MOTHRA
(Mosura)
July 30, 1961
In the 5 years after Rodan, Toho made several other giant monster movies. But for their next picture, they decided to take a different approach.
An expedition is sent to investigate the remote Infant Island, a place affected by nuclear testing. A pair of small twin fairies are discovered and kidnapped by the team's slimy leader for profit. The fairies warn that if they are not returned to their island, their god named Mothra will come to retrieve them, causing damage in the process.
This film was based on a serialized novel commissioned by Toho called "The Luminous Fairies and Mothra" written by Takehiko Fukunaga, Shinichiro Nakamura and Yoshie Hotta. The screenplay was adapted by Shinichi Sekizawa,
Mothra is definitely a more lighter film than previous Toho monster movies, with elements of fantasy and humor.
Much of the humor comes from the cast, particularly Frankie Sakai, a well known comedic actor in Japan at the time as Zen Fukuda, a journalist who stows away on the expedition. He gets into all sorts of antics such as having a mouse crawl up his sleeve and walk out his pant leg, holding a gun inappropriately while whacking people in the face with the barrel and fighting off bad guys with a rolled up newspaper.
Jerry Ito steals the show most as the slimy villain Nelson. The moment you see him, you know he is up to no good and Ito sells the role very well. Nelson hails from the fictional country of Rolisica, an amalgamation of the Soviet Union and the United States. Because subtlety.
But by far, the characters who stand out the most are the Shobijin, the 2 tiny fairies played by Emi and Yumi Ito (no relation to Jerry) who were a Japanese pop duo known as "The Peanuts". Casting them as the beauties who sing the song to enchant Mothra to come to their rescue was genius. And while the main song is repetitive there's no denying it's catchiness.
Unlike most monsters, Mothra is a more beautiful, benevolent creature. She never attacks out of pure malice unlike Godzilla, but if her home or people are threatened, there is no stopping her.
While most of the monsters from Toho were guys in suits, Mothra was usually portrayed by puppets. And they are very well executed in this film, especially the adult. Her wings flap at a pretty good rate that sells the destruction she causes, those scenes are just as good as the ones from Rodan.
And the Larva, while a little stiff at times does get the job done. However, while doing research for this review, I was surprised to learn that the Larva was not just a puppet, but a 6 foot tall, 33 foot long suit! The suit took 8 people to operate, with Nakajima at the front.
I was always familiar with Mothra. I mean, she's only the second most popular Kaiju ever. But growing up, Mothra was one of the movies that eluded me. I remember seeing the VHS at a Blockbuster but never got the chance to rent it. After that, the original Mothra was lost to me. Even as most of the classic Godzilla movies along with Rodan and other Toho Kaiju films were being released on DVD in the mid 2000's, the queen of the monsters was nowhere to be seen.
And just when all hope seem lost, Sony released a DVD set called the 'Icon's of Sci-Fi: Toho Collection'. The collection consisted of previously lost classics like, The H-Man, Battle in Outer Space and...MOTHRA! I finally had the opportunity to see the original movie, both the original and American versions.
The original Mothra is a very enjoyable film. I have to admit, it is hard for me to get into movies like this if I didn't grow up watching them, but like 'King Kong Escapes', Mothra hit all the right notes with me, becoming an instant classic. Wonderful monster scenes, great use of special effects and an entertaining, well paced story.
Mothra was a huge hit in Japan and this would only be the beginning of her lucrative movie career.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this and if you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, be sure to give my Facebook page a 'LIKE' to see updates and other related stuff.
Thanks for reading!
https://www.facebook.com/TheGryphonsLair/
(Mosura)
July 30, 1961
An expedition is sent to investigate the remote Infant Island, a place affected by nuclear testing. A pair of small twin fairies are discovered and kidnapped by the team's slimy leader for profit. The fairies warn that if they are not returned to their island, their god named Mothra will come to retrieve them, causing damage in the process.
This film was based on a serialized novel commissioned by Toho called "The Luminous Fairies and Mothra" written by Takehiko Fukunaga, Shinichiro Nakamura and Yoshie Hotta. The screenplay was adapted by Shinichi Sekizawa,
Mothra is definitely a more lighter film than previous Toho monster movies, with elements of fantasy and humor.
Much of the humor comes from the cast, particularly Frankie Sakai, a well known comedic actor in Japan at the time as Zen Fukuda, a journalist who stows away on the expedition. He gets into all sorts of antics such as having a mouse crawl up his sleeve and walk out his pant leg, holding a gun inappropriately while whacking people in the face with the barrel and fighting off bad guys with a rolled up newspaper.
 |
| Jerry Ito & Frankie Sakai |
Jerry Ito steals the show most as the slimy villain Nelson. The moment you see him, you know he is up to no good and Ito sells the role very well. Nelson hails from the fictional country of Rolisica, an amalgamation of the Soviet Union and the United States. Because subtlety.
 |
| Eiji Tsuburaya with the Mothra Larva |
While most of the monsters from Toho were guys in suits, Mothra was usually portrayed by puppets. And they are very well executed in this film, especially the adult. Her wings flap at a pretty good rate that sells the destruction she causes, those scenes are just as good as the ones from Rodan.
And the Larva, while a little stiff at times does get the job done. However, while doing research for this review, I was surprised to learn that the Larva was not just a puppet, but a 6 foot tall, 33 foot long suit! The suit took 8 people to operate, with Nakajima at the front.
I was always familiar with Mothra. I mean, she's only the second most popular Kaiju ever. But growing up, Mothra was one of the movies that eluded me. I remember seeing the VHS at a Blockbuster but never got the chance to rent it. After that, the original Mothra was lost to me. Even as most of the classic Godzilla movies along with Rodan and other Toho Kaiju films were being released on DVD in the mid 2000's, the queen of the monsters was nowhere to be seen.
And just when all hope seem lost, Sony released a DVD set called the 'Icon's of Sci-Fi: Toho Collection'. The collection consisted of previously lost classics like, The H-Man, Battle in Outer Space and...MOTHRA! I finally had the opportunity to see the original movie, both the original and American versions.
Mothra was a huge hit in Japan and this would only be the beginning of her lucrative movie career.
Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon
and thank you for joining me here in my Lair.
So long...
and thank you for joining me here in my Lair.
So long...
I hope you have enjoyed reading this and if you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, be sure to give my Facebook page a 'LIKE' to see updates and other related stuff.
Thanks for reading!
https://www.facebook.com/TheGryphonsLair/
No comments:
Post a Comment