A year after Mechagodzilla was foisted on Japan by simian aliens bent on world domination, the robotic war machine got to see the light of day again in Terror of Mechagodzilla (or, if you’re Stateside and wanna be really confused, you might see the film under the title Terror of Godzilla).
The plot kicks off with a submarine mission attempting to collect the fragments of the defeated Mechagodzilla. The sub is suddenly waylaid by the film’s addition to Godzilla’s assortment of enemies, the dinosaurian Titanosaurus. An investigation into the sub’s destruction leads the authorities to a mad scientist, who swore vengeance on the world after being ridiculed for, get this, positing the existence of Titanosaurus, but he’s covered for by his daughter, so everything remains on the down-low to begin with. Meanwhile, the aliens from the previous film (complete with different makeup, for some reason (likely budgetary, knowing Toho’s track record in this period)) approach the mad scientist, offering to team up with him to conquer the world. He supplies some technical know-how and a controller, while they provide the Mechagodzilla. With the scientist’s help, the rebuilt Mechagodzilla teams up with Titanosaurus to take on the planet. Unfortunately, the authorities are halfway competent this time out, and they figure out how to jam Titanosaurus’ control, allowing Godzilla to once again dismantle his metallic counterpart and then take on the other large dinosaur, thwarting the aliens yet again.
With Honda Ishiro back in the director’s chair, the film is given a slightly darker tone than its predecessors, though plenty of zane remains in the alien subplot. Titanosaurus is a solid-enough contender for the Big G to battle, but his cackle is incredibly obnoxious (I remember absolutely hating the noise he emitted when I first saw the film as a kid), and he’s presented as a minor threat, basically retreating when first encountering Godzilla. Shame, really. Speaking of, Godzilla’s first appearance in the film is highly entertaining: Titanosaurus is doing his thing, destroying buildings and such, when the camera shifts over to the side, showing Godzilla peering out of the shadows of night, the look on his face giving us some prime “What the hell do you think you’re doing, mutherfucker?” Just like last time, the final battle is pretty damn good, and the human stuff is pretty decent. Still, the film remains the lowest-grossing of the entire franchise, largely owing to the Japanese film market turning against kaiju flicks in general.
That being said, Toho didn’t really want to fully eject one of its most famous money-makers. They were still accepting various script ideas for the next several years, but none of the films ever got out of the initial planning stages. Godzilla would go on what seemed like indefinite hiatus for almost ten years, only returning for his anniversary, which would kick off a new era for the franchise.
But before that, Godzilla would make a more, shall we say, colorful appearance on the world stage, without the approval of Toho and with some interesting additions. Oh, stay tuned, kids.
Allusions of Grandeur 