GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA
(Gojira tai Mosura)
A.K.A: Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth
(Gojira tai Mosura)
A.K.A: Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth
December 12, 1992
Following on the strategy of bringing back popular monsters, Toho decided it was time for the return of the monster who's popularity rivaled that of Godzilla himself.
After a meteorite strikes the planet, it sets off a chain reaction of disasters including the awakening of Godzilla and a new monster, Battra. Meanwhile, Mothra also emerges from her egg and is forced to fight against the raging monsters to save the earth from destruction.
Mothra's return ended up being a decision that would pay off big time for Toho. Her adult or 'Imago' form is strikingly beautiful and colorful, easily of the best looks Mothra has had in her career. She even gets new abilities to help her combat Godzilla, given how much more powerful he's become. She can now shoot lasers from her antennae and lighting from her wings.
Of course, you can't have Mothra without having her twin fairies accompanying. In this movie they are known as the Cosmos, played by Keiko Imamura and Sayaka Osawa.
If Mothra is the yin to the balance of Earth, then Battra is the yang, the one who will destroy indiscriminately and shows no remorse towards humanity. Battra has such an incredible design, he's basically an edgier version of Mothra and I love it! In fact, Battra's so edgy he doesn't even need to cocoon himself to adulthood, he pretty much just 100 rare candies himself into his Imago stage.
The only awkward thing about him is that his roar is an altered version of Rodan's roar. Which is odd considering Rodan himself would appear in the following movie.
With the exception of Battra's larva stage, depicted by a suit worn by Hurricane Ryu, Mothra and Battra were all puppets.
Godzilla's as good as ever, but one thing I'm not a fan of is how they changed his roar. From 'The Return of Godzilla' to 'Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah', Godzilla had a deeper, scarier roar than he did in the Showa series and it fit the character well. But from this movie and onward it returns to more of a Showa style roar that I feel does not fit this incarnation of Godzilla and a lot of the other sounds he makes end up sounding way too squeaky.
Godzilla vs. Mothra recycles plot elements found in Mothra's original debut film from 1961 including:
-Kidnapping the twin fairies to be used for promotion
-Evil company having no intention of returning them despite common sense.
-Mothra coming to Japan and causing damage on her way to rescue the fairies.
-Mothra cocooning herself against a national landmark. (Diet Building instead of Tokyo Tower)
Even elements from Mothra vs. Godzilla get sprinkled in:
-Company wants to use Mothra's egg for promotion.
-Mothra fights Godzilla (ain't it so?)
Sadly, this movie is weighed down for me by a few issues.
The characters of this movie aren't that interesting, particularly our two leads (Tetsuya Bessho and Satomi Kobayashi) who play ex-lovers who spend most of the movie bickering.
Miki Segusa, our psychic character is relegated to just being around to state when the monsters are going to show up and that's about it.
Despite the bad guys of the film showing similarities to the villains from previous Mothra movies, they really don't impact the story that much and get no comeuppance whatsoever.
The only shining stars we get in this movie are Shoji Kobayashi playing the Cabinet Security Director, mainly for how much he chews the scenery during some scenes and a special appearance by prominent Godzilla actor, Akira Takarada.
The film deals with environmental themes that are not subtle in any way and it can get really annoying. Even the issues in Godzilla vs. Biollante didn't feel this preachy.
After a meteorite strikes the planet, it sets off a chain reaction of disasters including the awakening of Godzilla and a new monster, Battra. Meanwhile, Mothra also emerges from her egg and is forced to fight against the raging monsters to save the earth from destruction.
Mothra's return ended up being a decision that would pay off big time for Toho. Her adult or 'Imago' form is strikingly beautiful and colorful, easily of the best looks Mothra has had in her career. She even gets new abilities to help her combat Godzilla, given how much more powerful he's become. She can now shoot lasers from her antennae and lighting from her wings.
Of course, you can't have Mothra without having her twin fairies accompanying. In this movie they are known as the Cosmos, played by Keiko Imamura and Sayaka Osawa.
If Mothra is the yin to the balance of Earth, then Battra is the yang, the one who will destroy indiscriminately and shows no remorse towards humanity. Battra has such an incredible design, he's basically an edgier version of Mothra and I love it! In fact, Battra's so edgy he doesn't even need to cocoon himself to adulthood, he pretty much just 100 rare candies himself into his Imago stage.
The only awkward thing about him is that his roar is an altered version of Rodan's roar. Which is odd considering Rodan himself would appear in the following movie.
With the exception of Battra's larva stage, depicted by a suit worn by Hurricane Ryu, Mothra and Battra were all puppets.
Godzilla's as good as ever, but one thing I'm not a fan of is how they changed his roar. From 'The Return of Godzilla' to 'Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah', Godzilla had a deeper, scarier roar than he did in the Showa series and it fit the character well. But from this movie and onward it returns to more of a Showa style roar that I feel does not fit this incarnation of Godzilla and a lot of the other sounds he makes end up sounding way too squeaky.
Godzilla vs. Mothra recycles plot elements found in Mothra's original debut film from 1961 including:
-Kidnapping the twin fairies to be used for promotion
-Evil company having no intention of returning them despite common sense.
-Mothra coming to Japan and causing damage on her way to rescue the fairies.
-Mothra cocooning herself against a national landmark. (Diet Building instead of Tokyo Tower)
Even elements from Mothra vs. Godzilla get sprinkled in:
-Company wants to use Mothra's egg for promotion.
-Mothra fights Godzilla (ain't it so?)
Sadly, this movie is weighed down for me by a few issues.
The characters of this movie aren't that interesting, particularly our two leads (Tetsuya Bessho and Satomi Kobayashi) who play ex-lovers who spend most of the movie bickering.
Miki Segusa, our psychic character is relegated to just being around to state when the monsters are going to show up and that's about it.
Despite the bad guys of the film showing similarities to the villains from previous Mothra movies, they really don't impact the story that much and get no comeuppance whatsoever.
The only shining stars we get in this movie are Shoji Kobayashi playing the Cabinet Security Director, mainly for how much he chews the scenery during some scenes and a special appearance by prominent Godzilla actor, Akira Takarada.
The film deals with environmental themes that are not subtle in any way and it can get really annoying. Even the issues in Godzilla vs. Biollante didn't feel this preachy.
Godzilla vs. Mothra is my least favorite of the Heisei movies. While I don't outright hate it, there's not much that makes me excited about revisiting it. Still, the movie made the most money at the box office out of all the Heisei entries and ended up being the second highest grossing movie of 1993 in Japan. For a movie that isn't well revered, that's quite an achievement.
4 years after her return to the big screen, Mothra would end up starring in her own trilogy of stand alone films. Meanwhile, the seeds were being planted for an American produced Godzilla film after Toho sold the rights to Sony.
Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon
and thank you for joining me here in my lair.
So long...
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