Godzilla vs. Megalon
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Godzilla vs. Megalon (ゴジラ対メガロ) (Gojira tai Megaro) is a 1973 tokusatsu film, the thirteenth in the Godzilla series of Japanese monster movies. Part of the Toho studio's Godzilla series, it was directed by Jun Fukuda, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano.
The monsters featured are Godzilla, Megalon, Gigan and Jet Jaguar.
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The story
In the film, the undersea civilization Seatopia has been heavily affected by nuclear testing conducted by the surface nations of the world. Naturally upset by this, they unleash their civilization's protector, Megalon, to the surface to destroy those who would — unknowingly or not — destroy them. Agents of Seatopia attempt to steal the newly-constructed super-robot Jet Jaguar, which can apparently be used to guide and direct Megalon. They also capture the robot's inventor, Goro Ibuki, his kid brother Rokuro and their friend Hiroshi Jinkawa. After Jet Jaguar is used by the Seatopians to lure Megalon to Tokyo, Goro manages to regain control, and sends Jet Jaguar to Monster Island to bring Godzilla back to fight Megalon. An extended fight scene then takes place, with Godzilla and Jet Jaguar, the latter newly giant-sized and self-directed, fighting Megalon and Gigan in the hills outside Tokyo. The film ends with Megalon and Gigan defeated, Godzilla returning to Monster Island, and Jet Jaguar returning to his previous, human-sized state.
The worst Godzilla film?
Although produced mainly for children in Japan, this film is debated amongst fans to be one of the worst of the series. It is also one of the most widely seen, and is considered by many to be one of the reasons for the low opinion of Godzilla commonly held in the U.S. It was one of two Godzilla films featured as episodes on Mystery Science Theater 3000, an American television comedy that mocks B-movies (the other being Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster).
However, not all Godzilla fans share this low opinion. Some fans of the successful tokusatsu superhero genre find Godzilla vs. Megalon an enjoyable instance of the genre.
Trivia
- While considered one of the worst Godzilla films by fans, this film, ironically, had the longest production schedule of all the films to date. While the principal scenes were shot in less than a week, the special effects scenes by Teruyoshi Nakano (and the rest of production) actually took six months.
- Jet Jaguar was the earliest example of a fanservice in a Godzilla film. Toho had a contest for children to come up with a new character (originally to be used in a solo effort), and the winning design was "Red Arone", submitted by an elementary school student. Red Arone resembled a cross between Ultraman and the anime super robot Mazinger Z, which was a huge phenomenon at the time. The Red Arone design was renamed "Jet Jaguar" by the Toho staff. This film was also supposed to be a solo vehicle for Jet Jaguar (fighting with Megalon, a previously-unused Godzilla monster design), but Toho staffers suggested that since Godzilla was still quite successful with kids, Godzilla and Gigan were added to make the film even more exciting.
- According to Teruyoshi Nakano, the Godzilla suit was made in a week. Haruo Nakajima, the original Godzilla suit actor, had just left the series, so it was refitted for Shinji Takagi. (Nakajima did try out the costume upon his visit to the studio in behind-the-scenes films.)
Credits
Staff
- Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
- Director: Jun Fukuda
- Special Effects Director: Teruyoshi Nakano
- Screenplay: Shinichi Sekizawa, Jun Fukuda
- Music: Riichiro Manabe
Cast
- Goro Ibuki: Katsuhiko Sasaki
- Rokuro "Roku-chan" Ibuki: Hiroyuki Kawase
- Hiroshi "Jinko" Jinkawa: Yutaka Hayashi
- Antonio, Emperor of Seatopia: Robert Dunham
- Seatopian Agent Leader: Kotaro Tomita
- Seatopian Agent: Wolf Otsuki
- JSDF General: Kanta Mori