Ranking the Mechagodzilla Films

[Zarm]

Wow, VERY much disagree there!

I'd rank them:

1. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
2. Godzilla against Mechagodzilla
3. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
4. Terror of Mechagodzilla
5. Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

With Tokyo S.O.S. and ToMG being interchangeable dependent upon my mood.

I would feel very similarly:
1. Godzilla against Mechagodzilla
2. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
3. Terror of Mechagodzilla
4. Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.
5. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

I don't think the Kiryu films have a single redeeming quality outside of Kiryu himself. The characters in Terror aren't all that great but I love the action, the suits (particularly the updated Mechagodzilla), and I even really like the synthesized score. Outside of Kiryu himself I can't stand a single thing about Against Mechagodzilla. Funny enough your feelings toward Terror are pretty much my exact feelings toward GxMG.

[eabaker]

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, easily!

GvMG'74 is one of my all-time favorite Godzilla films, easily one of the most fun, engaging, and just all-around enjoyable films in the whole genre. Great action, memorable characters, a catchy score, a tight and zippy story, plus some really wonderful suit and miniature work.

I think the core of my problem with Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla - well, I say "problem," but it's not like I dislike the movie, I just like it less than a lot of other Godzilla movies - is that, while there's a lot of plot going on, I don't really see much story there.

[Ivo-goji]

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla has no characters, only plot devices, who are mostly interchangeable and hard to tell apart. Konumura and Nanbara are maybe exceptions there but only barely. I'd be surprised if anyone here remembered the names of any of the humans in the movie.

Terror of Mechagodzilla on the other hand is driven by actual characters like Katsura, Dr. Mafune, Ichinose, and Mogul.

[Pkmatrix]

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, easily!

GvMG'74 is one of my all-time favorite Godzilla films, easily one of the most fun, engaging, and just all-around enjoyable films in the whole genre. Great action, memorable characters, a catchy score, a tight and zippy story, plus some really wonderful suit and miniature work.

I think the core of my problem with Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla - well, I say "problem," but it's not like I dislike the movie, I just like it less than a lot of other Godzilla movies - is that, while there's a lot of plot going on, I don't really see much story there.

Eh, we're probably just looking for and getting different things out of it, I guess. ^_^ There's plenty of story there for me - not necessarily anything deep or complicated, but at least on par with similar sort of spy/action/adventure films IMO and that's all I really want out of it anyway.

For me, at least, I don't see ToMG having much of a leg up on GvMG in that department as the only characters fleshed out much more than the characters in the first film are Mafune and Katsura. The story is a different one in ToMG, but IMO not really any deeper or more complex just different and differently structured.

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla has no characters, only plot devices, who are mostly interchangeable and hard to tell apart. Konumura and Nanbara are maybe exceptions there but only barely. I'd be surprised if anyone here remembered the names of any of the humans in the movie.

Terror of Mechagodzilla on the other hand is driven by actual characters like Katsura, Dr. Mafune, Ichinose, and Mogul.

They're stock characters, sure, but I wouldn't go so far as to call them interchangeable or hard to tell apart. And, honestly, it's about as hard to remember the cast's names as it is for most of ToMG's cast - I had to Google it just now to figure out who Mogul was, and there's no way I could name anyone's name (it's a miracle I even remembered which one was Ichinose).

Hey, if you're preference is ToMG then all the more power to you, but if given a choice I pretty much will always choose GvMG over it.

[KaijuCanuck]

Part of it for me I think depends on what I've seen the most or had access to growing up. I had a DVD of Terror of Mechagodzilla, but had to rent Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla to see it. Terror might be the G film I've seen the most times actually. I know that GvMG came first obviously, but in my head Terror is the original impression of Showa Mechagodzilla and GvMG is the second.

[Pkmatrix]

Part of it for me I think depends on what I've seen the most or had access to growing up. I had a DVD of Terror of Mechagodzilla, but had to rent Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla to see it. Terror might be the G film I've seen the most times actually. I know that GvMG came first obviously, but in my head Terror is the original impression of Showa Mechagodzilla and GvMG is the second.

