Godzilla vs. Megalon

"Dreaded Megalon from the undersea kingdom! A miraculous deathblow from the wound-ridden Godzilla!"

1973 1h 18m JA

😐

6.2

MID

★6.2TMDB · 250

ActionAdventureScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Inventor Goro Ibuki creates a humanoid robot named Jet Jaguar. It is soon seized by an undersea race of people called the Seatopians. Using Jet Jaguar as a guide, the Seatopians send Megalon as vengeance for the nuclear tests that have devastated their society.

“Dreaded Megalon from the undersea kingdom! A miraculous deathblow from the wound-ridden Godzilla!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Katsuhiko Sasaki
Inventor Goro Ibuki
Yutaka Hayashi
Hiroshi Jinkawa
Hiroyuki Kawase
Rokuro 'Roku-chan' Ibuki
Kanta Mori
Japan Special Defense Forces Chief
Kotaro Tomita
Lead Seatopian Agent
Ulf Otsuki
Seatopian Agent
Sakyo Mikami
Truck Driver's Assistant
Fumiyo Ikeda
Man from Unit 1

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jun Fukuda
Writers: Jun Fukuda, Shinichi Sekizawa, Takeshi Kimura
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 78-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $20M — a 26.3× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

53 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Godzilla (Showa) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jun Fukuda, shot by Yuzuru Aizawa. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Riichirō Manabe. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Michiko Ikeda shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jun Fukuda directs. Yuzuru Aizawa behind the camera. Riichirō Manabe scores. Michiko Ikeda cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 78-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
2Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Grossed $20M — a 26.3× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
453 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
5Part of the "Godzilla (Showa) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by Jun Fukuda, shot by Yuzuru Aizawa. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Riichirō Manabe. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Michiko Ikeda shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Katsuhiko Sasaki and Yutaka Hayashi and Hiroyuki Kawase carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Dreaded Megalon from the undersea kingdom! A miraculous deathblow from the wound-ridden Godzilla!".
11IMDB entry: tt0070122 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 14 themes, including "underground world", "japan", "kidnapping", "giant monster".
13Released under 39 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Yuzuru Aizawa
Original score: Riichirō Manabe
Editing: Michiko Ikeda
Production design: Yoshifumi Honda
Costume design: Nobuyuki Yasumaru
Runtime: 78 min · 1h 18m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $760,000
Box office: $20,000,000
Return: 2632% of budget
Original language: JA
Certification (US): G
IMDB: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Part of

Godzilla (Showa) Collection

Film series featuring Godzilla from the Showa era.

Also by

Jun Fukuda

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Production companies

Who made it

TOHO
JP
TO
Toho Eizo Bijutsu
JP
Tokyo Laboratory
JP

Key crew

EditorMichiko Ikeda
ProducerTomoyuki Tanaka
Production DesignYoshifumi Honda
VocalsMasato Shimon
Sound RecordistEishiro Hayashi
Lighting TechnicianMasakuni Morimoto
Visual Effects Art DirectorToshiro Aoki
LyricistShinichi Sekizawa
Production ManagerKeisuke Shinoda
Visual EffectsTakeshi Miyanishi
Visual Effects CompositorKazunobu Sanpei
Special EffectsTeruyoshi Nakano
Special EffectsShoji Ogawa
Visual Effects DirectorTeruyoshi Nakano
Original StoryTakeshi Kimura
First Assistant DirectorTsunesaburo Nishikawa
Assistant DirectorEiichi Asada
Special EffectsTadaaki Watanabe
Costume DesignNobuyuki Yasumaru
ModelingNobuyuki Yasumaru
Assistant Costume DesignerTomoki Kobayashi
Costume DesignTomoki Kobayashi
ModelingTomoki Kobayashi
VFX Director of PhotographyMotoyoshi Tomioka

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

underground world
japan
kidnapping
giant monster
giant robot
robot
alien invasion
stock footage
gojira
kaiju
tag team
monster island
godzilla
tokusatsu

Release history · US

When it landed

Theatrical1976-04-24G· English dubbed, 78-minute edited version from Cinemashares/Maron Films.
Theatrical1978-01-01G· Re-released in a triple bill with "Godzilla on Monster Island" and "Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster" by Cinemashares. Date unknown.
TV1977-03-17G· English dubbed, 48-minute heavily edited version

Also known as