Godzilla vs. Mothra

This movie starts out pretty good, with realistic looking meteor falling to earth, but that's the end of good special effects for this film. Special effects director Koichi Kawakita must have been absent the day they shot this movie (although he is credited), because his previous film (Godzilla vs King Gidorah) was lot better than this one.

The only reason I could think of for this movie's special effect being so bad was that it was rushed for summer season when kids are off school. These movies are primarily targeted I believe for elementary school kids which I think is grave mistake on Toho's part, because many children enjoyed Gamera 3 which was not catering to younger audiences.

Asides from the above, this movie has more than few things in common with the original Mothra vs Godzilla (1964).

1. There's a corrupt real estate developer as the main protagonist.

2. A typhoon exposes Mothra's egg.

3. Two man and a woman goes on an expedition to Infant (Mothra) island.

4. It's two monsters against one Godzilla.

5. Actor Akira Takarada stars in both movies.

This DVD comes together with Godzilla vs King Gidorah which Toho created as their 60th anniversary project, which is one of the best Godzilla movie of the '90s.

The fourth movie in the Heisei series, this Godzilla movie is a fairly solid entry in the long-running Godzilla series. This was the most successful Godzilla movie of the Heisei series although critically, it's seen as one of the lesser films in the second Godzilla series.

The plot deals with a meteor crashing on earth, awakening Godzilla, Battra, and uncovering Mothra's egg. Battra attacks mankind for poisoning the environment, Godzilla attacks EVERYTHING, and Mothra tries to protect mankind from both menaces. There's a sub-plot thrown in dealing with a treasure-hunter and his ex-wife, as well as some not-so-subtle themes about the environment and Megumi Odaka as the psychic Mike Saegusa (sadly, her role is thin in this one).

The special FX are great for the most part. The kaiju battles are fierce, although a bit too flashy (due to the nature of the monsters). There are some memorable scenes: Godzilla rising out of the volcano, Godzilla destroying Yokohama, Mothra coming out of its cocoon, and some others. The main liabilities in the special FX is Godzilla's return to his old roar (as opposed to the one he used in the previous 3) and Mothra's attack on Tokyo doesn't look too convincing.

Overall, a good monster movie. The pace moves reasonably well. The monsters are fun and exciting as always. The preachy manner of our need to protect the environment isn't handled well, but it's not like it matters too much. After all, I watch these movies to see monsters fighting.

With this movie of the Heisei (1980s-1990s) series, I think Toho studios was on a role. With cool special effects and beautiful music, this became one of the top 10 grossing Godzilla movies. Who wouldn't like to see a rematch between Godzilla and Mothra. This movie is an update of the 1964 version of "Mothra vs. Godzilla."

Mothra's egg is exposed after a storm (or meteorite) hits it. A trio of explorers try to bring the egg to Japan under the influence of a greedy entrepreneur (sound familiar?). Godzilla appears out of the ocean to attack the explorers' ship, which is hauling the egg. The egg hatches into Mothra and the two do battle. The Peanuts, who played Mothra's twin priestesses in the 1964 movie, were succeeded by the Cosmos. They talk in unison, as usual. Dressed in pink with braided hairs and wearing Mothra signs, they bring back the traditional "Mothra's Song." If you're interested on buying a Godzilla soundtrack, see if you can track down the record version of this song, performed by the Cosmos with music by Akira Ifukube. It rocks! The song is sing in Malaysian, as always. However, in the record version, the Cosmos sing a verse of the song in Japanese. With echoing concepts from the original film this movie introduced a new monster, Battra (Mothra's evil twin), who is out to destroy earth but ended up helping Mothra battle Godzilla. How depressing to see the main guy Takuya (Indiana Jones?) in the film rooting for Mothra and Battra while battling Godzilla at an amusement park with his annoying ex-wife Masako and his irritating daughter Midori. She talks to the Cosmos and Mothra like she was talking to any human being. Where's her astonishment? Somebody should buy her a Godzilla toy and send her home!

Plenty of monster action, but I would have like to see Godzilla stomp on the city more and Mothra and Battra take a few more beatings from Godzilla, to the shock of the humans watching. And, I would have liked to see the Cosmos and their purpose emphasized more positively. They care for the Earth and wanted to appeal to its leaders to save the environment, but then again call for Mothra to save them from the entrepreneur while destroying Tokyo in the process??

Many of the characters in this movie is a little off-the-wall, with the exception of Miki Saegusa. She delivered another solid performance, helping to enhance the suspense of this story. She uses her psychic powers again, this time to track down the Cosmos.

Some sounds effects were a little off, like Godzilla's radiation beam sounding like it needs tuning and the larvae stage of Mothra sounds like it is on roller skates. But hey, this Godzilla flick is an satisfactory source of entertainment on a boring, weary weekend.

Grade C+

Number four in the Heisei Godzilla movies, and it's the return of Mothra!

However, there's a new monster thrown into the mix, the creature known as Battra!

Big G isn't too bad in this one. I'm not too sure about the sound of his atomic heat beam. I think it needs checking.

Mothra is back, but her larva form doesn't move in the way it did before. It's like she'd just propelled on rollers.

Battra is a very good newcomer. I don't know which form I like best, the larva or flying forms.

This is a good movie, but it's not the best.

A meteorite falls from the sky into the "Ogasawara Trench" in the Pacific Ocean. It awakens Godzilla, and Battra ( a sea going monster with a huge horn in its' forehead, and spikes for skin). The meteorite inspires an atoll to pop up and expand into an island. Cut to an Indiana Jones wanna-be, who is busily robbing an ancient tomb somewhere in Indonesia. After he gets the relic he wants, and escapes from the trap his thievery sets off, he's caught by government men and jailed. After being freed from jail by a company that wants his relic, He and his ex-wife, who works for the company, go to the new island, "Infant Island". There they find a giant, multi-hued egg, and discover mini twins, (they're called The Cosmos in this movie) who live in a flower, and will translate the various noises the Monsters make. A ship is hired to take the Egg back to Tokyo. It Hatches on the way back And that's just the first fifteen minutes.

Let's see - The Cosmos sing four songs to Mothra, in untranslated Japanese; Battra's red eyes shoot red lasers, which kill everything they touch; Godzilla shoots blue lasers from his mouth that make things explode, and which whitens his teeth ( he ought to patent that); and Mothra shoots white..stuff that forms a cocoon for him when he's ready to evolve, or which immobilizes his enemies. When Battra and Mothra have morphed into their flying forms, they are actually beautiful ( as long as the camera doesn't get too close). Nagoya (sp?), Tokyo , and Yokohama get stomped in this one.