Godzilla Vs. Megalon

This review is for the Blu-Ray edition of Godzilla vs. Megalon released by Tokyo Shock in 2014.First off, this is the Japanese international version of the film and not the American version. The credits are shown in Japanese.*****IMPORTANT NOTE***** I am a lifelong Godzilla fan. It might not seem that way from this review but really... I am. I have been watching Godzilla movies since 1970 and these movies have always been my absolute favorite movies of not only science fiction and fantasy but of all time. That said, I can be very critical of them too. This particular movie is just flat out terrible. It deserves all the mocking it gets.This movie has been labeled "mind-numbingly" bad by many Godzilla fans and I can't disagree with them.So Yes, I am tearing into this movie but I am having fun with it. This movie was meant to be, for all intents and purposes, a kid's film. Godzilla had turned into a 'hero' monster in the 10th movie of the Showa series ('All Monsters Attack' or 'Godzilla's Revenge').I'm still going to give it 3 stars because this is a low cost release with the best available picture for Godzilla fans.BLU-RAY & EXTRA'S: The picture is quite nice. I'd give it a 7 out of 10. The picture is nice and clear but the colors are a bit soft. The movie is shown with a widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio. There are no extra's other than subtitles. There is a very rare version of this movie that has some extra's. It was recalled and later released without the extra's. The rare one would be quite expensive at this time.A WORD ON SUBTITLES: Subtitles in Toho movies can be quite confusing. These subtitles are the reason for some inconsistency in the plot. This is because the subtitles do not match the dubbing in the movie. The dubbing is done using words that are as close as possible to the actor's mouth movements. The actors are sometimes saying something very different. This can be confusing and also distracting while watching the movie especially when using units of measurement and/or time. The measurements in question are often quite different from what is actually said and what is printed in the subtitles. I like to use the subtitles as factual since they are saying in English what the actors are saying in Japanese. If you take what the dubbing is saying at face value you will be scratching your head at some of the incredibly odd things they are saying.*****WARNING - LOTS OF SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT*****PLOT/SUMMARY: Here we go....It's 1971 and an underground nuclear explosion causes chaos throughout the world. Monster Island is rocked and Godzilla, Rodan and Anguirus are disturbed.Little Rokuro is out in a lake in a paddle boat. He is with his uncle Goro, an inventor, and his friend Hiroshi Jinkawa, a geologist. The earthquake that hits Monster Island also hits the lake and a hole opens up in the middle of the lake. The water begins draining like water draining in a bathtub but Rokuro is saved by Goro and Jinkawa.The trio head to Goro's laboratory where they discover that it has been broken into by two secret agents of the underwater Kingdom of Seatopia. We shall call these guys Nitwit #1 and Nitwit #2 in honor of Dr. Seuss (I had better names but Amazon won't approve of the review if I use them). Nitwit #1 loses a button in a scuffle and runs off with Hiroshi chasing after him. Little Rokoru finds some red sand on the floor and makes an astounding leap of logic. He decides that the red sand and the red button must somehow be connected because they are both red! It's kind of like how my car is blue and the walls in my house are blue and the sky is blue. They must somehow be connected.Hiroshi takes them to his lab and comes back with the results. The sand comes from 3000 km below sea level. We also find out about Easter Island. They tell us that the statues there are 3,000,000 years old. Of course, humans have only been around for 100,000 years.NitWit #1 and #2 return to the lab and capture it. The leader of Seatopia tells us that underground nuclear testing has destroyed 1/3 of their kingdom. He says that the only way they can have peace is to declare war. Huh!?!...