Terror of Mechagodzilla

[Warren H.]

This is the first Godzilla movie I ever saw, and it still holds a special place in my heart.  I didn't even know what Godzilla was at the time, I just asked Mom to rent it because of the big robot (MechaGodzilla) on the cover.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered a whole new world I could immerse myself into when reality got to be a little too much.  I believe the MechaGodzilla here is much cooler looking than the one in 1993's Godzilla vs. SuperMechaGodzilla (aka Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II).  Andrew, you expressed some confusion over the "MechaGodzilla as Godzilla" suit at the end.  That suit was actually the "water" suit used whenever Godzilla needed to be in the water, and it was used as such in several of the '70s movies.  It did double duty as "Godzilla duplicate" in the first MechaGodzilla movie because they couldn't afford to make two identical suits.

[Stefan Robak]

This is a favorite of mine also.  It has Godzilla, Mechagodzilla plus a bonus monster!.  He ain't exactly memorable but the more the marrier in my opinion!  This reminds me of the commercial for the Godzillathon that appeared on Space (Canadian Sci-Fi channel).  It showed big G beating on several monsters while the song "Dancing Cheek to Cheek" played.  I think that's what the song is called.  The song appeared near the beginning of the Green Mile.  It's the song that makes Tom Hanks and the big guy from "the Whole 9 Yards" cry.

[Chris K.]

Godzilla's last film. Well, not the very last, but at the time it was considered to be the last until GODZILLA 1985 came out. The title is wrong anyway. This film was released uncut in English by Bob Cohn Enterprises as THE TERROR OF GODZILLA. Later on, THE TERROR OF GODZILLA was issued in kiddie theatres, but the film's violence was left on the American cutting room floor. Soon, UPA Distributors issued the film as TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA to both home video and television in a more horribly cut format. The TV version is the only version that exists. Alegidly, TERROR OF GODZILLA is lost forever, but an uncut English language version exists through the original negative print. But TERRROR OF GODZILLA remains the more enjoyable film in the series. Special effects and action are all top-noch.

[Chadzilla]

This is one of my all time favorite Godzilla movies.  The fighting is down and dirty, the human story is part of the monster action, Inshiro Honda's direction is mature and throughtful, and the movie is blessed with a rousing score by Akira Ikufube.  What more could one want?

Well...this movie uncut and letterboxed would be nice!

GODZILLA will never die.

[Chris B]

Like another review, this was my first Godzilla film as well.  I had always liked monsters (King Kong etc.) but I had never seen a Godzilla movie as a kid.  Gradually I lost interest in monster films until my dad gave me a copy of this film that he had bought at a tag sale for 2 bucks.  Good deal for such a cool movie

[Aaron]

One of my all time favourite G films!  Titano was just cool.  One side note, that was no rope on his ankle - that was the rubber suit melting!  In that particular scene, the Titanosaurus was standing on a pyro charge, and it was hot enough to melt part of the foot, so when he fell over, you can see the melted rubber stretch out.  Guess fire safety wasn't a prime concern!

[Yuri Rentfro]

The American version of this movie and the subtitled version are drasticaly different. The subtitled version is much longer and better to watch. If you get a chance, you should see the subtitled version of "Mechagodzilla's counterattack".

[Allan]

What can I say, my favorite movie of the Showa Series!

Mechagodzilla was extremely powerful, Titanosaurus was a worthy opponent for Godzilla; an excellent fighter and Godzilla rocked!

Godzilla seriously kicked some ass, King Of The Monsters all tha way!

[Ian]

Terror of Mechagodzilla(1980) is among my favorite of the Godzilla films. I think the coolest monster there was Titanosaurs. His best weapon is his whirwind tail. Mechagodzilla is more stronger and powerful then in the previous film Godzilla V.S. Mechagodzilla(1973). Then you have Godzilla, big, green protector of Japan. We all know how it ends.

[mk_ixnay]

A better battle than the 1st one-why they didnt call on the services of Seesar again is a mystery to me..
The intro of Titanosaurus is great(as we all know-you can never have too many monsters in the Toho stable!),but i like to wonder what the movie had been if they put in Ghidorah instead, along side MechaGodzilla-i guess he's been beaten 4x too many. Oh well, another one hit wonder in the archive for G-fans...

