Gojira vs. Mekagojira

The 1993 version of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla is one of the best "kaiju" (giant monster) films ever made and is an action-packed, exciting film in general. Full of great effects as well as drama and fun, this film delivers where other films of its type fall flat. For the price of admission, you get Godzilla, the updated version of Rodan, the new and improved MechaGodzilla and the introduction of Baby Godzilla. Not to be missed not only by Godzilla fans, but any serious science fiction/fantasy lover.

Godzilla has a really busy time again: fighting the winged Radon, trashing a huge tin can named Mechagodzilla, and looking for his baby. The little monster is as cute as his predecessor in `Gojira No Mosuko', but better designed, with evil glowing red eyes. One novelty in the 90s Godzilla movies is the creation of a special group of experts called `G Force' who try not to let Godzilla wreck Japan as badly again as he did in the 60s. With little success, though - to sum it up, not one of the best movies of the series, but a good deal of chaos and destruction again. Voted 6/10.

By 1993 the Heisei era of the Godzilla series was well in swing. Here production company Toho bring back Mechagodzilla, Rodan and sadly - they birth Baby Godzilla. Plot is nutty of course, top level government organisation want rid of Godzilla, so using various mechanics and creature science from previous Godzilla foes, construct a new Mechagodzilla, who is soon to be souped up to be Super Mechagodzilla. Carnage, telepathy, hidden brains and maternal instincts do follow.

It's actually one of the better films from the Heisei wave. Standard city destruction via model work is always good fun, but it's nice to find the effects work is of a much better standard than from previous instalments. The action sequences are smartly constructed by Takao Okawara, with the crowning smack-down between Zilla and Metalzilla absolutely joyous, a fun packed blend of cartoonish chaos and death ray destruction. Akira Ifukube once again provides an outstanding musical score, and while you will search long and hard for acting performances of note, it all just falls into place in the grand scheme of things.

Now if only we didn't have that goddamn Baby Godzilla! So cute! So annoying... 7/10

Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla is regarded by many as the best Godzilla film in the 'Heisei' series,and it's easy to see why,with it's non-stop action,revivals of three of the 'Showa' series monsters and huge amount of monster footage. No leisurely build up here-we are plunged almost immediately into the action,and it than never lets up apart from a brief slowing down in the middle.

This was Godzilla's 40th anniversary film,and so it is rife with scenes from Showa Godzilla films copied,including even certain shots-for instance,Godzilla attacking an oil refinary from the original Godzilla Vs Mothra,or Rodan knocking down Godzilla from Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster,there's a terrific knowingness to this film. The plot here is very simple but effective in it's simplicity,and Akira Ifikube's score is simply wonderful,his best ever for a Godzilla film,full of memorable themes and often amazingly poignant.

The film is let down a little by it's monsters-the new baby Godzilla is great and far better than 'Minya' from the 'Showa' series,but Rodan and Mechagodzilla look inferior to their predecessors. The fights are OK but the climactic one is somewhat static,and the film has a lot less visual imagination than the last three films. It's difficult to say if this is better than the previous two films,it lacks the wild and crazy story of Godzilla Vs King Ghidorah or the sense of wonder and eye candy of Godzilla vs Mothra,but if you just want monsters on the rampage and battling it out,this one delivers wonderfully,and most Godzilla fans want little more than that.

Despite the 'II' in the English title, "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993, 20th film in the franchise) is not a sequel to "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla" (1974) or "Terror of Mechagodzilla" (1975) and the fact that there has already been a gigantic robotic version of Godzilla seems to have been lost to the kaiju amnesia that affects Japan every decade or so (Rodan, on the other hand, is remembered by name). This time around, Mechagodzilla is not created by sneaky aliens, but rather by the 'UN Godzilla Countermeasures Center', a multinational, anti-kaiju taskforce. Why the robot needs to look like Godzilla is never explained, but it is bristling with weapons from laser eyes to a belly mounted 'pulse grenade' to assorted missiles to electrified grappling hooks. Needless to say, all get deployed during titanic battles with Godzilla and Rodan (who has been upgraded to field some kind of energy weapon to supplement flapping his wings and pecking with his beak). In the background of the mayhem, an egg has been found from which hatches a tiny (relatively) 'Godzillasaurus', promptly christened "Baby" by imprinted scientist Azusa Gojo (Ryoko Sano). The series continues to embrace new-age spirituality, as Miki Saegusa is back, and 'psychic links' and 'life forces' play pivotal roles in the plot. "Baby", as can be guessed, was included in an attempt to woo female viewers (who allegedly prefer 'creation and life' to 'destruction and death') and, while not as obnoxious and irritating as "Minilla" (i.a. "Son of Godzilla" 1967), this iteration of Godzilla's offspring is still pretty cloying. The special effects, which includes traditional suit-mation/puppetry and early CGI, looks pretty good, with an excellent Godzilla suit and some outstanding miniature work. Mechagodzilla looks OK, although it spends a lot of time flying/hovering or standing still, so I assume that the suit was not very mobile. Rodan still looks awkward and Baby has a toy-frog face with big, fake looking puppy-dog eyes. The film also features the 'Garuda', another in a line of highly improbable looking flying-tanks sent against the monsters, which in keeping with the 'transforming mecha' trend popular in the '90s, can attach to the Mechagodzilla to create a "Supermechagodzilla'. I watched a sub-titled Japanese version (although a lot of English is spoken in the film) and the acting is par for kaiju epics. The script is full of silly observations (e.g. despite having nothing but sharp teeth, Baby is confidently identified as a plant eater), quantum leaps of logic, and dramatic conclusions based on essentially no data, but that's nothing new for the genre. The battle scenes are good, as is the music, and, if you are the correct demographic (which I am not), you can coo over the baby Godzilla. Although not as good as the loopy "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah" (1991), this incarnation of Godzilla fighting his robotic doppleganger is an entertaining enough time-waster.