Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

Director: Jun Fukuda

Written by: Jun Fukuda

Once again Earth has fallen under the gaze of evil aliens, this time a race of sinister shapeshifting simians from the Third Planet of the Black Hole. These maniacal monkeys have used their advanced technology to construct a cybernetic copy of Godzilla, the infamous and enduring, MechaGodzilla.

Veteran series director Jun Fukuda returns to the chair one final time for Godzilla’s 20th anniversary, in an adventure that melds cutting-edge alien technology with ancient Okinawan folktales in this more adult tale.

After the last descendant of Okinawan royalty prophesizes a great battle where two Kaiju will unite to defend the world from armageddon, it falls to a group of archeologists and undercover government agents to try and thwart the alien apes.

When Godzilla surfaces it seems the prophecy is coming true but something is off about the big G. His trademark roar has changed and his atomic breath is a different colour. When confronted by old buddy Anguirus, Godzilla gives him such a brutal beat down that it would be another 30 years before the mortally wounded Kaiju would return to the big screen.

But wait, another Godzilla has arrived! It quickly becomes apparent that the imposter is a giant cyborg, known as MechaGodzilla, forged of space titanium by the ape-like aliens. This colossal robot proves too much for Godzilla to handle alone and it falls to the plucky archaeologists to awaken the sleeping Kaiju, King Caesar.

There are some very cool moments in this one, from the reveal of MechaGodzilla's true for, Anguirus's savage beatdown, and my personal favourite, Godzilla powering up by absorbing a lightning storm.

In "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla," the MegaroGoji suit underwent minor alterations, particularly in the facial features. More intricacy was introduced to the muzzle, while the brows were diminished in size, imparting a less jovial appearance compared to its predecessor in "Godzilla vs. Megalon." Notably, the eyes remained static, lacking movable eyelids. This iteration is also known as the MekaGoji. Additionally, a separate suit was employed for Mechagodzilla's impersonation of Godzilla, dubbed the Fake Godzilla disguise.

With its more adult tone and the addition of one of Godzilla’s most iconic foes, this proved to be a fitting beginning to the end of the Showa era. But there was more to come, one final adventure to end this most iconic era of one of cinema’s greatest icons.

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