Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)

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Godzilla Films
Godzilla vs. Mothra
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
The Japanese poster for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
Alternate titles
Flagicon Japan.png Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1993)
See alternate titles
Directed by Takao Okawara
Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, Shogo Tomiyama
Written by Wataru Mimura
Music by Akira Ifukube
Distributor TohoJP
TriStar PicturesUS
Rating PGUS
Budget ¥1,000,000,000
Box office ¥1,870,000,000
Running time 108 minutesJP
(1 hour, 48 minutes)
106 minutesUS
(1 hour, 46 minutes)
The birth of the end of the century. (世紀末覇王誕生。)
„ 

— Tagline

Everyone was waiting for this fight. (だれもがこの戦いを待っていた。)
„ 

— Tagline

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (ゴジラVSメカゴジラ,   Gojira buiesu Mekagojira, lit. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla) is a 1993 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Toho, and the twentieth installment in the Godzilla series, as well as the fifth in the Heisei series. The film was released to Japanese theaters on December 11, 1993.[1]

Plot

In 1992, only several months after the battle between Godzilla and Mecha-King Ghidorah in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, the United Nations form the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center (U.N.G.C.C.). After declaring their first counter-Godzilla weapon, the air-ship Garuda, a failure, the U.N.G.C.C. recover the remains of Mecha-King Ghidorah from the ocean and convert the 23rd century armor and other components to create the ultimate weapon: Mechagodzilla. By 1994, two years after its construction began, and 40 years after Godzilla first attacked Japan, the giant robot is completed and prepared for action.

Meanwhile, on an expedition to an irradiated island called Adonoa Island in the Bering Sea, a Japanese team comes across a gigantic nest containing two large eggs, one hatched and one still intact. They remove the unhatched egg from the nest and bring it to their camp for further study. However, their actions are being observed by the former occupant of the second egg: Rodan, a giant Pteranodon. The mutated pterosaur attacks the scientific team in an attempt to protect its unborn kin. As the team flee from their destroyed camp, they notice that the sea is beginning to glow blue and, several seconds later, Godzilla rises and lumbers ashore. Rodan violently attacks the King of the Monsters, pecking at him and razing him with his sharp talons and spiked chest. While the two ancient beasts fight, the team quickly secures the intact egg and escape on board a helicopter. On the ground, Rodan is defeated by Godzilla and apparently killed. Godzilla then turns his tail and begins to pursue the helicopter, and the egg, back to Japan. Once there, the unhatched egg, presumed to contain another pteranodon, is brought to Kyoto to be monitored and studied. There, a strange vine-like plant found growing on the shell is discovered to contain a strange kind of psychic music. When it is played, the egg begins to hatch, and from out of the fractured shell emerges not a baby pteranodon, but a Baby Godzilla. Professor Omae, one of the scientists who discovered the egg on Adonoa Island, speculates that the Godzillasaurus, the un-irradiated dinosaur species that gave rise to Godzilla himself, are animals that lay their eggs in the nests of other dinosaurs, thus explaining the presence of a Godzillasaurus egg in the nest of a Pteranodon. Unfortunately, no sooner has the Baby Godzilla pushed itself from it's egg, then the adult Godzilla appears off the coast of Japan, heading toward Kyoto with great speed. At the U.N.G.C.C. headquarters, the G-Force, the military arm of the U.N.G.C.C., scramble and prepare Mechagodzilla for battle. The 120 meter tall mecha is launched from it's underground base and quickly flies towards Godzilla. Once it lands, it begins to unleash a barrage of weapons against its organic counterpart, including a Mega-Buster beam, a powerful Plasma Laser system, and shock cables designed to pierce Godzilla's hide to deliver a powerful electric shock. However, when these are fired into Godzilla during the battle, the monster unleashes a nuclear pulse that sends the energy flying back towards it's source. The violent influx of energy begins to send Mechagodzilla's systems haywire, and the machine's engine room soon erupts into flames. With the robot paralyzed, the crew can only watch helplessly as Godzilla rises and shoves them aside. With his mechanical doppelganger defeated, Godzilla heads once again toward Kyoto, destroying everything in his path. He soon arrives at the science institute where the Baby is located. However, the scientists within had previously realized that Godzilla had come to Japan to find his newborn kin, and had taken the infant to the basement of the building in an attempt to isolate it from the adult monster. The plan works, and Godzilla, sad and angry, is forced to leave, unable to locate the young Godzillasaurus.

