Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
"This time, we will destroy it..."—Commander Aso
The twentieth Godzilla film and the fifth in the Heisei series. Continuing on borrowing familiar monster streak, Toho decided to choose MechaGodzilla. Instead of being made by aliens, it was an earth creation retroengeneered from Mecha-King Ghidorah. Rodan also returns, as does the concept of Godzilla having a son. Godzilla was originally supposed to die in this film, but that was changed. The film had a strong box office reception. While story flaws were noted, the film, and its soundtrack specificially, are well reviewed.
In order to defeat Godzilla once and for all, the UNGCC (United Nations Godzilla Countermeasure Center) analyses the Futurians technology from Mecha-King Ghidorah in order to build MechaGodzilla. Meanwhile, scientists investigate Adona Island and discover a enormous egg. They flee with the egg when Rodan attacks, only to be mortally wounded by Godzilla. The egg hatches into BabyGodzilla, a plant-eating Godzillasaur that's completely benign to humans. But Godzilla senses him and lays destruction as he makes a beeline toward him. MechaGodzilla is deployed and after an initial one-sided match, Godzilla bests him. The scientists manage to hide BabyGodzilla from Godzilla's senses, though, so the King of the Monsters retreats. As MechaGodzilla is repaired and modified to combine with the rejected Garuda machine, the study of BabyGodzilla yields to a discovery that could finish Godzilla once and for all. But when Rodan revives and plans to get back his half-brother, what would our heroes do? And can MechaGodzilla kill Godzilla when an unlikely ally comes to his rescue...
- Armored Coffins: Thankfully averted when the crew of Super Mechagodzilla survives Godzilla's newly acquired spiral atomic ray.
- Beam-O-War: Godzilla and MechaGodzilla briefly engage in this in the final battle.
- Big Brother Instinct: Rodan is determined to reunite with BabyGodzilla, no matter what.
- Blood From the Mouth: Rodan, in at least two occasions.
- Bunny Ears Lawyer: Kazuma Aoki. He sneaks around modifying the rejected Garuda, is a fanboy of dinosaurs, and isn't exactly cut for military life. But he knows how to build and toy around with mecha.
- Combining Mecha: Garuda attaches to Mechagodzilla's back to create Super Mechagodzilla (Seriously, that's the official name from Toho), which proceeds to paralyze Godzilla and almost kill him.
- Curb Stomp Battle: While Rodan is able to take out Garuda and one of MechaGodzilla's eyes, Rodan is no match for MechaGodzilla's beam arsenal.
- Macross Missile Massacre: Mechagodzilla, although this incarnation uses them more conservatively than the previous one, with beam weapons being the preferred choice. Once Mechagodzilla is believed to have the upper hand, however, the missiles are used with less restraint.
- Mid-Movie Upgrade: Mechagodzilla and Garuda are both given upgrades, in the middle of the movie, so that Garuda can attach itself to Mechagodzilla's back, allowing the two machines to create Super Mechagodzilla.
- No Export for You: For some reason this was released to the U.S. after Destroyah in the U.S.
- Specifically, the VHS tapes of all the Sony-owned Heisei films, including this one, came out in 1998. So did DVDs for all of them excluding this film. It didn't come out on DVD until 2004.
- Raised by Humans: BabyGodzilla by Azusa Gojo. Eventually, there's a heartbreaking farewell.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: BabyGodzilla's grow red when he's frightened. That doesn't make himself dangerous, but that does send a signal to the more dangerous Rodan and Godzilla.
- Shout-Out: There are many. There are the two girls at the ESP Institute whose mannerisms resemble Mothra's fairies (and have the same actors), the original plan to defeat Godzilla in the Ogasawara Islands, and not to mention the score, some of which shouts back to the Showa Era.
- What Could Have Been: Ishiro Honda was to direct; it was going to be his first Heisei film. Unfortunately, he died earlier in the year.