Many of you are familiar with Mechagodzilla, the robot made from the bones of a dead Godzilla. This is from the “lost” 1990s Godzilla movies. Why am I saying these were lost? It’s an exaggeration, but these were only available via import for years, they were not widely available in the US market. I saw this particular one at a video store for $70, around 1998. Way, way expensive. So I was delighted when video streaming came around, and Tubi picked up most of these. Unless you are really into Godzilla there is a chance you have never seen this.
And this is cool! You are watching some of the last “man in a rubber suit” era movies. Tiny models! Awesome monster suits! Much better direction and photography! You are also seeing the next generation of men in a rubber suit. The original “guy in the Godzilla suit” retired in 1972. .
So what is this film about? I shall ask today’s guest reviewer, Alex, who has a lovely film blog:
Millions of years ago Godzilla apparently hooked up with Rodan, the big pterodactyl monster, because this film is about the two having a custody battle over their infant son. Seeing the destruction they cause, social services – that is to say the Japanese government – step in and attempt to keep the child away from his dysfunctional, violent parents using Mechagodzilla as a weapon against them. Knowing that they can never actually kill Godzilla, humanity’s plan is to therefore shoot him in the brain and permanently paralyse him from the neck down, which might be the cruellest damn thing ever conceived in one of these movies.
Thank you Alex. It’s guys like you who have previously done reviews of films I am posting who make it possible for me to churn out a post a week.
This movie spawned a ton of Godzilla toys, which you will still see available on eBay. Sometimes I think that was the main reason to make the film – like Star Wars, the money is in the merchandising. But nobody cranked these out with a lack of plot or character development. This is a fantastic film with good character development, a nice plot, and a Toho-riffic silly ending. Overall a nice film to watch tonight, with popcorn. Do better than me at shoving popcorn in your mouth, please. Don’t leave a mess.
So watch! Or don’t! Everything is voluntary! Next week, I continue to wander in the wilderness of entertainment, without a particular film in mind. We shall see something!
Bonus
Awesome news! The 1970s show “UFO” has been posted on Tubi. For those of you who have not seen it, this is a paranoia inducing fun fest which would never be made in modern Britain. It is by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson (UFO is live action) so you are guaranteed a good time. Please enjoy and discuss!
I will be a bit distracted tonight. In the middle of replacing the dual batteries in the Grand Cherokee. I did, but it failed to clear the auto start/stop error code. Doing a reset now.
Because every vehicle needs two batteries… From what I remember on South Main Auto’s Chrysler video you aren’t required to do a code clear.
Good luck!
It needed the reset. That cleared it. Altogether, 4 hours. Things that went wrong:
1. I did not test the new auxiliary battery before installing, and it was totally bad. Had to remove it (20 more minutes) go back up to AutoZone and get a new one. The auxiliary battery is the worst one to remove. See below.
2 i did not have any orphans with ultra flexible arms to loosen bolts way, way under the seats. Did I mention this? Both batteries are in deep dishes under the seats. I had to use my old man arms. It was so tight, the tops of the seats kept triggering my ratchet direction lever and making it spin the other way. I ended up duct-taping the ratchet top to keep that from happening.
3. There is a specific order to reattach all the ground cables. Would have been nice to know. Car had to sit for an hour with all the cables disconnected in a certain order, then reconnected in the specific order.
4. I jiggled the ground when I reattached all the battery plates and caused a check engine light. Great. Hoping this clears after a few clean starts.
Obama can kiss it with all his regulations that made this so difficult. My wife’s Cherokee was all of five minutes to remove and reinstall her battery, which is up front in the engine bay where it belongs.
Yes, under the POWER seats. Fucking brilliant.
The main and aux battery are also directly connected and will charge balance to the exact same voltage.
This means if one of them fails dead short it is guaranteed to take out the other one. Because Gaia.
That charge balancing is the reason the car has to sit.
The ECU needs to see both batteries at the same voltage before it lets auto stop start work.
Lol – my wife’s Audi Q7 has the battery under the front driver’s seat. The seat has to be moved into a certain position and then unbolted and tilted to remove the battery. The last time it died, it really died and I had to squeeze the charger in front of it in the garage just to get enough of a charge to move the got-dammed seat to get it into position to remove it. Genius engineering.
Even though you are an unusual looking space alien, you are more of a man than me.
As opposed to the rear driver’s seat? 😉 (Never mind, I have nightmares about that.) Yes, that is stupid.
🎶 It’s got nuffing to do with your Vorsprung durch Technik, ya know
Can’t you just let the batteries chirp like the ones in your smoke detectors?
Don’t forget to change the air in the tires. It makes a world of difference. Old stale air is no bueno.
Don’t just replace it with any old air. You’re supposed to use OEM air from the manufacturer
Pull my finger. I’ll give you some old, stale air!
