Contents
Monsters
Godzilla
King Caesar
Anguirus
Mechagodzilla
Fake Godzilla
Plot
According to an Okinawa legend, when a black mountain appears in the sky above the clouds, a monster will arrive and attempt to destroy the world. However, if this divination comes true, a red moon will set, two suns will arise (one being an optical illusion rising from the west), and two monsters will fight off evil to rescue the world. In a cave near the city, an engineer and an archaeologist uncover a statue of the protector of Okinawa, known as King Caesar. He is believed to be one of the monsters to fight for humankind in the prophecy.
Later, a black mountain (a black cloud) does appear in the sky. Godzilla then rises from Mount Fuji and starts on a rampage. Many people, however, do not believe Godzilla will be the monster to destroy Earth. That reflection is reinforced when Godzilla attacks Anguirus and nearly kills him (by ripping his jaw apart).
In a surprising turn of events, the real Godzilla sets forth, only to discover that the rampant Godzilla is an impostor. Later revealed as Mechagodzilla, a cyborg of titanic proportions that was designed and created by ape-like aliens of the Third Planet from the Black Hole to destroy the real Godzilla. After Godzilla is nearly killed, he comes back, super charged with electricity, gathered from a lightning storm. With the help of the newly summoned King Caesar , Godzilla destroys Mechagodzilla (by twisting his head off) and returns back to the sea.
Cult Status
The movie has become popular among fans in recent years for its strange music, colorful special effects and entertaining monster fights. The film's robust themes and fairly complex plot stand out against a time when the Godzilla franchise was being fueled by increasingly lower production values.
Outside of the circle, however, public reception is luke-warm at best and the movie garners only 5.6 stars (out of a possible ten) at IMDB. However, it does retain an above-average score (60%) at Rotten Tomatoes.
Box office
The film sold approximately 1,330,000 tickets in Japan - modest business, but an improvement of about 350,000 over the previous Godzilla film, Godzilla vs. Megalon.
U.S. version
In 1977, Cinema Shares released the film originally in North America under the title Godzilla vs. the Bionic Monster. But due to the threat of a lawsuit against Cinema Shares from Universal Studios on account of supposedly deriving the title from The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, the movie was retitled Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster. But both variations (the first variation is original artwork, having Godzilla and Mechagodzilla fight in front of a volcano, and the second being the Japanese artwork being surrounded in a blue rectangle) of the American Poster were called the films Bionic title. But after the threat of the lawsuit, both variations got the Cosmic Monster fix. But interestingly, official Godzilla merchandise like the Yamakatsu Mechagodzilla plastic kit and Toho's Perfect Collection soundtrack of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla still call the monster the BIONIC MONSTER.
For the theatrical release, the film was kept with its original Hong Kong dubbing, and scenes were trimmed to receive a G-rating from the MPAA, mostly from the aliens' fistfights. The opening credits were altered as well. In 1988, New World Video released the film along with Godzilla 1985, Godzilla vs. Gigan, Godzilla vs. Megalon, and Children of the Corn. The print of the film that was shown in America would later be released on VHS, twice.
Alternate titles
- Godzilla vs. Bionic Monster
- Godzilla vs. Cosmic Monster
Trivia
- Special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano adopted Mechagodzilla's walk from the formal movements of Kabuki.
- This was the 20th Anniversary Godzilla film.
- The opening song "Miyarabi no Inori" (ミヤラビの祈り) and ending theme "Meka-Gojira wo Yattsukero" (メカゴジラをやっつけろ) were both sung by Berubera Riin (Berbera Lynn), who plays Nami Kunigashira in the movie.
- Released as Godzilla vs. the Bionic Monster in its original 1977 American release by Cinema Shares Distribution (also known as "Downtown Distribution"). A lawsuit by Universal Studios forced a title change to Godzilla vs. Cosmic Monster a short while later (because Universal thought it sounded too close to their TV productions, The Six Million Dollar Man and its spin-off The Bionic Woman, claiming to have owned the word "bionic" back then). Eventually, the film began using the original Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla title, making it the only Godzilla movie to receive three separate titles in the U.S.
- In 2004, Tristar and Sony Entertainment released on DVD the original international uncut and unedited version of the film, also featuring the original Japanese language track.
- The Anguirus role in the movie was originally written for Baragon, but the suit was in such dire straits that the studio chose to use Anguirus as a replacement to fill the role. This could also be interpreted as the reason we see him gain burrowing and leaping abilities, traits that are attributed to Baragon.
- In the scene where the disguised Mechagodzilla fights the real Godzilla, the suit used to portray the disguised Mechagodzilla would be reused at the end of Terror of Mechagodzilla to show Godzilla swimming away.
- Strangely, when the Azumi princess has her vision at the beginning of the film foretelling of a monster coming to destroy mankind, it is portrayed through film stills from Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster with flames overlaid on them. King Ghidorah can clearly be seen in the shots, and his roar is used as background sound. However, Ghidorah does not appear again at any point in the remainder of the film. This may be a foreshadowing, since the film Destroy All Monsters is considered as the final film of the series.
- This is the favorite Godzilla film of Godzilla: Final Wars director Ryuhei Kitamura, with his favorite Kaiju being King Caesar.
- Deleted scenes include: A brief fight between the Shimizu brothers, which is quickly broken up by Professor Miyajima; a longer conversation between Alien Leader Kuronama and his soldiers about Mechagodzilla's status; Mechagodzilla ear-clapping Godzilla; a shot of King Caesar jumping at Mechagodzilla; and a brief shot of Godzilla and Mechagodzilla facing off and roaring at one-another. The last two scenes can be seen in the original Japanese trailer.
DVD releases
Sony Pictures
- Released: October 19, 2004
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2.35:1) anamorphic
- Sound: Japanese (2.0), English (2.0)
- Supplements: Trailers for Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, Kaena: The Prophecy, Steamboy
- Region 1
- MPAA Rating: PG for sci-fi monster violence and some language
External links
- Godzilla on the web(Japan)
- Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla at the Internet Movie Database
- vs. MechaGodzilla/ Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla at Rotten Tomatoes
- "ゴジラ対メカゴジラ (Gojira tai MekaGojira)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1974/cx000690.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
References
"Godzilla vs. Bionic Monster; Who can resist the transistor terror?" in Famous Monsters of Filmland, July 1977 (#135). Cover, and p. 16-25. (pictures & synopsis)
Shōwa series
Heisei series
Millennium series
Related films and
Televison series