Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla

, is finished and inducted into the JDF along with its human pilots as the Kiryu Squadron. At the same time, Godzilla shows up once again. In the midst of the first battle, Kiryu's soul is awoken by Godzilla's roar, and brings with it the memories of the original Godzilla's death. This action makes Kiryu a beserker- and it proceeds to destroy the city around it. Horrified, the Kiryu Squadron can only watch in terror and alarm as the rampaging cyborg destroys more city property than Godzilla itself did. Sensing the soul of the dead Godzilla within Kiryu, the second Godzilla leaves, and Kiryu continues destroying everything- only stopping when it runs out of power. News headlines across the country of Japan berate the cyborg's spree of destruction and Kiryu is brought back to HQ for further work. Meanwhile, Kiryu's main pilot, a lonely female soldier, tries to settle matters involving another pilot, one of the scientists and his distressed daughter.

Staff

*Directed by Masaaki Tezuka
*Writing credits Wataru Mimura
*Produced by Shōgo Tomiyama
*Music by Michiru Ōshima
*Cinematography by Masahiro Kishimoto
*Film Editing by Shinichi Natori and Shinichi Fushima
*Production Design by Shinji Nishikawa
*Special Effects Director Yuichi Kikuchi

Cast

*Yumiko Shaku as pilot Akane Yashiro
*Shin Takuma as scientist Tokumitsu Yuhara
*Kana Onodera as Tokumitsu's daughter Sara Yuhara
*Kō Takasugi as JSDF Colonel Togashi
*Akira Nakao as Prime Minister (2003) Hayato Igarashi
*Yūsuke Tomoi as JSDF 2nd Lieutenant Hayama
*Junichi Mizuno as JSDF 1st Lieutenant Sekine
*Kumi Mizuno as Prime Minister (1999) Machiko Tsuge
*Yoshikazu Kanō as Hishinuma
*Takeo Nakahara as JSDF 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 JSDF 1st Lieutenant (Brother of Hayama, 2nd Lieutenant)
*Misato Tanaka as Nurse
*Hideki “Godzilla” Matsui as himself
*Tsutomu Kitagawa as Godzilla
*Hirofumi Ishigaki as Mechagodzilla (Kiryu)

Alternate Titles

*Godzilla X MechaGodzilla

*Return of Mechagodzilla (US Working Title)

Trivia

*Many Godzilla fans have pointed out that the original Godzilla's skeleton was completely vaporized in the original. Also, the references to both Mothra and Gaira (the Green Gargantua) being killed by the military (in the English dub of the film anyway) are also not true. Mothra did not die in the original "Mothra", and Gaira was killed with his brother Sanda (the Brown Gargantua) in an underwater volcanic eruption in "War of the Gargantuas". Furthermore, Mothra would go on to make a starring appearance in the sequel, "". However, in the original Japanese dialogue, it is stated that an atomic heat ray was invented to use against Mothra, not that she was killed by it.
* Kiryu is only referred to as MechaGodzilla three times in the movie; for the rest of the film it is referred to as Kiryu.
* Japanese Baseball star Hideki Matsui starred as a cameo for the movie due to his nickname "Godzilla".
* This is the first Godzilla film since "The Return of Godzilla" not to feature any of Akira Ifukube's music (counting the fact the US version of Godzilla 2000 had added Ifukube themes)
* In comparison to other movies in the Godzilla franchise, this movie is more realistic in its depiction of the technology behind Mechagodzilla, such as the robot having a limited amount of fighting time before its power runs out. Moreover, the main weapon (the "Absolute Zero Cannon") is able to reduce the running time. In other films, the mechas always seem able to fight forever. Other realistic elements are the 3 or 4 years it took for the robot to be built and the need for the Japanese government to pass a law allowing it to be built after consulting with other countries. In previous films (Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II and Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla), the mechas appeared to have been quickly built without any government debate or protest from the rest of the world regarding the dangers of its use.
* This is the 2nd time that Jun Fukuda's Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla is remade.
* There is a new 2008 screenplay for "King Kong vs Godzilla" [http://www.shado-x.com/kkxg.html] (168 pages) being shopped in America as "King Kong vs Gigantis" [http://www.shado-x.com/kkxg.html] (167 pages). The original "Godzilla" version continues the Akane Yashiro character portrayed by Shaku Yumiko (aka: Yumiko Shaku), hence a sequel to this film.

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. [http://tohokingdom.com/box_office/gxmg.htm] It went on to gross approximately $16,000,000 [http://tohokingdom.com/box_office/gxmg.htm] in Japan, making it the second biggest of the Millennium Godzilla films at the box office. It sold approximately 1,700,000 admissions.

DVD Releases

"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

* [http://www.tohokingdom.com/ Toho Kingdom]
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* [http://www.shado-x.com/gxmg.html GXMG: Godzilla X Mechagodzilla movie review by SHADO CONTROL]
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