Kaiju Movie Review - Godzilla vs. Megalon

A lot of the Godzilla films from the mid 60's to mid 70's were quite campy, but out of all of them, there is nothing else quite like 1973's Godzilla vs. Megalon.

Media Blasters released the film on DVD under their Tokyo Shock label. I received my copy earlier today, and as soon as I got home, I popped it in, and began watching. This is the first time I've watched this film in 10 years. The last time I saw it, it was a poor VHS copy that had a piss-poor English dub. Thankfully the Japanese language track is included with this release, so I was happy enough to watch it in its original state. 

Godzilla vs. Megalon begins with a series of nuclear tests that affect the kaiju of Monster Island including Godzilla, Rodan, and Anguirus. It turns out that these tests have been affecting the undersea empire of Seatopia as well, and due to their anger towards the surface dwellers, they declared war and unleashed Megalon to destroy Tokyo. In the meantime, Goro, Hiroshi, and Rokoru (Goro's nephew) complete their work on the humanoid robot named Jet Jaguar. However, Seatopian agents kidnap Goro and Rokoru, and use Jet Jaguar to lead Megalon towards Tokyo. Eventually, Hiroshi saves Goro and Rokoru from the Seatopian agent and Megalon. Goro then regains control over Jet Jaguar and sends him to Monster Island to bring Godzilla to fight Megalon. In the meantime, the Seatopian emperor requests assistance from Space Nebula M and their own cyborg, Gigan.

The film is just nonstop action from start to end. The story is very simple and quite predictable throughout. Godzilla this time around isn't treated as a force of nature of defender of the earth, but more as a superhero. His actions are more human in regards to him using the peace sign, shaking Jet Jaguar's hand, and helping the robot back onto his feet in a caring manner. To be honest, I don't like Godzilla acting as if he were a superhero. It ruins his character in my opinion. However, the real star of the film was Jet Jaguar. Out of everything in the film, he's the only thing that I really appreciated at the end. His newfound intelligence and will to fight makes up his character. I believe that if Toho wasn't thinking about marketing this film for a big profit, it could have worked without Godzilla. Godzilla felt shoed in just to make this film sell amongst the general audience. Gigan's inclusion is the same. Gigan was pretty unnecessary and it really didn't help Megalon's attempts to battle Jet Jaguar anyway. 

The human characters are pretty one dimensional as well. You have your typical main characters of any Godzilla film from the 70's, the young researcher, his friend, and a kid. Then you have your villains, which are usually agents or a supreme ruler of an empire of sorts. However, the film was never really about the humans though, it's about the monsters. 

Battle scenes between Megalon and the self defense forces is basically made up of shots of Megalon waddling around mixed in with stock footage ranging from Mothra vs. Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, War of the Gargantuas, Godzilla vs. Gigan, and I think there was a bit of Frankenstein Conquers the World somewhere in there too. Clearly the major special effects sequences were half-assed due to a very low budget and limited production time. Whatever special effects that were actually made for the film were pretty subpar in comparison to other films such as the previous year's Godzilla vs. Gigan, and  Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla - which, compared to this film, looks like a special effects masterpiece. 

However, does all these complaints make me hate Godzilla vs. Megalon? Surprisingly, no! Why? Well, despite how poorly this film is put together, I really enjoyed watching it regardless to the technicalities. It's a fun film. Sure, I loathe Godzilla being treated as a superhero. Sure, I find the excessive use of stock footage quite irritating, and the muscal cues from Godzilla vs. Hedorah were not exactly pleasant to listen to. But, there is a certain charm that Godzilla vs. Megalon has that prevents it from being the worst Godzilla movie ever - that 'honor' belongs to 1969's Godzilla's Revenge aka All Monsters Attack. 

So, overall, out of a five star rating, I'm giving Godzilla vs. Megalon a two and a half. It's not the best Godzilla movie, but its not the worst either. For any Godzilla fan, it's worth a watch or two.