Customer Reviews

Godzilla vs Megalon

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

A sunken continent is beneath the sea but houses survivors of the once-great land in the underwater city of Seatopia. But underwater nuclear testing puts the Seatopians at serious risk and so they send Megalon to deal with the war-mongering surface-dwellers. Also on hand is Gigan. But a surface-world professor has built an android which can grow to enormous sizes when the need arises and so the robot Jet Jaguar takes on the monsters, eventually joined by Godzilla.

I've read a lot of bad reviews about this film, which are unfair, as this film provides escapism, monster action and interesting characters. These are what monster movies are supposed to be about. They're not meant to be blatant vehicles for commercialistion filled with mean-spirited reality, cardboard-cutout people and boring video game monsters like a certain recent so-called Godzilla film I could mention.

Godzilla V Megalon is a genuine monster movie. Jet Jaguar makes a likeable heroic figure and there are more than enough scenes of monster-destruction to hold the interest. The film also has a definate moral message, which certainly isn't a bad thing in these morally-bereft times.

Godzilla vs. Megalon is kind of like two movies in one. The first hour or so is the weak plot. Nuclear tests have upset the Seatopians (and apparently their buddies in Dimension M). You get to learn a little "history" about the "3 million year old figures on Easter Island". Well, who cares anyway?

The last part of the movie is really the only place with monsters. Sure, you get a few peeks earlier on, but they are just posing. The end has a tag team match between Godzilla and Jet Jaguar (a cool robot who "programs himself to increase his size") on one side and Megalon (a giant hopping cockroach who can spit fireballs) and Gigan (a sort of mecha-penguin looking guy). The model work is OK, but there is not much of it. Most of this fight takes place in a big dusty open area. Ho hum, kinda tame.

Now the bad part: the video quality ranges from barely tolerable to terrible. I kept expecting to see people's heads in front of the screen or commercial breaks! Where did they get this? At least the Simitar releases were pretty clean. You might want to avoid this mediocre film until they get a better print.

Many film critics are quick to dismiss "Godzilla vs Megalon" as B-Movie material. Perhaps the frequent inserts of stock footage from previous Godzilla films steered their latent enthusiasm into Guajardian rejection. Cynics can cite economical factors, but I see this use as stock footage as a counter to the notion that everything has a start and finish; the cyclical nature of hallucinogen creatures declares that the battle repeats itself. The battlefield returns, the wanderer unwillingly fights, and the battle does not truly end until a grinning robot and a giant nuclear monster shake hands, but only after eliminating the putrid anti-Kafka forces powered by the selfish whims of the protaga-subterfugerist. Godzilla's appearance as a creature, angry in face but friendly in action, gives anti-establishment causes great validation. Being that this film was produced in the early 1970s, perhaps this was a cry for us to come together as one planet once again, to unite as the age of Aquarius approaches.

Without a doubt, the most underrated Godzilla movie EVER! WHY DOESN'T ANYONE LIKE THIS FILM? WHY, WHY, WHYYYYYY?
Everyone takes this movie WAAAAAY to seriously. Get over it! This movie is great fun! All you need to like this movie is to not expect much from it. That's it! That's all!
One of my favorites!

Wow, this is probably the most ridiculously campy Godzilla movie of all time. If you're one of those Godzilla haters who says the series is corny and the costumes look fake, at least if you were referring to this particular film I would have to agree with you. Godzilla looks more comical than ever before, with a huge Barney like head and enormous eyes. Megalon is a bizarre, goony looking monster, two traits that help make his cohort, a giant cyborg chicken, look cool but unfortunately falls flat when it comes to megalon. Jet Jaguar is a humanoid robot that teams up with the Big-G to defeat the campy duo. Among the characters is a small child who sounds like he's having a hernia whenever he talks. Oh, back to megalon, when the planes are attacking him and he reached up with his claw to slap them down, you can easily see it's stock footage from the previous Godzilla film "Godzilla vs Gigan".

Ugh.

Despite the extreme cheesiness, though, I suppose this is a rather fun film. Not something I'd watch more than once, though.

