Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla - English Versions

English Versions

In 1977, Cinema Shares International purchased the rights to Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and released the movie through Downtown Distribution under the title Godzilla vs. Bionic Monster. As they had done with Godzilla vs. Megalon the previous year, Cinema Shares simply utilized the Toho-produced English dub. In July 1977, Universal Studios filed a lawsuit against Cinema Shares, claiming that the title was too similar to their TV productions, The Six Million Dollar Man and its spin-off The Bionic Woman. Cinema Shares retitled the film Godzilla vs. Cosmic Monster.

As with most of the other 1970's Godzilla films, the Japanese version of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla featured several scenes with violent content and strong language. Strangely, Cinema Shares retained the violent monster action, including a shot of Godzilla spraying blood. The edits include:

• A new title card. In the Japanese and international versions, Godzilla's name flashes several times while a mountain explodes in the background. As Masaru Sato's music plays, the full title is revealed. In the Cosmic Monster version, the screen turns bright red (covering up the original title) and the film title and copyright information appear. Widescreen versions of the title sequence feature the poster art to the right of the title, but this is not visible in the 16mm prints that have circulated since the early 1980s.

• The opening credits have been deleted.

• Also deleted is a scene in which Nanbara, the INTERPOL agent, strangles one of the aliens. The final shoot-out between Nanbara and three of the simian invaders is similarly edited.

• At the end of the Japanese version, King Caesar returns to his resting place and Godzilla to the sea. In a short epilogue, the Azumi princess runs through her homeland celebrating with many of the characters. One of the King Caesar statues appear as the Japanese symbol for "end" appears. Cinema Shares cut this short epilogue, with the exception of the final shot of the statue. A red bar appears on the right side of the screen, with "THE END" overlaid on it.

In 1988, New World Video released the film along with Godzilla 1985, and Godzilla vs. Gigan. This print was Toho's original, uncut international version, which restored all the cuts made by Cinema Shares. The film was shown on The Sci-Fi Channel throughout the 1990s under the title Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster, although this version was in fact Toho's international version with a new title card.

In 2004, TriStar released the international version on DVD. The original Japanese audio was included as an extra audio track.