Well, this is it, folks. End of an era. The Showa Era to be precise, and 1975’s Terror of Mechagodzilla closed the book on Godzilla for almost a decade. Unlike Destroy All Monsters, this wasn’t meant to be the end though. Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka wanted to cash in on the success of Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla with a direct sequel, which was greenlit within four months. The script comes from the rare woman screenwriter in the series, Yukiko Takayama, who won a contest. Seems like when Toho is out of ideas (or wants them on the cheap) they’ll just hold a contest, much to the chagrin of the studio’s writers and designers I imagine. This was Takayama’s first writing credit, and she would go on to write more professionally, but is the last woman screenwriter in the franchise (the only other woman, Kazue Shiba, having a co-writer credit on Son of Godzilla). 1975’s Terror of Mechagodzilla also features another feminine rarity in the franchise: some big honkin’ titties.

Brought out of retirement is director Ishiro Honda who brings a sorely lacked sense of gravity and suspenseful pacing. Accompanying him scoring the film is the inimitable Akira Ifukube whose music punches up the scenes dramatically. Unfortunately with the passing of Eiji Tsuburaya, it wasn’t a true 1954 reunion, but Teruyoshi Nakano’s effects are at the top of his game; having a few films under his belt at this point has given him a sense of what can be done on a budget, and how to stretch a dollar.

Terror of Mechagodzilla opens with a 5 minute stock recap of the previous film. Yeah, even the magnetization of Godzilla! There’s a solemn looking woman on a beach, who seems to have a psychic connection to what’s going on under the water: a submarine searching for the remains of Mechagodzilla…which are missing. They poke around the ocean floor for a bit before being attacked by a giant aquatic dinosaur, which we’ll learn later is Titanosaurus, and immediately that he is awesome. The fins and thin snout on this guy are reminiscent of aquatic dinosaurs like Ichthyosaurs, albeit with standard kaiju anthropomorphism. A report is given to Interpol agents and marine biologist Akira Ichinose is brought in as a consultant. He’s played by Katsuhiko Sasaki of Godzilla vs Megalon and does a decent enough job. Katsumasa Uchida plays his partner in this, formidable agent Jiro Murakoshi. Gorō Mutsumi returns from the first Mechagodzilla film, still playing an alien leader, albeit a different one: Mugal. Toho has fudged actors reprising different roles many times, but this particular decision is a little weird because Gorō is essentially playing the same character with a different name in a direct sequel. It’s ok though because he makes a fantastic villain, and at one point just straight up takes a whip to his subordinates in a fit of rage.

Rounding out the cast is the legendary Akihiko Hirata in an obviously fake wig and moustache playing Dr. Shinji Mafune, and Tomoko Ai making her feature film debut as Mafune’s daughter Katsura. She gives the best performance of the cast by a country mile. Before this, she had a small part on the television program Ultraman Leo, and often joked that she got the part because she came directly from Tsuburaya Productions to Toho wearing her costume and looked ready to go. Dr. Mafune’s whole schtick is that he was cast out from the scientific community for being too damn crazy and now he’s going to Make Them All Pay. Y’know, typical mad scientist stuff. He plans to mind-control Titanosaurus, and the aliens from Black Hole Planet 3 form an alliance with him to destroy Godzilla. Scene set.

The drama unfolds, and we find Katsura covering for her psychotic father, but catching feelings for the biologist Akira. She tries to warn him to drop the investigation, and her abrasive father reprimands her saying “Don’t forget. Your mother never complained.” It’s tense scenes like this that really benefit from a woman’s perspective. When she tries to leave, the aliens work techno-laser on her that prevents her from escaping. They tell her “Remember what lies beneath your flesh. And don’t forget who brought you back to life.” Um, we have questions, movie. Luckily we’re in for an immediate flashback revealing her cyborg restoration after a lab experiment gone awry. Ifukube provides Phantom-esque organ music that puts this scene on the highlight reel.

The balance of human drama to monster fights is always a thin line to tread, and Terror of Mechagodzilla is heavy on the human drama. Godzilla doesn’t show up until 45 minutes into the film, but when he does the reveal is well done. Titanosaurus is attacking Tokyo, and at first all you see is Godzilla’s silhouette rising above the skyline before emitting an atomic blast. During the initial battle, Katsura, acting as a double agent, is shot by the army after she sabotages their supersonic weapon.

And now the moment you’ve been waiting for, the part that sets this movie apart from all others, no not a uniquely superb monster battle…but a uniquely goofily crafted pair foam rubber ta-ta’s! The aliens recover Katsura’s body, and as they’re operating on her, they use bubble wrap as a medical drape that is, let’s say, not modest. Now these aren’t Tomoko Ai’s real breasts, which means there had to have been a conversation like “Are you cool with showing your tits in a Godzilla franchise that’s been marketed to kids for over a decade?” “Absolutely not.” “OK, how about we get the prop department to make fake ones?” “Sure, sounds good.” Granted, Honda’s return marks this film as a darker tragedy than its predecessor but still! Incidentally, this isn’t the only semi-nudity we see in Godzilla. The first film actually had some native women standing in one shot topless, not in a sexy way, but just au-naturel. The other (and I can’t believe I forgot to include this in the first pass) is in Godzilla vs Megalon. Yeah the stupidest most kid-friendly movie of the entire series has a couple of degenerates driving a truck that has clips from nudie mags pasted on the panel right behind the seats. It’s just a bizarre thing to include, but hey, it was the 70s!

When repairs to Mechagodzilla are complete, they install the controller inside Katsura so Interpol won’t find their secret control base. The Doctor starts to realize what faustian bargain he’s made with these offworlders. The remainder of the human drama revolves around stopping the aliens, Dr. Mafune having a change of heart, and Katsura struggling to overcome her cyborg programming and learning to love. As Mechagodzilla fires up for the first time, he raises his right hand in a cross-chest gesture as the aliens have been making, but it really looks like he’s gearing up for a “Heil Hitler.” Don’t do it, MG! Just don’t! Mechagodzilla joins forces with Titanosaurus, and honestly it’s impressive what Nakano is able to do with such a low budget. The destruction of set pieces is the best we’ve seen in a long time.

During the attack, some kids foolishly try to get a peek at the monsters, and are almost killed, so they uh, call Godzilla for help, AND HE DOES. Even though Honda’s returned, Godzilla is still squarely a protector of the Earth here, and apparently middle school aged children. Mechagodzilla doesn’t have as much close-quarters combat ability, but he’s more of a range guy anyway. Titanosaurus on the other hand pulls off some impressive moves, not quite grounded in physics. As they’re duking it out, there’s some incredible low-angle shots that make you wonder how it took them so long to think of that. There’s some silly bits during the battle too, like Titanosaurus throwing Godzilla in a ditch and stomping on his grave, and Godzilla ripping off Mechagodzilla’s head because hey, it worked in the first one…only to find him still functional!

Godzilla of course wins in the end before swimming off into the sunset, and as a series capper it’s tremendously anticlimactic. The budgets and audiences just weren’t showing up in the numbers necessary to make more, and Tanaka wanted to save Godzilla’s return for a time where they could do it right. Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla serves as a decent bookend to a bygone age though. It’s got a little bit of everything: dark tones, goofy fights, absurd premises taken absolutely seriously, aliens, mad scientists, and robot who learns to love. Having Honda and Ifukube team up one last time really hits a sweet spot as well. And if you’re gonna go out with a bang, might as well throw in some bangin titties.

See you in the 80s, folks.