Best wishes.
I’m going to queue this movie up for later viewing.
Thanks RJ!
Get rid of the auto stop/start completely
https://www.autostopeliminator.com/
It’s slightly more complicated to actually kill it. It involves some wire surgery and reprogramming. But you can remove the entire system. The button solution just shuts off the auto start/stop, it does not disable the battery balancer, extra battery and all that crap just waiting to bone you like STEVE SMITH.
Sometime in the next few years I will pay to have somebody professionally remove that entire system.
“the bones of a dead Godzilla”
That confused me. Isn’t there only one? Well, besides Son of Godzilla.
Godzilla 1954 was killed by the oxygen destroyer
*pushes up glasses
I thought he just comes back.
Godzilla has dies at least twice. Once in the original movie, and once in Final Wars, I think. One of those movies right before the 2000s.
I looked it up. Apparently it’s canon that Godzilla is a species rather than one individual. Which was speculated at the end of the original film.
This doesn’t show up on Canuck Tubi, so imma watch Strippers vs. Werewolves instead.
I’ve seen that.
I put in a protest with the lizard person who claims to lead Canada.
GODZIRRA! Oh noooooooo.
I love Godzirra movies.
I thought Aoki was a girl’s name?
It’s also a last name. Depends on the character used as well.
青木 一馬（あおき かずま）
Last name. Tree character.
First name Kazuma.
I’m not positive I’ve seen a Godzilla movie other than the 1998 one, starring Hank Azaria. (What *can’t* he do?! (Be Apu?)) I’m sure I did on MST3K. The one I really wanna watch is Godzilla Minus One. As others have said here, apparently it’s a really good film, let alone a Godzilla one. Sequel coming, as well.
“…this film is about (Godzilla and Rodan) having a custody battle over their infant son…” That’s. Fucking. Hilarious.
Who’s a good mega-monster divorce lawyer? (Best be James Hong. Who cares if he’s Chinese? He’s an Oriental!)
Godzilla Minus One is on the list for The Unwatched Reviews.
I can’t say yet whether it lives up to the reputation.
It does. Damn good film.
Was surprised by your positive review. Quick search: “Monster Zero said that “some critical flaws exist” but felt overall that “of all the films of the [Heisei era], Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla II represents Toho’s most technically and artistically successful effort,” adding that “the action sequences in this film are impeccable… excitingly staged, logical, and quite dramatic.”‘
Impressive. Ha! “Godzilla continues searching for Baby, but the scientists, having discovered the telepathic link between the monsters, shield him from Godzilla. Frustrated, Godzilla destroys most of Kyoto before returning to the ocean.”
“Specifically, fuck THIS place!” Gojirra skreonked.
Kyoto’s gorgeous! (I wonder: If the US had similarly destroyed Kyoto, would Japan have recovered so quickly? There’s a somewhat sensible ‘wisdom’ to not destroying or black-glassifying the whole nation, leaving Japs a bit of cultural heritage.)
At least they didn’t go commie and trash much of their own cultural heritage like China did.
Interesting fact – Kyoto was originally slated for the Atom Bomb, but the guy in charge of making the choice had gone on his honeymoon there and didn’t want to destroy the city, so he moved it to Nagasaki.
Kyoto had very little industry around it during WW2.
Rumor has it one of military general staff there honeymooned there and saw its cultural significance and limited military value.
UCS for the bomb they wanted a city relatively “untouched” to see the damage it did.
I don’t they considered it, but it also has the highest Christian population in the country. Which I find a bit ironic given the God Emperor belief elsewhere.
Interesting fact* – Harry Stimpson was married in 1893 and didn’t visit Kyoto until the 1920’s , yes he argued against destroying it for it’s cultural significance but he didn’t Honeymoon there.
*Okay I have no idea if this is in fact a fact but the “honeymoon” story sounds too hokey so I did a quick googling and came up with the above debunking which sounds reasonable, so I’m going with Occam on this one.
Yeah, hence the “rumor” part as I also questioned it when I read that.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33755182
***
It is known that Mr Stimson visited Kyoto several times in the 1920s when he was the governor of the Philippines. Some historians say it was his honeymoon destination and that he was an admirer of Japanese culture.
But he was also behind the internment of more than 100,000 Japanese Americans because, as Mr Stimson put it, “their racial characteristics are such that we cannot understand or trust even the citizen Japanese”.
That may be partly why another man took the credit for saving Kyoto for many decades.
It was widely believed that it was the American archaeologist and art historian Langdon Warner, and not the controversial Secretary of War, who advised the authorities not to bomb cities with cultural assets including Kyoto. There are even monuments to honour Mr Warner in Kyoto and Kamakura.
