TALKBACK #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon

[Gman2887]

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

I thought Terror of Mechagodzilla had the lowest attendance?

[walshiam]

It was.

[Benjamin Haines]

[Hybrid Gojira]

I'm currently making my way through all the Godzilla films, and I picked this since it had been coming up in the forum lately.

Even as a kid, I remember that I never really liked this movie. It's an ok G film. The music is downright awful. People can defend this film up and down until they're blue in the face about it having a low budget, but how exactly is that a reasonable defense of overused stock footage and poor script writing? Somehow Seatopia knows Space Hunter M and sthey're magically ok with sending Gigan...only it's halfway through the movie and whimsically introduced. Megalon attacks planes and then Gigan's arm is shown destroying them. Some of the stock footage that is inserted is completely unecessary. In example, why bother showing the G suit used in Gigan for 1 second when Godzilla is trapped with JJ in the fire? It adds nothing and completely distracts the viewer. I understand limited resources mandated stock footage being used, but it isn't even done in a reasonable manner in some cases.

And seriously, that score....it sucks. Kids movie or not, it's almost headache inducing.

Now I will point out there are some good things in film. I love the countryside setting and the set looks great. There is something to be said about the way the Showa series brought these sets to life. The Dam sequence is wonderfully done. Gigan and Megalon (really G and JJ as well) have tons of personality, even if they're dopey to a fault at times. I really like the way this film uses quick cuts during the fight scenes. The close in shots make the fight move quickly and for the most part it's done very well. The ring of fire is cool. I like Megalon's napalm ability.

But all that aside, it's not a great movie, but I can have fun with it.

[Mexigojira]

I'm sure that while this must be the most childish (Totally not a bad thing considering the audience) of the Godzilla movies, it's not the worst movie, especially compared with movies like Daigoro vs Goliath or Gamera, not to mention all the weirdness of the Tokusatsu tv shows.

[Goji 84]

[Jorzilla]

I actually really like the soundtrack. Same with Hedorah. They are different, but it makes Godzilla sound like a drunk, ornery old man.

[lhb412]

I need to watch Daigoro vs. Goliath, because all the scenes of it I've seen all look really funny and creative. The idea behind the story is certainly cool.

Also: checking MB's Blu-Ray (got for Christmas) and, like DAM, the picture quality is actually a lot better then Toho's transfers for many of their newer films... once you adjust the brightness and color settings a bit, of course.

[Geno]

Better than most of the Heisei films.

[XvGojira]

Watched this at a friend's house on his huge HDTV and for craps and giggles we turned True Motion on and my god it made it look like an old episode of Doctor Who. True motion makes everything look like it was filmed for TV, it was just missing the lens flares and vaseline smeared "soap opera"-vision. It was an interesting viewing experience. Not my preferred manner of watching movies, but a neat experiment.

Although it was the first time I watched this on HD and I noticed that all the underground Seatopians had little crowns and head bands with little Megalon heads on them. Thought that was neat.

[lhb412]

Do you think they even attempted to hide Robert Dunham's tattoos? Give him a golden arm band or something?

You think Dunham got those tattoos when he was a Marine? These are the questions Blu-Ray makes us ask.

[XvGojira]

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

http://www.crunchyroll.com/forumtopic-8 ... vs-megalon


Yoooo so guess what's on Crunchyroll now?

I'm calling it, Vs Gigan, vs Hedorah, and vs The Sea Monster will be on CR later this year.

[EricDent]

I just watched this a bit earlier.
First time on Blu-Ray.

I guess I never noticed it was Gigan's arm smashing the planes...

Still kinda wonder how the heck you even go anywhere on that dolphin rider thing (plus why was he wearing shoes/socks that got soaked?)

I don't remember having song subtitles for the ending song before, that was a nice touch.
Of course the only "legit" release before Media Blasters was on VHS.
Yes I had the Alpha Video DVD that looked like they took the VHS and slapped it on the DVD.
But that technically wasn't a legal release.

BTW why do these older dubs have such a hard time saying Godzilla right?
On this one they said "Godziler" and "Jat Jaguaa" often (especially the kid).

One part of the movie always confused me.
So he's chasing after the Seatopian agents, and they throw an incendiary grenade out the window.
So he swerves to avoid the flames, but when you clearly see them, they are maybe a foot wide.
Couldn't you drive right through that?

[jellydonut25]

The dubs were done in...not America (I forget if it's like Hong Kong or Australia or something or what) so, it winds up being voice actors from a country that isn't America trying to sound like Americans who are trying to sound like Japanese.

[H-Man]

Every Godzilla movie since 1971 has been dubbed in Hong Kong. (Three of these were dubbed a second time in the U.S.: Smog Monster, Godzilla 1985, and Godzilla 2000.)

[Hybrid Gojira]

Godzilla vs. Megalon (MST3k Version) - This has always been a bottom tier Godzilla movie for me. Despite being a kids movie, I feel like a lot of people offer that up as a defense for what is a bad movie with a few fun moments. The dam sequence is good, and I get a few kicks during the monster battle. I would still place still in the bottom of my Godzilla films, and it probably slid down a few after this latest viewing. At least the MST3k version made me laugh a bit. 3.5/10.

[mr.negativity]

[MekaGojira3k]

[Gwangi]

I can't believe it is going to be 40 years this month since my folks (poor loving parents always had to endure my love for kaiju) took me to see this at the movies. It was playing on a double bill with the original "King Kong". And of course the poster I saw at the theater was of Godzilla and Megalon atop of the World Trade Center. Obviously all to cash in on the upcoming Dino DeLaurentis film.

If I could go back in time, and pick one day to relive, it would be on that day I saw those movies. Not only was it the first time I saw a Godzilla film on the big screen, but also the joy of watching the original "King Kong", and this was the uncut version, which I had never seen. Kong stomping on people and chewing them to death! In the 1970s, some T.V. stations were still playing the edited version.

Today, I wouldn't count "Godzilla vs. Megalon" as one of my favorite G-films, but it was fun to watch back then, and despite its many flaws, it still fun to watch today.

[lhb412]

^That Megalon/Kong '33 double feature sounds like an exponentially more awesome theater experience than seeing the '76 Kong!

[Gwangi]

[lhb412]

It won an online poll, so Crunchyroll is spotlighting Godzilla vs. Megalon (available to stream on the site) this week! And the write-up, by Paul Chapman, is knowledgable and really good!

http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-featur ... vs-megalon

[mr.negativity]