Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

There is a thing called series creep.  It is usually noticeable in television series that last for a long, long time.  Characters begin to take on different personalities or, worse, only one aspect of what used to be a multifaceted personality.  Things begin to be added or taken away.  Villains become heroes, and rarely vice-versa.  Budgets shrink and what once had adult themes and a point to make becomes more family oriented. 

This is what happened to the King of Monsters.  Godzilla started off as a vengeful allegory for nuclear war and, in the space of two decades, became the defender of Japan and a friend to little, annoying children in short pants.  Not as bad as Gamera, but the fall was massive, as was the quality of the movies.  By the time Godzilla vs. Megalon was made it was questionable how much of the movie was new, as the budget had been cut back so far that a series whose selling point was the special effects had to rely heavily on stock footage.  Unfortunately, this became the legacy of one of the most popular movie monsters as the Japanese public turned apathetic and American audiences were more than happy to gather 'round and laugh. 

A rather destructive underwater nuclear test causes shockwaves throughout the Pacific.  Unknown to those doing the testing the survivors of the continent of Lemuria, now living in an underwater kingdom called Seatopia, have had enough.  The tests are doing damage to their nation, so they decide the only way to put things write is to declare war on the surface-dwellers.  The first part of their plan is to release their own kaiju, Megalon (Hideto Odachi), to destroy Japan. 

In order to guide Megalon agents are sent to commandeer a robot called Jet Jaguar (Tsugotoshi Komadi), an experimental automaton constructed by Goro Ibuki (Katsuhiko Sasaki).  The agents capture the robot and try to kill Goro and his brother Rokuro (Hiroyuki Kawase).  However, Goro's friend Hiroshi Jinkawa (Yutaka Hayashi) escapes and rescues them.  Regaining control of Jet Jaguar, Goro sends the robot to ask Godzilla (Shinji Takagi) for help.  Realizing what is up, Seatopia contacts a group of aliens that had tried to attack Earth previously, and they agree to send Gigan (Kenpachirô Satsuma) to help.  Jet Jaguar manages to become sentient and grow in size, assisting Godzilla against the other two in a battle to save humanity. 

At least I can say that this is one of the few Godzilla movies that had continuity.  It kind of had to, since almost every scene in this film of buildings getting destroyed or armies fight Megalon were recycled from Godzilla vs. Gigan.  Megalon was supposed to have been one of the monsters in that movie, controlled by the same aliens as Gigan, but was excised for budgetary reasons.  Here, though he is fighting for a sunken kingdom in the Pacific, he resembles a rhinoceros beetle for no other reason than they were popular with Japanese kids at the time. 

That is the same reason Jet Jaguar is in the movie.  He was designed by an elementary school student, although they threw away his artwork and came up with what is on the screen.  It has often been rumored that this movie was supposed to be Jet Jaguar's from the start, and that is the reason why Godzilla is barely in it until the end.  Truth is, Godzilla was always supposed to be involved, as it was his name that was going to sell the picture.  I think Toho was really hoping that Jet Jaguar would catch on as the Godzilla films were not attracting the audiences they used to, and director Jun Fukuda absolutely hated making them. 

The only major new effects sequence is that of Megalon destroying a dam as Jinkawa tries to rescue Goro and and Rokuro, although there is a nice shot as our heroic trio drive toward where Jet Jaguar is fighting Megalon, seeing a glow over the mountains as they fight it out.  It was a rushed production, and the entire effects crew, which normally would have been integral, were left with little to do until the fight at the end.  Most of the human part of the movie is nonsense, with Seatopia's plot not making a lick of sense and never feeling like a threat at all.

The one saving grace in this film is the ending fight, which does deliver, even if Jet Jaguar growing bigger through "determination" is one of the more ridiculous things in this mess of a film.  It starts with Jet Jaguar and Megalon (after several scenes of Megalon hopping along), and then Gigan flying in just as it looks like Megalon is on the ropes.  Godzilla waddles in to the tune of a Jew's harp and does his thing, with the usual results. 

Despite its reputation I didn't find this to be the worst Godzilla film I've seen, but it is definitely the lowest point of the Showa era.  Toho didn't seem to care if it gave the audience a quality product, and audiences reacted by giving it a miss.  It does have that camp factor, which is most likely why NBC decided to play an edited version of the film on prime time television and why it became a staple of Saturday afternoon television over the years.  

Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Time: 81 minutes

Starring: Katsuhiko Sasaki, Hiroyuki Kawase, Yutaka Hayashi, Robert Dunham, Shinji Takagi, Hideto Odachi, Tsugotoshi Komada, Kenpachirô Satsuma

Director: Jun Fukuda