Terror of Mechagodzilla

Terror of Mechagodzilla (メカゴジラの逆襲, Mekagojira no Gyakushū; lit. 'Mechagodzilla's Counterattack') is a 1975 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, written by Yukiko Takayama, and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka and Henry G. Saperstein, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and produced under their effects subsidiary Toho–Eizo, it is the 15th film in the Godzilla franchise, serving as a direct sequel to the 1974 film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and the final entry of the franchise's Shōwa era and the last to be directed by series co-creator Ishirō Honda before his death in 1993. The franchise would be rebooted nine years later with The Return of Godzilla, beginning the franchise's Heisei era. Terror of Mechagodzilla stars Katsuhiko Sasaki, Tomoko Ai, Akihiko Hirata, and Gorō Mutsumi, and features Toru Kawai, Kazunari Mori, and Tatsumi Nikamoto as the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Mechagodzilla 2, and Titanosaurus, respectively. The film was released theatrically in Japan on March 15, 1975, to mostly positive reviews. It was released in the UK in June 1976 under the title Monsters From an Unknown Planet. It received a limited release in the United States in 1978 by Bob Conn Enterprises under the title The Terror of Godzilla. The film remains the least financially successful entry in the Godzilla franchise to this day.

Plot Following Mechagodzilla's and the Simeons' defeat by Godzilla and Okinawan guardian monster King Caesar, Interpol agents search for Mechagodzilla's remains at the bottom of the Okinawan Sea in the hopes of gathering information on the Simeons. Their submarine is attacked by a giant marine dinosaur they name Titanosaurus and the crew vanishes. Interpol launches an investigation into the incident. With the help of marine biologist Akira Ichinose, they trace Titanosaurus to a reclusive mad scientist named Shinzô Mafune, who wants to destroy mankind. While the group visits Mafune's home, they meet his daughter, Katsura, who secretly underwent surgery and became a cyborg after she was injured during one of her father's experiments. Katsura claims her father is dead and that she burned his notes about Titanosaurus. Mafune is visited by Tsuda, an aide to the Simeon supreme leader Mugal, who is leading a project to rebuild Mechagodzilla into Mechagodzilla 2. Mugal offers the Simeons' services to Mafune so that their respective monsters can wipe out mankind. A control device for Mechagodzilla 2 is implanted into Katsura. Ichinose falls in love with Katsura and unwittingly gives her Interpol's information on the Simeons, Mechagodzilla, and Titanosaurus. An impatient Mafune releases Titanosaurus on Yokosuka without the Simeons' permission. While Interpol discovers Titanosaurus is vulnerable to supersonic waves, Katsura destroys their supersonic wave oscillator. Godzilla arrives and easily defeats Titanosaurus, causing the latter to retreat. When Ichinose visits Katsura, the Simeons capture him and unleash Mechagodzilla 2 and Titanosaurus on Tokyo. Interpol repairs their wave oscillator and the Japanese armed forces struggle to fend off the monsters. Godzilla arrives but is outmatched until Interpol distracts Titanosaurus with the repaired wave oscillator, allowing Godzilla to focus on Mechagodzilla 2. Interpol agents infiltrate the Simeons' hideout, rescue Ichinose, and kill Mafune and many of the Simeons. The remaining Simeons attempt to escape, but Godzilla shoots down their ships with atomic breath. The wounded Katsura shoots herself to disable Mechagodzilla 2's control device. Godzilla destroys Mechagodzilla 2, but Katsura dies in Ichinose's arms. With help from Interpol, Godzilla defeats Titanosaurus and returns to the ocean.

Cast

Production

Development

The original screenplay that Yukiko Takayama created after winning Toho's story contest for the next installment in the Godzilla series was picked by assistant producer Kenji Tokoro and was submitted for approval on July 1, 1974, less than four months after Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla was released. The original concept is similar to the finished version of Terror of Mechagodzilla, with many of the changes being budgetary in nature. The most obvious alteration is the removal of the two dinosaurs called the Titans, which merged to become Titanosaurus in the first draft. It was an interesting concept, although something that was also under-explained, considering the magnitude of such an occurrence of the creatures merging. Another noticeable change to the script is that of the final battle, which does not move to the countryside but instead would have reduced Tokyo to rubble during the ensuing conflict between the three monsters. After her initial draft, Takayama submitted a revised version on October 14, 1974. This went through a third revision on December 4, and then yet another on December 28 of that same year before it was met with approval and filming began. Jun Fukuda was initially offered the role of director for this installment but refused having finally had enough of the series. Before Ishiro Honda agreed to return rumours persist Yoshimitsu Banno was also asked to direct due to Tomoyuki Tanaka being pleased with his work on Prophecies of Nostradamus. Director Ishiro Honda later lamented not having been able to work with the story's writer, Yukiko Takayama, on other films, enjoying that a "woman's perspective was especially fresh" for the genre. Kensho Yamashita, who would later direct Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla was the chief assistant director on the project. He notes, though, that Honda never actually assigned any of the shooting to him, possibly because he was happy to be directing again after a long gap in his career and wanted to do the work himself.

Nudity This film is one of two Godzilla films with brief nudity (the other being 1994's Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla). The scene occurs when Katsura undergoes an operation to have Mechagodzilla 2's control device placed inside her body, at which point her breasts are exposed. While she was portrayed by a mannequin in the scene, the scene was cut when the film was released in the U.S., both from the theatrical and TV versions of the film, and was also missing from the UK theatrical version, though the scene was intact in the 1992 VHS release which used the Terror of Mechagodzilla title.

English version

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.