Movie Name: Godzilla vs. Megalon
Rank: 1/2 godzillas
 

Review:
Oh, this one is bad. Incredibly, undeniably, mind-numbingly bad! O.K., so maybe it's not quite that bad, but it still isn't good! The underworld kingdom of "Seatopia", ticked off at all the atom bomb tests going on topside, sends the fearful monster Megalon [picture a giant cockroach with two arms and legs instead of six] to level Tokyo [yeah, right -- like Tokyo was responsible for the atom bomb tests?] Well, the surface dwellers aren't completely helpless -- they've got Jet Jaguar (a robot who can miraculously grow to gigantic proportions on demand) on their side! But Megalon is too much for Jet Jaguar to handle on his own, so he flies to Monster Island to ask (via semaphoric hand signals) Godzilla's help. But it's not over yet -- suddenly, Gigan appears out of nowhere to fight beside Megalon! What follows has got to be the tag team event of the year! I would have given this movie a "BOMB" rating, except for one scene involving a flying kick, Godzilla-style, which is so bizarre that I am shocked speechless every time I see it!

One interesting note -- One of the American publicity posters and/or video covers for this film actually showed Godzilla and Megalon facing off while standing on top of the (former) World Trade Center towers in New York. Yeah, right....


CREDITS

Gojira tai Megaro [Godzilla vs. Megalon] (1973)
Released in U.S. as Godzilla vs Megalon (1976)

CAST
Goro Ibuki...............Katsuhiko Sasaki
Rokuro Ibuki..............Hiroyuki Kawase
Hiroshi Jinkawa............Yutaka Hayashi
Antonio.....................Robert Denham

CREW
Director.......................Jun Fukuda
Screenplay.....................Jun Fukuda
Special Effects..........Teruyoshi Nakano
Music.....................Riichiro Manabe

Running Time: 82 minutes

U.S. VERSION:
Released by Cinema Shares
Distributed by Downtown Distribution
Running Time: 82 min.