Soon after, the U.N.G.C.C. places the Baby Godzilla in a specially-built enclosure at their H.Q., the G-Center, for safe keeping. There, the dinosaur is studied and X-rayed. However, after analyzing the X-rays, the scientists at G-Center discover something unexpected: the Baby has a large muscle-like organ, or "sacral brain", in his hip, presumably used to control lower body functions. The U.N.G.C.C.'s top brass, the Counter G Bureau, assume that the adult Godzilla, being the same species as Baby, albeit much more heavily mutated, must also posses such a "second" brain. Armed with this new information, the Bureau, along with the G-Force Commander Aso, develop a new plan of action. They plan to outfit Mechagodzilla with a new weapon: The G-Crusher System. The system will be designed to fire high-powered cables into Godzilla's sacral brain and deliver an electric shock powerful enough to destroy it. This, it is hoped, will paralyze Godzilla's lower half and make it impossible for him to stand on his own two feet. The conflict, the Bureau decides, will take place on the uninhabited Ogasawara Islands, far from any city. However, in order to lure the nuclear behemoth to the desired location, U.N.G.C.C. Director Segawa and Comander Aso decide to use the Baby Godzilla as a decoy, as Godzilla had previously displayed an ability, and willingness, to pursue and locate the younger monster. Although protests arise from both Baby's human guardian, Asuza Gojo, whom Baby had imprinted on both before and after his hatching, and psychic Miki Saegusa, who had also grown quite attached to the young Godzillasaurus as well, the plan goes ahead and Baby is loaded into a canister to be flown, via helicopter, to the site of the operation. However, the complete success of said operation is not in the books. Unknown to the U.N.G.C.C.'s top brass, an incident had previously occurred that would place the entire plan in jeopardy. A few days earlier, Miki had brought a group of young students from the Psyonics Center, where she had previously been a student, to visit Baby. Once there, the young girls sang a song for him... the same song that had emanated from the mysterious plant that had grown on Baby's eggshell. Upon hearing the melody, Baby suddenly turned very violent, roaring and slamming his body against the fence around his enclosure. Miki surmised that the music from the plant, when played, gives any creature that the plant has effected, in this case, Baby as it had grown on his egg, a boost of power and of energy. Unfortunately, Baby was not the only monster to receive energy from the ancient plant's song. Back on Adanoa Island, under a pile of rocks and debris, the eyes of Rodan flicker open as the creature regains consciousness. Realizing that its "brother" had been taken away, the prehistoric reptile spreads its huge wings and, as the energy granted to it by the plant's music flowed through its body, transforms into a new, crimson-shaded, nuclear-powered, form: Fire Rodan. The huge pterosaur then departs the island and flies to the aid of its "sibling".

Back in Japan, the JSDF helicopter transporting the canister that contains both the Baby Godzilla and his guardian Asuza heads toward the Ogasawara Islands. Suddenly, Fire Rodan drops out of the sky and destroys the helicopter, grabs the canister in its talons, and promptly flies off towards the coast of Japan. In an instant, the U.N.G.C.C.'s plan has completely disintegrated, and the G-Force is forced to launch Mechagodzilla in an attempt to intercept Rodan. Also launched is the U.N.G.C.C.'s first counter-Godzilla mech: Garuda. At the same time the G-Crusher system was being integrated into Mechagodzilla, both the giant robot and it's airship predecessor were upgraded to literally combine into one, powerful machine dubbed Super Mechagodzilla. By nightfall, Rodan arrives in Tokyo, and Mechagodzilla is not far behind. Not long after the flying reptile lands, it begins to break open the container with it's sharp beak in an attempt to reach the Baby Godzilla inside. Fortunately, Mechagodzilla lands and prepares to confront Rodan. However, the latter had no intention of surrendering it's only family and unleashed it's new Uranium Heat Beam, an energy beam similar to Godzilla's famous Atomic Ray, upon the former. Mechagodzilla quickly retaliates and the two titans exchange energy beams. After a few minutes, Garuda arrives and pursues Fire Rodan through the air above the city. Unfortunately, a flyby and strike from Rodan's chest spikes quickly sends the aerial mech crashing to the ground. Mechagodzilla soon retaliates and blasts Rodan out of the sky and into a building. As the huge robot approaches the downed reptile, Rodan suddenly rises and begins to violently peck at Mechagodzilla's eyes, successfully pecking one out of commission. However, with a blast of the immense machine's Plasma Laser Cannon, Fire Rodan is sent flying backwards into a group of buildings, where it lies with a huge bleeding wound in it's chest, unconscious and both foaming and bleeding from the mouth.

