Megalon Rules!

[Xenorama]

Talk about a fun movie- sure, it's low budget, and has stock footage (less than Gigan though), but it's a lot of fun, and doesn't pretend to be anything it's not.

[battrafan]

Not quite my cup of tea, although not as bad as when I first watched it. Megalon is a cool monster though.

[ryuuseipro]

I agree, this movie rules! It's got everything that ever appealed to me as a kid: Giant monsters (a good-guy monster and two bad-guy monsters), an Ultraman/Shogun Warrior-style robot, a Greek-like evil empire (although they weren't technically evil to begin with), a kid character and other stuff! It was not only the first Godzilla movie I ever saw, but also the first movie I saw in theaters!

The Godzilla featured in this movie (also in Meteor Man Zone and the subsequent two Godzilla films) is not only one of my favorite designs, but also the cutest (come on, you know it is)! As a dog lover, I thought it looked like a puppy monster as if done by Gou Nagai. I nickname it "Snoopy-Goji!" (And speaking of Snoopy, anyone notice that little Rokurou "Roku-chan" Ibuki had Snoopy on his sweater?)

If it weren't for Jet Jaguar, I wouldn't get into Japanese superheroes (I think the Shogun Warriors toys helped also, as the first anime series I ever saw was Brave Raideen)!

Megalon and Gigan were very cool monsters, too! Whereas most of the past monsters in the series were old-fashioned, Toho began to keep up with the cooler fantasy monsters featured in Eiji Tsuburaya's popular Ultra-Series! In each film, Toho ups the ante for each challenge Godzilla takes.

The music by Riichirou Manabe is just as good as his music for Godzilla Vs. Hedorah, but this time, his Godzilla theme music isn't as droopy as the version in said film! His avant-garde pieces for Seatopia were pretty eerie! I liked much of the action music (though the banjo music in one scene was kinda' silly). But I still treasure the "With Godzilla and Jet Jaguar, Punch-Punch-Punch" theme sung by my favorite Japanese pop singer Masato Shimon! I was also amused by the "Beat Megalon" theme he sang on the film's soundtrack (an instrumental piece from the song can be heard in the opening credits music).

And while I hear that the human scenes were shot in a week or two, the SPFX scenes were done in 6 months (!), the longest production time for a Godzilla film! For a fantasy/action monster film, SPFX Director Teruyoshi Nakano did a very good job! I was very happy to have met him at AFFE!

Godzilla Vs. Megalon is still a classic to me!

[CyHunter]

Well, to be frank, I haven't seen GvsM the whole way through. Why? Because I fell asleep halfway through.

[CousinOfGodzilla]

While from a critic standpoint I'd say that Megalon is the worst film in the entire series, it's impossible for me to ignore it's undeniable fun value and on that level it's fantastic. Just don't go into a viewing of it expecting Godzilla vs. The Thing and you'll have a good time.

And while I'm not a big Riichirou Manabe fan to begin with, I like his Godzilla theme in Hedorah better than in Megalon. The theme, as Ryuseipro pointed out, especially at the end of the film, is droopy as heck. But I think it had a purpose in that it effectively illustrated that Goji had just got the crap kicked out of him and was tired as hell. For Megalon, the theme just annoys me.

The Shimon "Godzilla/JJ fight song" though, reeks of awesomness.

[CyHunter]

Even as a "fun" film it doesn't appeal to me...my idea of a "fun" film is GxM...no big thematic overtones, just a lot of blowing up...but Megalon doesn't even have enough of that...
To each his own, I suppose...

[Xenorama]

While not a big fan of Riishiro Manabe's drunken sailer Godzilla theme, I do like the rest of the score for both his films.
And it's fun, especially if you saw it for the first time at age 11.

[ryuuseipro]

[CousinOfGodzilla]

[Xenorama]

[Giganfan]

Call me crazy, but it seems like everytime a new message board is started, Megaloman is the first one to post and this is ALWAYS his first topic! Seriously, I've seen this topic on three different boards already!

[Monster Zero 0]

^^hehe ~Scary~

[emeGoji]

[MrZilla69]

I still have my copy that I recorded off tv from the early 90's, along with commercials from the early 90's. I havent watched it in yrs, I did enjoy that movie very much though. I would like to see how old some of those commercials, get a good laugh.

[Xenorama]

I think Giganfan is right. It's just a tradition for the new board.
Besides, it's true, it's damn true.

[Buckaroobwana]

Godzilla vs Megalon is one of the G films I grew up watching. But it got worse and worse as I grew older. Godzilla vs the Thing and Monster Zero have aged quite well but Godzilla vs Megalon marks the lowest point in Godzilla's history. This film is positively painful to watch. As Steve Ryfle said, the Godzilla costume is "insulting to the monsters' legacy." Don't believe me? Watch the original Godzilla and then watch Godzilla vs Megalon.

Personally, I think the 70's era, when Godzilla was reduced to a punch-drunk overweight cutey-pie superhero, is as much a ruination of the character as was GINO. Thank God that Tanaka had the courage to admit it was a mistake and rectify it in the Heisei era.

[CyHunter]

[Xenorama]

[Buckaroobwana]

[Buckaroobwana]

Another thing about the 70's films: They're childish and silly. The effects are woeful and the plots repetitive. Complain all you want about the beam battles but the plot recycling in the 70's was far worse and a lot more embarressing.

The only real highights of the 70's era are Gigan and Mechagodzilla. The rest of it is just forgettable. The Godzilla films of the 70's represent Toho's falling budgets and attempts to compete with Daiei studios wretched Gamera films.

Honda was right, the Showa series should've died with its' creator Tsubaraya.

Bottom line, friendly monsters suck.

[CyHunter]

[CyHunter]

[Mechagodzilla]

[ryuuseipro]

To be fair, I can understand why fans of the early films (especially the ones who lived to see the decline as it happend) hate Godzilla Vs. Megalon, and I understand, and you are entitled to your opinion. But I will say this: Do not turn it into another stupid political war. I love both the first film and Godzilla Vs. Megalon, and it's okay to go both ways, so I don't want to hear "If you like Godzilla Vs. Megalon, then you suck! Either you conform to our ways or we will take you to task and kick you out of fandom!" And a lot of you are beginning to sound like that.

Then again, in my view, it's okay to like everything but GINO. Even Snoopy-Goji kicks GINO's ass, and I'm sure that some of you probably already agree!

[ryuuseipro]