Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786301393904
Format: Color
ISBN: 6301393902
Label: United American Video
Manufacturer: United American Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: United American Video
Release Date: 1989-06-15
Running Time: 84
Studio: United American Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1977-03

For Godzilla's 20th anniversary, Japanese film company Toho reinvented the series once again. Mixing science fiction (with a rather obvious nod to the Planet of the Apes series), mythological fantasy, and secret-agent intrigue, this 1974 entry begins with the startling image of Godzilla doing battle with himself! Actually it's a towering robot juggernaut unleashed by black-blooded ape-men invaders from outer space. Disguised as the King of the Monsters, Mechagodzilla sets off on a rampage until the real Godzilla shows up; however, unable to handle the mechanized menace alone, Godzilla teams up with a new character, a mythological lion-god named Caesar. This "bionic-zilla" is almost as impressive as the Big G himself, a titanium-clad robot equipped with ray beams, flame throwers, and dozens of missiles. Godzilla sports a peacocklike display of silver dorsal fins and a mean new suit with a fierce head. Bad alien makeup and Godzilla's decidedly "friend of mankind" attitude, all mixed with the James Bond-inspired spy subplot, lends a cheery camp flair to the science fiction adventure. This one's followed by the direct sequel, Terror of Mechagodzilla. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Rating:
Summary: Classic Godzilla Action
Comment: Fun for the whole family! The kids love it! Easy menus, english dubbing available as well as original Japanese version! Worth the money for a classic movie lover!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Godzilla again
Comment: I thought that this was an okay movie, not really one that I would want to watch over and over again. Maybe if King Seasa, Seasar, Seesaw, Shisa, whatever, had played a bigger role it would have interested me more. Does anyone get the whole play on Okinawa thing going on? He is a Shisa, one of those lion-dog palace guardians. So it is interesting that the person who can awaken him is the last descendant of the royal family. The Shisa in Okinawan belief can swallow evil, so it is appropriate that King See-Saw (when I was younger I thought it was spelled this way!!) can take in the energy rays from MechaGodzilla and shot them back. Overall, too weird of a movie to watch too many times. Maybe I'll get it again just to learn the King See-Saw song. Does anyone know that one!?

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Customer Rating:
Summary: best godzilla movie ever
Comment: If you are a godzilla fan, nothing beats this one! It has the best looking godzilla and the most action throughout out of any other godzilla movies.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: re: Best Godzilla movie ever made,
Comment: This was by far, the best Godzilla movie ever made. The only exceptions perhaps is the original Godzilla (his first movie) and the first appearance of Monster Zero. The fight sequences of man and beast were terrific.....dare I say the fights between man and alien were actually believable?

The main human hero, Shimizu was actually a complete character: thoughtful, cunning, headstrong, but take-action. Unlike most of the humans in the Godzilla film, he was not a complete idiot! I mean, making a copy statue of King Caesar was a brilliant move!

on the idiotic side for a character: why the Professor who helped fix Mechagodzilla bring his daughter to the most dangerous areas, is beyond me....I know, it's only a Godzilla film, still...! I guess those scientists aren't very wise, eh?

And, the other complaint is: if the aliens were so ruthless and bent on detroying Tokyo/Earth, why not just kill Shimizu and the girls to get the Statue of King Caesar? (and when the Chief of the aliens orders Mechagodzilla to kill Caesar, why didn't he just fly over and blow him to bits?)--well, of course, if that happened, we wouldn't get any of the cool and cheesy Japanese singing to wake King Caesar up!!
Anyway, enough of the "plot" hole mistakes.... the music was intense and interacted well with the movie itself. the battles between the monsters reminded me of old wrestling moves, and or gladiator type battles. I always love it when Godzilla postures to his enemies with his gestures and body language. Even the camera angles to certain scenes made sense!

Yeah, I watched it too many times, but it brings a smile to my face whenever I watch these cheesy Godzilla films as I recall memories of my childhood--and it will always help me forget the stuff that happens now.

Cheesy or not, Godzilla, the guy in the rubber suit, will always be THE Godzilla to me, and not the CG stuff of the 2000s era.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The best Godzilla film of the 1970s, and one of the most fun films in the series
Comment: Jun Fukuda's GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA is one of the most popular of the original Godzilla series. It's the best of the Godzilla films released in the 1970s, and possibly one of the best of the entire original series. The plot involves a group of apelike aliens (PLANETS OF THE APES, anyone?) which build a cyborg Godzilla to conquer Earth. Can Godzilla stop the cyborg? What do you think?

For me, the highlight of the film is Masaru Sato's kooky score. Akira Ifukube's music makes the monster battles seem horrifying, but Sato's music makes them seem like a major rumble, more like a major wrestling match than an epic battle of beasts. This was Sato's last Godzilla score; he'd previously written inventive and unusual scores for SON OF GODZILLA and GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER, both directed by Jun Fukuda.

Jun Fukuda isn't a popular name amongst most Godzilla fans because his films tend to be more silly than most (namely SON OF GODZILLA, though he also directed the series' worst entry, GODZILLA VS. MEGALON). I must admit that I love him. Granted, he's no Ishiro Honda, but his Godzilla films are very fun and amusing. Though most of GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA is what you'd expect from a 70s Godzilla flick, there are some moments of greatness, including some apocalyptic shots of Godzilla during a thunderstorm and of Mechagodzilla setting Tokyo aflame at night. There's also a great scene where Anguirus, in his final appearance until 2004's GODZILLA: FINAL WARS, rumbles with the skin-covered Mechagodzilla.

The writing, like most everything else in the film, has its moments, but for the most part is just silly. Sometimes it's quite confusing. The Godzilla suit looks ridiculous rather than terrifying, but that may have been the producers' goal, as the series had become more for children than anyone else by this point. Mechagodzilla is neat, but King Caesar seems out of place and foolish.

All in all, this is one of the most fun entries in the Godzilla series, and very likely the best Godzilla film to come out of the 1970s. The Big G returned for one last rumble in the direct sequel, TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA, before disappearing for nine years.

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