Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (early drafts)
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Two early drafts for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II were written by Wataru Mimura prior to the film's final screenplay.
History
After the success of 1992's Godzilla vs. Mothra, Toho decided to resurrect another classic monster from the Showa series, Mechagodzilla. The original story proposal for the film featured a metallic alien organism called Berserk that would arrive on Earth and begin assimilating machinery into itself before transforming into Mechagodzilla in an attempt to become the dominant lifeform on the planet. After screenwriter Wataru Mimura was brought in and the previous draft was scrapped, a more cohesive and developed version of the film began to form. Mimura was urged by Shogo Tomiyama to include BabyGodzilla in the screenplay to appeal to female fans, who had made up a large amount of the audience for Godzilla vs. Mothra, and also to allow Godzilla to defeat Mechagodzilla in the end.[1]
After Mimura completed his first draft of the screenplay, several elements were changed and removed in order to better suit the film's budget and the studio's vision for it. A second draft was submitted which changed some elements slightly, but when special effects director Koichi Kawakita had Bandai's Katsushi Murakami drastically redesign Mechagodzilla, Mimura wrote a final screenplay which removed many elements from his first two drafts. The finished version of the film was released on December 11, 1993.
Plot
Preparatory draft
In order to combat the threat posed to the world by Godzilla, the United Nations forms the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center, a special organization dedicated to defending humanity from Godzilla. The military branch of the U.N.G.C.C., G-Force, constructs the warcraft Garuda and a giant robot built in Godzilla's image: Mechagodzilla. Aside from an impressive array of firepower, this machine features the ability to split apart into two vehicles, an aircraft and a tank. Meanwhile, when a group of scientists on Adonoa Island recover a perfectly intact prehistoric egg, they are attacked by two Pteranodons. G-Force deploys one of the vehicles that form Mechagodzilla to the island, where it kills the male Pteranodon and knocks the female into the ocean. The egg is brought back to Japan, where it hatches into a juvenile Godzillasaurus, a natural enemy of the Pteranodon millions of years ago. Strangely, the two Pteranodons on the island had tried to raise the egg as their own child despite it being a member of an enemy species. In the waters off Adonoa Island, the surviving female Pteranodon is exposed to radiation and mutates into White Rodan, which flies to the Japanese mainland to recover BabyGodzilla. Both Mechagodzilla and the Garuda intercept White Rodan, easily killing her before Godzilla arrives, also intent on recovering the infant. Using its immense firepower and transforming capabilities, Mechagodzilla manages to kill Godzilla, but the Garuda is destroyed in the battle. The Garuda explodes, releasing a huge amount of nuclear radiation into the air, which revives Godzilla. Godzilla retaliates and destroys Mechagodzilla, then takes BabyGodzilla with him out to sea, carrying him in his teeth.[1]
Gallery
Transforming Mechagodzilla concept art
Transforming Mechagodzilla concept art by Minoru Yoshida
Transforming Mechagodzilla concept art by Shinji Nishikawa
Transforming Mechagodzilla concept art by "Hurricane" Ryu Hariken
Transforming Mechagodzilla concept art by Shinji Nishikawa
Transforming Mechagodzilla concept art by Minoru Yoshida
Transforming Mechagodzilla concept art
Transforming Mechagodzilla concept art
Transforming Mechagodzilla concept art by "Hurricane" Ryu Hariken
Gundalva concept art by Shinji Nishikawa
Gundalva concept art by Shinji Nishikawa
Gundalva concept art by Shinji Nishikawa
Garuda concept art by Shinji Nishikawa
Naga concept art by Shinji Nishikawa
Female Rodan concept art by Shinji Nishikawa
White Rodan concept art and male Rodan head concept by Shinji Nishikawa
White/female Rodan head concepts by Shinji Nishikawa
Trivia
- According to Wataru Mimura, Koichi Kawakita decided to have Rodan revive Godzilla instead of the Garuda's explosion in order to better fit with the film's central theme of life against artificial life.[1]
- Transforming Mechagodzilla's ability to split apart into different vehicles and recombine was later used for Super Mechagodzilla in the finished film and MOGUERA in Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla.
- In an even earlier version of the screenplay written by Shinji Nishikawa, Godzilla would explode due to an out of control nuclear reaction in his heart during the final battle. The radiation released by Godzilla would be absorbed by BabyGodzilla, mutating him into a new Godzilla, who destroys Mechagodzilla. This basic premise would be utilized for the ending of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah.[2]
References
This is a list of references for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (early drafts). 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]
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