Terror of Mechagodzilla

Terror of Mechagodzilla is a 1975 Japanese monster movie and the 15th film in the Godzilla franchise, preceded by Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla in 1974 and succeeded by The Return of Godzilla in 1984. Terror of Mechagodzilla was directed by Ishiro Honda, written by Yukiko Takayama, distributed by Toho, filmed by Sokei Tomioka, edited by Yoshimi Kuroiwa, produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka and Henry G. Saperstein, and starred Katsuhiko Sasaki, Tomoko Ai, Akihiko Hirata, Katsumasa Uchida, Goro Mutsumi, Tadao Nakamaru and Toru Kawai.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) One of the best moments in this movie, and in the entire Godzilla franchise, is when Godzilla makes his first appearance during a thunderstorm. It makes him look really cool and badass.
 * 2) Outstanding special effects by mid-1970s standards.
 * 3) Interesting and three-dimensional characters, including Dr. Shinji Mafune and his daughter Katsura.
 * 4) This movie features the return of a fan-favorite villain in the series, Mechagodzilla, who, after getting its head removed by Godzilla and dumped into the waters of Okinawa, is rebuilt as "Mechagodzilla 2" (not to be confused with the Mechagodzilla from Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II).
 * 5) Amazing action sequences.
 * 6) This movie features another monster named Titanosaurus; a giant aquatic dinosaur controlled by mad scientist Dr. Shinji Mafune.
 * 7) Great pacing.
 * 8) The stakes and tension are higher than usual in this film, because Godzilla is up against two monsters at once and has no allies to back him up.
 * 9) Good acting.
 * 10) In the final shot of the movie, Godzilla returns to the sea; it was an appropriate farewell, as the Godzilla franchise would go into hibernation for almost a decade.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) For a brief period in the US, the film was called The Terror of Godzilla, even though the villain was clearly Mechagodzilla, not Godzilla. To obtain a G-rating, several scenes were cut, with the violent content being entirely removed, disrupting the flow of the narrative and butchering the movie. The poster even showed Godzilla as the bad guy (when he's clearly not) as well as King Caesar, who's not even in the movie except for very brief stock footage.
 * 2) Misleading titles:
 * 3) * When the film was released in Italy, it was called Distrugette Kong! La Terra è in pericolo (English: Destroy Kong! The Earth is in Danger) and both the poster and aforementioned title made it look like a King Kong movie rather than a Godzilla movie, depicting a fighter jet firing missiles at a giant ape.
 * 4) * When the film was released in the United Kingdom, the film was called Monsters from an Unknown Planet, despite the fact that only one monster was from an unknown planet and that was obviously Mechagodzilla. On the other hand, both Godzilla and Titanosaurus were from Earth.
 * 5) * The movie's reissue title in France was Les ogres de l'espace (English: The Ogres from Space), even though the three monsters are not ogres and only one of them is from space (Mechagodzilla).
 * 6) Titanosaurus, while a decent Kaiju, has a strange roar.

Trivia

 * The movie was the lowest-grossing film of the entire Godzilla franchise until 2018's Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle.
 * There actually was a dinosaur named Titanosaurus (the first ever dinosaur to be discovered in India that lived 145 to 66 million years ago during the late Cretaceous period), but it didn't look anything like the Kaiju seen in the film, since it was a sauropod.

Reception
Terror of Mechagodzilla has a 62% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 3.1/5 on Letterboxd and a 6.2/10 on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).

Videos
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