Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
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When a black mountain appears in the sky, and the red sun rises in the West, a monster will appear and try to destroy the world. —Two prophecies of the Azumi Royal Family
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Both of the prophecies above are put to the test in Godzilla's 20th anniversary outing, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. The monster that will try to save the people of Okinawa is King Shisa, the ancient guardian of the Azumi Royal Family. The monster that will destroy the world...is at first believed to be Godzilla, but after Godzilla's ally Anguirus is brutally attacked and wounded by the beast, people start to notice that something is off. When Godzilla attacks a refinery, another Godzilla appears. A vicious battle soon follows, where the first Godzilla soon sheds its skin in a fiery display to reveal a mechanical weapon of destruction: Mechagodzilla. The resulting battle ends in a draw, but questions remain. Who built Mechagodzilla, and why?
The answer to the above questions is that a race of aliens from "The Third Planet of the Black Hole," or Simians, have come to Earth to setup a new home for themselves. Instead of asking nicely, however, they've decided that the best option is to use Mechagodzilla to destroy a sizable portion of Japan to make way for their own settlement.
However, there is still the issue of the Azumi prophecy, and with it, King Shisa. If King Shisa can be awakened, then other monsters may soon follow, and so the Simians attempt to gain control of a precious statue that is instrumental to the legend to prevent the divine monster's awakening. Deciding to launch a two-pronged plan, the Simians capture an Earth scientist who is familiar with the technology they used to create Mechagodzilla, to speed up repairs, and send their own agents out to capture that damn statue. What follows are gunfights, interpol agents with some bad hair-dos, and archaeologists fighting in a race against time to awaken King Shisa and stop the Simians. Fortunately, Godzilla is still alive, but will he be able to rejoin the fray before it's too late?
Well, yeah, of course he will.
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla was released in 1974, as the 14th Godzilla movie and in honor of the King of the Monster's twentieth birthday. The film was directed by Jun Fukuda, with music by Masaru Sato and SFX work by Teruyoshi Nakano.
- Alien Invasion: Once again. This was very common in the late Godzilla films.
- Attack Reflector: King Shisa can reflect Mechagodzilla's eye beams with his own eyes.
- Big Damn Heroes: Just as Mechagodzilla is about to finish off King Shisa, the true King of the Monsters appears.
- Curb Stomp Battle: Mechagodzilla's fight with Anguirus, and most of his fight with King Shisa, who only survived because of Godzilla's timely arrival.
- Evil Knockoff: Mechagodzilla himself.
- Eye Beams: Mechagodzilla. Fortunately, King Shisa can reflect them.
- Macross Missile Massacre: Mechagodzilla has dozens and dozens of missiles, lasers, and rockets at his disposal...and he uses all of it in his battle against Godzilla and King Shisa.
- Made of Titanium: Mechagodzilla is made from space-titanium, apparently.
- Meaningful Name: King Shisa. Refers to the shisa of mythology. Unfortunately, this is sometimes overlooked.
- Off with His Head: How Mechagodzilla is finally defeated.
- Spell My Name with an "S": King Shisa, commonly misnamed as King Ceasar, and in the case of the Star Maker video blurb, King Seeser, because of the international dub and some of Toho's own material.