Terror of Mechagodzilla

Terror of Mechagodzilla
Original Japanese Poster
Directed by	Ishirô Honda
Produced by	Tomoyuki Tanaka
Starring	Katsuhiko Sasaki Tomoko Ai Akihiko Hirata Katsumasa Uchida Gorō Mutsumi Tadao Nakamaru
Music by	Akira Ifukube
Cinematography	Sokei Tomioka
Editing by	Yoshitami Kuroiwa
Distributed by	Toho United Artists
Running time	83 min
Language	Japanese English (Dubbed)
Preceded by	Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
Followed by	The Return of Godzilla

Terror of Mechagodzilla, released in Japan as Mechagodzilla's Counterattack (メカゴジラの逆襲, Mekagojira no Gyakushū^?), is a 1975 tokusatsu kaiju film. The film was titled The Terror of Godzilla in its original American theatrical release. The 15th film in Toho's Godzilla series, it was directed by Ishiro Honda with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. It is the second film to feature Mechagodzilla and the only film to feature Titanosaurus. Akira Ifukube provides the music score. The movie was written by Yukiko Takayama, who was the second female writer for a Godzilla film (the first was Kazue Shiba, who wrote for 1967's Son of Godzilla).

Terror of Mechagodzilla was the last movie in the Showa series of Godzilla movies before The Return of Godzilla began the Heisei series of Godzilla films in 1984. Because of the crash of Japanese cinema and the oil crisis of the mid-to-late 1970s (which had also affected some television shows), the Godzilla film series was forced to go on hiatus. As a result, Terror of Mechagodzilla had the lowest attendance figures of all the movies in the series.

Plot

Continuing after the end of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Interpol agents, led by Inspector Kusaka, search for the wreck of Mechagodzilla at the bottom of the Okinawan Sea in the submarine, Akatsuki, to gather information on its builders, the aliens of the third planet from the black hole. But, the Akatsuki is suddenly attacked by a giant aquatic dinosaur called Titanosaurus, and the crew is apparently lost.

In response to the incident, Interpol begins to investigate. With the help of marine biologist Akira Ichinose, they trace the incident and Titanosaurus to a reclusive, mad scientist named Shinzô Mafune, who was forced to leave the institute, and now wants to destroy them as well as all of mankind. When visiting his old house in the seaside forest of Manazuru, they meet Mafune's lone daughter Katsura, who tells them that not only is her father dead, but she also burned all of his notes on the giant dinosaur (at her father's request). But unbeknownst to them, Mafune himself is alive and well, visited by his scientist friend Tsuda, who turns out to be an aide to the new black hole alien leader Mugal, who is leading the project to quickly rebuild Mechagodzilla. Mugal offers their services to Mafune, so that his Titanosaurus and their Mechagodzilla 2 will be the ultimate weapons. The ultimate goal of this new wave of black hole aliens is to wipe out mankind and rebuild cities around the world as a high-tech dystopia.

But things are complicated for both factions when Ichinose falls in love with Katsura, and unwittingly giving her Interpol's secret information against Titanosaurus, the new Mechagodzilla, and the aliens. We also find that Katsura is actually a cyborg, and Mugal may have use for her.

In the course of the film, Interpol discovers Titanosaurus' weakness: Supersonic waves. But when they construct a Supersonic Wave Oscillator, Katsura sabotages the machine, prompting Interpol to hastily repair it before Mafune and the aliens unleash Mechagodzilla and Titanosaurus on Tokyo.

And when the situation gets desperate, Godzilla comes to the rescue. While Interpol distracts Titanosaurus with the Supersonic Wave Oscillator, Godzilla is able to destroy Mechagodzilla and then has a final battle with Titanosaurus while he is confused by the Supersonic Wave Oscillator. Godzilla blasts Titanosaurus with atomic ray and Titanosaurus then falls back into into the water, his death was never known, while Katsura shoots herself to destroy MechaGodzilla.

Then it's the end.