[Kooshmeister]

Picked this up on DVD at Wal-Mart for only about five dollars, and I have mixed feelings about it. It's certainly not the worst Godzilla movie ever made (I'd give that award to the oh so awful "Godzilla's Revenge"), but in my opinion it's not the best. A lot didn't work for me, and I'm fairly certain a large part of it is due to the fact that it's a crummy English dubbed version, so I'll avoid complaining about plot holes and such. Perhaps the Japanese version has scenes cut from the American release featuring the Simeons reverting to their true forms upon death?

Godzilla only shows up twice in the whole movie, not counting the montage of clips from "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla" shown over the opening credits. And both times he appears so suddenly I'm surprised I didn't get whiplash. Well, the first time he appears is actually pretty decent with a nice shot of him rising up from behind two buildings, but regardless, I found it to be jarring. In fact Godzilla's presence in the movie is almost superfluous. I honestly don't recall any of the characters aside from the Simeons even mentioning him. And even they only talk about him once or twice.

Also, for a film entitled "Terror of Mechagodzilla" there's actually not that much Mechagodzilla to be seen. In fact, they should've called the movie "Terror of Titanosaurus," as Titanosaurus gets more screentime than both Godzilla and Mechagodzilla combined. Heck, "Terror of Titanosaurus" sounds cooler than "Terror of Mechagodzilla," anyway.

Then there's the really, really bad optical composites they use to make it seem as thogh Mechagodzilla and Titanosaurus are towering over Tokyo buildings. The buildings come all the way up to their chests, and all the people and action going on at street level in those scenes doesn't match the angle at all, making it seem as though they are on a hill with the kaiju standing at the bottom.

But there was plenty that I did like. Dr. Mafune was a very interesting character, as were the Interpol agents, Ichinose and Murakashi, and I liked the idea of the Simeons (or whatever they're called) wanting to get Titanosaurus to team up with Mechagodzilla against Godzilla. They learned from their mistakes in the previous movie, that Mechagodzilla alone isn't a match for the King of The Monsters. And since Godzilla had teamed up with King Seesar before, the aliens decided to beat him at his own game. And speaking of Mechagodzilla, he may not show up in full battle regalia until the end of the movie but it's well worth the wait to see him blasting everything in sight with lasers and a gazillion missiles.

And finally there's Titanosaurus. I have to say I really loved him. His roar, his seahorse-ish features, his cyclone tail, everything. His attack on the submarine at the beginning of the film was very exciting, and I also have to confess that I like the scene which immediately follows it, with Ichinose and co. listening to the tape recording of the doomed sub's captain screaming that they're being attacked by a dinosaur. Very chilling.

     

[tyler]

Not one of the better Godzilla films,but it was not the worst one.This was one of my first Godzilla films to.Wene I was just about 4 or 5 years old and the t.v channel TNT,(WHICH NOW SUCKS!)Would have a Godzilla movie marathon,and have a music video of blue oyster cults Godzilla song!I LOVE THAT SONG!WHO COULD NOT?OOHHHH NOOO!THEY SAY HE'S GOT TO GO!GO GO GODZILLA!

[Tom Jacobson]

This is one of the best Gozilla movies,depending on your point of view.It should be ranked better!

[Todd Shields]

It's a small wonder why this film bombed in Japan. The human drama, a Shakespearian tragedy, was too serious for the target audience (children)while the monster scences were too silly for adults, as were the spacemen's goofy helmets.
Honda should have either made the human drama a satire, like KING KONG VS. GODZILLA, or made the monster action serious, like in GODZILLA VS. THE THING.
The film isn't as bad as, say, GODZILLA VS. MEGALON or GODZILLA VS. SPACE GODZILLA, it just suffers from schizophrenia.

[Jonathan]

This was a lot better than Godzilla versus Mechagodzilla.

Titanosaurus was a big improvement over King Seasar.

(King Seasar is a monster in Godzilla versus Mechagodzilla.)

It's sad at the end of the movie when the G-man walks into the Pacific for the last time. (Not the last time, but before Godzilla 1985.)

I really like G-man's entrence. This is a very good Godzilla movie.