(Reminds me of 'Dr. Strangelove'..."There's no fighting in the war room") They are therefore going to declare war against the surface. I guess letting the surface know about Seatopia's existence and the trouble being caused by nuclear testing is out of the question. Why negotiate peace when you can start a war?Nitwit #2 abducts Goro and Rokoru and puts them in a shipping container and loads them onto a truck. He wants Goro to help Seatopia build robots. He hires two truck drivers to transport them. Why does Seatopia need them to build robots? Don't worry Nitwit #1 is going to tell us in his upcoming 'evil person telling us his plans' speech. On the back wall of the truck's cab, you can clearly see naked pictures of girls! Eventually the truckers decide they don't like what Nitwit #2 has planned and they kick him out of the truck.Back in the lab, it's time for the 'evil person telling us his plans' speech. I suggest watching the subtitles during this speech because it makes what is said slightly less ridiculous. You see... Nitwit #1 tells us that 3,000,000 years ago, the ancient kingdom of Lemuria sank into the ocean. While they were sinking, they somehow managed to hold their collective breath and create their own oxygen supply. If that isn't amazing enough, they also created their own underground sun! Wow! How good are the Seatopians? If you watch the subtitles, they tell you that they were actually in a bubble when they sunk. I'm not sure if that helps make your suspension of disbelief any easier. Anyway, Nitwit # 1 tells Hiroshi that the Seatopians are far more advanced than surface people. Hiroshi cleverly ask Nitwit #1, "Why do you need our help building robots?" Nitwit #1 has an equally clever answer... maybe not... he says "We don't have the time"! For whatever reason, Jinkawa thinks it's a good idea to keep insulting his captor. No matter, we will find out shortly that neither Nitwit #1 nor Nitwit #2 knows how to tie somebody up. Everyone gets loose. First Jinkawa, in the lab, then Goru, in the truck.Jinkawa escapes. This forces Nitwit #1 to call the big boss and tell him how stupendously stupid he is by revealing Seatopia's plans during his 'evil person telling us his plans' speech. Quite simply, he states "They know the whole story". Well the Seatopians must have known how dumb Nitwit #1 was because they had two guys right down the road waiting for Hiroshi to escape. A slapstick style chase ensues. One guy on a motorcycle and another in a tiny car chase Hiroshi across dirt roads, hills, stairs, construction sites, etc.Meanwhile, Megalon makes it to the surface. It shows up at a dam where, amazingly, the truck carrying Goru and Rokuro ends up. The truckers are planning on dumping the storage container and taking off. They don't know that Goro and Rokuro are in the container. They stop to unload it and Jinkawa shows up. They ask him for a ride. Wait... what? Why not just jump in your own vehicle and take off? In a scene that has to be seen to be believed, Megalon swats the container carrying Jinkawa and Rokuro with his tail, sending it over a mountain. When it lands, Goro and Rokoru spill out. Are they dead? I don't think so... as a matter of fact, they aren't even hurt. They just need Jinkawa to wake them up and all is good.Megalon easily dispatches the Japanese Self Defense Force. Shortly thereafter, Jet Jaguar takes control of Megalon. Don't ask how... just go with it... BTW Jet Jaguar is probably from Krypton since he not only flies like Superman, he can also stop in mid-air. Fortunately, Goro has a Jet Jaguar override device with him. He sends Jet Jaguar to Monster Island to get Godzilla. For that matter, why not send for the rest of the monsters that are there? Good thing Jet Jaguar and Godzilla both know airport ground control sign language because that's what they use to communicate.Nitwit #1 assumes that Jet Jaguar went to get Godzilla and calls the big boss to tell him. The big boss says not to worry. He will just get on the horn with Space Hunter Nebula and ask to borrow Gigan. Why didn't they just do this to start with? Space Hunter Nebula says "No problem buddy, just return him when you are done". Methinks that renting out monsters would be a good business.In yet another "You've got to see it to believe it" scene, Megalon starts dancing around and having a spastic fit. We are told this is because he no longer has Jet Jaguar as his pilot. I see....Jet Jaguar shows up at Monster Island and finds Godzilla praying... Seriously! I'm not kidding. Go watch it. Meanwhile, Megalon is using 'stock footage' of Ghidorah to attack cities in Japan.Jinkawa and Rokuro go shopping to find a model airplane to use as a weapon(???) against Nitwit #1. Just go with it... They attack Nitwit #1 with the model airplane. Nitwit #1 stumbles out of the lab and mercifully manages to get himself killed by running into a rock that Megalon has sent flying. Thus ending his ability to humiliate Seatopia any further.Goru can no longer control Jet Jaguar. You see... Jet Jaguar has programmed himself for survival and he no longer