Review: GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA II (1993)

Some time ago, my son and I set out to watch as many Japanese-style monster movies as we could get our hands on before the new Godzilla movie opens.  We even made a big list with about 80 titles on it (HERE).

Today's film is Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (in Japan, they drop the "II"; 1993).



I'll go first:

It's another solid, action-packed entry for the Heisei era.  But it definitely could have gone a different way. 

Rodan (aka Radon) is re-introduced here and he gets to take on Godzilla ... and basically wins.  We also get to see the new Mechagodzilla.  While powerful, the design of this suit isn't a real favorite of mine.  I do, however, like the armament and the throwback rainbow colorations of its beams.  The other new character?  Baby Godzilla.  Baby Godzilla is cute, but not insufferable, as Minya used to be: 

 

He's used rather sparingly after an egg mix-up and some dubious scientific guesswork.  (A vegetarian Godzillasaur?  Really?) 

The people in the film, as per usual, are what trips things up.  The lead character is a goofball fan of pterosaurs (which are not dinosaurs, by the way) who, somehow, finds himself involved with the Mechagodzilla project.  This is another one of those occasions where I'm not certain if the characters really are this dumb or if the translation/dubbing I've got just makes them seem that way. 

On to the action. 

Beyond Mechagodzilla, G-Force has some new hardware, including MechaG's backpack, Garuda, and some pretty sweet maser planes.  Godzilla blows stuff up real good: 

 

And thanks to Big G's breath, Rodan now has some atomic expectoration of his own, making him Fire Rodan: 

 

The battle goes on for quite a while, with Rodan being nearly killed by MechaG.  But, like the nuclear sub accident in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, the big man gets an upgrade.  Rodan flings himself upon Godzilla's prone body and his "life force" revives him and gives him red atomic super breath, called "spiral ray" in fan circles.  It's powerful stuff and takes down the machine in short order. 

Musically speaking, Akira Ifukube is back and he gives us more great variations on his marches.  I'm a bit surprised that he used some old Ghidorah themes for Rodan, but whatever.  It sounds great. 

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II ... the franchise is on a roll.  4 out of five atomic breath blasts.

Now it's my son's turn:

Well, this one is important because at the end, Fire Rodan revives Godzilla and gives Godzilla the Red Fire Powers which is his nuke breath, but it's red and it can zig-zag like lightning.  And we get a new Godzilla hatchling that was supposed to be a Rodan egg. 

So, rating wise, i'll say 3.12 out of five Atomic Breaths of Awesomeness!!

Here's the trailer:



Up next, Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla.

(GIFs from Tokumonster, Jameszilla and Destruction-Mode)