Terror of Mechagodzilla
Short description
Terror of Mechagodzilla continues the story begun in the previous Godzilla film, as an Interpol submarine sent to recover the remains of the mechanical monster is destroyed by a giant aquatic dinosaur. Biologist Akira Ichinose and an Interpol agent investigate and trace the attack to Dr. Shinzô Mafune, a scientist long dismissed as a crank for insisting that such a creature still lived. Mafune has allied himself with alien invaders who intend to conquer Earth, controlling the dinosaur Titanosaurus alongside a rebuilt Mechagodzilla. Bound to the aliens and to the machine is Mafune's daughter Katsura, whose fate becomes central to the conflict. Godzilla is drawn into the fight against the two monsters.
The film was directed by Ishirô Honda, the twenty-third of the twenty-five features he directed in chronological order, following All Monsters Attack and preceding Godzilla (1977). Yukiko Takayama wrote the screenplay, and the cast includes Katsuhiko Sasaki as Ichinose, Tomoko Ai as Katsura, Akihiko Hirata as Dr. Mafune, Tadao Nakamaru, Gorō Mutsumi and Masaaki Daimon, among twenty-six credited performers. It runs eighty-three minutes and was released in Japan in March 1975.
Audience response has been moderate but durable: on IMDb it holds 6.1/10 from around 6,500 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.8/10 from roughly 254 votes. The smaller, more enthusiastic TMDB sample suggests a devoted following for this late entry in the series, while the wider IMDb vote points to a more mixed general reception.
What's left behind the scenes
- This is the first film to feature original compositions by Akira Ifukube since “Godzilla: Parade of Monsters” (1968). Previously, music written by Ifukube was intended for use in “Godzilla vs. Gigan” (1972), but was not used due to poor reviews.
- «Terror of Mechagodzilla» (1975) is the last Godzilla film directed by Ishiro Honda. In 1993, Honda was scheduled to direct «Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II» (1993), but he died that same year.
- A scene of Godzilla sinking a ship, very similar to the «Titanic», was cut from the film.
- Actor Katsumi Nimiamoto, who played Titanosaurus, sometimes wore the costume backward to give the monster movements less resembling those of a human.
- In the initial script version, Titanosaurus was conceived as two dinosaurs, “Titans,” who were later intended to merge into a single giant Titanosaurus. However, due to budgetary constraints and a lack of a suitable moment in the script for the dinosaurs to combine, this aspect was rejected.
- This was the last film in which Akihiko Hirata appeared. He was scheduled to star in another Godzilla film in 1984, but the actor passed away that same year.
- “Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla” (1974) and “Terror of Mechagodzilla” (1975) are the darkest films in the Showa series of Godzilla films after “Godzilla” (1954).
- This is the second film featuring Mechagodzilla and the first and only one featuring the monster Titanosaurus. Furthermore, it is the last film in the Showa series of Godzilla films.
- When the film was prepared for release in the United States, scenes of suicide were cut due to a rise in teenage suicides. A fragment depicting the aliens performing surgery on Katsure was also removed from the film because her prosthetic breast was visible in the shot.
- This film marked Tomoko Ai's debut in a feature film. Before that, she appeared in the series «Urutoraman Reo» (1974), which also featured giant monsters.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