needs someone to control him. Hmmm... Goru explains. "Something must have stimulated his brain" so that he could do that. Why not stimulate... never mind...You might ask, "Why didn't Jet Jaguar just keep controlling Megalon?" Well... that would be logical. Everything that's happened so far will seem as logical as '2 + 2 = 4' compared to what happens next. Jet Jaguar suddenly grows to the size of Megalon and Godzilla! Don't worry... Goru will explain. He says that Jet Jaguar needed to hold off Megalon until Godzilla showed up so he used his 'determination' to grow. Come again??? OK, if you read the subtitles you find out that an even better reason is given. In the subtitles Goru explains that Jet Jaguar simply programmed himself to grow to a giant size... Just let that sink in! What a world this would be if we could just program things to grow... yes, both boys and girls, you are all thinking what I'm thinking...Back to the action... Jet Jaguar has just shown up and gets clobbered by Megalon and Gigan. Finally Godzilla arrives to save the day. Godzilla knocks the two monsters unconscious. But they get up and the tide turns. Before long, Godzilla and Jet Jaguar are surrounded by a ring of fire. Jet Jaguar picks up Godzilla and flies him out of there. Jet Jaguar ends up breaking Gigan's arm and throws him in the air. Godzilla blasts him with his atomic breath. Gigan has had enough and heads back to where he came from. Godzilla does his famous flying kick twice on Megalon and Megalon says "No mas". Godzilla shakes hands with Jet Jaguar and heads on home to Monster Island. Jet Jaguar shrinks back to human size. His duty done, he is now willing to listen to instructions.WAIT... IS THIS REALLY A KID'S MOVIE???: Like all cultures, the Japanese culture can be very different than that of the United States. They don't worry as much about violence in movies as Amercans do. Thus, we get a scene of Godzilla being sliced open by Gigan and blood squirting all over the place. What is surprising, is that they have nude pictures, including a centerfold, clearly visible in a truck. This from a country that still doesn't allow your private's to be seen in an adult film. These two things are quite surprising in a 'G' rate movie. There are a few other things that wouldn't go over so well in a 'G' rated picture in the U.S. You see a kid being abducted and quite a bit of violence, the giant monster fights notwithstanding.HOW GOOD ARE THE MONSTERS AND WHAT ARE THEIR POWERS?: Other than Godzilla, Gigan is the only one to have made an appearance in a previous movie (not including Rodan and Anguirus on Monster Island). He was in the most recent Godzilla movie up until this point. Gigan is an interesting design. Megalon is also a decent design. What hurts these monsters is the ultra-low budget movies in which they appear. Gigan is much more impressive in the later 'Godzilla: Final Wars'. No doubt Megalon would have been a lot better if he had been in a bigger budget movie. Their powers are as follows:Godzilla: If you have to ask....Megalon: Megalon is modeled after the Japanese beetle. I used to think it was a cockroach until I read up on it. His arms are basically drill bits. It's unlcear if they actually spin. It has wings that are protected by it's exoskeleton. It has a sort of antenna that comes out of the top of it's head that ends in a 4 pronged star. This antenna can fire bolts of electricity. It also can shoot bombs out of his mouth.Gigan: Gigan is a cyborg which is to say it is part living creature and part machine. It comes from outer space. It has a circular saw that runs down the middle of it's entire body. He also has sharp metallic arms that end in a point. It also has a laser that shoots out of it's eye.Jet Jaguar: He is based on Ultraman. He is human size, but has the ability to program himself to grow to monster size. He also has the ability to fly like Superman. This includes the ability to stop in mid-air. He also knows how to communicate with Godzilla via sign language similar to what airport ground controllers use.PRODUCTION: This movie was released in Japan in 1973 but it was not until 1976 before it got an American release.-Ironically enough, for American's, this was Gigan's first appearance. 'Godzilla vs. Gigan' was not released in the U.S. till after this movie, despite the fact that it was made first.-This is probably the lowest budgeted Godzilla movie ever made. It was made during a bad economic period in Japan and Toho no longer had under contract most of it's familiar actors.