TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA (1975)
aka Mekagojira no gyakushu

Article 3662 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-9-2011
Posting Date: 8-24-2011
Directed by Ishiro Honda
Featuring Katsuhiko Sasaki, Tomoko Ai, Akihiko Hirata
Country: Japan
What it is: Godzilla movie

Space aliens planning on taking over the Earth team up with an embittered Earth scientist who has the ability to control a giant dinosaur called Titanasaurus. The aliens have also reconstructed Mechagodzilla to help them in their conquest. Can Godzilla defeat these foes?

This was the last of the original run of Godzilla movies, though not the last I will cover, as I have a few earlier ones to review yet. For my money, the last couple of movies were a bit of a rebound from the previous two, but only a bit; their main advantage is that Mechagodzilla is a truly memorable creation. Unfortunately, the storyline once again involves invading space aliens; most of the Godzilla movies from DESTROY ALL MONSTERS onward used this plot. It’s nice to see the original director Ishiro Honda return, but it’s obvious that the movie was cheaply made; it’s muddled and confusing at times. Still, it’s interesting that Godzilla has no tag team partner to help him with the enemies this time (maybe they were afraid of ending up with another King Cisar), and the movie has a real somber tone to it. I suspect that the movie wasn’t planned to be the last one in the series; it just was.