| Terror of Mechagodzilla will
always have a special place in my heart as being
the first Godzilla… indeed the first Kaiju
film I’ve ever seen. It is a decently entertaining
film, and it sets itself apart from the rest
of the late Showa series by being incredibly
dark. The prequel, Godzilla
vs. Mechagodzilla (1974),
is drastically more violent than its predecessors,
but in dark grit, at least, it doesn’t
quite match up to ‘Terror.’ I didn’t
want to safely review this film until I had watched
the Japanese version, now that I finally have,
I can make a few safe assessments.
Ishiro
Honda is back to direct the final Godzilla film of
his career, and it is somehow fitting the veteran
giant creature filmmaker helmed the first and
last King of Monsters outings of the Showa saga.
The tone of the film seems to be a fitting setting
for him to return as director. Despite this however,
Mr. Honda’s direction
of the film seems rather unmotivated and lackluster.
Initially when I was told that the Japanese version
was superior to the American version, (make no
mistake, it is)…The first thing that came
to mind is that American editing was responsible
for a film full of what seemed to be strange,
erratic and very unpolished scenes in what I
assumed was a far more streamlined Honda-shot
motion picture. Surprisingly enough, aside from
the Americans creating a few abrupt ends to scenes
by cutting out subsequent ones that are more
violent and less PG, such as the Interpol agent
being riddled with bullets, the children being
stepped on, and of course, the infamous fake
breasts scene… The film is for the most
part intentionally shot and edited that way.
It was a bit surprising considering the director
behind it, and it makes the film seem a bit more
unprofessional in comparison to his other works.
The
story by Yukiko Takayama (the second female writer
to write a Godzilla story and script), is indeed
dark and moody. I’m utterly convinced
that despite it’s cliché nature
in the character department which includes a
revenge-seeking mad doctor who was shunned by
the scientific community (Akihiko Harata), a
the meddling good guy who’s in love with
said doctor’s daughter (Katsuhiko Sasaki),
the daughter who is torn between loyalties (Tomoko
Ai) , the robotic Interpol agents (Katsumasa
Uchida, Tadao Nakamaru) and of course the overbearing,
maniacal laugh having aliens (Goro Mutsumi, Toru
Ibuki) this film could have been one of the best
Godzilla films ever made.
Each person in the film
has a role to play, and they do so to a bare
minimum. None of the performances are over the
top good. Everyone seems so uncaring and detached.
I wasn’t
riveted by a single performance in the film,
resulting in little care for any of the characters.
Even Ichinose and Katsura’s scene together
before she commits suicide left me an emotional
blank. The execution up to that point was that
poor. I think the most convincing role of the
film was the silent butler. The mediocre acting
and human direction really fails to bring out
the true genius, depth and drama of Takayama’s
script, resulting in an on-screen story that
is more depressing to have to sit through than
the film ends up being.
However, one of the film’s strong points
lies in the original composition of legendary
Akira
Ifukube. While the acting and direction
may have been off, Ifukube’s score really
works well for whatever part of the film a particular
track is partnered with, making the dark and
moody atmosphere all the more authentic.
However,
one of the film’s strong points
lies with the special effects and monster direction
of Teruyoshi Nakano. He again takes charge of
the effects of this film and does a stellar job.
Other than the poorly done matte shots, Nakano
excelled in his usage of awesome miniatures and
pyrotechnics. What a terrible marvel to behold
it was when Mechagodzilla decimated Tokyo. The
roto-scoping feast in ‘Terror’ isn’t
as well done as it was in Godzilla
vs. Mechagodzilla (1974),
but it is exceptional nonetheless. Nakano also
had the monsters shot very well for the most
part, including exceptional wide panning shots
of the monsters squaring off. The designs of
the monsters were top notch as well. Godzilla’s
design is relatively the same from his past two
films body-wise. However, the Kaiju king seems
to have gone through a slow transformation of
the head from goofy and friendly in Godzilla
vs. Megalon (1973), to a more serious
expression in Godzilla
vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) and
in ‘Terror’ we
finally see a serious, determined and even angry
looking Godzilla that also adds to the tone of
the film. Titanosaurus is a breath of fresh air
as well. He gives the film it’s only sense
of realism in that he is merely a gigantic dinosaur.
The suit looks spectacular but it truly shines
during his nighttime scenes and gives off a much
more menacing aura. Being a fan of tooth and
claw fighting, Titanosaurus’ lack of powers
and beam weapons made for some awesome hand to
hand confrontations with Godzilla that were very
enjoyable. Funnily enough, Titanosaurus does
most of the interesting dirty work in the film,
and steals a considerable amount of spotlight
from what is supposed to be the main antagonist,
Mechagodzilla. Mechagodzilla’s worn look
and more imposing finger arsenal gives him a
far more menacing and powerful look than the
previous film. Ironically, the cyborg seems to
be the weak link in the trio showcased in the
movie. We seem to build up nicely during the
Tokyo destruction, but during the climactic battle
we see nothing but Titanosaurus and Godzilla
going at it while Mechagodzilla gets in a few
shots. When did he turn into King Ghidorah from
Godzilla
vs. Gigan (1972)?
What happened to the domineering and insanely
violent Mechagodzilla we saw destroy Anguirus,
King Caesar and Godzilla in the previous film?
Mechagodzilla was ramming his hand down throats
up close as well as blasting things to bits from
a distance, he was a scarily dominate war machine.
In ’Terror’ he
just stands around and fires a beam or two. Perfect
robot monster my eye. Now some may argue that
the whole idea is that unless his human controller
dies, he will continue to fight. And that’d
be a frightening thing if the whole premise of
it wasn’t wasted during the final fight.
It’d be a different story as far as that
angle of the film is concerned if Mechagodzilla
was beating the tar out of Godzilla half the
time, and it would have been a far more dramatic
approach both to Katsura’s death and to
Godzilla’s win if that were case. Instead
we get a very uninspired victory in the face
of metallic poses and a few cheap shots. Whether
Katsura were alive or dead, I’m not entirely
sure how much trouble Godzilla would have really
had beating his mechanical double. It didn’t
come off as if it’d be much of a challenge
in the film, thus burying another major plot
point and established character depiction faster
than the kaiju fandom buried GODZILLA (1998).
While most monster involved scenes were fun to
watch, some of the long or random shots of the
monsters seemed unnecessary and damaged the flow
of the film. An example of this is when Titanosaurus
walks through Tokyo, head-a-bobbin’ for
what seems like an eternity, just to stop wiggle
a little bit and then open his tail.
Terror
of Mechagodzilla was indeed
and innovational film in a time of cheese and
camp, as it tried to return to Godzilla‘s
darker roots. In the end, however, the
film seems to come up considerably short of what
it was trying to achieve in its plot mostly due
to missteps in the execution of the acting, editing
and direction. It’s not an atrocious Godzilla
film, but it’s far too mediocre to call
outstanding. I applaud what they were trying
to do however and perhaps the biggest shame of
all is getting through the film, even in its
original version and realizing how much potential
it had that wasn‘t realized. |
(3/5)