Godzilla VS. Megalon: So Bad it's Good, or Just Bad?

Mindfreak · #1 January 28th, 2010, 01:25 PM

So, I finally got the chance to re-watch Godzilla vs. Megalon on the VHS I have of it. It seems to me that we of the Kaiju fandom can never seem to agree on anything. GINO, Final Wars, etc. And it seems to me as if we've never really shown all our views on Godzilla Vs. Megalon. It seems to come acroos that people either Hate it and think it's horrible, Love it because it's hilarious, Love it because it's so bad that it becomes awesome, or dont really care. I, for one, think this movie is so bad that it becomes insanely awesome. But, What do you guys think?

Guardian7 · #2 January 28th, 2010, 03:17 PM

Seems to me that GvMeg is such a mixed bag.
Kaiju are cool - some of the Kaiju antics are questionable (Though still funny - which is not a good thing for the SERIOUS/DARK Kaiju fan).

Of course Godzilla is in it... and he is in Full on Super-heroic mode for this one (Which would continue in the ZF series of which I have 'and love' - no tail slides in it or flyin for big G).

Gigan reprises his second to last role as a villain Kaiju before his death in Zone Fighter and shows a lot of personality as he has done since his maiden film.

We are introduced to Jet Jaguar who is a full on sentient robot that many feel mirrors the whole Ultraman craze (so).

and finally we have the (awesome) Megalon. A giant upright magma spitting, energy beaming, drill armed Beetle and guardian of a lost civilization.

We have a cast... but an incredibly limited one (No female lead - BIG NO NO!).
Three humans are pretty much all we see in this (did I mention NO female lead?)
Scientist/Inventor Goro Ibuki (Katsuhiko Sasaki - who would appear next in ToMG)
Standard whiny Godzilla lovin boy Rokuro Ibuki (Hiroyuki Kawase - Who also appeared in GvH).
Cool friend with with driving skills Hiroshi Jinkawa (Yutaka Hayashi - I have no idea what else he played in).

These characters are MASSIVELY underdeveloped. Fun in their own way, but it does feel like something is missing (acting not withstanding).

We have three villains (not including the entire "Do you think you can Dance" cast of Seatopians). Though villains may be kind of a harsh term to use on them. After all... they were only fighting back from getting buried by the pesky "Surface Dwellers!" and since they were a HIDDEN civilization... sending a diplomat probably wasn't high on their agenda... so they do the next best thing.
SEND A MONSTER... and when that Monster isn't enough, Call in for some backup from the owners (Cockroaches/Nebula M aliens) of another Monster (the beings the Seatopians obviously do get along with and for whatever reason are in contact with).

I like the Kaiju stuff in this film personally (Tail slide was pushing it as bad as GvH's flying sequence).
Kaiju looked awesome.
Godzilla is always fun.
Jet Jaguar is one of my all time favorite Kaiju and I thought he did some uber cool things!
Gigan is... well he's Gigan! What else can you say?
Megalon I think rocks. I wishe we could have seen more of him (as much as I wish we could have seen more of Titanosaurus).

I personally like this movie. I remember seeing it when it was first introed on TV and my entire family watched it. We all had fun (though I think my Mom was bored with it - BUT She had 3 overly excited boys to deal with while watching it... so I am pretty she she was mildly entertained - at least by us! LOL).

Like the title says... "So Bad it's Good" at least that is where I stand.

G7

Mindfreak · #3 January 28th, 2010, 03:40 PM

I agree about Megalon. He's like what Dr. Evil wanted to guard his secret base (Well, 'Friggin sharks with lasers, but whatever), except before Austin Powers and even more insane! A Flying Cockroach that Stands up-right, fires electric death bolts from his horns, fires bombs from his mouth, and can burrow through the earth with his MIGHTY DRILL HANDS.

And, honestly, the Seatopians had a point. They were tired of all the desctruction and noise from the bomb testings, which were shown to cause a LOT of damage above the surface. And havent the Godzilla films up to this point een shown to have strong anti-nuclear overtones? Of Course! So, why were Megalon and the Seatopians portrayed as evil? I mean, yeah, they destroyed a lot of stuff, but didnt Godzilla do so also?

Megalon should have been brought back.They could have technchally turned him in a good guy, aswell! After all, Earth is still his home, too. I realy hope in the future we get a revisioned Megalon, sorta like how we got revisioned Mechagodzillas, Gigan, and Ghidorahs.

And the Tail Slidekick? Possibly the crowning acheivment of the tokatsu genre, if not Japanese Cinema as a whole. It is that awesome.

Mecha74 · #4 January 28th, 2010, 05:18 PM

I enjoyed it despite its horrendous failings, it was one of the first Goji films I ever saw and the first that I managed to abtain on home video back in 1984, so it is a sentimental favorite for me. As for all the things that are wrong with it, I personally couldn't care less. I was 9 years old at the time and could've given a monkey's @$$ about plot, characters or acting, I just wanted to see the monsters beat the unholy hell out of each other and its still the same reason I enjoy it today.

Though he may have come from a terrible film I have always been a loyal Megalon fan. He always had a cool design and an awesome arsenal of weaponry combined with all terrain fight capability to boot, be it air, land or underground. Also a very strong, quick and agile kaiju. The only things that ever held him back was his various mental setbacks.

SuperXAsh · #5 January 28th, 2010, 05:44 PM

Can't help but enjoy it's pure badness, it's low (near non-exsistant) budget, it's rampant use of stock footage, it's hilarious storyline (deepsea empire unleashes a giant cockroach, OF COURSE), it's sci-fience (a robot that can do everything with less memory storage than a frikkin pager) and the antics... oh god the antics... that it all just comes together and makes it a "so bad it's good" movie. A guilty pleasure.

Seer235 · #6 January 28th, 2010, 06:30 PM

Rex Dart: Eskimo Spy!

chillening · #7 January 28th, 2010, 07:26 PM

Eh, sorry but I'm going to have to disagree here. I don't like the film at all. To me, Godzilla vs. Gigan and Godzilla vs. Hedorah are the so-bad-they're-awesome Godzilla films. Godzilla vs. Megalon is just bad, imo. The only positive thing about it is that its badness inspired Toho to put more effort into their subsequent films, which resulted in the two awesome Mechagodzilla movies.

Mindfreak · #8 January 28th, 2010, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mecha74

Though he may have come from a terrible film I have always been a loyal Megalon fan. He always had a cool design and an awesome arsenal of weaponry combined with all terrain fight capability to boot, be it air, land or underground. Also a very strong, quick and agile kaiju. The only things that ever held him back was his various mental setbacks.

Agreed. And, having him be a starter (and one of the most balanced) character in all 3 of the Recent Godzilla Games (DAMM,STE, Unleashed) helps out a lot. It's especially funny in the story mode of Unleashed, where if you get all the Power Surges, you can have Megalon take on and defeat his fellow Alien Monsters, have every other monster on Earth from each faction team up against him and be defeated, AND DESTROY THE EARTH.

"Who's The Stupid Cockroach Now, Biatch?!"

And, actually, I just thought Megalon was unattentive and just slow to react. Not "special". MAybye he has KADD (Kaiju Attention Defecit Disorder).