Mechagodzilla Movies

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

If you have fond memories of watching Godzilla movies on tv on Saturday afternoons, then Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla is probably one of the films you saw. Released in the States in 1977 with an awful English dub, this movie is the stuff of which surrealistic memories are made. With the ridiculous story, hokey props, bizarre special effects, and the surprise bonus monsters hidden inside, we almost reached Godzilla Heaven with this tape in our VCR.

Part spy flick, part alien invasion movie, part Godzilla film, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla is all about style over substance. The dialogue is ridiculous, the plot too laughable to mention, and the acting is way over the top. But it's almost guaranteed to fascinate anyone who walks into the room during a screening.

Review: Stomp Tokyo.

Terror of Mechagodzilla

Ishiro Honda returns to the Godzilla director's chair after a five year absence (he was dabbling in Zone Fighter and Ultraman episodes), bringing with him some of the class and professionalism that was missing from the series during its long, slow decline. Unfortunately, not even Honda's return could keep this film from being irrepressibly silly, nor from being the last installment in the original run of Godzilla films.

Silver-jumpsuited aliens take control of a new monster, Titanosaurus, as well as the newly-rebuilt Mechagodzilla, by installing monster control mechanisms inside a dying young human woman. If you can help us make any sense out of that, we'd be very grateful. But then, what would you expect from aliens who wear the goofiest helmets you've seen this side of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet?

Godzilla arrives to kick monster ass and take monster names, and to the film's credit, it relies very little on stock footage and actually delivers on the goods. Helping things along considerably is the fact that venerable composer Akira Ifukabe returned one last time to provide the big G with his stompin' tunes. As the swan song for the original Godzilla, Terror of Mechagodzilla is a worthy time-waster.

Reviews: Stomp Tokyo.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II

The Heisei Godzilla never featured aliens, so this version of Mechagodzilla was built by the japanese to defend their country against the nearly constant attacks of Godzilla. Also in this film are a new version of Rodan, and Baby Godzilla, another member of Godzilla's species that would feature in the next two films.

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla

After a new Godzilla attacks Japan the Japanese government builds a giant robot Godzilla to contain the threat. For some reason they build the robot's control system with Godzilla DNA recovered from the original monster, with predictably disastrous results. The monster action in this movie is fast and furious, but the humans are deadly boring.

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

As Japan prepares Mechagodzilla for another assault on Godzilla, the Cosmos twins ask Japan to scrap the robot so the original Godzilla's bones can rest in piece. Instead, they offer Mothra to fight Godzilla if he appears again.

This move features some of the best monster action of the series yet, though trying to figure out what's going on with the humans can be challenging. Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. is a direct sequel to Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002), and features a cameo by the turtle from Yog: Monster from Space (1970).