Scientists scouring the bottom of the Pacific Ocean looking for what remains of Mechagodzilla encounter what seems to be a giant dinosaur. After attacking them, the dinosaur becomes the point of interest for an oceanographic institute, and they follow a trail of information to a disgraced scientist, Dr. Mafune, who may be working with beings from another planet to rebuild Mechagodzilla. And that, dear reader, is as far as I will take you on the plot synopsis because I HIGHLY recommend this film. With dwindling ticket sales through the mid 70s, Toho chose to conclude the original stretch of Godzilla films with this outing, and how fitting it is. The last few the franchise saw were very silly ones, for better or for worse. A lot of what came from that time in the franchise is very much what shaped the mass opinion on the big G himself. But with this film, original director Ishirō Honda is back in the directors chair to bring us a film that is very tonally similar to the original Godzilla. There is a lot of fantastic monster action in this one, with one of the most classic monster bouts of the series, but if you took the monster part out, the film still fires on all cylinders as a drama. It’s very much on the record that I believe Godzilla films at their best are a reflection on the human condition, in some form or another, and this one is no different. Director Honda always had a respect for scientists, being shown in this movie through the emotionally manipulated Mafune, played by series regular Akihiko Hirata. His heart is in his career, while also lying with his daughter, but both aspects of his life are being controlled and manipulated, with him being blackmailed into helping the aliens with Mechagodzilla. It’s a very investing story, but it’s one I won’t harp on too much, in fear of running the film for anyone. Godzilla himself may not be in this movie a lot, but it’s just as amazing when he’s off screen as he is on it, and aside from a few odd looking SFX shots, Terror Of Mechagodzilla cements itself as a classic of the series, and remains to this day one of my favorites.