Mothra vs Godzilla
"Its intentions are good, but while searching for food, it could destroy everything on the way. We wish to avoid such trouble." - the twin Shobijin
release year: 1964
genre: Godzilla
viewing setting: home DVD, 7/5/19 and 5/6/98
synopsis: A giant egg washes up on shore after a storm, around the same time Godzilla re-appears nearby.
impressions: This one brought in a giant monster that had starred in its own movie a few years before. As with the first two movies in this franchise, this one came in both Japanese and American versions (the latter was called Godzilla vs the Thing) and I watched the Japanese one to get the genuine experience. This was in color and widescreen, and I have to say, the print looked great! And so did Godzilla, for the most part - his head and teeth were still non-dorky like they had been in the first two movies, and his tail was fairly animated. I will point out that he had some odd ridges above his eyes, which made him look goofy from a certain angle, but that was minor. I also need to note that Godzilla was clearly the bad guy in this one. Some other memorable elements: greedy evil businessmen who want to profit from the giant egg...the miniature twin women who want the egg back, and represent Infant Island and (indirectly) Mothra, and sing to summon her, and sometimes get carried around in a small case that reminded me of the one I used to have for my Star Wars figures in the early 1980s...Godzilla tripping and falling into a building and then having a tantrum...another massive last-minute construction project by the humans to set a trap for Godzila...Godzilla randomly destroying the hotel containing the bad guys...Godzilla becoming infuriated at the giant egg for no real reason.
Ths one took almost an hour to get to the battle, and there were two (at 0:59-1:05 and then a rematch at 1:19-1:27.) The first battle featured Mothra's wings making a severe wind, Godzilla firing his breath randomly as he was tossed about, Mothra dragging Godzilla around by the tail, Mothra utilizing the aerial advantage, and Mothra producing some sort of yellow poison powder and flying away to die, because this was her time to die. At this point, the humans tried again - with tanks and airplanes and bombs and artillery, as well as high-voltage power lines, but none of it stopped Godzilla. Well, actually, the power lines did for a second until he said "screw this" and took the pain and pushed the electrical tower over. And then the human protagonists teleported to the beach! And it was suddenly daytime instead of nighttime! And THEN some other power poles began zapping Godzilla at the same time as the planes dropped giant nets on him! This was working until the power grid overloaded, but by then the twin fairies were singing (as were the natives on Infant Island, far away, in synchronized summoning song) which caused twin larval Mothras to be born. And this commenced the second battle, which was really more of a chase. One of them latched onto Godzilla's tail, which caused him to go apeshit and begin flailing around. Then they used guerilla tactics and spewed silk webbing onto Godzilla until he was covered and fell into the ocean and...that was the end?
Definitely a lot going on in this one. But with plenty of entertaining battle, it was pretty good.
number in Godzilla series: 4
previous Godzilla movie in series: King Kong vs Godzilla
next Godzilla movie in series: Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
other giant monsters appearing in this one: Mothra (in multiple formats)
total giant monster battle time: about 14 minutes
acting: They re-used several actors from previous films in the franchise. Akira Takarada (who was the main rescue diver in Godzilla) is the main reporter in this one. Hiroshi Koizumi (who was the second pilot in Godzilla Raids Again) is a scientist in this one. Yuriko Hoshi is a spunky photographer, and she's always positive and flippant as opposed to being weak like previous female characters in this franchise. Kenji Sahara and Yoshifumi Tajima are unsavory businessmen.
final word: Another successful monster-battle entry in the series.
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