Away from the battle, a team of soldiers work to free Baby and Asuza from the canister. As they attempt to cut open the door, the sea behind them begins to stir, and a few moments later, Godzilla rises and lumbers into the city. Mechagodzilla turns around and quickly fires it's Mega Buster beam at the creature that, having successfully followed the bait, was now at the robot's mercy. Godzilla, too, fires his beam, and the two energy rays meet between the two monsters. The beams then explode and push the monsters back a little ways. Godzilla then charges and grabs his mechanical clone by the head, picks it up, and throws it down again. As the nuclear leviathan begins to pummel Mechagodzilla with his tail, Garuda finally reenters the fray, firing at Godzilla and distracting it long enough to allow his downed opponent time to escape. With Godzilla distracted, Garuda flies into position behind Mechagodzilla and attaches to its back; Super Mechagodzilla is born. The robot monster, now much more maneuverable than before, fires tranquilizer missiles into it's organic counterpart, and the crew prepares the G-Crusher. On board, Miki Saegusa uses her psychic powers to successfully locate Godzilla's sacral brain. However, she cannot find the strength to fire the electric cables into the creature whom, through her relationship with Baby, she has come to care about. Her orders, however, are clear, and she reluctantly locks on to the brain and fires the cables. They soar through the air and shoot through Godzilla's thick hide. With the cables in place, Miki places her hand on the button, and fires. A powerful electric current shoots through the cable and into Godzilla's second brain. Miki watches as the organ explodes and the King of the Monsters, paralyzed from the waist down, falls to the ground in agony. Mechagodzilla begins to blast Godzilla with beam after beam, and continues to send a current through the cable into the beast.

Back near the canister, the soldiers are still attempting to cut out Asuza and the Baby Godzilla. However, after Godzilla is paralyzed and apparently defeated, Baby begins to slam himself against the door, eventually breaking through it completely. The young Baby Godzilla then lets out the loudest roar it can make, and the sound travels across the battle field to a fallen ally. From under a pile of rubble, Fire Rodan calls back feebly and lifts it's self from the ground, attempting to fly to it's distressed "brother". Mechagodzilla, however, has no intention of letting the pterosaur escape and quickly and easily shoots it down. Rodan lands on top of the paralyzed Godzilla, and it appears that the two monsters will soon lie dead together. However, the flying monster has one last trick to play. As it lays its head on Godzilla's spines, a glowing powder-like substance begins to fall around the fallen Monster King. Inside Mechagodzilla, Miki realizes that Rodan is transferring his life energy to Godzilla. She watches her screen in amazement as Godzilla's sacral brain begins to heal itself. Outside, Rodan's body disappears as it sacrifices itself so that its "sibling" might live. Several seconds later, Godzilla's eyes open, and the creature rises again. With energy swarming around him, he lets out a roar of triumph. Mechagodzilla, however, is in trouble. The unbelievable amount of energy released by Rodan has started to melt the metal monster's beam-proof diamond shield. With the robot now defenseless, Godzilla unleashes a new weapon: Spiral Fire Ray, a special gift from Fire Rodan, upon Mechagodzilla. The machine falls to the ground and, after a few more hits from the new ray, erupts into flames. Godzilla roars in victory; Mechagodzilla has been defeated. Real life has triumphed over artificial life.

