The surviving aliens from the 3rd Planet rebuild Mechagodzilla. With the aid of a bitter scientist and his android daughter, they gain control of the giant dinosaur, Titanosaurus, and send both creatures to destroy Tokyo. Godzilla, in his last appearance as a hero, stomps into town to defeat the bad guys.
A direct sequel to the previous yearβs Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, this is the final entry in the initial series of Godzilla films. Nine years would pass before the big lizard would appear again, and then it would be in a film that ignored all but the original Gojira/Godzilla, King of The Monsters. As the end of an era, they could have done worse. The franchise had dipped to spectacular lows with Godzillaβs Revenge, Godzilla vs. Gigan, and Godzilla vs. Megalonβall childrenβs films that assumed kids were mentally deficient chimps. Terror of Mechagodzilla isnβt meaningful or innovative, but it isnβt a bad way to spend some time on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
Of course, this is a rubber suit movie, and the suits are pretty sad. Titanosaurus is a man in a stretched-out chicken costume, with a broken neck (the manβs or the chickenβs, it is hard to tell) and a piece of wood nailed where its beak should be. Godzilla has looked worse, but he would have benefited from a lot more shadows. This is a suit where seeing less is much, much more. Mechagodzilla is the only critter that doesnβt look silly, but then robots are a lot easier to fake than living beings.
The story is typical spy and alien stuffβpretty old hat for Japanese monster films of the β60s and β70s. But the characters are more interesting than usual (perhaps not a strong recommendation). The scientist and his daughter add much needed drama, and the relationship between android girl and hero is almost touching. Almost. I might have been able to take it seriously if the aliens didnβt wear big jacks on their heads.
The giant monster melees (and that is what we are here for) are considerably better than whatβs seen in most early Godzilla films. While there are plenty of silly wrestling and boxing moves, and even some gut-holding laughing by Titanosaurus, it is played as straight as Toho could manage at the time.
What takes this film a step up from other β70s Godzilla films is the return of director IshirΕ Honda. Hondaβs name on a film is no indication that it will be a good movie as he was a company man who would do the job, no matter how bad the material. But a Honda film is always better than it would be if Honda wasnβt involved. The improvement from Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla in basic film-making is dramatic. Shots just look better.
Terror of Mechagodzilla is a middling entry in the Godzilla series. If youβre a fan, youβll want to catch it when convenient. If not, this isnβt going to convert you.