Godzilla VS MechaGodzilla (1993)
Produced and Released by: Toho Co. Ltd.
Director: Takao Okawara
By DrKain

Introduction

Toho resurrected King Ghidorah in 1991, Mothra in 1992, and in 1993, they brought another fan-favorite enemy back, MechaGodzilla. This time though, MechaGodzilla was controlled by the G-Force, so it was on the side to help humanity battle Godzilla.

The Story

In 1992, the United Nations recovered the remains of Mecha-Ghidorah that crashed into the sea during his fight with Godzilla back in 1991. They usedthe remains to build a new machine, MechaGodzilla, which is completed in 1994. The G-Force is established, a division of the military specializing in matters pertaining to Godzilla, such as stopping him from rampaging over the world using MechaGodzilla. Kazuma Aoki (Masahiro Takashima), an engineer and dinosaur lover, is transferred to G-Force to be one of MechaGodzilla’s pilots.

At the same time, a group of scientists that had traveled to Adonoa Island to study fossils has discovered a dinosaur egg. Just after they get the egg onto a helicopter, it starts to glow and a pterodactyl called Rodan flys around them. Godzilla rises out of the water as the scientists run toward the sea. Godzilla and Rodan battle each other while the scientists leave the island in the helicopter with the egg. Rodan is defeated.

Aoki hears about the egg and goes to the lab in Kyoto where it has been taken to. While taking pictures of the egg, he meets Azusa Gojo (Ryoko Sano), one of the scientists studying the egg. Before she kicks him out of the room, he “accidentally” grabs some weird hairs/plants that were attached to the egg. While in the base’s lunchroom he sits next to Miki Seagusa (Megumi Odaka) who hears music coming from the hairs/plants. While Aoki and Miki are having the scientists listen to the music, the egg hatches and out comes a baby Godzillasaurus, which Azusa end up taking care of.

Godzilla emerges from the sea and is attacked by MechaGodzilla with a wide array of attacks from his robot clone and is nearly defeated when MechaGodzilla shuts down due to Godzilla blasting the power core. Godzilla knocks MechaGodzilla down and leaves.

Aoki is dismissed from G-Force for not showing up to help pilot MechaGodzilla, and is to watch the cars of the officials when they are there. When one of the executives is about to leave from a meeting, Aoki tells him there is a way to power up MechaGodzilla by combining it with Garuda, an armored ship that looks like it's made out of the same material of MechaGodzilla.

Aoki visits Azusa at the place the baby is being taken care of, when Miki arrives with some kids from the ESP school, and they begin to hum the music from the hairs. It bothers Baby, who starts to go crazy, and Rodan wakes up on Adonoa Island and changes to a reddish color.

G-Force decides to use the baby Godzillasaurus to lure Godzilla into their trap to kill him by destroying his second brain located around his hips. Miki is made to be the one to do this against her will. Since the baby is too scared to stay in the trailer, Azusa goes in there with it. Rodan attacks the helicopter carrying them, and takes the trailer when MechaGodzilla is launched to attack him. Aoki shows up in the Garuda, but he is knocked out of the air. After Rodan is laid to rest, Godzilla appears and the two monsters fight. Miki is successful in destroying Godzilla's lower brain, but Rodan sacrifices himself to heal it and Godzilla blows MechaGodzilla into scrap metal.

Azusa, the baby, and the pilots are okay, and Miki uses her ESP to get the baby to leave with Godzilla, which it does.

Review

Wow, that story is more complicated than it seems. Anyway, Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla 93 is an exceptional movie because it has a lot of monster action with great special effects.

The soundtrack is plain gorgeous and fits the mood perfectly. Of course, that is to be expected when Akira Ifukube does the Godzilla soundtracks. Everything was right on and really hit home, especially the Region 2’s 5.1 surround sound. That just made the experience even better.

The costume designs are just as great as the rest of the movie. Godzilla looks more like he did in Godzilla vs. Biollante, which was a really great thing. Both Rodan and MechaGodzilla looks quite different from their original version. Rodan actually looks like a Pterodactyl because his neck is not as elongated and looks as if it is about to fall off, and his wings look more like a bird’s would. He also has three horns on his head, and the middle one is curved in the opposite direction as the two on the sides of his head. As for MechaGodzilla, well he looks a lot like the current design for Godzilla. Unlike his original counterpart, he is rounder and realistic looking whereas the original was more triangular. In addition, unlike the one from the 70’s where he looked dirty and dull, this one is shiny and looks polished. The baby is a little goofy looking for a baby dinosaur, it has big eyes and stuff, but I guess it is okay. Fortunately, it is nowhere near as cute or hateful as the Showa series’ Minilla.

The human drama and characters are still annoying at times, but not as much as in some of the other movies. I still do not care for them, but they are funny to watch at times. I did not really care about any of the characters in this movie, but it did introduce a few that you will see in many Godzilla movies, including Akira Nakao, who plays the Prime Minister in the 2002 Godzilla x MechaGodzilla.

As for the movie itself, the story was interesting, but awkward. I mean people taking care of a Godzillasaurus just sounds weird, especially when it is a plant eater. I always hope something will change and it will bite Azusa’s head off after it first hatches. There is quite a bit of monster action, which is always good. The special effects are also awesome, and I think Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is the only other movie to match them for the Heisei series.

Conclusion

While this is not my top favorite movie to the Heisei series, it is definitely one of the best. MechaGodzilla is a favorite of mine, but it does not mean I want him to be the only nemesis. The addition to Rodan helped increase the coolness of it, especially since he has not been seen since Destroy All Monsters. Highly recommended for any Godzilla, MechaGodzilla, or Rodan fan.

My rating: 4.5/5

DrKain