His appearance is a necessary part of the plan. We have to attract him here, and then we can kill him.

For this, the 12th Godzilla film, a monster theme park worker learns that his new employers are actually aliens who plan to use Ghidorah and Gigan to destroy earth. Time for Godzilla and Anguirus to step forward to defend mankind!

By the time the 1970s had arrived, Toho had decreed that Godzilla should be more family friendly. Gone was the once mighty atomic beast that stomped down on the human race, in his place was the mighty saviour of mankind. Godzilla would be pitched against - or turn up along side - various other beasties, the smack downs being the highlight of pretty lightweight plotting.

Here we have a fun tag-team like scenario where Zilla teams up with Anguirus to stop the three headed might of Ghidorah and the new monster on the block, Gigan. Gigan is sure funny looking but with hooks for appendages and a buzzsaw blade in its belly, it's a quality foe and is sure to dish out some bloody damage.

Plot is hopelessly weak, a rehash job yet again, and the use of stock footage becomes annoying. And yes! this is the series entry where Zilla and Anguirus have a brief conversation, which is quite surreal and something no series fan should have to endure.

Thankfully the action is great fun, including a wonderful moment when Zilla bobs and weaves as a pugilist whilst fighting Ghidora. Anguirus, not for the first time, is more of a diversionary tactic ally than a bona fide fighting menace, but who cares as the big lizard sets about once again proving he's the king of the monsters. 6/10

Cockroaches from outer space occupy empty human husks, summoning a pair of deep-space monsters (Ghidorah and Gigan) to wipe out Tokyo and set the table for an invasion. They're somehow able to command these enormous beasts using a reel-to-reel recording, though it appears they needn't have bothered, as the chaos and destruction continues unabated after the device has been ruined.

Sounds like campy '60s sci-fi madness? You're right on the money. It's also terribly cut-rate and careless, even more so than previous entries. The plot is agonizingly slow and dry, with a lot of empty threats and meaningless laser-pointing, and the action scenes borrow liberally from the Godzilla vault or stock footage archives. A good part of the big guy's tussle with Ghidorah is lifted straight from their 1964 headline match, which gives us the unexplained image of a horizon that blinks from dark, smoky midnight to bright, sunny afternoon and back again. Most outrageous is the scene where Godzilla, completely out of nowhere, begins speaking English with a friendly kaiju. What the hell was that?!

Usually the monster attacks provide frosting to the pedestrian cake (and that's being very generous) but in this case, the whole treat has turned. This was a cheap, soulless cash-in, no two ways about it. Avoid at all costs.