Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Director: Jun Fukuda

Written by: Jun Fukuda

When a nation of highly advanced undersea humanoids find themselves under threat of extinction due to humanity's constant pollution and nuclear testing, they unleash the monstrous Megalon to destroy the surface world.

Utilizing undercover agents, the nation of Seatopia steals and reprogrammes the

state-of-the-art robot Jet Jaguar to act as Megalons guide in destroying Earth's major cities. Fortunately, Jet Jaguar's inventor overrides the seaborne saboteurs and sends the robot to fetch Godzilla for help.

With Megalon hopelessly outmatched, the Seatopians reach out to the Cockroach Aliens from Godzilla vs. Gigan, and the shapeshifting invaders quickly dispatch Gigan to even the odds (for once it seems that King Ghidorah must've had the day off).

Jet Jaguar, the result of a children's competition to design a monster for a Godzilla movie is the clear standout here, despite Gigan having a new design (the old suit was accidentally destroyed) and the intricate design of the Megalon suit. This blatant Ultraman clone is bright, colourful, and tweaked to appeal to children. Sadly this would be JJ's only appearance in the movie franchise although he would show up again in both TV and Comic form.

The Godzilla suit, known as the MegaroGoji boasted a sleek, unembellished physique with a compact neck and distinctive rounded silver dorsal plates. Its face exuded a friendlier aura than typical, featuring a rounded muzzle, prominent brows, and notably large eyes. These eyes were sizable and capable of movement, accompanied by movable eyelids. Distinguished by its more upright posture compared to prior designs, this suit foreshadowed the stance characteristic of Godzilla suits throughout the upcoming Heisei era.

The wirework is exceptional here, Megalon leaps and bounds across the screen, and despite recycling a lot of footage from previous films the climactic battle is one of the best of this era.

This movie is infamous for being one of the quickest films ever developed. Going from inception to premiere in just 6 months and just going to show that series veteran Jun Fukuda had refined his art to perfection. The movie itself was shot over just 3 weeks.

Despite its hasty production, this film features some awesome scenes, from Megalon destroying a large dam with our human heroes trapped on the other side, Gigan holding Jet Jaguar hostage to threaten Godzilla into surrendering, and who can forget Godzilla’s infamous flying dropkick!

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