Often cited as one of the series highlights, you would be surprised how much trouble I went through trying to track down a copy of this movie. As these things often turn out, I now have 2 copies of it, one recorded from the TV, of a wonderfully subtitled Japanese version, and the most recent US DVD release.

One of the biggest challenges when reviewing this movie is selecting which name to refer to it by. While my DVD is called Godzilla Vs. Mothra, the movie also goes by the titles Mothra Vs. Godzilla and Godzilla Vs. The Thing, the latter being the most popular alternate title, an amusing example of the US distributors not thinking Mothra was a worthy enough opponent, and posters for the movie featuring Godzilla squaring off against a tentacled question mark. But due to the fact it's what my DVD calls it, for this review, the movie is being referred to as Godzilla Vs. Mothra.

Made in 1964, the movie opens in the midst of a great storm rocking Japan. This storm causes havoc on the beaches, and amongst the things that wash up are a giant egg and Godzilla. The latter takes to his old habit of stomping Japan,causing chaos etc, while the former causes all sorts of unique problems.

A businessman buys the rights to the egg from the local fishermen, and he aims to display it as part of his amusement park. When two foot-high native girls appear and beg for the return of the egg, which belongs to 'The Thing' or 'Mothra'(they can't make up their mind). Not only do the businessman and his partner brush aside their requests, they also try to kidnap them, which luckily goes awry.

The girls, known as the Shobijin(Yumi and Emi Ito), next turn to a reporter named Sakai(Akira Takarada - Gojira), his photographer Yoka(Yuriko Hoshi - Godzilla X Megaguirus) and a professor named Miura(Hiroshi Koizumi - Atragon), they try to help them, but to no avail, as the egg legally belongs to the crooked businessman. Godzilla is threatening to destroy all of Japan, so the three travel to the girl's home of Infant Island, where they witness the devastation caused by nuclear testing, and try to persuade Mothra to help them, because they are good people, and many good people will die if Godzilla carries on his reign of terror. Mothra informs them that she is very weak and near death, but she will try to help them get rid of Godzilla, and in turn reclaim her egg. This sets up for the dramatic showdown between the King and the Queen of the monsters, with Japan's fate being decided...


The plot of Godzilla Vs. Mothra works quite well because it's basic enough to not over complicate matters, but has enough going on, both with the monsters and the human characters, to keep the viewer interested. Godzilla is still evil here, angry at the world for dropping an A-Bomb on his head, and Mothra is Earth's saviour, benevolent, although requiring some coaxing into helping the outsiders after their treatment of Infant Island.
The humans are fairly easy to pidgeon-hole, with the good reporters and scientist against the corrupt businessman and his pawn amusement park owner. In many respects, it's almost a remake of Mothra's debut picture, but with the added element of Godzilla thrown in.
If there is one fault with the plot, it's that we don't really see the monsters get up to much, with them not really taking on much screentime at all until their climatic battle. I'd be lying if I said this didn't hurt the film a little, especially given that the main reason you watch a 'Godzilla Vs...' movie is to see monster-carnage, although in all fairness, it does make you appreciate it a bit more when it arrives.

The acting, well Im sure if you've read any of my other reviews dealing with foreign films, especially ones like this, that Im not too keen on being harsh on the acting, but to be honest, there didn't appear to be anything to complain about, with almost every actor here being, or turning out as a bit of a Godzilla movie veteran. The main reason Im reluctant to be harsh on the acting of such people is the usually woeful job done of dubbing these films, and to be honest, apart from the whole confusion over calling Mothra the thing, there really didn't seem to be much up with it, and it didn't differ too much to the subbed version.

Music is by Akira Ifukube, which basically translates to it being brilliant, with the man being wonderful at whipping up masterful scores, especially for monster movies. His themes are one of the things that kept the Godzilla series endearing, even after the quality of movie went downhill, and coupled with material that is decent, as it is here, the effect is good.

The special effects are often highly praised for this movie, and while they certainly aren't terrible, and are actually pretty spiffy for the 60s, but they aren't all they are cracked up to be. While the Godzilla suit is looking better than it did in his dreadful outing against King Kong, I still feel it isn't up to standard with the original suit, and to be honest, Mothra was pretty damn ambitious to try and pull off in those days, and while Eiji Tsuburaya and his effects crew did a remarkabley good job, Mothra, in this day and age, does look rather raggy and sporting car headlamps for eyes.

To be honest, while I enjoyed Godzilla Vs. Mothra, it certainly wasn't anywhere near the top of my list of favourite Godzilla movies, and I do feel it is slightly overrated, possibly due to people just declaring it's good because it's one of the last 'serious' films to feature Godzilla from the original series. For me, it seems a bit middle of the road, it's most exciting parts are definitely the monster showdown at the end, but it tries to combine the monster-mashing fun of the latter movies with the slower pace of the original picture, and ends up as feeling a little bogged down and neither here nor there. But with this said, if you like Godzilla movies, it isn't a movie I can see you disliking, because it doesn't really have anything to hate about it, and is generally one of the better made Godzilla features.

I think 3 stars and a recommended just about fits the picture. It's too high quality for less than 3 stars, but it simply didn't have the same memorable qualities as some of my more preferred Godzilla movies to really warrant a higher rating, and is a series entry that I can generally only see fans getting much out of, although it would probably be passable for those who don't hate the genre. It never veers into the 'bad/funny' that some of the next few movies would fall into, so those going in for a chuckle may be disappointed. This isn't a perfect movie, and not even, in my eyes, one of the series pinnacles, but it is an entertaining evening, especially for the Godzilla fans out there.

Year: 1964
Titles: Mosura tai Gojira
Godzilla Vs. Mothra
Godzilla Vs. The Thing

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Godzilla's Revenge
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Godzilla: Domination for Gameboy Advance
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Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8