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (March 2009)

• This was the last Godzilla film directed by Ishirō Honda. He was slated to direct Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993), but he died early that year.

• This was Akihiko Hirata's final appearance in a Godzilla film. He was slated to play Professor Hayashida in The Return of Godzilla (1984), but he died of lung cancer before production even began.

• This was Tomoko Ai's film debut. She was previously a semi-regular in the television series Ultraman Leo.

• In Takayama's original script, Titanosaurus was the singular, combined form of twin "Titan" dinosaurs, which were to meet and unite at some point in the story. Due to budgetary constraints, this concept was not used.

• This film, much unlike most of the films prior to it (excluding its prequel, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla), had a much darker tone and largely returned to the original style of the series. As a result, it is often considered the darkest of the Showa Godzilla films since Gojira and Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

• The original U.S. release was quite faithful to the original Japanese version. Broadcasters requested that the film be edited due to scenes involving the suicide of a character. This was at a time when there were a rash of teen suicides in the United States. Broadcasters began requesting that story elements involving suicide be removed from motion pictures, television programs and even cartoons.

• This is the first Godzilla film to feature an original score by Akira Ifukube since 1968's Destroy All Monsters; although Ifukube's music had previously been used in 1972's Godzilla vs. Gigan, it was all stock music from previous scores.

• Current U.S. prints are edited for violent content (some important plot points removed in the process). This film also had the first shot of nudity in a Godzilla film (gone from all U.S. prints): Katsura's prosthetic breasts exposed while black hole surgeons graphically operate on her lower heart area.

• Katsumi Nimiamoto, the actor who played Titanosaurus, occasionally wore the suit backwards in order to give the kaiju less human-like movements.

U.S. Versions

The film was released theatrically during in March 1977 in North America by Bob Conn Enterprises under the title The Terror of Godzilla. This version runs 78 minutes, five minutes shorter than the Japanese print.

Alterations made:

• Dialogue was dubbed to English (this was the International Dubbing commissioned by Toho and produced in Hong Kong).

• Deleted: Katsura commits suicide to shut down Mechagodzilla.

• Deleted: Katsura's fake breasts are shown when she is being repaired.

• Deleted: scenes of shootings, strangulations, and other acts of physical brutality (excised in order to receive a "G" rating from the MPAA).

• Deleted: Scene with Mugal whipping his underlings for failure.

• Deleted: A scene where two young boys watch Titanosaurus' rampage and are trampled by him.

The film was released to television in late 1978, this time under the title Terror of Mechagodzilla. This version runs 89 minutes, which is actually six minutes longer than the Japanese version. It included an odd prologue about the history of Godzilla, with footage from Monster Zero and Godzilla's Revenge (comprising scenes from Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster and Son of Godzilla).

Box office

In Japan, the film sold 970,000 tickets. It would be the least-attended Godzilla film in Japan and also one of only two Godzilla films to sell less than one million tickets. As a result, the series was put on hold until 1984. Despite this, the film is gradually becoming a favorite among fans due to its dark nature, strong violence and its brief but entertaining kaiju battles.

DVD release

Classic Media

• Released: November 20, 2007 in the Godzilla Collection box set. Singular release April 29, 2008.

• Aspect Ratio: 2.55:1

• Sound: English, Japanese

• Supplements: Women of Godzilla Featurette, Audio commentary.

• Region 1

Simitar Entertainment

• Released: May 6, 1998

• Video: Fullscreen

• Sound: English mono, English 5.1

• Supplements: Godzilla trailers; Godzilla video art gallery; Film facts; Trivia game; DVD-ROM (Screensavers, printable art gallery, web access)

• Region 1

External links

• Godzilla on the web(Japan)

• Terror of Mechagodzilla at the Internet Movie Database
• Terror of Mechagodzilla at Allmovie

• Terror of Mechagodzilla at Rotten Tomatoes

• "メカゴジラの逆襲 (MekaGojira no Gyakushū)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1975/cy000660.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-18.