Monday, February 11, 2013

Terror Of Mechagodzilla

Terror Of Mechagodzilla is a 1975 Japanese monster movie from Toho. This is director Ishirō Honda's last solo film. I can't tell you how happy I am when I see a Sunday Cinema post from SF Signal. I look forward to each one. Of course I can look up movies on my own, but there's something nice about having them appear as if by magic in my news reader. Not that this particular film is a masterpiece or anything, but so few films are. It's a fun one to watch if you're into that kind of thing. There is a lot of narration at the beginning to set the scene.

via Internet Archive:




Moria praises the fight scenes and the climax and opens by putting the film in some context:
Terror of Mechagodzilla was the fifteenth Godzilla film. It was the last of the classic Godzilla films – after this the series went into retirement for nearly a decade before Godzilla was revived with a new series of films, all made with much better effects, beginning with Godzilla 1985 (1984). Terror of Mechagodzilla was the final film (at least final credited film) for director Inoshiro Honda who had created the very first Godzilla film and directed all but two entries throughout the 1960s.
Stomp Tokyo says this movie
is actually a step up from what came before. The special effects are a little better, the story moves a little quicker ... and the whole production just seems classier, probably thanks to Godzilla director Inshiro Honda's return to the series after a long absence.
Million Monkey Theater doesn't like it and has a lengthy plot summary. 1000 Misspent Hours gives it a positive review, saying, "it is tremendously satisfying to see that Terror of Mechagodzilla/Mekagojira no Gyakushu, the last of the 15 Showa Godzilla movies ... recaptures so much of the series’s lost glory".

HT: SF Signal Sunday Cinema

2 comments:

  1. I don't think I've seen any films by him. Now that is a shame

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. he directed the original godzilla movie. other monster movies he directed that might be familiar are mothra and rodan. those are definitely worth seeing if you're curious about this type of movie. Honda got his start under director akira kurosawa, who was one of the greatest directors of all time, and honda worked with him on stray dog in 1949 and then as an adviser/coordinator/consultant with him on kurosawa's last 5 films.

      Delete