Monster Discussion #13: Moguera

[gigan72]

Discussion thread for the alien machinery, Moguera, from The Mysterians.

Moguera (Showa) Monster Bio

[Dannybeane]

Even though I love the mysterians, Moguera is kind of a plain looking robot. He looks like he was slapped together out of corrugated steel plates and had some TV antenna's glue on his head. As much as I loathe Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla, I will say the Heisei Moguera design was far superior looking to the showa design. It actually looked functional.

[The One and Only]

Been a bit of a fan Moguera since seeing his pic in Jeff Rovin's BOOK OF SCI-FI MONSTERS back in 1984. Also Showa Moguera's inclusion as a boss opponent in the NES game GODZILLA:Monster of Monsters. I find the machine highlight of THE MYSTERIANS flick when I finally got the DVD back in 2005. I could see why some might find his appearance a little cartoony with the spinning antenna. But looking at a lot of sci-fi films from the 30's, 40's and 50's of which this flick was a product of. Moguera fits in with the crowd of that time. The bot's biggest shortcoming for me are his eye beam effects which look rather cheap looking compared to the rest of the production. Would've loved to see this version of the mech make a return. As we saw in the final battle in THE MYSTERIANS a second Moguera was deployed, and took out one of the Markalite Cannons. Which ended up the Moguera unit taking itself out in the process. I figured it would cool if the flick was remade, or a sequel involving a battle with Godzilla's involvement. The flick would feature a squad of Moguera's deployed against human forces or the Big-G taking them on.
Anywho, found this cool CG Model animation of the robot on Youtube.

Also a video featuring what Godzilla facing off with Showa Moguera could be like.

[Carrerasaurus]

I figured it would cool if the flick was remade, or a sequel involving a battle with Godzilla's involvement.

In the late 90's a revision was being considered by Toho. In the Toho Kingdom Cutting Room page it reads the plan was to make it a trilogy, like what they did with the Mothra films. It's a shame it didn't came through.

[mikelcho]

Been a bit of a fan Moguera since seeing his pic in Jeff Rovin's BOOK OF SCI-FI MONSTERS back in 1984. Also Showa Moguera's inclusion as a boss opponent in the NES game GODZILLA:Monster of Monsters. I find the machine highlight of THE MYSTERIANS flick when I finally got the DVD back in 2005. I could see why some might find his appearance a little cartoony with the spinning antenna. But looking at a lot of sci-fi films from the 30's, 40's and 50's of which this flick was a product of. Moguera fits in with the crowd of that time. The bot's biggest shortcoming for me are his eye beam effects which look rather cheap looking compared to the rest of the production. Would've loved to see this version of the mech make a return. As we saw in the final battle in THE MYSTERIANS a second Moguera was deployed, and took out one of the Markalite Cannons. Which ended up the Moguera unit taking itself out in the process. I figured it would cool if the flick was remade, or a sequel involving a battle with Godzilla's involvement. The flick would feature a squad of Moguera's deployed against human forces or the Big-G taking them on.
Anywho, found this cool CG Model animation of the robot on Youtube.

Also a video featuring what Godzilla facing off with Showa Moguera could be like.

That was a great battle! Did its creator do any more?

[LSD Jellyfish]

Moguera is my favorite Showa Mech, although it very strong competitors with the goofy Mechani-Kong and the nasty and dangerous MechaGodzilla. I absolutely love the design. It keeps a lot of the tropes of early robots in check, while still having a slightly animalistic appearance. Sure it may look a little silly still, but in the original film, Mougera is legitimately terrifying, this massive robot just sort of heading forward uncaring and wiping out whatever is in its path. I'm sad that Mougera never got to be intergrated into the Godzilla series until Heisei, and while the update was great, it really loses out on the design a bunch too. It's also a shame how the second Mougera appears for a few seconds and is just pretty quickly wiped out.

I really hope we get an IDW Comic featuring Showa Mougera sometime. That or a new vinyl figure.

[edgaguirus]

Showa Moguera has a cool design, but how the robot is portrayed is what works best with it. It was an unstoppable force that kept marching on, and occasionally targeted specific soldiers as they attacked it. Moguera acted more kaiju than robot and made it seem alive. It's another example of how Toho would incorporate kaiju into their sci fi films, but this example was much better done.