Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

Post by Legion1979 »

I said I like the score, but I will say it would lose a lot of it's punch if you remove the main battle theme ("Godzilla vs Angilas"/"The Battle of Okinawa") That's the true standout piece of music, and the score would be a lot lesser without it.

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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

Post by StardustGenius »

I'm too tired and had a long day to defend this movie at length, but I'll say right now I found Terror to be the lesser of the two on several technical, editing, and pacing errors.

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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

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This is quite possible my favorite movie of all time.

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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

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GoldenGoat2000 wrote: Thu Dec 15, 2022 9:25 am This is quite possible my favorite movie of all time.
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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

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After taking a trip to Okinawa, I watched this film again in HD for the first time.

First, some interesting things to note:
-Pretty sure this film takes place in the Winter/Late Fall. My reasoning for this is that there's snow on the ground near Mt. Fuji, and later in Okinawa everyone is reasonably bundled up+less greens. Sort of a rarity in Godzilla films, most seem to take place in the Summer/Fall.

-People have discussed this before, but watching it in such high quality for the first time, MechaGodzilla's "space-titanium" color-scheme is much more noticeable. In part to VHS and DVDs, I've never really noticed how much MG has a slight green and brown tinge to various parts of it's body. It's very noticeable now, and I can't unseen it. Production photos don't really do it justice. It makes we wish we got moe accurate toys with this subtle color scheme. It makes Showa MG stand out.

Anyways:
I get why people love this film, but honestly this is one of the most lackluster films in the franchise for me. I think other than Nanbara and Kuronuma, the cast is overcrowded, and the blandest of the entire Godzilla series. Even after being in pretty much all the areas explicitly shown in the film, the sense of place and location confusingly darts around. I don't think it takes advantage of it's setting in Okinawa enough, minus a few scenes in the castle ruins and music.

I realized during this viewing that this film might feature Godzilla the least, in terms of story significance and screentime. Godzilla appears randomly to confront MG midway through the film, is later seen recovering, and then shows up for the finale. The plot has him pop-in with very little fanfare or warning. The film focuses very heavily on King Shisa and Mechagodzilla, but that's it, and even then I wish King Shisa had more onscreen time and that MG's rampage could be xtended. Still, what monster action we do get is pretty decent. I think the Angurius scene, minus some noticeable wires, was a great way for showing MG doesn't fuck around, and the entire factory explosion scene, while a little bit lacking on the fighting side, is executed well. Still, some moments of the film feel noticeably empty. You'd expect more panic and chaos during the Tokyo Bay scene, but minus the protagonists it's noticeably quiet and empty. Same goes for the other scenes, like Mechagodzilla detroying that one building in the countryside. Some of it feels empty like Godzilla vs. Megalon, and not at all like the panic and chaos of films like Terror of Mechagodzilla or Godzilla vs. Hedorah.

There's still a lot to praise though.
I don't think this will be controversial, but I think the film does have one of the best climactic fights in the franchise. King Shisa runs in and gets a brief upper-hand on MG, able to reflect his lasers back at him and body him. Then MG, changes tactics, and manages to send King Shisa on the retreat. Godzilla comes out of the sea, gets briefly clobbered, before him and Shisa start working together. Even then, it isn't enough with MG firing at both simultaenously before dispatching King Shisa once more. MG uses his spinning barrier, and then begins to badly wound Godzilla with a variety of missiles. Godzilla uses a weird new ability, but the fight isn't instantly over. Godzilla manages to capture MG, while King Shisa bodies MechaGodzilla. Godzilla manages to deliver the finishing blow, by twisting Mechagodzilla's head off. It's great stuff. Three unique monsters, all with different abilities, and tactics that continually switch up during the fight. Sure, Godzilla turning into a giant magnet seems a bit jarring, but it's not the end of the fight and doesn't seem as random as Godzilla randomly recovering and winning because he felt like it in surrounding films. While some people make fun of King Shisa, he did actually put in a decent amount of work on MG and it's important to remember that compared to Angurius, King Shisa did far better, able to physically overpower MG in moments.

With some great monster action, and a boring/overcrowded cast, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla is a film that clearly has it's fans, but often for good reason falls short of being one of the all-time greats.
Last edited by LSD Jellyfish on Thu Mar 23, 2023 10:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

Post by JAGzilla »

The big strength of this movie is its spectacle. Dazzling pyrotechnics and shocking displays of SFX firepower. That's a lot of fun. There's some nice, mysterious atmosphere at some points involving King Seesar, too. And it should be said that the human storyline is very action-packed, definitely a bonus for those who don't like board rooms and dialogue. Everything else is ho-hum.
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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

