The battles in this movie are quite good. MechaGodzilla has everything but the kitchen sink in his arsenal, and he even flies. King Seesar is a little weird, basically looking like a giant dog of some sort mixed with who knows what. The explosions, laser weapons, fiery breath, and general mayhem are very good, and many models are blown to bits. One of my favorite parts, though, is the song that is sung to awaken King Seesar--I have no idea what the words mean, but it is a great song I sometimes listen to just by itself. Interestingly enough, I assume the song is in Japanese, yet it is still dubbed (and rather badly in places).

In conclusion, this is easily one of the best movies in the original Godzilla series. If you don't enjoy this one, you almost surely won't enjoy any of the others, so this is a good litmus test for Godzilla newbies.

12 of 13 found the following review helpful:


Mechanical Titan of Terror!  Dec 06, 2004 By Zack Davisson "japanreviewed"
Who is Godzilla's greatest enemy? While some may vote for the three-headed King Ghidora or the soaring Mothra, to me that honor will always rest on MechaGodzilla, the star of no less than five Godzilla films, more than any other monster. Here, in the 1974 "Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla," we have the first appearance of that mechanical menace.

Filmed as a 20th anniversary celebration of Japan's most famous monster, "Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla" is a bloody and violent entry in the Godzilla series, with MechaGodzilla being a merciless killer, tearing the dinosaur-like Angirasu's jaw in half in the opening battle scene, then stomping off with bloody hands. The vanguard of an invasion, and controlled by a clan of ape-faced aliens from outer space, MechaGodzilla rampages throughout the unhappy island nation of Japan, and Godzilla is powerless to stop him. In order to stop the mechanical terror, an ancient, sleeping deity, King Seesar, is awakened and brought into the fray. Together, Godzilla and King Seesar withstand the assault of missiles, ray blasts, and a host of other weapons in the arsenal of MechaGodzilla.

If you like Godzilla films, than you pretty much know what you are getting yourself into. Big stompy fun, with giant monsters treading on toy tanks and beating the heck out of each other. "Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla" has all of these traditional delights, with a bit of a harder, more violent edge than the more-campy releases. It is still brilliant, Sunday morning fun.

This DVD release is one of the best available Godzilla flicks on the US market, but still not complete. The Japanese language track is included, which is an absolute must. This is an 85 minute version, rather than the full 97 minutes of the Japanese release. However, it is superior to the original US "Godzilla vs the Cosmic Monster" version, which ran 80 minutes.

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:


The best Godzilla film of the 1970s, and one of the most fun films in the series  Aug 18, 2006 By Tom Benton
Jun Fukuda's GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA is one of the most popular of the original Godzilla series. It's the best of the Godzilla films released in the 1970s, and possibly one of the best of the entire original series. The plot involves a group of apelike aliens (PLANETS OF THE APES, anyone?) which build a cyborg Godzilla to conquer Earth. Can Godzilla stop the cyborg? What do you think?

For me, the highlight of the film is Masaru Sato's kooky score. Akira Ifukube's music makes the monster battles seem horrifying, but Sato's music makes them seem like a major rumble, more like a major wrestling match than an epic battle of beasts. This was Sato's last Godzilla score; he'd previously written inventive and unusual scores for SON OF GODZILLA and GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER, both directed by Jun Fukuda.

Jun Fukuda isn't a popular name amongst most Godzilla fans because his films tend to be more silly than most (namely SON OF GODZILLA, though he also directed the series' worst entry, GODZILLA VS. MEGALON). I must admit that I love him. Granted, he's no Ishiro Honda, but his Godzilla films are very fun and amusing. Though most of GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA is what you'd expect from a 70s Godzilla flick, there are some moments of greatness, including some apocalyptic shots of Godzilla during a thunderstorm and of Mechagodzilla setting Tokyo aflame at night. There's also a great scene where Anguirus, in his final appearance until 2004's GODZILLA: FINAL WARS, rumbles with the skin-covered Mechagodzilla.

The writing, like most everything else in the film, has its moments, but for the most part is just silly. Sometimes it's quite confusing. The Godzilla suit looks ridiculous rather than terrifying, but that may have been the producers' goal, as the series had become more for children than anyone else by this point. Mechagodzilla is neat, but King Caesar seems out of place and foolish.

All in all, this is one of the most fun entries in the Godzilla series, and very likely the best Godzilla film to come out of the 1970s. The Big G returned for one last rumble in the direct sequel, TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA, before disappearing for nine years.

6 of 7 found the following review helpful:


A few words in defense of Godzilla...  Nov 25, 2004 By G-fan
First off, anyone who buys these(this one in particular)movies for a small child needs to know these "childrens" Godzilla films were made for the Japanese market. At the time they were made, most of the nation was still scarred from the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this is why Godzilla is a such a popular and poignant character in Japanese culture; he embodies the destruction and terror the atomic/nuclear age brought to this particular country. The threat was still prevalent, and if I lived in the only country in the world that had first-hand experience of its destructive power(and the aftermath of it), I would definately relate to these films, as did the people of Japan. The Japanese children at the time were aware of what had happened to their parents and their nation, and were accordingly less shielded to violence than American children. Aside from that, anyone who decides to show this to a child, remember; this is a MONSTER MOVIE and MONSTERS ARE SUPPOSED TO SCARE CHILDREN. So, please use your common sense before showing this to a 3-year-old, ok?

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