GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA (1964)
AKA Mothra Vs. Godzilla, Godzilla vs. The Thing
Director: Ichiro Honda
Genre: Daikaiju eiga
THE MOVIE
Godzilla vs. Mothra is the last great kaiju movie of Toho’s Showa era and is widely considered to be among the best of the whole series. It concluded a short string of successful, high-quality movies that began with 1960’s Mothra and continued through King Kong vs. Godzilla. Godzilla vs. Mothra marks the last appearance of a truly malevolent Godzilla until the 1980’s. From here on out, Godzilla would be portrayed as an anti-hero or even a cuddly single dad. This is also reflected in the character’s design, here slightly changed from the great look of the previous movie but still effective and somewhat foreshadowing the character’s look in his 1990’s movies with a longer neck, mammalian face and pronounced trapezoid muscles. Thankfully, he’s still a long way from the muppet-like appearance he would have later in the ‘60’s.
Breakfast: Thwarted,
Godzilla vs. Mothra is also the first time that Godzilla would face off with another one of Toho’s star kaiju and this would become a familiar formula for the entirety of the Godzilla film series. Mothra, Rodan, Varan and Anguirus would be recycled throughout the rest of the Showa series, often teaming up against monsters like Ghidorah, Gigan and Mechagodzilla. These were all original Toho monsters and the studio didn’t have to worry about making deals and licensing headaches as in the case with their Kong crossover. Godzilla vs. Mothra was the first real application of this formula.
Mothra's posse.
This is also one of the most archetypical of all the early Toho kaiju films, and elements of it repeatedly pop up in later movies. Mothra’s self sacrifice for her larvae is repeated again in 1992’s Godzilla and Mothra as well as in 2003’s Tokyo S.O.S. Much of the fight staging is the same as well as the larva’s propensity to bite the end of Godzilla’s tail. The 2003 film even features twin larvae. Godzilla vs. Mothra features a female reporter, which would become a sort of Godzilla stock character.
The story concerns a mysterious gigantic egg that washes up on the Japanese coast during a hurricane. A pair of greedy businessmen and a corrupt politician scheme to steal the egg and exhibit it. Mothra’s twin fairies appeal to a sympathetic pair of journalists and a scientist to have the egg returned to Infant Island to no avail. Godzilla appears from underground (WTF?) and begins terrorizing Japan and eventually making his way to the egg. Mothra shows up to defend her egg (which hatches into twin larva). She sacrifices herself and the two larvae cocoon Godzilla and he falls into the sea. The end.
When a courtesy flush just is not enough.
THE MONSTERS/EFFECTS
Godzilla is oddly clumsy in this movie. He seems to do more damage from stumbling around than intentionally attacking the city. He really does fall down a lot in this movie. And I believe this is one of the only times Godzilla is observed coming out of the earth instead of the sea. AND he gets punked by two caterpillars. The only thing that explains this is that Godzilla had gotten really drunk the night before, passed out in a ditch, got covered in debris and woke up really hung over.
DVD AVAILABILITY
Widely available. A new, deluxe DVD set was recently released with the original Japanese version of the movie and even some extras.
SEQUELS
Immediately followed by Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster and Invasion of the Astro-Monster.
MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE
What the hell was he doing underground anyway?!
SEE ALSO
Godziila vs. Mothra: The Battle for Earth (1992), Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack (2001)
TRIVIA
It was billed in America as Godzila vs. The Thing. People wondered: “The Thing? Jeepers, that sounds neat!”
And then they found out it was a butterfly.
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