Meanwhile, a helicopter has arrived to take the soldiers and Asuza to safety. Baby, however, cannot come along. Asuza knows that Godzilla will never stop seeking the young dinosaur, and that as long as he remains with people, he will be used like an asset, a decoy in another plot to kill Godzilla. She apologizes to him and says goodbye as she leaves him on the ground. A few minutes later, the adult Godzilla finally locates the Baby and stands before him, towering above the tiny creature. Baby, his eyes glowing red with fear, runs behind the canister to hide. Back at Mechagodzilla's wreckage, the crew has survived and escaped the burning robot. Miki receives a call from Asuza, who pleads with her to somehow help Baby realize that he must go with Godzilla. Miki accepts and uses her powers to send the plant music to Baby, whom calms down and finally comes out of hiding to stand before his new "father", who has a very gentle look in his normally hostile eyes. With that, both monsters turn and head out to sea, their future grow is beyond anyone's guess.

Staff

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

  • Masahiro Takashima   as   Kazuma Aoki
  • Ryoko Sano   as   National Institute of Biotechnics Researcher Azusa Gojo
  • Megumi Odaka   as   Miki Saegusa
  • Yusuke Kawazu   as   National Institute of Biotechnics Professor Hiroshi Omae
  • Kenji Sahara   as   Minister Takayuki Segawa
  • Akira Nakao   as   Commander Takaki Aso
  • Koichi Ueda   as   General Iwao Hyodo
  • Daijiro Harada   as   G-Force Captain Takuya Sasaki
  • Ichirota Miyagawa   as   Mechagodzilla Gunner Atsushi Sonezaki
  • Shelley Sweeney   as   Mechagodzilla Co-pilot and Operator Catherine Berger
  • LaSalle Ishii   as   Oilfield Researcher Kunio Katsuragi
  • Leo Meneghetti   as   Robotics PhD Leo Asimov
  • Takeno Isao   as   Robot Engineer Hiroshi Imai
  • Shinobu Nakayama   as   Robot Engineer Yuri Katagiri
  • Tadao Takashima   as   Center for Psychic Development Chief Hosono
  • Sayaka Osawa   as   Psychic Schoolteacher
  • Keiko Imamura   as   Psychic Schoolteacher
  • Andy Smith   as   Original Garuda Pilot Andy Johnson

Appearances

Monsters

Weapons, Vehicles, and Races

Gallery

Main article: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II/Gallery.

Soundtrack

Main article: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (Soundtrack).

Alternate Titles

  • Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (Literal Japanese Title)
  • Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (United States)
  • Godzilla 5 (Advance Title)

Theatrical Releases

View all posters for the film here.

U.S. Release

American Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II VHS cover

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II was released directly to VHS in the United States in August of 1999 by TriStar Pictures. It was the last Heisei movie to receive a U.S. release. Like it did for the other Heisei releases before it, TriStar chose to simply use the international English dub of the film. However, the dub included in this release was actually the second international English dub recorded for the film. This dub is notable for referring to Rodan only by his Japanese name, "Radon," throughout the entire film. TriStar did not cut any footage from the film aside from the end credits, which were replaced by a black screen with copyright information. TriStar did not give the film a DVD release until 2005; unlike their previous Heisei releases, it was not packaged with another movie and included the original Japanese language track, though the English subtitles for this track were simply derived from the script of the English dub. When Sony released the film on Blu-ray in 2014 in a double feature with Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, it left the end credits uncut.

Box Office

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II had a budget of ¥1,000,000,000, or roughly $9,500,000. When the film was released on December 11, 1993, it sold 3,800,000 tickets and earned ¥1,870,000,000, or $18,000,000, becoming the second-highest grossing Japanese film of 1994.[2]

Reception

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II is generally well-received by Godzilla fans, for several reasons, including introducing what some consider the best incarnation of Mechagodzilla.

Kazuo Miyauchi earned a Japanese Academy Prize nomination for Best Sound for his work on the film.[3]

Video Releases

Toho DVD (2002)

  • Region: 2
  • Audio: Japanese

TriStar DVD (2005)[4]

  • Region: 1
  • Discs: 1
  • Audio: Japanese (2.0 Mono), English (2.0 Mono)
  • Special Features: Trailers
  • Notes: Subtitles correspond to the script of the English dub. Also included in The Toho Godzilla Collection, Vol. 2.

