Godzilla vs. Megalon (2023)
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Godzilla vs. Megalon (ゴジラVSメガロ Gojira tai Megaro) is a 2023 kaiju short film written, directed, and with visual effects by Takuya Uenishi. Funded by Toho, it is a hybrid of 3D computer animation and live-action footage produced by Shirogumi and Tokai Seisaku, respectively.[1] The film commemorates Megalon's 50th anniversary and is a sequel to Uenishi's 2022 short film Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex, which was greenlit as a result of his winning submission to Toho's GEMSTONE Godzilla contest; fellow contest winner and Tokai Seisaku founder Akihiro Shibata also serves as Godzilla vs. Megalon's director of photography. The film premiered at Godzilla Fest 2023 on November 3, 2023, and will be shown again at Godzilla Fest Osaka on April 28, 2024.[2]
A "cinematic version" of Godzilla vs. Megalon was brought to Japanese theaters by TOHO NEXT beginning on June 28, 2024, as part of GEMNIBUS vol. 1 (Jemunibāsu Boryūmu Wan), a collection of four films affiliated with Toho's GEMSTONE Creative Label which also includes Ryotaro Hirase's knot, China's Firstline, and Mabuta Motoki's Frail. It features enhanced visuals and 5.1 surround sound.[3]
Plot
In an underground cavern beneath the ocean, Gigan Rex's maimed corpse laid attached to many wires siphoning bright red energy and transferring it to a space in the wall shrouded in shadow as a Seatopian woman held up a small engraved stone, telling an unseen being to attack the people on the surface as the beasts from the sky had.
As civilians rode a train through the city, planes flew overhead and smoke and fire was seen in the distance, and a blast of atomic breath shot over the tops of the buildings. Tanks traveled down the streets towards the battle while Godzilla appeared from behind the buildings, and opened fire as a soldier described the beast's exhaustion and lessened energy.
More vehicles prepared at a military base while a man walked around live streaming himself, noting that there were rumors that Godzilla had been attracted to the area because of Gigan Miles corpses being stored at the facility. Suddenly, he noticed that a woman was being surrounded by several soldiers aiming their guns at her. The Seatopian raised her hand while holding the engraved stone, and a flash emanated from it, causing the soldiers to collapse behind her. The stone glowed brighter and the ground rumbled, several buildings falling into the ground as it split open. Megalon erupted from the ground and roared before activating his Geothermal Napalm launcher and fired napalm bullets at the surrounding tanks and a helicopter, lighting them on fire and destroying them. Megalon stood amidst the flames and opened his elytra, spreading his wings and quickly flapped his wings before taking off and flying towards Godzilla's location.
Later on in the night, Godzilla continued his march though the cityscape, with citizens walking towards him. Fighter jets flew overhead and fired, causing the people to panic while Megalon appeared from the sky, firing more napalm bullets at the tanks on the ground. Godzilla looked up towards his foe as Megalon launched a volley of Geothermal Napalm at Godzilla, and Megalon reached out one of his drill arms, slamming into the ground and flattening a large portion of the city in a huge shockwave. As the dust cleared, Megalon pulled his drill arm from the ground and the two monsters faced off, roaring at eachother. Godzilla attempted to it Megalon with his tail but was too slow, and the insect monster leaped into the air and hovered. Godzilla fired his atomic breath upwards but his opponent dodged that as well, and Megalon retaliated with his Beast Killer Light Ray, electrocuting Godzilla. He then flew down and smashed a drill arm into the King of the Monsters, knocking Godzilla backwards before electrocuting him again with the ray. Godzilla disrupted the beam with a short nuclear pulse and began charging energy, transferring it to his arm as Megalon rushed towards him. When the flying monster reached him. Godzilla punched him in the face, resulting a large explosion that knocked Megalon to the ground.
The two engaged in melee combat, with Godzilla hitting Megalon with charged slaps while Megalon sheilded with his drill arms. Megalon attempted to hit his foe with a drill but Godzilla shot him with a short blast of atomic breath, but Megalon counterattacked with a barrage of napalm bullets, knocking Godzilla onto his back. Megalon jumped up and flew towards him, but Godzilla used his nuclear pulse to blast himself off the ground and into a flying dropkick, slamming into Megalon and knocking him to the ground. As Megalon was staggered, Godzilla reached him and grabbed his horn, with Megalon struggling to release his grasp by discharging the Beast Killer electricity from his horn and stabbing his drill arms into the reptilian. However, Godzilla charged his energy into his hand again and shoved it upwards, upercutting Megalon with a burst of energy and breaking off his horn. Megalon was sent flying backwards into some buildings, and fell to the ground as Godzilla's arm glowed orange with burn scars.
The Seatopian stood in front of Megalon's face and held the engraved stone up once more and her whole body glowed, and disappered in a small flash of light. Megalon rose from to his feet, roaring. He spread his wings and put his drills together, interlocking and combining them into a single, large spinning mechanism and flew into Godzilla, drilling into Godzilla's flesh and propelling him through the city. As Megalon roared, Godzilla entered his glowing white, special state, and shot a single blast of his white atomic breath, vaporizing a large swath of the city and cleaving Megalon in half. The insect monster's top half drifted on his wings before coming to a halt, his eyes dimming. Godzilla, now badly scorched, roared in victory before collapsing to the ground.
Sometime later, Godzilla's eyes opened and he awoke.
Staff
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Takuya Uenishi
- Written by Takuya Uenishi
- Executive producer Keiji Ota
- Co-executive producer Hyo Nen
- Chief producer Takuya Kashiwagi
- Produced by Shunsuke Yanagisawa
- VFX producers Tatsuya Ono, Ryoma Ikeuchi
- Stock music by Takayuki Hattori, Riichiro Manabe, Akira Ifukube
- Music arranged by Tsubasa Handa
- Musical director Yuya Sasaki
- Live-action cinematographer Akihiro Shibata
- Visual effects by Takuya Uenishi
- CG/VFX supervisors Tsuyoshi Fushimi, Shun Carlos Fukushima
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Miho Okamoto as Seatopian
- Yuki Watarai
- Hiroki Takashima
- Hayato Hirano
- Kenji Sakamoto
- Zipang
- Sierra Y
- Mozc
- Messan/sakumoto
- Yohei Azakami (voice)
- Yusuke Shirooka (voice)
- Yuki Yamamoto (voice)
- Suguru Inoue (voice)
- Shinsuke Kasai as reporter (voice)
Appearances
Monsters
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Weapons, vehicles, and races |
Production
Godzilla vs. Megalon features portions of live-action footage shot by filmmaker Akihiro Shibata,[4] a two-time winner of the GEMSTONE Godzilla contest.[5]
Marketing
Godzilla vs. Megalon was announced with a teaser trailer on October 13, 2023.[5]
Theatrical releases
- Japan - November 3, 2023 (Godzilla Fest 2023); April 28, 2024 (Godzilla Fest Osaka); June 28, 2024 (GEMNIBUS vol. 1)
GEMNIBUS vol. 1 poster
Gallery
Concept art
Megalon concept art
Megalon's napalm concept art
Production
Screenshots
Title card from the trailer
Miscellaneous
Video thumbnail
Videos
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Trivia
- Godzilla vs. Megalon is the first and only Godzilla Fest short film to blend 3DCG animation with live-action footage.
- As with Kazuhiro Nakagawa's Godzilla vs. Hedorah short film, this film's Japanese title is distinguished from that of its feature-length counterpart by the use of "VS" rather than the kanji 対 (tai).
References
This is a list of references for Godzilla vs. Megalon (short film). 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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