When a submarine is destroyed by what appears to be a dinosaur, the work of an old scientist who’s been ridiculed out of mainstream science becomes deadly to the human race. It seems that Dr. Shinji Mafune (Akihiko Hirata) can control a dinosaur, named Titanosaurus, through the use of a transmitter in his lab. This experiment not only caused the destruction of the submarine, but almost cost Mafune his daughter as well. While working on controlling the dinosaur, Mafune almost lost his daughter in a lab accident. Without warning, aliens appeared and rescued her from death by implanting machinery into her body to keep her alive. To repay his debt to the aliens, Dr. Mafune must use his dinosaur to destroy Tokyo, so that the aliens can establish a base of operations there.
The aliens don’t plan to just use Titanosaurus for their evil doings. They’ve also reassembled Mechagodzilla, a powerful robotic version of Godzilla, who was destroyed several years before (in the movie Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla.) Now, with the debt hanging over his head, Dr. Mafune must use the once gentle Titanosaurus to destroy Tokyo, alongside Mechagodzilla. Will Godzilla be able to stop them?
This is one of the most convoluted plot lines in the Godzilla series. The acting is horrible, even by series standards and the special effects are curiously bad. The fact that Dr. Mafune is ridiculed for his beliefs on controlling a dinosaur is ironic in the face of Godzilla’s role of defender of humanity. If humans could control Godzilla, would they not choose to do so?
Still, for Godzilla fans, there’s always joy in seeing the big G fighting with other monsters. The fight scenes in Terror of Mechagodzilla, while not classic, are still put together in a solid and entertaining manner. It’s just a shame that one has to wade through the muddled storyline to get to them.
I realize the attraction to Godzilla films isn’t the plotlines or the acting, but Terror of Mechagodzilla has so few redeeming qualities, even when viewed through the lenses of a Godzilla fan, that it’s hard to recommend it over any of the other films in the series. I know my review won’t stop completist fans, who must see every film, from renting or buying it. Casual fans, who may have an interest in seeing why so many Godzilla fans were rankled by the U.S. version of the film and its bastardization of the Godzilla character, may want to look elsewhere in the series, such as the original 1956 movie or Godzilla vs. Mothra (the newer, 1990s version).
2.0 out of 5.0 stars
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