Know Your Monster: 19
MEGALON
Megalon has stirred more controversy than other Godzilla foes. On the one hand, he has an ardent following — his popularity leading to his appearance in a long string of Godzilla video games. But Megalon made only one screen appearance, in 1973’s Godzilla Vs. Megalon, and many Godzillaphiles sneer at that picture for good cause.
It wasn’t originally meant to be a Godzilla movie at all, but instead a sci-fi thriller pitting Megalon against an Ultraman wannabe, Jet Jaguar. After the first screen tests turned out poorly, the production was shut down and nearly scrapped, until the producers hit upon a scheme to salvage their work by adding Godzilla as a tag-team partner to Jet Jaguar, and also giving Megalon an accomplice — Gigan. A few new Godzilla scenes were quickly cranked out, and also lots of footage inserted from older movies. The end results are mixed and uneven, some decent battles, but a somewhat convoluted plotline.
Megalon himself is a high point — a shiny, iridescent, mutant creature who most closely resembles a cockroach, but also exhibits attributes lifted from beetles and even owls. One standout trait: In place of arms, Megalon has drills allowing him to burrow rapidly into the Earth. This isn’t surprising because he’s the guardian monster for the Seatopians, an undersea city whose residents have grown angry with the human race over nuclear weapons testing. They dispatch Megalon to attack Tokyo. He has a deep arsenal, being able to fire lightning bolts and to drop napalm bombs stored in his mouth. He can swim as well as fly, and jump high to escape whenever he’s in danger.
Watch the original Japanese trailer for the 1973 film.
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Tomorrow’s featured monster: Minilla
