Godzilla 1980

'Zilla Vs. Megalon really is up there with Plan 9 From Outer Space: this is car crash cinema that you just can't take you're eyes off. Favorite moments include the lamest car chase in cinema history, the amazing non-explanation of Jet Jaguar "going large" and the staggering psychedelic abode where our heros live.

A very strange film.

The people of an undersea kingdom named Seatopia are very angry that repeated nuclear tests on Earth are disrupting their tranquility. So they send a cockroach like monster named Megalon topside to do some major damage. Fortunately, the people of Japan are able to rely on a faithful robot named Jet Jaguar. JJ, by the way, has the means of traveling to a distant isle to ask Godzilla for help. And the antagonists respond by summoning the bird like Gigan.

Admittedly, this Kaiju series had definitely become juvenile and cheesy, not to mention overly cute. It's not for fans of the Big Green Guy who crave substance in what they watch. It's just "good" dumb fun for a family audience, complete with an extended final showdown between the two heroes and the two villains. Godzilla himself is just too funny, especially considering some of the gestures that he makes. And one of the villains clearly is thinking "you gotta be kidding me" at one point.

Yes, this is a very silly movie but a pretty fun one, directed with some panache by Jun Fukuda. Its main human characters are very likable. Our human villains are an amusing bunch of one dimensional goons. The action scenes are competently done, and there are enough laughs and thrills to make this entertaining fluff. The plentiful special effects, the monster costumes, and the vibrant color and widescreen photography help to keep things visually interesting.

A funny and lively diversion for people who just want to put their brains in neutral for 82 minutes.

Six out of 10.

This is the funniest single entry into the Godzilla series. It is so incredibly bad, that there is not a single scene that doesn't have at least a chuckle or two; and many that have slap-your-knee hilarity to them - all unintentional.

The director, Jun Fukoda, was no stranger to the Godzilla series, and had already demonstrated that he could deliver a solidly competent B-movie. But this ain't one of those; and it's hard to say where Fukoda's head was at when he made this film.

We see actors miss their cues; we see strings lifting "flying" monsters; we have a robot with an idiotic smile painted on his face; we have a theme song popping up at the end that is only a parody of a pop-music movie theme. We have an annoying little kid actor that can't act. We have a cheesy giant cock-roach rubber suit flopping about crushing buildings, and then running from Godzilla with the gate of an old woman. We have the magic words that bring Megalon to life: "Rise up Megalon! Hey, get up!" while nymphettes do a veil dance. we have a background music that sounds like easy listening played at twice the tempo. Obvious stock footage from previous Godzilla films get inter-cut in the fight scenes. We have a special guest appearance from Gigan, called in (no showing or explanation how) from a galaxy called "Space Hunter M" Now, what wit could actually come up with that as the name of galaxy? Really, you must see this film at least once in your life; and if you don't see the humor in it that one time, see it again, because it will dawn on you like the blast of a heat-ray that, yeah, this film really does make NO sense whatsoever! Obviously made in two days by a group of brainy grammar-school students who happen to be drunk. One couldn't make a parody of the Godzilla films as funny as this; yet, incredibly, there's no sign that this was not intended to be taken seriously.

But we don't have to take it seriously just because it was intended that way. And taken as a comedy, it's just grand!

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.

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