Product Description

Evil spacemen from the Black Hole are plotting to flatten Tokyo and build their own utopian city. Aided by deranged scientist Dr. Mafune, the aliens unleash a rebuilt Mechagodzilla and the monster Titanosaurus to do their evil bidding, until Godzilla surfaces to defend his homeland and the earth-shattering destruction begins.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19049 in DVD
• Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
• Released on: 2008-04-29
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: Japanese, English
• Subtitled in: English
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 83 minutes

Amazon.com
In 1974, Inoshiro Honda, the original and best Godzilla director, returned after a five-year absence to direct this 20th-anniversary commemoration to Gojira (the original Japanese name for Godzilla, before the West Anglicized it). This is the fifteenth film in the Godzilla series, and the eleventh by director Honda. Yet again the aliens (from the third planet of the black hole, whatever that means; they don't really provide directions) stage a takeover of Earth, this time with the aid of Mechagodzilla and Titanosaurus (they're just what they sound like). They owe the mad scientist Mafuni for the use of Titanosaurus, who in turn owes the aliens for resurrecting his daughter, Katsura, badly hurt in an accident, albeit now as a cyborg with the ability to control their two mecha-monsters. It shapes up as the fight of the century when Godzilla is pressed into service for our side. The battling behemoths afford the most dramatic and vivid fight scenes in all of Godzilladom in this one. Let's hope the aliens don't win; they're so smug. --Jim Gay

Customer Reviews

Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla: The Rematch
Overall, this last film in the original Godzilla series is one of the better ones, due primarily to the fight scenes. If you've seen Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla, though, you pretty much know the plot in this one; aliens from "the black hole" are once again trying to conquer Earth with their mechanized Godzilla monster. The only significant difference between this film and its predecessor is the addition of the monster Titanosauras. The brilliant scientist who discovered the living dinosaur Titanosauras turned away from mankind when his colleagues ridiculed his theories; now his daughter, his only companion for 15 years, can somehow control Titanosauras. The aliens, who are rebuilding the vanquished MechaGodzilla, recruit the evil scientist for their cause, believing Godzilla cannot possibly defeat both monsters single-handed.

Titanosauras is a pretty cool monster at first, but he loses his charm toward the end of the film. He has basically no offensive weapons (being a peaceful dinosaur by nature) except for a fan-like tail he uses to produce a powerful wind. MechaGodzilla is as impressive as ever but is basically the same creature he was in the previous movie. Godzilla looks pretty good and seems to be in fine form, despite the unsurprising setbacks he encounters in the opening moments of the battle. I love the grand entrance he makes here; he unleashes his breath from the shadows, then the camera quickly zooms to his eyes. Some say Godzilla is meaner in this movie, but I don't necessarily think so. When you encounter both MechaGodzilla and Titanosauras together, it probably doesn't do much to brighten your day. While the fighting is pretty good, MechaGodzilla just didn't seem to have his heart in the fight this time around. He basically just stands there unleashing his arsenal of weapons, eschewing the different forms of attack he showed us in his first encounter with Godzilla.

This movie just seems to lack something, but I can't say for sure what it is. The movie seems to end very quickly, yet it is of a comparable length with other Godzilla movies. I think part of the problem is the fact that we have seen most of this before--space aliens controlling MechaGodzilla, agents searching for the alien base of operations, etc. Had I seen this movie before watching Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla, maybe my feelings would be reversed, but I consider the first movie to be far superior to this one. This is not to say that this is a bad movie; it is in fact better than most of the original series of 15 films, and it is historically important because it is the last of those 15. We would not see Godzilla again for 10 years after this movie, so certainly Terror of MechaGodzilla is a film you will want to add to your Godzilla collection.

Only half the movie!!!
This final entry in the original Godzilla series is, in the original form, one of the better 70,s sequels. I read the other reviews saying that this film had a confusing story, and that it was just TRYING to be more serious than its predecessors, and no wonder. This dvd version is missing about 20 minutes of the original film. Several important scenes have been cut out, damaging the story. I have read that this was an edited version that played to the kiddies in matinees back in the day, and indeed all the missing scenes are the darker and more violent parts of the story. And worst of all, the very cool "history of Godzilla" intro is missing! This dvd is okay for the price, and if you are just buying for the kids. But if you are a serious fan, search for the complete version, this one will be a big dissapointment.

Not one of my favorites, but still worth buying for both versions.
The film takes too long to get going. And as other have pointed out, you don't get to see Godzilla until about 2/3 into the film(unless you count the US prelude of stock footage, which is fun, or the credits sequence). But that last 3rd has lots of monster action and really has a wonderful 3-way battle including a scene where Mecha-G just unloads on Godzilla with tons of firepower. For casual G-fans like me, it's worth adding to your collection cause these dvd's are put togther quite nicely and at a very affordable price(got mine for under $12). I have only 4 from this collection but plan on completing it.

Besides picture quality, subtitles for Japanese version, and widescreen presentation, these dvd's don't skimp on extras either. There's a 2-member(Keith Aiken & Bob Johnson) audio commentary on the US version that sounds too scripted for my tastes, but on the plus side it's very informative and worth a listen. There's also an image gallery complete with liner notes. Here's where it gets weird though: my copy says it has the original Japanese trailer on the back of the dvd case, but i can't find it. However, in its place is the featurette "Women of Godzilla". 10 minutes of cute, attractive Japanese starlets kinda make up for a trailer imho. All i can say is...Mie Hama!!!

Sorry. So, a 3-star movie for me personally, rounded up to 4 for this dvd edition. Recommended.