In 1975, the Godzilla franchise was experiencing a decline in quality and popularity. It was appealing more to children and with the rise of television watching in Japan, low budget films like those Godzilla films suffered. Before sending Godzilla off into hibernation for about 10 years, Toho tried one last shot in Terror of Mechagodzilla, a direct sequel to the previous year’s Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974); at the director’s helm was none other than Ishiro Honda, the man partly responsible for Godzilla’s birth and enduring appeal after all these years. Godzilla’s previous adventures bordered on sheer entertainment value, lacking the dark, contemplative themes of Gojira. In Terror of Mechagodzilla, Honda manages to make the story a little more tragic while keeping Godzilla the hero of the film.
Taking place after the events of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, this film continues the alien conqueror plotline with some other sub-plots including an interesting, but tragic sci-fi romance involving a resurrected, human, cyborg woman. A new monster appears called Titanosaurus which looks like a sea creature from Aquaman and a dinosaur were fused together. It is strong and can fan its tail to create dust storms of cruel velocity. Meanwhile, the aliens are rebuilding Mechagodzilla and intend to destroy humanity in order to establish a new order; they are aided by a mad scientist with the burden of having to see her daughter alive by extraterrestrial tech. The aliens use this emotional blackmail to coerce the poor genius to aid the destruction of humanity.
The rampage of Titanosaurus and Mechagodzilla is one of the most entertaining of the Showa Godzilla era. Rooftops are blown away with people running and screaming; the shriek Titanosaurus roars can be a little spine-chilling. When you watch this film, imagine how you would feel about such a terrifying dinosaur roar. There is one scene where Honda shows his tendency for seriousness being trumped by the triumph of Godzilla; two school children are almost crushed by the foot of Titanosaurus until Godzilla arrives seemingly by being called by the children. It thought it was a little charming and a bit ironic pulled off a juxtaposed series of scenes. The monster battles are cool and also, far more brutal in terms of the amount of punches and hooks these behemoths throw. Godzilla is formidable, but the two powerful kaiju are too much for the nuclear lizard and he gets buried by the dirt eventually. Plot things occur on the human side of the narrative and Godzilla returns with renewed fury to bring both monsters under his grip. The film ends with Godzilla returning to sea and presumably resting for the coming years; it does feel like a farewell.
I watched this movie the least amount of times as a kid. Its somber tone, perhaps, annoyed me because I was a fan of the more comical kaiju fights, but as I got older, I began to appreciate it a little more. Now, that I am past my 20s, I can see the subtle social themes Honda was trying to convey such as environmentalism and grieving along with what it means to be human. Also, I might be totally wrong, but that’s alright because this is a review and not an academic paper. If you’re in the mood for another rumble with Godzilla’s doppelganger, then this film will fit the need.
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