Well i can remember seing this on the tv many years ago!I like thois g flick mainly because its of the only movies which has the ace monster Gigan in it.the plot is like this an underground race of people summon up their monster god Megalon to destroy the people who live on the surface of our fair planet.after some moderate special effects of wierd tanks and bridges blowing up as well as seing godzilla rise out of a lake and the cheesey Jet-jaguar ends up joining forces with the powerful space monster Gigan.Hasa great ending batttle and tjankfully doesnt have one of those boring plots about humans and aliens.

Made in 1973 and not seen in the US until 1976, Godzilla Vs Megalon is regarded by some as, arguably the series lowest point.It suffered mostly from what other Toho productions of the 1970's suffered from-a meager budget. Some of the shots of Godzilla are stock footage from '60's productions and the new "Godzilla suit" for this film is noticably different and simplified. The one scene that is quite spectacular is the destruction of a dam by the insect-like Megalon,while scenes of destruction(buildings etc) are more stock footage which is obvious from the differing film stocks seen. Japan was in a "Super Hero" craze in l973 which explains the inclusion of Jet Jaguar,an Ultraman-like flying and size-changing robot. Also, the monster Gigan is along for the ride but some of the fights become just too silly-at one point Godzilla shakes hands with Jet Jaguar!!!
This is also the first Godzilla film seen in the US to feature the dubbed "International Version" which, unlike many of the ones dubbed with more care in the US, in the l960's and early 70's, is pretty poorly done. But, for the Godzilla Completist, this film is probably better seen on DVD.Generally speaking,if you're in the mood, the film is alot of fun,and if you ask any Godzilla fan, a simple Godzilla suit is better than a CGI Godzilla any day, as, despite the film's shortcomings, there is still charm in this type of film, no matter what the budget. There is also a cameo appearance by actor Robert Dunham, who just recently passed away.

This is a highly entertaining film, even though by Godzilla standards it is one of the cheesiest! But the cheesiness makes for an entertaining experience! While not at all scary or preachy like the original Godzilla(1956), it has its moments! The dubbing is awful.......thankfully! It only adds to the entertainment! However, the kid's voice gets on my nerves! Godzilla is a hollow shadow of himself in this film. Even Anguiras is scarier! However, the redeeming point that saves the whole film and makes it a gem is the final battle scene! Hilarious! In the red corner, weighing in at well over 1,000 tons, Godzilla and Jet Jaguar! In the blue corner, from the farthest reaches of evil, the tag team champions, Megalon and Gigan! LOL Let's get ready to rumble! I won't say what happens but the big fight is really funny! Worth the price of the tape. Buy this if you like Kaiju( Japanese giant monster ) movies, or if you want a good laugh, but be warned! It's not for everyone!

I thought this movie was one of the most entertaining Godzilla films I've seen. The fight scences are very fun to watch. Godzilla does a couple of karate moves which is pretty funny and especially the flying kick thing Godzilla does near the end. I love the Jet Jaguar Song which gets stuck in my head a lot for a couple of weeks. This movie will be very entertaining feature if you are a true Godzilla fan that's not too picky.

As other reviewers have stated, "Godzilla vs. Megalon" is one of the most carelessly and hastily thrown-together Godzilla films but still gives great entertainment value. However, this DVD edition is of such poor quality that it's too hard to watch. It's in pan-and-scan rather than widescreen format, but that's just the beginning. The picture quality looks like the disk was mastered from a second- or third-generation EP speed videotape of a faded film copy covered with dirt and scratches, with frames missing and muffled sound. There aren't many of these Japanese films on DVD, which is too bad--there's a large audience for them. Many of those that were formerly available are now out of print and hard to find. This disk does nothing good to remedy that, and it's ironic that such a poor quality edition would even be released in the DVD format. It's priced very low, but that's no excuse. Other companies have released similarly-priced DVDs, using good transfers from decent copies of the films. Japanese monster movie fans can only hope that a more conscientious company will release some of these titles in the future. Worst Godzilla DVD ever!