Madman DVD (2006)

  • Region: 4
  • Discs: 1
  • Audio: Japanese (2.0 Mono, 5.1 Surround), English (2.0 Mono)
  • Special Features: Three teaser trailers, a trailer, and a TV spot for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II; trailers for Godzilla vs. Destoroyah and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.; photo galleries

Toho Blu-ray (2009)

  • Region: A/1
  • Audio: Japanese

Sony Blu-ray (2014)[5]

  • Region: A/1
  • Discs: 2
  • Audio: Japanese (5.1 Surround), English (2.0 Mono, 5.1 Surround)
  • Special Features: Four Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II trailers and three Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla trailers.
  • Notes: Packaged with Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla.

Videos

Trailers

Japanese Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II trailer
Japanese Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II "Newsflash/Special Announcement" trailer #1
English visuals from the international version

Trivia

  • This film's English title is Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, despite it not being a sequel to 1974's Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and being the third film to feature Mechagodzilla. This title was presumably chosen to avoid confusion with the aforementioned 1974 film, as the two films' Japanese titles both literally translate to Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. Because of this titling, the incarnation of Mechagodzilla introduced in this film is often called "Mechagodzilla 2" outside of Japan, even though the version of the Showa Mechagodzilla featured in Terror of Mechagodzilla is officially labeled "Mechagodzilla 2" by Toho.
  • Keiko Imamura and Sayaka Osawa, who portrayed the Cosmos in the previous year's Godzilla vs. Mothra, appear in this film as the teachers at the Psyonics Institute. As an in-joke, director Takao Okawara had the two speak in unison like the Cosmos.
    • Another inside joke with the cast occurs in a scene where Miki Saegusa and Kazuma Aoki visit the character Hosono at the Psyonics Institute, who after learning Aoki works for G-Force tells Aoki that he "doesn't trust him one bit." Hosono is portrayed by actor Tadao Takashima, the father of Masahiro Takashima, who plays Aoki.
  • This is the first film to portray Rodan without suitmation, instead portraying him with various props and puppets.
  • Godzilla's attack on Japan in this film begins at the Yokkaichi oil refinery, which he previously targeted in Mothra vs. Godzilla.
  • As in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, in this film Godzilla and Mechagodzilla engage in a beam lock which knocks the former over and severely damages the latter.
  • The international English dub for this film available on home video is the second recorded for the film. Fragments of the first dub, which was rejected for unknown reasons, are present in the Hindi dub.[6]
  • In an early version of this film, called Godzilla vs. Berserk, Mechagodzilla would have been a metallic alien organism that arrived on Earth with the intent of making itself the most powerful lifeform on the planet. The mechanical creature, dubbed Berserk, would absorb machinery into itself before taking the form of Godzilla, believing him to be the dominant organism on the planet.
  • Another early draft of the film's script featured a version of Mechagodzilla capable of splitting apart into multiple vehicles. In this draft, one of Mechagodzilla's vehicle forms would have battled two Pteranodons on Adonoa Island, killing one and knocking the other into the ocean, where it would be mutated by nuclear waste into Rodan. In the final battle, Godzilla would have been revived after the Garuda exploded and released nuclear radiation into the air. Koichi Kawakita decided to have Rodan save Godzilla instead to tie in with the film's theme of life triumphing over artificial life. Mechagodzilla's transforming ability was removed and ultimately reused for M.O.G.U.E.R.A. in the following film.
    • Noriyoshi Ohrai's advance poster artwork for the film actually features the Mechagodzilla from this draft of the film on it. Tamashii Nations would later produce a figure of this version of Mechagodzilla, under the name "Mechagodzilla Poster Ver.," as part of its Tamashii MIX line in 2017.
  • Stock footage of King Ghidorah from Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah was meant to be included in a training simulation in this film, but the scene was cut.
  • Stock footage from the 1989 Toho film Gunhed is included in the early "newsflash" teaser trailer for this film.

References

This is a list of references for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

  1. 1.0 1.1 ゴジラVSメカゴジラ|ゴジラ 東宝公式サイト (official Godzilla.jp page)
  2. Stuart Galbraith IV (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press.
  3. Awards of the Japanese Academy, 1994
  4. Amazon.com: Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla II (1993)
  5. Amazon.com: Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla II / Godzilla Vs. Spacegodzilla - Set (Blu-ray)
  6. Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla - The "Rejected" Original Dub

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BabyGodzilla
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Fire Rodan
Super Mechagodzilla