Terror of Mechagodzilla [VHS]
The final Godzilla feature of the first series (his 15th feature in just over 20 years) picks up in the direct aftermath ofGodzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. The ape-men from outer space are back, cheesy makeup and all, and this time they've enlisted a bitter scientist to help them rebuild Mechagodzilla and bring another monster into the fray, the gargantuan sea serpent Titanosaurus, which the scientist has brought under control. This film reunited the Big G with veteran director Ishirô Honda and original composer Akira Ifukube (who revives his brooding score) in an attempt to steer the series from its juvenile course back to a more adult track. The result is an energetic, loopily engaging sci-fi fantasy, with the Godzilla back at his old Tokyo stomping grounds--only this time he's protecting the city. It's a giant monster turf war with plenty of destruction and a terrific battle to the finish with the mechanized menace, but when Godzilla wanders back into the ocean he has entered a 10-year hibernation, returning in time for his 30th anniversary inGodzilla 1985.--Sean Axmaker