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Film: Godzilla vs. Megalon (Gojira tai Megaro)
Year: 1973
Director: Jun Fukuda
Writer: Jun Fukuda
Starring: Katsuhiko Sasaki, Hiroyuki Kawase and Yutaka Hayashi
Review:
This film begins with informing us that there has been nuclear testing under the ocean. This has caused earthquakes and these have affected Monster Island.
We then shift to a child in the water on some kind of craft; he is played by Hiroyuki Kawase. Sitting on the beach is his family member, played by Katsuhiko Sasaki, and his friend, played by Yutaka Hayashi. There is then an earthquake and the ground rips open. The water starts to drain into it, pulling Kawase toward it. He is saved with some rope.
They return to Sasaki’s house to find that the door is open. Inside are people. A fight ensues and the ones that broke in escape. Hayashi chases after them while the other two look around. The place has been ransacked, but nothing is missing. They find some red dirt by a robot that Sasaki has created.
Hayashi loses them and returns. He did take a button off the coat of one of those that broke in. It is the same color as the dirt. They also discover this rare dirt is found on one cove in Japan and Easter Island is the only other place. It is brought up about the two continents that are now legend that had sunk into the ocean.
The men that broke in are played by Kôtarô Tomita, who is the leader. His second in command is played by Ulf Ôtsuki. They have enlisted the aid of a truck driver played by Gentaro Nakajima and his assistant played by Sakyo Mikami. They have left a listening device in the house.
Sasaki announces that he has completed his robot. It starts to walk around and he names it Jet Jaguar. The bad guys come back and take control of the robot. Sasaki is tied up while the other two are taken in the back of the truck.
We then learn of Seatopia, one of the islands that were brought up earlier. They have survived and created a kingdom under the sea. Their leader is played by Robert Dunham. They are upset with their ancestors above and send a monster to the surface named Megalon. This monster is a cross between a cockroach and a rhinoceros beetle. It has a colorful back, it can spit fire bombs and its horn has a fire beam.
Jet Jaguar is now controlled by Tomita. He tells of their plan that they need the robot to build an army, but they are pretty advanced. Jet Jaguar leads Megalon to where they need it to go.
Sasaki gets free and joins up with the special defense forces, led by Kanta Mori. He has created a device that allows him to take back over Jet Jaguar. He has him go to Monster Island and bring back Godzilla.
When Dunham hears this, he calls to the stars and has them send Gigan to help.
While waiting for Godzilla, Jet Jaguar has a way of growing and holds off Megalon. Gigan and Godzilla arrive and it becomes a battle royal. Who will win? Can Godzilla and Jet Jaguar defeat Megalon and Gigan as well as the Seatopians? Or will they fall allowing Seatopia to rise to power?
I have to state that getting this far into the sequels, you have to start to not take them as seriously. I will say that I liked Megalon upon originally seeing it. I also really like Gigan as a bad guy as well. I thought the concept was good to bring in the idea of Atlantis and that there could possible be a race that is living under the water. Jet Jaguar isn’t even a horrible idea either. The battle scenes are pretty good as well. We get to see more blood, as this was from the 1970s as gore was becoming more widely used. We also see another new move from Godzilla in this one.
With many of these giant monster films, we run into the problem that it takes way too long for the monsters to begin fighting. The final battle isn’t all that long so the build we get isn’t satisfying enough. I don’t understand how a robot that is human size can magically grow to be the size of Godzilla. The inventor doesn’t even know. I also felt that the Seatopians gave up way too easy. In other films we have seen alien races do more and come closer. The moment that Megalon is defeated, they are cashed on their idea which doesn’t seem realistic, relatively speaking. I also have an issue with Megalon not using its fire beam during the final battle. He uses it when the military tries to stop him, but never when battling Godzilla or Jet Jaguar.
I would not recommend seeing this film unless you are interested in watching all of the Godzilla films. This one apparently was originally going to be Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon, but the studio knew that wouldn’t be enough to carry it so Godzilla and Gigan were then wrote into the script. The film takes too long to get to the battle and it isn’t enough for me. I don’t feel the bad guys are believable enough. The concept of Seatopia was good and Megalon looked good as well. I even liked Gigan being in the film. It just is a sequel to films that are outliving its expectancy and becoming stagnated.
My Rating: 4 out of 10