I've probably seen Godzilla vs Megalon (1973), over 20 times in my life. I am a huge fan of these films. The good and the bad, but in times of need, I've been able to turn off my unbiased-button, in order to look at these in a straight-forward, critical way too. I've been watching the Showa Era series, steadily, since the 1970s, so I was used to seeing it in 4:3 all the time. Godzilla vs Megalon (1973), is much better in its original, theatrical, widescreen format, which includes, the Japanese language with English subtitles, available today and it looks great in the new 1080p restoration. This is not saying much towards the overall film, but you should compare the two (SD VHS 4:3 and 4K Blu-ray), someday and you'll see what I mean. Godzilla vs Megalon (1973), is not the worst Godzilla movie ever made, but it was the lowest point of the 1970s era, of Toho's, kaiju series. That's not saying much, considering the 1970s were brutal for Godzilla, across the board.
This era of Gojira was a rough-ride for the lizard-king. It moved the character towards a more kid-friendly, comedic, silly direction, that turned a force of nature into a giant boxing kangaroo. Godzilla vs Megalon (1973), also was the third film, out of the last four films, in the series, which had a kid as the main character, thus playing-up the kid-friendly angle of the film. It made perfect sense, that this was happening though. The creator of Gojira, Eiji Tsuburaya, had since passed away, but before he left, he had set-up Tsuburaya Productions, who was churning out, one of his other, great creations, Ultraman, at an incredible rate of episodes, per year, by the time we got to 1973. On top of that, there were tons of copy-cat, Ultraman shows, out there on Japanese TVs, playing all the time. This of course, influenced the Godzilla films to a degree, which explains his tag-team partner in Godzilla vs Megalon (1973), as the colorful robot, named Jet Jaguar.
Another obstacle Godzilla vs Megalon (1973), had to get through, that impeded its success, was the fact, that at the same time, an embattled, bankrupting, Japanese film industry, was feeling the pain and Toho had to slash budgets on their films, which really is felt in this film. This was the era of stock footage galore, with footage reused from numerous Godzilla movies, going all the way back to 1962. Even, as far back as, King King vs Godzilla (1962). In fact, they even took stock-footage from non-Gojira films. When Megalon goes behind the trees, while the military is shooting their death-rays at him, the shot of him dodging the rays from behind the trees, was taken from either, Frankenstein vs Baragon (1965) or the War of the Gargantuas (1966). I'm not sure which one, but it was one of those. All the stock-footage was used in the military gathering scenes, monsters destroying the city scenes and, parts of the fight-scenes with the monsters. The shot with Megalon's lasers blowing up the Mobile gas-station, weren't even his lasers. They were stock-footage shots of King Ghidorah's lasers, from about eight movies back. Budget-cuts always kill a movie.
There also is a question if these films really were intended for kids. There is enough in Godzilla vs Megalon (1973), that earned the film a PG rating in the U. S. and I'm pretty sure I saw an old poster, that had an R-rating on it, for somewhere in the world. You can clearly see why in the new, improved, restored, Japanese versions, that you can stream on Max or Tubi, currently today. So, don't be fooled. Godzilla vs Megalon (1973), is not really for kids, with a PG-rating for language, violence and some magazine nudity, plus there's even smoking. There is a scene depicting our good-guys, Roku and Hiroshi, breaking back into their house, so they can stop the bad-guys (operatives of the subterranean culture, known as Seatopia), and regain control of Jet Jaguar. They use a toy plane and fly it into the face of one of the saboteurs. He grabs his head with a glob of fake blood in his hand. Another guy gets thrown out of a truck, that has Playboy centerfolds taped to the back of the cab and he rolls down a cliff. Finally, another bad-guy, gets crushed by a huge rock. By the way, all of these scenes were deleted from the original American version, that was shown in the 1970s and all through their VHS releases, seen in the 1980s and 1990s. I think people think these films are for kids, because non-nerds think we are all 15 year-old kids. That is fine, but beware of false claims on target-audiences.
There are other miscues in Godzilla vs Megalon (1973). Things like, audio sound effect mistakes, like squealing tires on dirt roads. There is a scene were Godzilla is running, Keystone Cop-style. The final fight scene is one of the worst ever. It has the famous Godzilla scene, with him flying through the air (he actually makes a turn), with a drop-kick blow into Megalon, while Jet Jaguar secures the evil monster. Jet Jaguar and Gojira actually having, what looks like, a conversation, also enhances the silliness. It is pretty brutal. It isn't all bad news for Godzilla vs Megalon (1973). There is a cool contrast between the colors of Jet Jaguar's suit and the choice of colors, that inventor Goro (Godzilla legacy-actor, Katsuhiko Sasaki), and his friend Hiroshi, use for their cars. There also is a half-decent car-chase and Megalon attacking a dam is kind of cool too. For really big laughs, watch the English dubbed version. Then compare it to the Japanese version. Even though, I give Godzilla vs Megalon (1973), a Failed grade, I still recommend seeing it, because you have to see it to believe it. Then forget about it and enjoy the rest of the Gojira, kaiju, Showa-Era of films, by the great Toho Studios. Plus, it's a film series, so you have to watch it.
PMTM Grade: 3.8 (F+) = 4 IMDB.