-This movie is probably the best known Godzilla movie for American audiences. I remember well when it was shown in prime time in 1977. I was a 12 year old kid and couldn't wait to see it. That was the first time Godzilla was shown in a prime time television slot. The problem is that the movie was cut to one hour. That was really 48 minutes when you factored in commercials. This movie then fell into the public domain which led to many cheap releases. Those factors combined, make 'Godzilla vs. Megalon' the best known Godzilla movie to American audiences.-The American movie poster for this movie is also well known. It was just ridiculous. It had Godzilla and Megalon each standing on top of one of the World Trade Center buildings. This was to take advantage of a similar poster featuring King Kong in it's first remake.-This is the international cut of 'Godzilla vs. Megalon' and the Japanese credits are shown. There are some subtitles throughout the movie where from time to time the movie provides subtitles for signage.-There is extensive use of stock footage from previous Godzilla movies throughout. Toho is quite creative in matching up Megalon's lightning bolt attack to that of Ghidorah's from previous movies. Ultimately, they use stock footage from a staggering nine different Toho movies!-This movie was originally going to be a movie about 'Jet Jaguar' but it was ultimately decided that he couldn't carry a movie by himself.-The monster outfits for Megalon and Gigan were cheaply done. The Gigan outfit was new since the old one was destroyed in the last movie. The new one had a blade that doesn't move. Neither of the monsters wings moves when they are flying.-There were only two sets built for the movie (not including the miniature's), the Seatopia set and the laboratory.WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WOMEN IN THIS MOVIE?:There are for all intents and purposes, none. The only women you see are in Seatopia and who knows if they are even human. You see a group of women dancing in outfits that are mostly see through and maybe a few of the extra's running in the street were women but that's the extent of it. There are no speaking parts for any woman nor any parts at all other than a few extra's in the aforementioned scenes. Try that today in Hollywood and they would be calling for the death penalty for the Producer and director.COMMENTS:-Despite the fact that the 'Showa' series turned into a kids series by the 10th movie, if not sooner, my favorite Godzilla movie of the 'Showa' era comes from this time period ('Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster').-The only scene in which Toho seems to have spent money on the sets was the scene at the dam where Megalon destroys it. This scene looks excellent. Unfortunately all the other sets were stock footage or are very basic with almost no scenery.-I hate the 'cute' Godzilla look in this movie. I don't know what's worse, an ugly Godzilla or a cute Godzilla.-This is the movie that Godzilla does his infamous flying kick in which he defies gravity. This scene along with Godzilla's flying scene in 'Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster' are probably the two most (in)famous Godzilla scenes of all time (unfortunately!!!).-Jet Jaguar is too big in comparison to the other monsters before he grows. The scale is way off. He is bigger than Megalon's head. The scaling is poorly done.-Where exactly are all those people running to when the monsters show up? Why not just stay home? It's not like you can get very far running. Also why do they always run in the same path as the monster. Why not run sideways?-The dubbing for Rokuro's voice was awful.-This movie was heavily influenced by professional wrestling. Wrestling was very popular at the time in Japan. The moves and mannerisms of the monsters are very similar to the moves and mannerism's of pro wrestlers.WHO WINS THE BATTLE?: Godzilla and Jet Jaguar soundly defeat Gigan and Megalon. No monster dies. The defeated monsters head back to where they came from. Gigan had his arm broken in the battle.CONCLUSIONS: I believe this movie to be the worst Godzilla movie ever made. This isn't to say it is the worst to watch. I personally don't like movies in which Godzilla dies or loses. Therefore, I rarely re-watch such Godzilla favorites as 'Godzilla vs. Mothra (or The Thing)' and even the original.RATINGS:Special Effects: 2/10The Plot: 1/10The Fight: 5/10The Opponent: 8/10The Blu-Ray Picture: 8/10I'm going to give this release 3 stars. The movie only gets 1 star but the price is an excellent value so along with the best available picture for this movie it gets 3 stars.Recommended obviously for Godzilla fans who need it for their collection. This is the best print.

