Godzilla vs. Megalon Reviews

Obviously inspired by "Ultraman" and other Japanese superhero television shows, GODZILLA VS. MEGALON is one of the very worst of the GODZILLA series. This indifferently plotted bout pits the big lizard and Jet Jaguar, an Ultraman-like robot, against Megalon and Gigan, two semi-metallic monsters in the employ of an underground (literally) civilization. Underground nuclear testing produces earthquakes that are felt as far away as Monster Island, home of Godzilla. At the lake where inventor Goro (Katsuhiko Sasaki), his friend Hiroshi (Yutaka Hayashi), and Goro's kid brother Rokuro (Hiroyki Kawase) are visiting, a fissure opens up that drains the entire lake. Returning home, they discover Goro's lab being ransacked. After chasing the thieves away, Goro finds a clue to their identity--grains of sand that are only found 30 miles beneath the surface of the Earth and on Easter Island. Goro has been working on a remote-controlled humanoid robot, nicknamed "Jet Jaguar." When it is operational, the bad guys (who bugged the lab) return to steal it and kidnap Goro, Rokuro, and Hiroshi. It is revealed that the villains are agents of Seatopia, an advanced civilization that has lived under the Earth's surface for millions of years after their continent was destroyed by earthquakes. They are driven to declare war on Earth because of the continued damage done their land by nuclear testing. Their plan is to use Jet Jaguar to guide Megalon, a giant monster, to attack the cities of the world. After escaping his captor, Hiroshi pursues Goro and his brother, who have been taken to the drained lake (now a doorway to Seatopia). Hiroshi rescues his friends, and the trio barely escapes before Megalon emerges from under the Earth and destroys a nearby dam. As Megalon begins its rampage, Goro uses his miniature transmitter to regain control of Jet Jaguar, which he sends to fetch Godzilla. Aware of this plan, the Seatopians contact their allies in space and ask them to send the giant monster Gigan to aid Megalon in defeating Godzilla. After completing its mission, Jet Jaguar arrives, but doesn't seem to respond to orders. Goro realizes that the robot's self-survival programming has kicked in as it grows to gigantic size in order to battle Megalon and Gigan. Jet Jaguar is almost defeated until Godzilla arrives to join the fray. The evil monsters are defeated and the Seatopians return underground. Jet Jaguar offers Godzilla a hearty handclasp before he returns to Monster Island, and Goro plans to advise Earth's scientists to be more careful in the future, so as not to disturb Seatopia again. GODZILLA VS. MEGALON is the least plot-driven Godzilla film: the sloppily concocted Seatopia story is presented as a transparent excuse for another monster slugfest. Indeed, this film shows evidence in every area of having been hastily and indifferently produced: scenes of monster destruction are lifted from other films (notably the 1964 GHIDRAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER). Returning from the previous series entry, 1972's GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND, is Gigan, one of Toho's more ridiculous monsters. It's matched in this film by Megalon, a sort of bipedal cockroach with a metal drill coming out of its skull (which makes as much sense as the buzzsaw in Gigan's abdomen, oddly unused in the climactic battle here. Perhaps the batteries ran out.) Jet Jaguar is similar enough to Ultraman to set copyright lawyers to salivating, while Godzilla looks particularly shabby this time out: far too cuddly-looking (check out those puppy-dog eyes!) to be scary, the creature even appears to have visible zippers in a few scenes. Making the big G. even less fearsome is the asinine drunken-trombone theme, reused from GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER (1971). (One wonders if Riichiro Manabe, a poor substitute indeed for classic Godzilla composer Akira Ifukube, actually saw these films or simply gave the producers some all-purpose music; his generally inappropriate score reaches a low point when a Jew's harp is used at the beginning of the climactic monster battle.) On the plus side, the hopping, pugnacious Megalon is undeniably livelier than your standard Toho monster. The opening sequence of the lake being drained contains some surprisingly good special effects; even better is the miniature work when Megalon destroys the dam. And at least the filmmakers, obviously under no illusions as to the quality of this project, had some fun with it: the scene of Godzilla taking Megalon out with a flying drop-kick is so preposterous, you can hardly blame them for using it twice. GODZILLA VS. MEGALON is the least defensible film of the Toho series, which in and of itself will constitute a recommendation to a sizable segment of Godzilla fans. (Violence.)