Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

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Rodan
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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by Rodan »

eabaker wrote:I believe they're talking about Angilas's pre-credits scene, not his initial fight with MG.

And I have no answer, other than more Angilas is always a plus in my book.
Ah. My mistake. I'd actually forgotten that existed. Can totally picture it now.

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GalacticPetey
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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by GalacticPetey »

I always assumed it was just where he wound up after Megalon. I also have a second theory that he just got lost and is confused as hell.
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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by GodzillaFan1996 »

GalacticPetey wrote:I always assumed it was just where he wound up after Megalon. I also have a second theory that he just got lost and is confused as hell.
Finally someone returns this discussion back to Godzilla vs. Megalon instead of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla.
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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by godzillalives88 »

GodzillaFan1996 wrote:
GalacticPetey wrote:I always assumed it was just where he wound up after Megalon. I also have a second theory that he just got lost and is confused as hell.
Finally someone returns this discussion back to Godzilla vs. Megalon instead of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla.
On that note, re-watching Megalon recently, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I'd still rank it at the bottom of the series, but there are some really strong moments that I think get overlooked sometimes. For example, everyone always talks about how good the dam scene looks (and it does), but the opening scene of the lake draining is amazing. In fact, both the lake and dam scenes have some of the most seamless cutting between miniatures and live action in the whole series. There's also A LOT of cool moments in the finale battle, and I love that they fight until sunrise.

In some ways, I actually think it's better than Godzilla vs. Gigan. It's better at incorporating stock footage (save for some shots of Gigan during Megalon's attack scenes), and Megalon and Gigan have more chemistry as a team-up than Ghidorah and Gigan. Frankly, Godzilla and Jet Jaguar might too.

Gigan has a better score though, and MUCH more rounded out human story, so I'd give it the win overall. It's a shame we don't get much of a reaction out of the Seatopians when they lose at the end.

Anyway, similar to a recent change of heart I had with Godzilla's Revenge, none of the "kiddie" elements really bother me anymore. In my last two viewings, I've probably regained a lot of the fondness I had for Megalon as a child (where I still knew it was kinda shoddy).

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Shobijin
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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by Shobijin »

Poor rewatch without MST3K robots. The less I say, the better. Godzilla should not be in this Jet Jaguar pilot. One of the worst Showa G films.

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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by Legion1979 »

If you say so. It's not a "good" film, but it's still shitloads of fun.

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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by eabaker »

I find almost everything about the movie kind of fascinatingly unpleasant. It's a bad movie, but weird and audacious in so many of the right ways that I cannot help having an affection for it.

Certainly not a movie that MST3K added to in any way, for me. They make boring movies passable, but when a movie is this outré, the commentary just becomes a kind of redundancy.
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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by Legion1979 »

Personally, I LOVE the MST3K version of this movie, but it doesn't NEED Joel and the bots to make it entertaining.

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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by UltramanGoji »

The monsters had more personality in this film than practically any of the Heisei series.
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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by Stevo_1985 »

I enjoy both renditions. I'll watch one or the other depending on my mood. I would say I watch mst3ks cut more though. Setting Godzilla films aside it is one of my more favorite mst3k episodes.
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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by edgaguirus »

I've never seen the MST3K episode, but G vs Megalon would be entertaining either way.
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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by jackzilla »

This movie is one of my favorites in the series, as you can tell by my avatar. It's really really silly, crazy, and over the top, but that's what makes it fun.
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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by mschenk »

Finally bought and watched this last night. I liked it in a "so bad it's good" kind of way, but this was really scratching the bottom of the barrel. The final fight was fun to watch with a beer. The movie felt like a professional wrestling match with a "story" built around it.

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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by akanes_kiryu »

It may just be that this was my first Godzilla movie, but I've always felt pleasantly charmed watching this movie. It's got a brisk pace, some fun scenes, a couple of enjoyable characters and an inventive (but sadly not memorable outside of a few pieces) soundtrack.
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eabaker
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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by eabaker »

akanes_kiryu wrote:an inventive (but sadly not memorable outside of a few pieces) soundtrack.
It's actually some of my favorite driving music.

I also used a track from it in this weird little experimental video I made this summer:

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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by akanes_kiryu »

Nice! That worked quite well.

For me outside of the ending music and a few other tracks, the rest of it kind of blends into something akin to an ambient album that gives me anxiety. One of those compositions that I respect but just isn't my thing. I don't know why. I like experimental music usually.
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eabaker
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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by eabaker »

I find that the music makes me very anxious in the context of the movie. For all of its juvenile silliness, at a gut level Megalon may be the most unsettling Godzilla movie for me to sit through. The score, the color scheme, the strange use of slow motion... it's all intensely uncomfortable.
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Stevo_1985
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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by Stevo_1985 »

One thing I never took note of till I was older was the complete lack of a female role in this film putting aside random seatopian women.
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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by eabaker »

Stevo_1985 wrote:One thing I never took note of till I was older was the complete lack of a female role in this film putting aside random seatopian women.
Combine that with the phallic nature of both Gigan and Megalon's "arms," plus Jet Jaguar's ability to control his own size and his ultimate resolution to submit to the control of the men in the story and to not be any bigger than they are and... geez, what is this movie really about???
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Re: Talkback Thread #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Post by Godzillian »

Not to mention the two adult male leads are enjoying a nice picnic together at the start of the film
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