TALKBACK #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon

[Mac]

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

[MekaGojira3k]

[The Real McCoy]

[MekaGojira3k]

[Mac]

[jellydonut25]

[Goji 84]

[The Real McCoy]

[Benjamin Haines]

[MouthForWar]

[MekaGojira3k]

[Goji 84]

[Irish Gfan]

[The Giant Pacific Octopus]

[Goji 84]

[Benjamin Haines]

[jellydonut25]

[MekaGojira3k]

[Benjamin Haines]

I got to see this at the yesterday and it was a blast. The film was the G-rated American edit and the print was really worn with faded colors but I thought that only added to the grindhouse vibe. Strangely the dialogue seemed to be louder than everything else in the sound mix. I think the 35mm print they had might have been from the movie's 1976 theatrical run. It even had that flub at the end intact where Jet Jaguar and the characters all stand still for a second before the take begins.

I was at the matinee and I'd say the theater was about two-thirds full. The audience consisted of a lot of excited children, excited adult fans and uninitiated adults accompanying one of the aforementioned. At the scene when Goro inspects his lab after the intruders flee, I heard one kid yell out "Jet Jaguar!" at the sight of the headless robot followed by lots of chatter all around. It was really cool seeing little kids today so excited and enthusiastic about a Godzilla movie.

The audience burst into applause quite a few times throughout; at the opening Monster Island sequence, when Goro and Rokuro just roll out of the container alive after being swatted hundreds of feet by Megalon, Godzilla's charge to the rescue while Jet Jaguar is getting double-teamed, Godzilla saving Jet Jaguar when Gigan has him by the throat, and Jet Jaguar lifting Godzilla to safety out of the ring of fire. There was also lots of laughter. Rokuro's shrill dubbed voice got a rise early and often. Everybody burst out laughing the first time Robert Dunham appeared in toga. Other things that drew laughs included the car chase down the steps, Jet Jaguar's hand signals, a lot of the dubbed dialogue, the choppy and nonsensical editing of the fisticuffs and truck cab scenes, the absurd self-programming feats of Jet Jaguar, the ridiculous tactic of throwing a model airplane at the Seatopian (which also made even less sense to those unaware of the editing), Megalon hopping around like a rabbit, and the Jet Jaguar song. The entire monster melee in the third act had the audience bustling. I heard several comments likening it to wrestling. Then, of course, the entire theater exploded when Godzilla did the flying dropkick, and the movie got a long ovation when it ended.

It had been well over a year since the last time I watched Godzilla vs. Megalon. It's such a glorious B-movie archetype that it's impossible not to enjoy and this was the perfect kind of presentation for that. I'm glad I got to experience it this way, as the last time I'd seen Godzilla on the big screen was Godzilla 2000, twelve years ago! I also got to meet Jared (kiryugoji04). I didn't have time to stay long after the movie but the kids seemed to dig his art prints.

[lhb412]

Wish I could have been there. Sounds like a whole lot of fun.

[jellydonut25]

[kiryugoji04]

[MekaGojira3k]