SEPT 2014: So it's finally here... good news a nice clean print, not perfect but perfectly acceptable and likely the best we'll ever get. Bad news: no features. I will never understand Toho... first they're messing with the livelihood of a small business and second they're endlessly leading on the fans over what? A couple minor features for a children's film which is widely considered to be the least of the G-franchise films? Really? Funny thing is I've heard the commentary (bought one of the few feature DVDs that slipped out) and it does not rip on the movie at all... the commentary acknowledges the movie's reputation and then states that rather than rip on it they will tell the interesting story of how it got made... which is exactly what they proceed to do. The commentators actually give it much more respect and serious treatment than anyone could rightly wish for. I would truly think Toho would be thrilled by the features so I am more mystified than ever at the studio's stubborn - if not outright hostile - position. Anyway, from the pattern that Media Blasters have set previously it looks as if they're going with limited no-features Blu-ray releases on GvM and DAM... and if we're lucky Toho might finally approve feature versions down the road a bit. Poor Media Blasters... I pity them being played with like this after making a valiant effort to put out quality product.THIS INFO IS ACTUALLY FROM MARCH 22ND BUT IT GOT BY ME - HAD A BUSY SUMMER!Media Blasters licensed both GODZILLA VS MEGALON and DESTROY ALL MONSTERS in 2011, with MEGALON initially planned for both DVD and Blu-ray last November. But after Toho complained about some of the extra features Media Blasters included on their DESTROY ALL MONSTERS discs, MEGALON was put on hold while Toho went over the bonus content prepared for that film.Toho has a mountain of material -- including trailers, stills, publicity art, a feature length audio commentary by film historians Steve Ryfle (Japan's Favorite Mon-Star, BRINGING GODZILLA DOWN TO SIZE, ICONS OF SCI-FI: TOHO COLLECTION) and Stuart Galbraith IV (The Toho Studios Story, INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER DVD, TORA-SAN COLLECTOR'S SET), and an interview with English dub voice actor Ted Thomas -- to review, and the approval process has moved very slowly. With no end date in sight, Toho has authorized Media Blasters to release a barebones version of GODZILLA VS MEGALON at this time. A special edition is intended for both DVD and Blu-ray once Toho has given final approvals for the extra features, however long that may take.ALRIGHT, SO IT'S PROBABLY NOT THAT NEW TO MANY FANS, BUT WORTH ADDING TO THE FRONT OF THIS REVIEW FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW ALREADY. I'M KEEPING MY PRE-ORDER IN FOR THE BLURAY, AND FOR THE MEANTIME BOUGHT THE DVD ANYWAY. IT'S NICE TO HAVE A CLEAN COPY AND I WANT TO SUPPORT MEDIA BLASTERS HOWEVER POSSIBLE. KEEP THE FAITH!This review is to try once more to stifle the negative rumours about this release. The previous review By Mr. Bearbomb "DVD release RUMORS FALSE!!!" written just recently on December 14th, 2011 is false itself. The DVD and Bluray ARE coming out, though obviously with a bit of a delay, as they were originally scheduled for before Christmas. The original rumour was reported early this year on August Ragone's blog - information being supplied to him by a source he thought was reliable. It then turned out to be false... the denial from Media Blasters came at this point in time, which pointed out that they had been denied rights to the movie (but that was several years prior, keep in mind). August reported and apologized for this. Apparently in this small and barely significant community of Kaiju (Japanese monster) fans / collectors, there is a faction who do not like Mr Ragone, for whatever reason, and it seems as if someone might have set him up for an embarrassing mistake. This kind of behavior is petty and shameful. Chances are "Mr Bearbomb" is one of the pack. Whatever, who cares. Ironically, however, upon hearing all this stupid furor over the false rumor, Media Blasters submitted a new request for