Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (ゴジラ×メカゴジラ, Gojira tai Mekagojira) is a 2002 Japanese kaiju film directed by Masaaki Tezuka, with special effects by Yūichi Kikuchi. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 27th film in the Godzilla franchise and the fourth film in the franchise's Millennium period, and is also the 26th Godzilla film produced by Toho. The film features the fictional giant monster character Godzilla, along with an updated version of the mecha character Mechagodzilla, who is referred to in the film by its codename MFS-3 Kiryu. The film stars Yumiko Shaku, Shin Takuma, Kou Takasugi, Yuusuke Tomoi, Kumi Mizuno, and Akira Nakao, with Tsutomu Kitagawa as Godzilla and Hirofumi Ishigaki as Kiryu.

Rather than continuing the format of the other films in the Millennium era of ignoring the events of every installment in the Godzilla film series aside from the original 1954 Godzilla. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla takes place within a continuity that alludes to prior Godzilla films, as well as some of Toho’s Showa-era kaiju films.

A direct sequel, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., was released on December 13, 2003.