| Terror of Mechagodzilla | |
|---|---|
Original poster |
|
| Directed by | Ishirō Honda |
| Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka Henry G. Saperstein |
| Written by | Yukiko Takayama |
| Starring | Katsuhiko Sasaki Tomoko Ai Akihiko Hirata Katsumasa Uchida Gorō Mutsumi Tadao Nakamaru Toru Kawai as Godzilla |
| Music by | Akira Ifukube |
| Cinematography | Sokei Tomioka |
| Editing by | Yoshitami Kuroiwa |
| Distributed by | Toho Bob Conn Enterprises (USA Theatrical) UPA (USA Television) |
| Release date(s) | March 15, 1975 |
| Running time | 83 minutes |
| Language | Japanese English |
Terror of Mechagodzilla, released in Japan as Counterattack of Mechagodzilla (メカゴジラの逆襲 Mekagojira no Gyakushū), is a 1975 science fiction 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 Ishirō 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.
This was the last Godzilla film directed by Ishirō Honda. He was reportedly slated to direct Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993), but he died early that year.
Contents |
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 simian alien. 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 simian 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 gives 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. Meanwhile, Mafune is desperate to unleash Titanosaurus without the aliens' permission, so he releases it on Yokosuka one night. By then, Interpol discovers Titanosaurus' weakness: supersonic waves. But when they construct a supersonic wave oscillator, Katsura sabotages the machine, prompting Interpol to hastily repair it; Godzilla arrives to fight off Titanosaurus.
Later, Ichinose goes to visit Katsura, but is captured by the aliens. Tied to a chair, Ichinose can only watch as Mafune and the aliens unleash Mechagodzilla and Titanosaurus on Yokosuka, while Interpol struggles to repair their machine and the Japanese armed forces struggle to keep the two monsters at bay. Katsura, whose machine core is being fully manipulated by Mugal, ignores Ichinose and controls both the dinosaur and the robot as they destroy the city.
Godzilla comes to the rescue, though he is outmatched by the two titans. While Interpol distracts Titanosaurus with the supersonic wave oscillator, Godzilla is able to focus on attacking Mechagodzilla. Interpol agents infiltrate the aliens' hideout, rescue Ichinose, and then kill Mafune and much of the aliens. The remaining aliens attempt to escape, but Godzilla shoots them down. Katsura, while being embraced by Ichinose, shoots herself to destroy Mechagodzilla. Godzilla, with the help of the oscillator, kills Titanosaurus and heads off back to sea.
The film was released theatrically during in March 1978 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. Just as Cinema Shares had done with the previous three Godzilla movies, Bob Conn Enterprises chose to utilize the Toho-produced English dub instead of hiring American voice actors to re-dub the film.
The Terror of Godzilla was edited down to 78 minutes from the 83-minute Japanese version. The movie was heavily edited to obtain a "G" rating from the MPAA. Several scenes with violent content were entirely removed, disrupting the flow of the narrative. Rumor has it that an unedited print, still titled "The Terror of Godzilla," was shown in theaters as well.[1]
Henry Saperstein, who sold the theatrical rights to Bob Conn Enterprises, also released the film 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 a prologue about the history of Godzilla, with footage from Monster Zero and Godzilla's Revenge (itself using stock footage from Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster and Son of Godzilla). The rest of this version was uncut with the exception of the shot of Katsura's breasts.
In the mid-1980s, the US TV version, Terror of Mechagodzilla, was replaced by the theatrical edit, The Terror of Godzilla in all television and home video versions. For some reason, the title was also changed to Terror of Mechagodzilla. In 1994, Paramount released Terror of Mechagodzilla on VHS. The running time on the slipcase promised the 89-minute version first shown on American TV. The actual video cassette featured the edited theatrical version instead. In an interview with G-Fan magazine that same year, Henry Saperstein was surprised to hear about this mistake. It wasn't until 2007 when the longer US version would return, this time as the US version on the Classic Media DVD. Although the added prologue was framed for fullscreen television, it was cropped and shown in widescreen on the disc.
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. Toho had no intention of permanently ending the Godzilla series. Throughout the remainder of the decade, several new stories were submitted by writers and producers. None of these films, however, were made. It wasn't until 1984 and Godzilla's 30th anniversary that Toho would start production on a new Godzilla movie. Despite the movie's poor box office and critical reception at the time of its original release, it is gradually becoming a favorite among fans due to its dark nature, brief but entertaining kaiju battles, and the return of series veterans Ishiro Honda and Akira Ifukube.
Classic Media
Simitar Entertainment
|
|||||||||||