rights to release Godzilla vs Megalon along with Destroy All Monsters, and were surprised that this time Toho agreed to the request. This is when the current release was scheduled. Destroy All Monsters came out after a couple delays and Megalon is set to follow very soon.Anyone who still doubts can go visit Scifijapan.com and read interviews with respected Toho Kaiju film historians Steve Ryfle and Stuart Galbraith IV, discussing their involvement in the project (from Nov 15th, currently on page 3 of articles). Ed Godziszewski was also involved in at least preliminary stages of producing Megalon special features. They have authored books on the subject and been involved in previous DVD releases by Sony and Classic Media. The interviews with Steve and Stuart give interesting insight into the preparation of the commentary and more. Sorry, "Mr Bearbomb," but you have no idea what you're talking about.Finally, I'll take a general stab at this movies detractors who write it off as "the worst Godzilla movie" and other such nonsense. The bottom line here is that it's fun... just good old fashioned silliness! Now, as for the so-called "good" Kaiju movies... even the best of them are still about giant radioactive lizards, so give me a break, OK? It's true that the first wave, including Godzilla, Godzilla Raids Again, Rodan, Mothra, Varan were well crafted, interesting and fun monster sci-fi movies, with a small bit of genuine horror feeling to them, but with the notable exception of Godzilla vs Mothra in 64, things pretty much went straight downhill from there. from 1962's Godzilla vs King Kong through to 1975's Terror Of Mechagodzilla they were ALL silly. I mean, if you don't have a healthy appreciation of campy genre films (psychotronic fare for the more informed among us), then how can you really call yourself a Godzilla fan anyway??? The fact that Godzilla vs Megalon is the "worst" or "most campy" or "silliest" for me makes it one of the best. I just have an uproarious good time watching this movie, whatever the quality of the release. And the fact that it's now coming out in a 2-disc package with a well-researched commentary and additional supplementary features is the icing on the cake of my Kaiju collection. To h*** with the naysayers, I for one can't wait, and I encourage any casual Godzilla fans to grab this release, grab a seat on the couch with your kids and some popcorn, and have a great time! Cheers, everybody!AUGUST 2013: Well I have certainly begun to feel that I would be dining on crow for this review of Godzilla vs. Megalon, but I have stubbornly hung in, not canceling my pre-order. I have also resisted the temptation to pay big money for one of the DVDs that 'slipped out' with features included, which I would so love to have because I am such a features nut. But I stay the course, hoping that Tokyo Shock/Media Blasters stays in business long enough to see this release through all the Toho silliness. Now I have received a couple emails of late, the latest stating "We have good news! One of your pre-ordered items is now eligible for release date delivery and has been upgraded at no additional charge." Nice to see some type of progress, but there's still not actually a release date posted, so I am not quite ready to leap for joy yet. However, things are looking up, so the crow can wait for now!

Arrived slightly ahead of schedule - and it is a genuine Toho DVD! This will be watched and very much enjoyed very soon - highlight: Godzilla and Jet Jaguar team up to battle Gigan and Megalon - saw it years ago and I was chuckling at the tag team battle of the creatures!!! Naturally I'll watch the dubbed English version before the Japanese original. 10 out of 10.

I think it should be made more obvious that language or subtitles are not in English. It could be argued I should have checked harder.

This is in German and I had no idea until it arrived.

Some of the early Godzilla movies were very good in their own way, this one I'm affraid sent me to sleep. I will watch it again just to see the bits I missed. Only buy if you are an ardent fan.

DVD Menu is a bit hard to navigate on the Laptop.