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GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA NOTE: Power MultiMedia's DVD features artwork for Godzilla Vs. Biollante; it is unkown why they used this artwork, but this is the actual artwork for the Chinese release * SCREENSHOT KEY (clockwise from upper-left): Sony/TriStar DVD; Power MultiMedia DVD; Toho VHS; Goodtimes VHS (Godzilla Vs. The Cosmic Monster) Starring Masaaki Daimon, Kazuya Aoyama and Hiroshi Koisumi.
The 20th Anniversary since the first Godzilla movie was celebrated with a movie where Godzilla would face the ultimate foe: himself. For the penultimate release in the series, the producers at Toho decided to create a new version of Godzilla that was more sinister and more powerful than the original to fight. The creature is Mechagodzilla - a cyborg created by an alien race, modeled after the real Godzilla, to destroy the Earth.
A ceremonial dance by an Okinawan princess is interrupted when she suddenly has prophetic visions of a giant monster destroying a city in a wall of fire. Present at the ceremony is Keisuke Shimizu (a miner working in a cave in Okinawa) and his brother, Masahiko (a photographer). Keisuke returns to work to be informed that an ancient Okinawan cave has been uncovered. Reiko, an attractive female investigator from the Archeology Department of Shuri University, explains paintings on the wall and the significance of a strange statue found in the cave. She translates the hieroglyphics on the wall. They explain that "when a black mountain appears above the clouds, a monster will appear to try and destroy the world." The prophecy continues that "when the red moon sets and the sun rises in the West, two monsters will arrive," to save the Earth. In addition, the statue is that of King Caesar, an ancient lion god protector of the royal family of Okinawa.
Masahiko explores a cave for an opportunity for good photographs when he comes across a strange, shiny piece of metal. He brings it to Professor Miyajima, a prominent scientist. The professor indicates that the metal is space titanium, a metal not found on Earth.
On their way back to Japan via airplane, Keisuke and Reiko look out the window to see that a black mountain is appearing above the clouds. Soon after, Godzilla appears. However, Godzilla does not seem right. He emits a different roar and viciously attacks Anguirus, a creature that has befriended Godzilla in the past.
Miyajima, Masahiko, Reiko and Keisuke all follow Godzilla's path of destruction until they reach an oil refinery. The city is in flames, and the real Godzilla arrives. Bewildered, Godzilla battles the impostor. Partially damaging part of Godzilla's skin and revealing metal underneath, Miyajima makes a connection between the space metal found in the cave and the Mechagodzilla. The alien controllers deactivate and destroy the outer skin on the Mechagodzilla to unveil the cyborg monster underneath. Godzilla is badly defeated, retreating to the mountains. Mechagodzilla's head controls malfunction, and the aliens decide to bring the Mechagodzilla back to their base in Okinawa. Miyajima and his daughter, along with Masahiko, fly to Okinawa to get a closer look at the alien base. They are captured, tortured, and Miyajima is forced to repair the Mechagodzilla.
Reiko and Keisuke discover that the statue of King Caesar must be placed on the sacred royal family shrine when the sun rises in the West. They also depart for Okinawa by cruise ship. Keisuke arrives at the hotel where the professor, his daughter and Masahiko are staying and is informed that they are missing. Keisuke reaches the cave and is about to be taken prisoner by an alien when mysterious character Nambara, a secret agent, saves his life. They force their way into the base and rescue the professor and the others. The red moon sets and the sun rises in the West. It is decided that they must make their way to Azumi Castle to place the statue on the shrine to fulfill the prophecy. Masahiko, Nambara and the professor stay behind to destroy the base while the others go to the castle.
King Caesar is awakened (the sun's rays reflect off the ruby eyes of the strange statue, causing a laser beam to shoot across the water at the mountain in which King Caesar is sleeping) and Mechagodzilla is launched. Nambara, Masahiko and Miyajima are captured and taken prisoner upon entering the base; however their plan to destroy the base where Mechagodzilla is controlled is not out of reach...
King Caesar engages in battle with Mechagodzilla. King Caesar is grossly unmatched against Mechagodzilla's metal frame and sophisticated weaponry. He fights a losing battle until the real Godzilla appears, the second monster in the prophecy. It is now up to Godzilla and King Caesar to combine their strength to defeat the ultimate monster...
Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla was released under several titles. Aside from the original title of the film, the title Godzilla Vs. The Bionic Monster was used. The creators of The Bionic Woman, a popular television show at the time, voiced their concerns about the likeness in the title of the film, and the film's name was changed to Godzilla Vs. The Cosmic Monster. The US version of the film was slightly cut. However, a video version by Goodtimes later surfaced was further cut to 67 minutes, eliminating vital scenes. New World Video released an uncut and high quality print of this film; however, it was a badly cropped, non-pan-and-scan, full-frame print. After 30 years since the release of this film, Sony/TriStar Pictures has released a DVD of this film in anamorphic widescreen and uncut, including sound options for English and and the original Japanese track.
The 2.35:1 print used for this release is the highest quality that could be used. The colors and detail are amazing. Certain details, like the colors of the actors' eyes and hair, shine through in a way that fans of this film are sure to notice. The viewer can actually see Nambara's eyes through his sunglasses in most of the scenes. When compared to Power MultiMedia's version from China, which is a beat-up and cropped print of the film, Sony/TriStar's version looks like an entirely different movie. There is a little bit of grain during darker scenes, but overall, the image is the best that has existed on DVD. Interesting enough, though, Toho Video's VHS version of this film is framed slightly wider than Sony/TriStar's release, revealing a little more information on the sides of the frame. Power MultiMedia's version is very dark, sometimes appears artifacted/blocky, and contains dirt, specs and scratches. For about a minute and a half, there is a distracting hair stretching diagonally across the screen.
The Dolby Digital mono sound is clean and clear. The soundtrack seems to have been enhanced and well-equalized. The musical score is very clear, revealing a better separation of individual instruments. Another detail noticed is a subtle "beep" that is audible the first time a patch of Mechagodzilla's metal is unveiled. The audio for the English track on Power Multimedia's version is very flat, containing pops and hissing. The Chinese audio track, on the other hand is in stereo, and seems to be a recently-remixed version. In many of the dialogue scenes, alternate music has been used, lending a unique experience to those who have seen the English-language version several times.
There are a few minor oddities with this release. A few sound cues seem to be missing, like a sound byte during the final fight scene where the alien commander shouts "move over" to an alien controlling Mechagodzilla. In addition, during an exterior shot of Shuri University, French subtitles appear even though they were deactivated. A few minor problems, but nothing that should deter one from buying this release.
There are no extras on this release except for trailers for Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, the Godzilla animated series and The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. It would have been a fitting addition to include the original US trailer (for at least any title version of this film) or even the tell-all Japanese trailer found on Toho's VHS.
For collectors of this film, they need not look further than this release for the highest quality release. Although this version has a couple of small drawbacks, it is highly recommended for fans of Godzilla's last movies during the Showa Era (1954-1975). |
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