Maser Cannon 50th Anniversary

[GalacticPetey]

That's actually a really cool tribute! Surprised they knew about the masers.

[edgaguirus]

I like that.

[Godzillian]

Interesting fact, the guy who designed the Maser Cannon actually didn't like the design that much

[BlankAccount]

Well it's July 31st, 2016. Today the Toho Maser Cannons are officially 50 years old.

[edgaguirus]

And what a blast they've been for Toho's kaiju movies. From ground vehicles to helicopters and to mechs, masers have served these films well.

[BlankAccount]

And what a blast they've been for Toho's kaiju movies. From ground vehicles to helicopters and to mechs, masers have served these films well.

Are ASTOL's choppers? I always thought they were jets.

[edgaguirus]

Just looked at their picture. They are jets.

[BlankAccount]

Behold the power of necro-post!

So yeah, I had no idea we two types of masers in the Showa Godzilla films.

https://www.tohokingdom.com/aliens_sdf/ ... _tank.html

https://www.tohokingdom.com/aliens_sdf/ ... cannon.htm

The differences are there but I've missed the tiny little details. Makes me what else we've missed despite seeing the movies a million times.

[Cybermat47]

I love Masers, but I think that Gigan and Megalon just ducked behind the trees so that they could take a break while Gaira acted as their stunt double

[NSZ]

Behold the power of necro-post!

So yeah, I had no idea we two types of masers in the Showa Godzilla films.

https://www.tohokingdom.com/aliens_sdf/ ... _tank.html

https://www.tohokingdom.com/aliens_sdf/ ... cannon.htm

The differences are there but I've missed the tiny little details. Makes me what else we've missed despite seeing the movies a million times.

Same. Was quite the shock loading up the home page earlier today and seeing that update.

[BlankAccount]

Same. Was quite the shock loading up the home page earlier today and seeing that update.

Doesn't seem to have made much of a difference. I get the logic of making more mobile masers but it's pointless against a beam spammer like King Ghidorah.

[GodzillaBurgh]

The Maser Cannons have always been my favorite military vehicle of the JSDF. It looks so way ahead of its time. Especially the sound it makes:
EEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIINNNNN!!!!! Sorry.

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

Behold the power of necro-post!

So yeah, I had no idea we two types of masers in the Showa Godzilla films.

https://www.tohokingdom.com/aliens_sdf/ ... _tank.html

https://www.tohokingdom.com/aliens_sdf/ ... cannon.htm

The differences are there but I've missed the tiny little details. Makes me what else we've missed despite seeing the movies a million times.

That's pretty cool. It's always neat to see "new" details pop up every now and then. Kinda shows the thought put into the miniatures.

[LegendZilla]

I'm going to be real here: I hate Masers.

I know they somewhat fit the goofy '60s super-science aesthetic they originally accompanied (though they never showed up in a Showa Godzilla film proper), but what they engendered in the later films -- a kind of expectation that playful super-weapons be present -- really doesn't sit well with me. And, frankly, I don't think they were ever needed in the Showa era. Even at its most fantastic you still had things a little more down-to-Earth like the use of white noise in Astro-Monster and electrical grids in vs. Hedorah. They were fine as a one-off in Sanda vs. Gaira.

But when you have the popping back up as homage imagery in the '90s and 2000s films (whether or not they're called that) -- ugh. I really, really hate super-weapons in these movies. Yes, there was a super-weapon in the very first Godzilla film ever, but it wasn't there to receive positive attention or to entertain -- it was as bleak and heightened a metaphor for nuclear proliferation as Godzilla himself.

So trotting out the next laser or Super-X or black-hole gun has never felt right to me, especially if the script doesn't examine their ramifications (and they never do). The Masers are f*cking dumb. I'd be happy never to see them again.

You must lament the fact that Godzilla can do something as far-fetched as breathing a concentrated stream of radiation from his mouth.

[UltramanGoji]

You must lament the fact that Godzilla can do something as far-fetched as breathing a concentrated stream of radiation from his mouth.

Jeez, you really missed the point of that post, didn't you?

He likes that the early Showa films had reasonably down-to-Earth approaches by humanity to combat the fantastical creatures. They didn't need BIG GUNS WITH LASER BEAMS, the biggest menaces to the planet were brought down by things such as simple white noise and electricity. And then the Heisei and Millenium series came in and just brought back the masers because BIG GUNS.

Even if I may not agree with that sentiment, I can certainly understand it.

[LegendZilla]

You must lament the fact that Godzilla can do something as far-fetched as breathing a concentrated stream of radiation from his mouth.

Jeez, you really missed the point of that post, didn't you?

He likes that the early Showa films had reasonably down-to-Earth approaches by humanity to combat the fantastical creatures. They didn't need BIG GUNS WITH LASER BEAMS, the biggest menaces to the planet were brought down by things such as simple white noise and electricity. And then the Heisei and Millenium series came in and just brought back the masers because BIG GUNS.

Even if I may not agree with that sentiment, I can certainly understand it.

Well that's science fiction for you.

[Relair]

I love maser cannons. You know they're not going to kill anyone, but they always look badass and make you think for a sec "ehh..maybe?" They're like the elite guard before the boss. Better than grunts and fodder, you're probably going to take some damage, but you know you'll still win in the end.

[BlankAccount]

NECROPOST!

Several people more military savy than me have pointed out the MBAW-93's body seems to be heavily inspired by the Flakpanzer Gepard Anti-Aircraft Tank though much, much, much bigger.






Also the ASTOL-MB93 seems to have been built with defense against human enemy in mind, cause it's got a 20mm Vulcan Gatling Gun which is never used in film.





It's hard to see on film but it's there.

[Fish Cakes]

More like Gayser Cannons, am I right?

[edgaguirus]

I'm not really surprised they would base the maser on a real vehicle. Inspiration comes from all sorts of places.