad thing, but the effect is akin of going from Jaws to Jaws 2 (With King Kong vs. Godzilla acting as Jaws III and Godzilla vs. Megalon acting as Jaws: The Revenge). Both are good movies, but in different ways. Jaws was a powerful thrillride of man vs. nature, and Jaws 2 was a fun B-movie. Godzilla Raids Again is also a B-movie, and is probably the most by-the-book one the series ever produced. Those behind it didn't neccessarily understand what made the last film so special, they were just told to make a monster movie and labled it "Gojira" to cash in while the stakes were hot.

One-timer 'Zilla director Motoyoshi Ota seems to be less of a "director" and more of a "mass production tool." Some of the film is effective, but mostly the "Get 'er done!" vibe kind of hampers it (yes, I did a Larry the Cable Guy reference. Nobody's more ashamed of this than I). There are a lot of things that could have been achieved here if the filmmakers were interested in building upon it.

I like that there is more than one Godzilla walking the Earth. I like that the military first attempts to use their brains rather than their brawn to overcome him this time. I even like the inventive ice tomb ending. It all seems a bit half assed, but it's still likable.

The costumes are a mixed bag. Angurus looks good, and Godzilla looks creepy enough, but he has "saddlebags." That and puppet used in close-ups looks nothing like the costume. There's an overuse of the hand puppets in general, as well. During the big fight with Anguirus, we're treated to a lot of akward footage of "puppet bumping." It's like a primal and violent version of Sesame Street.

But, still, it's a better movie than the American edit, dubbed Gigantis, the Fire Monster. There, we are treated to an awful dub (Complete with pointless narration. That's just "Banana Oil!"), mixed around roars, and Godzilla has been renamed "Gigantis" (I wonder if they would have stuck with that name if they knew what a pop culture phenomenon he would become). The fact that the dub seemed to try and seperate the film from the original film is probably a contributing factor in why it was so hard to track down over the years.

Luckily, Godzilla Raids Again is now widely seen. What your opinion of it strongly depends on what you want it to be. I think it's a hoot, myself. I love these types of monster movies, no matter how generic they are.

[Torgo]

And thus concludes all of the reviews I had on my site. I had some other material, but it's going to wait until a later date so I can concentrate on this portion.

As you can tell by my link list on page 1, it's a decent amount of material, but I'm not even halfway done. Your ol' pal Torgo definatly intends to continue into the future.

What's next in store for my marathon of the jolly green giant adventures? Well in celebration of Sony finally releasing the original Mothra on DVD, the next cluster of reveiws will be a tribute to the Godzilla Out of Print Trilogy! One is excelent, one is mediocre, and one is crap! But wait, there's more! I'm going to throw in a bonus review of a related film that has eluded Region 1 DVD to this day!

Until next time, this is the Thunderbucket, signing off!

[reaperg]

Upon reflection, none of the Mechagodzilla movies are ones I'd rate highly. The first three are just there for me, and the '93 film, which was so highly praised when it came out, doesn't hold up. Rodan's execution is particularly poor -- geysers and explosions just by gently gliding?

I'd say the 2002 film is the best MG vehicle; Tezuka still had fresh ideas and the final battle was great (and thanks for the Yumiko Shaku pic!). Tokyo S.O.S. is a step or two down because it borrows so much from "Mothra vs. Godzilla" and the GvsMG battle is too similar to the first. They should at least have had a Mothra-MG fight just because that's never been done on film.

[reaperg]

"Atragon": More old school Toho goodness, more focus on story than script and Jun Tazaki's day in the sun.

GRA: It's a shaky film, hastily made by a journeyman director and the pacing is slow. OTOH, the first-ever kaiju film is a fascinating study compared to future battles, with Goji and Anguirus battling more like wild animals than pro wrestlers. Plus, it's hard to go wrong with Minoru Chiaki, he always delivered.

[Torgo]

Aug 14, 2009 11:05:23 GMT -5 reaperg said:

(and thanks for the Yumiko Shaku pic!)

No prob. I wanted to get some shots of her from the movie, but all I wound up with was that crummy blurred one of her in her Squadron Kiryu uniform. Everytime I did a search with her name, I wound up with like 500 shots of her in her underwear. I figured, I might as well post one.

[reaperg]

Aug 14, 2009 11:30:15 GMT -5 Torgo said:

Aug 14, 2009 11:05:23 GMT -5 reaperg said:

(and thanks for the Yumiko Shaku pic!)

No prob. I wanted to get some shots of her from the movie, but all I wound up with was that crummy blurred one of her in her Squadron Kiryu uniform. Everytime I did a search with her name, I wound up with like 500 shots of her in her underwear. I figured, I might as well post one.

I've done plenty of searches for these actresses on my LJ, and I try to lean toward shots from the films/shows they were in, or more family-friendly shots (even though that's not at all necessary), but a lot of the pics I find are on the steamy side and I quite enjoy them.

[angilasman]

Godzilla: Tokyo SOS is on MyNetworkTV right now.

[dph]

While GRA is not my favorite, it does have something I like. If you compare the aftermath of the monster attacks in GRA to Gojira, you will notice a difference. In Gojira you were shown all of the death and destruction brought about by the monster. In GRA you are shown the aftermath from the survivor's point of view. These are the people that had to pick their lives back up and rebuild.

This is a very interesting lecture given by University of Kansas Professor William Tsutsui. Here he talks about social and political commentary in the Godzilla films and if I remember right he compares the first two movies to the two bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (with Gojira being Hiroshima and GRA being Nagasaki). Here he talks about what I just mentioned.

I look forward to more of your reviews Torgo.

[Torgo]

I must say that is a very interesting take on Godzilla Raids Again. Though, I must confest that I'm not entirly convinced that it was the intent of the film, given my general impression of the film's production itself. But maybe if Ishiro Honda had directed the film, I might see it differently.

But that is still an interesting idea to take into consideration.

[dph]

I'm finally starting to get some of the Japanese versions of the Heisei series. I started with Godzilla vs. Biollante and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. I got them mostly because I just can't stand dubbing. On top of that, the picture quality is usually better than the American releases even from Tristar. I just finished ordering GvM 92 and GvMG2. I've even replaced the last two VHS I had from the Showa era, Son of Godzilla and Destroy all Monsters.