Ai confini della realtà

This one is strictly for the kids, but it's still fun if you enjoy rubber suited actors destroying miniature sets (which I do). Megalon, a giant beetle from the sea, and Gigan, a praying mantis-like giant monster, are dead set on squishing puny humans. Enter size-shifting robot Jet Jaguar, who enlists the help of Godzilla to battle the two evil Kaiju. Jet Jaguar was the result of a contest Toho held where kids entered their idea for a new superhero and Jet was the winning entry by an elementary age student who was clearly a fan of Ultraman. Considered by many as one of the weakest Godzilla films, this is certainly among the corniest and the most juvenile of the many films, but I'll admit that I was entertained.

Godzilla vs. Megalon, or Gojira tai Megaro, was the only film in this venerable Japanese series to be geared specifically for children. Godzilla is a legendary hero, and protector of Japan, rather than the Island of the Rising Sun's destructor. He is called upon by the android, and Ultraman look-alike, Jet Jaguar to fend off the attack of the giant interstellar cockroach, Megalon, and that fiendish villain from Star Hunter M Nebula, Gigan. The fight that insues is exciting, funny, and at times, a little bloody, but in the end we all know how it ends.

For the younger viewers, Godzilla vs. Megalon is up their alley, and when I was a kid, this is the film that made me believe in Godzilla and see him as a hero.

Highly recommended.

Okay, okay, I admit, I have a guilty pleasure of watching this movie alot, with and without MST3K. Yeah, I have fun with G vs Megalon!

It is also one of the few Godzilla films to feature an Atlantis-like civilization in it as well. The civiliation lives beneath the sea, full of scantily claded dancers and their guardian monster is Megalon. They get upset at the surface world and summon Megalon, but things may not go as planned, due to two men, one hyperactive little boy, Jet Jaguar, and of course, Godzilla.

Sure, it may not be Akira Kurosawa, but it is alot of fun indeed.

A tour de force of rubbery monster mayhem in this genre classic. Brilliant turns from Megalon, Jet Jaguar, Gigan and the mighty Godzilla all of which out act the humans. Ignore the storyline and luxuriate in the glory of giant monster action.

The villains of this film are beings from the underwater kingdom of Seatopia, frustrated with humans' nuclear-bomb testings, which ravaged their kingdom. Therefore, they sent their monster god Megalon, an over-sized cockroach, to destroy mankind (pretty sensitive, couldn't they just reach out to the humans and let them know they live downstairs, so therefore, quit with the bomb testings?).

Toho utilized the overused alien-invasion plot again, making this film the a rush-through production job. Tons of stock footage were used and the plot was very plain. This film is basically an "aliens and monsters invade Earth, and Godzilla and a robot arrives and defeats them and saves Earth story." There are no subplots, significance, irony and female leads. What made up for this movie, though, is the monster wrestling-like battle at the climax. After getting pretty beaten up by Gigan at the previous fight in "Godzilla vs. Gigan," Godzilla this time really gave Gigan a taste of his own medicine. Even giant-beetle Megalon couldn't hold up a strong battle against Godzilla. Jet Jaquer was Godzilla's partner-in-crime, a giant robot made to capitalize on the Ultraman and Zone Fighter trilogies that were popular in Japan by the time this movie came out, so I guess Godzilla deserves the right to have a robot as his sidekick at least once. Unfortuntately, Jet Jaguar wasn't emphasized enough. There should have been more scenes depicting him as a "superhero" (like saving a life or stopping a robbery like most superheros do). It still bothers me why the Seatopians need to steal Jet-Jaguar and use it to guide Megalon to Tokyo. In previous Godzilla movies, monsters just find their way to the city and start trampling. Why the heck does Megalon need a tour guide?

To sum it all, a rushed film with lots of stock footage and sub-par characters. But, an exciting monster battle at the end.

Grade C