I’ve been a major fan of Godzilla for a majority of my life. And this blog is a stepping stone to what I want to do with my life. So I guess it makes some semblance of sense that the first Godzilla film I look at is the one that amplified the tropes of the genre. Godzilla Vs. Megalon follows and inventor who crafts a special robot named Jet Jaguar. While he is building the robot, he winds up involved in a plan from a race of oppressed beings living under the surface of the Earth, named the Seatopians. Upon learning what they have planned, the inventor plans to ruin their plans, and uses Jet Jaguar to summon the ultimate foil: Godzilla. This flick is the highest caliber of goofy. For some reason, in the midst of multiple Godzilla movies coming out, and many of them being excellent works, this is the one that shone through and became so popular. Many fans of the franchise site this one as being their introduction, and many more had their interpretation of Godzilla spun a different way, because of this movie. It was strung together in a few weeks, held together by a smaller budget and oodles of stock footage, it really sticks itself into that B-Movie territory, which is a very far cry from where the films started. Gone is the nuclear allegory, and the hints of man meddling with powers they shouldn’t have. This one kind of mentions it, but there’s no sense of nuance. Goofy, silly, stupid, this is the one he does the tail slide, this is the one where they fly away from fire, this is the one where Megalon slaps his rear as he watches Godzilla struggle. Every silly trope that has come out of the Godzilla series was shaped by this one. Anyone who sees Godzilla as silly, stupid schlock, sees it because of this film, even if they don’t know it. But, as silly as the film is, and I know I’ve said silly a lot, it is very entertaining. You can laugh at virtually every frame. It doesn’t have much of a story, with the very rushed nature of it’s production showing through to the quality, but it carries itself with a charming self-awareness that you can’t help but enjoy. On top of that, Megalon is a cool monster to introduce, and Jet Jaguar has become a fan favorite since his debut. The film turns 50 this year, so I suppose that’s 50 years of B-Movie cheesiness to the max. Get some friends, turn your brain off, and have a blast.