Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla
Official Japanese poster
Directed by	Masaaki Tezuka
Written by	Wataru Mimura
Produced by	Takahide Morichi Shōgo Tomiyama
Starring	Yumiko Shaku Shin Takuma Kou Takasugi Yuusuke Tomoi Kumi Mizuno Akira Nakao
Cinematography	Masahiro Kishimoto
Edited by	Shinichi Fushima Shinichi Natori
Music by	Michiru Ōshima
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	December 15, 2002
Running time	88 min.
Language	Japanese

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, released in Japan as Godzilla × Mechagodzilla (ゴジラ×メカゴジラ, Gojira tai Mekagojira) (pronounced Godzilla cross Mechagodzilla), is a 2002 Japanese film directed by Masaaki Tezuka and written by Wataru Mimura. It is the 26th installment in the Godzilla series of films. It is the fourth film to feature Mechagodzilla. It is a member of the Millennium series of Godzilla films and is a direct sequel to the original Godzilla.

Plot

When the mutant dinosaur Godzilla attacks Tateyama in the year 1999, the Diet decide to commission a robot constructed from the original Godzilla's bones, with help from Japan's top scientists. Four years later, the cyborg, called Kiryu, is finished and inducted into the Japan Self-Defense Forces along with its human pilots as the Kiryu Squadron. At the same time, Godzilla shows up once again, even though the JXSDF seemed to finally defeat him. In the midst of the first battle, Kiryu's soul is awoken by Godzilla's roar, and brings with it the memories of his death years ago. This action makes Kiryu extremely angry and he proceeds to destroy the city around him. Horrified, the Kiryu Squadron can only watch in terror and alarm as the rampaging cyborg destroys more city property than Godzilla did. Kiryu is brought back to headquarters for further work. Meanwhile, Kiryu's main pilot, Lieutenant Akane Yashiro, tries to settle matters involving second lieutenant Susumu Hayama, scientist Tokumitsu Yuhara and his distressed daughter, Sara.

Cast

• Yumiko Shaku as JXSDF Lt. Akane Yashiro
• Shin Takuma as Tokumitsu Yuhara
• Kana Onodera as Sara Yuhara
• Kou Takasugi as JXSDF Colonel Togashi
• Akira Nakao as Prime Minister Hayato Igarashi
• Yūsuke Tomoi as JXSDF 2nd Lieutenant Susumu Hayama
• Junichi Mizuno as JXSDF 1st Lieutenant Kenji Sekine
• Kumi Mizuno as Prime Minister Machiko Tsuge
• Yoshikazu Kanō as Hishinuma
• Takeo Nakahara as JXSDF Chief Ichiyanagi
• Kōichi Ueda as Dobashi
• Midori Hagio as Kaori Yamada
• Akira Shirai as Shinji Akamatsu
• Naomasa Rokudaira as Dr. Gorō Kanno
• Shinji Morisue as JXSDF 1st Lieutenant
• Hideki “Godzilla” Matsui as Himself
• Tsutomu Kitagawa as Godzilla
• Hirofumi Ishigaki as Kiryu

Production

• In this continuity, the original Godzilla's skeleton was not vaporized by the Oxygen Destroyer and Gaira (now a bigfoot creature) was destroyed by maser weapons.
• Kiryu is only referred to as Mechagodzilla three times in the film; for the rest of the film he is referred to as Kiryu.
• Japanese Baseball star Hideki Matsui has a cameo in the film due to his nickname "Godzilla".

Box office

Budgeted at roughly $8,500,000, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla opened in Japan on December 13, 2002, and earned $2,253,231 in its opening weekend. It went on to gross approximately $16,000,000 in Japan, making it the second biggest of the Millennium Godzilla films at the box office. It sold approximately 1,700,000 admissions.

Critical reaction

Mike Pinsky of DVD Talk gave the film three stars out of five, saying: "While I did have some minor complaints, [this is] a fine entry in the series." Pinsky said "the plot is more interesting than most giant monster movies," and "the battle scenes, which are the main reason anyone watches these films to begin with, were great." Matt Paprocki of Blog Critics said the film is "pretty flawed, [but] those of us who still love seeing Japan get trampled are in for a treat."

Stomp Tokyo praised the "great monster fight action" but criticized the "[un]compelling non-monster scenes." Giving the film a "B+" score, Mark Zimmer of Digitally Obsessed said that it's "a good deal of fun and one of the better entries in the series." Digital Monster Island gave the film a "B" score, calling it "a fun and exciting film that should please most kaiju fans."

DVD

Sony Pictures

• Released: March 23, 2004
• Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2.35:1) anamorphic
• Sound: Japanese (5.1), English (5.1)
• Supplements: Trailers for The Medallion, Tokyo Godfathers, The Vampire Effect, Tube, and Returner
• Region 1
• MPAA Rating: PG for sci-fi action and some language

External links

• Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla at IMDb
• Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla at AllMovie

• Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla at Rotten Tomatoes
• "ゴジラ×メカゴジラ (Gojira tai Meka-Gojira)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-07-21.