Hm. Yeah, I dunno. *Shrug*

I had access to both as a kid almost immediately after I became a fan (this being the mid 1990s so Showa Godzilla was easy to find everywhere on VHS), and even though I saw ToMG first I always preferred GvMG. As I've grown older I've reevaluated my feelings about both and while my opinion of ToMG has improved considerably, all that's really changed is it moved from the bottom of the pile to somewhere in the middle while GvMG has maintained it's "somewhere in the personal top ten" position.

[Lain Of The Wired]

I had at a ton of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla VHS's when I was a kid, it was ridiculous, one had the original title, one was cosmic, couple was bionic. I watched it more times than any Godzilla movie when I was a kid, and I still watch it regularly and it holds up just as well as I remember
Terror just doesn't compare I'm any way for me

[eabaker]

I think the core of my problem with Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla - well, I say "problem," but it's not like I dislike the movie, I just like it less than a lot of other Godzilla movies - is that, while there's a lot of plot going on, I don't really see much story there.

Eh, we're probably just looking for and getting different things out of it, I guess. ^_^ There's plenty of story there for me - not necessarily anything deep or complicated, but at least on par with similar sort of spy/action/adventure films IMO and that's all I really want out of it anyway.

Yeah, that's not really a genre I engage with very much, for the very reason that it tends to be so much more plot-driven than story-driven. It's just not my thing.

[Lain Of The Wired]

Are you kidding me? Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla was just as thought provoking as Shin Gojira, if not even more so. Truly a Kubrician mind boggle

[Loganrules115]

1. Terror of Mechagodzilla (easily one of my top favorites in the whole franchise)
2. Godzilla vs. Mechagozilla
3. Godzilla: Tokyo SOS
4. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla
5. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II

[The Kongfather]

While all five deserve a revisit before I could rank them, the original Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla is my top choice out of nostalgia alone. It's one of the most iconic standoffs in the franchise, with King Caesar, an otherwise awesome Kaiju, receiving the funniest ass-whoopin' of any Kaiju.

I really like how the Mechagodzilla films from the Showa and Millennium eras work as double features. I also think Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla is brushed aside too often. It's the original Pacific Rim.

[SonOfGorgo]

I like both equally tbh.

[Anguirus]

If we're ranking all five:
5: Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla
4. Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla
3. Godzilla Tokyo SOS
2. Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla 2
1. Terror of Mechagodzilla

[Maritonic]

If we're going to rank all 5... (for me, personally)
1: Terror of Mechagodzilla
2. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
3. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
4. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla
5. Godzilla Tokyo SOS

[eabaker]

If we're going to rank all 5... (for me, personally)
1: Terror of Mechagodzilla
2. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
3. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
4. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla
5. Godzilla Tokyo SOS

That might be my ranking, as well, although spots 2 and 3 are pretty swappable depending on mood.

[Maritonic]

If we're going to rank all 5... (for me, personally)
1: Terror of Mechagodzilla
2. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
3. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
4. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla
5. Godzilla Tokyo SOS

That might be my ranking, as well, although spots 2 and 3 are pretty swappable depending on mood.

Yeah, agreed; 2 and 3 would depend on the mood. But more often than not, I'd go with Mechagodzilla II over OG vs. Mechagodzilla.

[KaijuCanuck]

I would go:

1. Terror of Mechagodzilla
2. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 2
3. Godzilla: Tokyo SOS
4. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
5. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla

[Stevo_1985]

I think I like the first one better. Granted both films feature interpol but Nanbara is a ba. The Simian leader, again in both films sort of comes across as an after thought in ToM and he's a great character. Then you have King Caesar and Titanosauras. No hate for Titan here, but imo KC is just cooler. You have an aquatic dinosaur.. then you have an ancient golem lion deity. ToM also abandons the mythological approach ie, prophecys, tribes, deitys, of which is no real fault to the film. Personally I don't think incorporating it into ToM would have worked.. but it's a subject that was rarely touched by the majority of the Showa films besides the mothra films and I don't care much for mothra. It sounds like I'm bashing ToM but I'm not I promise. I just watched it the other day. I just like the first one more.

[Dawsbfiremind]

1. Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla
2.Godzilla against Mechagodzilla
3. Godzilla Tokyo SOS
4. Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla 2
5. Terror of Mechagodzilla