#13- "Terror of Mechagodzilla" (1975)

Terror of Mechagodzilla was the last movie of the original Showa series of Godzilla films, and after this films release it would be another decade before Godzilla returned to the big screen, mainly because this surprisingly was the least successful Showa series film upon release. Godzilla's annual attack on theaters may have reduced interest in the King of the Monsters, and Toho put the legendary franchise on hold until 1984's Return of Godzilla. Despite the poorer numbers in the box office, Terror of Mechagodzilla is actually quite entertaining. It takes a little while to get into the pace of things, but once it does, the movie is engrossing and has a good plot. A submarine crew encounters a new monster, Titanosaurus, deep under water, and a Japanese investigation bureau known as Interpol tracks down a mad scientist who has studied the monster, named Mafune. His work on the beast was rejected by a scientific panel and thus, he desires to punish humanity for their injustices towards him by controlling Titanosaurus. Mafune is in league with the Simians, the alien race from a planet near a black hole who are not at all unlike the apes from Planet of the Apes. They control Mechagodzilla and combined with Mafune, seek to take over the planet. But Mafune releases his beast too soon, and Godzilla arrives to fend off Titanosaurus. Later on in the movie, once Titanosaurus and Mechagodzilla combine forces, they are powerful enough to defeat Godzilla, although Godzilla has some help too. Interpol uses a frequency emitter device that creates a sound that Titanosaurus can't stand, driving the monster crazy. This allows Godzilla ample time to destroy Mechagodzilla and then turn his sights on the escaping Simians, which he also destroys. Then, Godzilla finishes off Titanosaurus and returns to his ocean lair. The movie features a tragic love story as well. Mafune's daughter Katsura telepathically controls Mechagodzilla and is also in league with the Simians, but when she falls in love with Interpol agent Ichinose she becomes a double agent of sorts, culminating in a wild suicide as she lays in Ichinose's arms, which allows Mechagodzilla to go haywire. It's quite sad, and has a sort of Romeo and Juliet feel to it. Another big theme of Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla movies is the idea of nature vs machine. Mechagodzilla represents humanities attempts to control nature, and Godzilla represents the unpredictable and always dominant organic side. Even though they may not explicitly say it, the ideal of preserving our natural environment rather than tampering with it is clearly evident in all Mechagodzilla movies. Terror of Mechagodzilla is a better movie than it's box office from 1975 shows, and it is the rare Godzilla movie to successfully carry out a tragic side plot to all the glorious monster mayhem.

Mechagodzilla and Titanosaurus prepare to do battle with Godzilla.

Godzilla runs through a barrage of missile fire from his cyborg counterpart.