***
For the record, *glares* I do know about the Stimson connection. I’ve heard the honeymoon ‘rumor,’ but I believe more of the cultural heritage angle. Home of the Emperor, and all. Oddly important.
For what it’s worth, I think it was wise to not nuke or otherwise destroy it. Keeping the heritage and history, along with Japan’s island status, IMO were both necessary to preserve enough for Japan to still feel like ‘Japan,’ and I don’t believe their amazingly swift recovery could have happened without both.
I also think their embarrassment of getting the fuck bombed out of ’em further forced humility on them. (Whoops!) As monstrous as Imperial Japan was, at least ‘they’ had the decency to be graceful losers.
I remember one at the neighborhood dollar cinema when I was a kid. Probably one of the sixties versions. I don’t think I’ve seen any version later than that.
I used to watch UFO reruns all the time in the 80s. Even back then I noticed the there were only really 2 or 3 combat scenes they kept reusing.
I’ve only seen it once or twice when some cable channel showed it a few years ago*. I don’t remember it back then.
*I bet it was MeTV which I don’t get anymore. The same channel also showed The Powers of Matthew Star which amused the hell out of me a couple years ago before I moved to a territory with worse television choices.
You can use “frndly” for live TV from various other areas, and it gets you MeTV and other assorted channels. That was going to be my back up if I did not have it over the air here.
Here. Look at this: https://try.frndlytv.com/
Ugh I already get 90% or more of those with cable.
Now that’s a purposeful grimace.
The white professor guy is the worst actor ever.
My Godzilla phase was from about age 7 to 12. I saw most of the movies, had a collection of toys, and even went to a Godzilla convention. It was just some guy’s house and there were only about 20 guests, but my friend and I had a good time playing the old Godzilla side scroller video game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQC_95PK5Is
My favorite piece of Godzilla trivia: the name is a combo of gorira (gorilla) and kujira (whale). It’s not a dinosaur, it’s a gorilla-whale.
Similarly, walrus is garbled Norse for whale-horse. The Vikings thought it looked like a cross of the two.
Now do gnarwhal.
***
The word “narwhal” originates from the Old Norse term nárhvalr, meaning “corpse whale,” likely referring to the animal’s pale, mottled skin.
***
movie suggestion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Killed_Hitler_and_Then_the_Bigfoot
I seriously considered that film. It failed the “first fifteen minutes” test. Since you suggested it, I will go back and reconsider.
I’ve seen it, but I don’t remember if it was any good.
The Norse were more focused on their “mottled skin” than their giant tusks?
Uh. Observant bunch, them. Perhaps, to be kind, ‘preoccupied.’
Ok. I just sat down and I am starting this movie over from the beginning. I’ll be in synch with the late crowd today.
Doubt I can goad the wife into watching Godzilla, but Ima try.
Intimidate her with your skreonk.
This is going to have a huge impact on commercial real estate.
Not in the USA. America First!
We should have built a giant MechaTrumpzilla to attack Tehran.
Everybody dead?
No, thank goodness. Just a long day in the office.
I’m here. I had a weird couple days, so my sleep schedule got messed up.
I had some non-bunk stuff to take care of.
Thinkin’ on the etiquette is on quitting a gas station, especially when I set up a backup plan to work in the main store. My new 6-8 week contract tells my brain to give them a full two weeks, but it’s also a gas station and I’ve only been there a month, 4x/week. I was thinking March 14 would be my last day. Fri and Sat complete this week, then give them another full one to end it.
I thought I was only one who loved UFO. Though even six year old Chafed knew arming an interceptor with one huge missile is nuts.
FYI, the series has been on YouTube for years.
I thought I had a UFO Dinky Toy, I did some research and found out I had the Captain Scarlet Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle. I was a big fan of that show too.
https://dinkytvspace.com/104-spectrum-pursuit-vehicle/
Huh, I don’t remember that one but MeTV did show Thunderbirds for awhile a couple years ago.
That looks something like the Shadow Mobile.
Mobile 1 had caterpillar tracks.
I love both the TV series and the band.
It’s on a bunch of streaming services now. Including Tubi. https://tubitv.com/series/300001114/ufo
I downloaded the entire series a while back.
🤘🤘
https://youtu.be/hRChTEsDZYc?si=5JiSdFQlrPsxRN1o
I saw Godzilla vs mothera at a friends house in the late 80s as a grade school kid. He was big into Godzilla at the time. They had cable. We didn’t. Intent seen this one.
Just for convenience I did this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GtTyC53kjU
YT has my IP blocked. Seriously, you assholes don’t have enough money? It’s shit like this that gives argument that they should be regulated as a public utility.
Thank you for enacting our labor.
I see Kristi Noem has been “reassigned.” Good riddance.
Awe come on…she provided spank bank material
Is there any reason we didn’t build a giant Trump robot to attack Iran? Why am I paying taxes?