Godzilla vs Mothra
scientist guy: "Have we found him?"
scientist lady: "We've found where the meteorite landed. It's right next to where Godzilla was sleeping. He was resting deep in this ocean trench. When it landed, it woke the giant creature up from its hibernation."
scientist guy: "Boy, what a day. Godzilla's at large once again."
release year: 1992
genre: Godzilla
viewing setting: home Bluray, 7/27/19
synopsis: The Earth retaliates against the humans who are harming it, with natural phenomena as well as giant monsters.
impressions:
This was the fourth Godzilla movie of the Heisei, or second, era (1984-1995) and the 19th overall. It was called Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth for its American release, and like the last one came in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. For giant monsters, in addition to Godzilla, we have Mothra and Battra, the latter of which is basically an evil Mothra with a more evil coloring scheme, that burrows into the ground, swims fairly well, and fires beams from its evil purple eyes. Like Mothra, Battra evolves from a worm-like larva into a winged form. Other notable elements included: a meteor...a Japanese Indiana Jones complete with a collapsing tomb...a trip to Infant Island...the collapse of a rope bridge, and rafting, and camping, and cave exploration...sunlight showing the way to the Mothra egg...the Cosmos, the new Mothra fairies...a decision to tow the giant egg back to Japan...the debut of the evil Mothra, Battra...Battra destroying some buildings, then burrowing into the ground...Godzilla showing up to intercept the towed egg and generally just being an asshole these days, raging for no reason and picking fights...Mothra hatches at sea...the first battle lasting about seven minutes...Mothra latching onto Godzilla's tail...Battra showing up too, making it a total free-for-all...the unanswered question of how these giant monsters are standing when they're all in the middle of the ocean...some underwater battle...Mothra bolts and leaves the fight...Godzilla's favorite move, grabbing another monster by the tail and thrashing it...the battle causing some sort of major geological disturbance...Godzilla and Battra both falling into a huge crack in the ocean floor...corporate idiocy/theft...Japanese Indiana Jones bolts from a potential family reunion...the Cosmos sing their Mothra song...the unanswered question of why the government doesn't just deal with the asshole CEO whose actions are causing the CITY TO BE DESTROYED...Japanese Indiana Jones stealing the Cosmos from the asshole CEO...a naval blockade that confronts the incoming Mothra (and fails)..."Mommy, is Mr. Mothra coming to Tokyo?"...Mothra just barreling right through the city...Japanese Indiana Jones is forced to make a decision...the kid convinces the Cosmos to call Mothra off...Mothra comes to rest..."Mothra's not dying. This is just the end of its larval stage."...Mothra spins a cocoon...the asshole CEO seems to be taking everything personally...Godzilla emerges from Mount Fuji (and apparently travelled through lava streams to get there)...Mothra emerges in its new form...and isn't the only one who can change to a new form...helicopters and planes equipped with laser cannons...Godzilla makes short work of all the tanks and aircraft...yet another mass evacuation of a major city...and we're set up for a big three-way battle.
The second battle was longer, and like the first one, was good - good special effects, good-looking monsters, and a minimum of switching between monster fighting scenes and human drama scenes. In this movie, during the giant monster battles, the humans pretty much spectate (as they should.) Other things I noticed from the final battle: let's face it, Mothra was not built for fighting...Godzilla's walking rather briskly these days...Battra knocks a building over onto Godzilla...Godzilla later staggers into another building...Mothra and Battra stop fighting each other and mind-meld...the Cosmos glow as they sing...Mothra utiizes the magic gold dust (which reflects Godzilla's energy back at him)..."That's Mothra's final attack."...Godzilla topples a giant ferris wheel onto Mothra, but Battra flies in for the save, and then flies away with the wheel...it should be pretty easy for anyone to guess what happens next...now Mothra can fire energy rays from its antennae...the main characters/family has a ringside seat for all of this...the prime minister guy looks constipated...Godzilla uses his jaws to lethal effect...Mothra and Battra tag-team to carry Godzilla...Battra's eyes deactivate, him and Godzilla fall into the ocean, and that's just the end?...Mothra farts out a gold-dust halo, presumably to somehow seal Godzilla under the water...a late-breaking plot point involving a meteor coming to destroy the Earth in 1999, seven years in the future of this movie's events...the fairies could fly all this time?!?...the main characters are reunited as a family...Mothra can apparently fly in space, apparently thanks to the magic gold dust...this one seems set for a direct sequel.
number in Godzilla series: 19
previous Godzilla movie in series: Godzilla vs King Ghidorah
next Godzilla movie in series: Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II
other giant monsters appearing in this one: Mothra, Battra
total giant monster battle time: about 24 minutes
acting: Main characters: Takuya, the Japanese Indiana Jones wannabe, who's also a thief, a smartass, and a deadbeat dad...Masako, his ex-wife, who works for the government in some capacity...Midori, their daughter, whos smart and spunky and has no hesitation whatsoever yelling out things to giant monsters...Masako's sister, who also works for the government and may be married to the professor...Miki, the ESP girl, who returns again in this one and uses her ESP to find the Cosmos once, but otherwise spectates and looks worried a lot...the Cosmos, twin miniature women who sing to summon Mothra, and who once again get stashed in a carrying case when necessary...Andoh, a stupid company guy who among other things wears a suit and tie to go explore an island and shows blind loyalty to his evil CEO boss...Marumoto, the selfish and money-hungry CEO of a corporation that's done a lot to ruin the Earth.
final word: Odd and confusing plot, but entertaining with great special effects.
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