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Always liked the contrasting elements of King Caesar and Okinawa’s mythology against the bombastic, jazzy and 70s-futuristic aesthetic surrounding Mechagodzilla’s essence, with Godzilla managing to fit perfectly in between. It has such a fun wacky adventure feel to it that rewatches never get tiresome. Overall I absolutely think TOMG is the narratively and cinematically superior movie but I won’t like that GvMG has its charm through and through.
Last edited by Dv-218 on Fri Mar 24, 2023 3:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

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Dv-218 wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 3:37 am Always liked the contrasting elements of King Caesar and Okinawa’s mythology against the bombastic, jazzy and 70s-futuristic aesthetic surrounding Mechagodzilla’s essence…
Yeah, I really like that too. One detail I like is King Shisa’s glowing jewel eyes. It’s a detail some comics/extended media ignores, but it gives King Shisa a further parallel to MG. King Shisa is essentially a golem/stone robot if that makes sense, and the eyes further it’s robotic qualities.
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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

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I like this one more than TOMG by a decent bit. TOMG is the better story, Jun Fukuda's offering gives me what I like. Over the years, after diving into Jun Fukuda's stuff I get what the guy likes. And I like a lot of those things! When those things are tied, and I have to make a choice, I go with which movie looks better.

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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

Post by Dv-218 »

The bombastic flair Fukuda gives it also helps to further push the film’s status as Showa’s triumphant return to quality. The fact that after arguably the lowest point of this era the fact that he managed to pull off a film this entertaining and substantial is to be admired.

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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

Post by edgaguirus »

LSD Jellyfish wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 6:15 am
Dv-218 wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 3:37 am Always liked the contrasting elements of King Caesar and Okinawa’s mythology against the bombastic, jazzy and 70s-futuristic aesthetic surrounding Mechagodzilla’s essence…
Yeah, I really like that too. One detail I like is King Shisa’s glowing jewel eyes. It’s a detail some comics/extended media ignores, but it gives King Shisa a further parallel to MG. King Shisa is essentially a golem/stone robot if that makes sense, and the eyes further it’s robotic qualities.
That KC is a golem also gives us a nice foil for MG. KC is an ancient, man-made soldier of defense, while MG is a top-of-the-line alien weapon of conquest. These artificial beings make a good pairing as enemies.
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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

Post by MaxRebo320 »

Masaru Sato's reworking of his Battle of Okinawa score into this film's theme is easily one of the cleverest score reuses in Toho's SFX canon (much more so than any of Ifukube's recycling, IMO).
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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

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MaxRebo320 wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 2:17 pm Masaru Sato's reworking of his Battle of Okinawa score into this film's theme is easily one of the cleverest score reuses in Toho's SFX canon (much more so than any of Ifukube's recycling, IMO).
Huh, I didn't even know that the film featured recycled music. I have not seen Battle of Okinawa, so I lack that context. I don't think I'm alone in this. If you remember clearly, which parts of the movie does it play in?
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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

Post by Legion1979 »

Additionally, the fight between MG and KC uses Godzillas's theme from Son of Godzilla.

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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

Post by MaxRebo320 »

It's not the same composition, but Sato very clearly reused Battle's title song/the cue "Beautiful Okinawa" for Mechagodzilla's. Which again, was pretty dang clever. You can find excerpts here. And do see the movie! ;)
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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

Post by G-Matt »

Legion1979 wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 3:46 pm Additionally, the fight between MG and KC uses Godzillas's theme from Son of Godzilla.
And the music heard during the first fight between Keisuke and the alien agent is recycled from Judo Saga (aka Sanshiro Sugata) from 1965.
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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

Post by StardustGenius »

Battle Of Okinawa's a grim war movie that's pretty harsh! I recommend a watch too. The American soldiers don't have their faces shown too much, so the movie's intense violence feels so cold or impersonal at times, as the cast is killed off. The International Dub has a lot of familiar voices we've heard before in tokusatsu movies.

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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

Post by LegendZilla »

Since Jet Jaguar has faced a sudden surge in popularity lately, I have another question. Is it possible it could happen for King Caesar too? If so, what do you think they could pull it off?

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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

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LegendZilla wrote: Fri Jun 30, 2023 6:58 pm Since Jet Jaguar has faced a sudden surge in popularity lately, I have another question. Is it possible it could happen for King Caesar too? If so, what do you think they could pull it off?
Nope.

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Re: Talkback Thread #14: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

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Legion1979 wrote: Fri Jun 30, 2023 7:00 pm
LegendZilla wrote: Fri Jun 30, 2023 6:58 pm Since Jet Jaguar has faced a sudden surge in popularity lately, I have another question. Is it possible it could happen for King Caesar too? If so, what do you think they could pull it off?
Nope.
Could you please elaborate? Just a few years ago before Singular Point, would've said the same about Jet Jaguar? Besides, he's got a better chance then let's say Titanosaurus.
Last edited by LegendZilla on Fri Jun 30, 2023 7:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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