Godzilla vs. Mothra (Gojira tai Mosura) (1992) |
BUY IT |
General | Extras | ||
Category | Science Fiction |
Theatrical Trailer-Teaser Trailers (3), Theatrical Trailer, TV Spot Gallery-Photo-Stills Gallery-Poster Trailer-Madman Trailers |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 1992 | ||
Running Time | 98:23 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Takao Okawara |
Studio
Distributor |
Madman Madman Entertainment |
Starring |
Tetsuya Bessho Satomi Kobayashi Takehiro Murata Saburo Shinoda Akiji Kobayashi Akira Takarada Makoto Otake Keiko Imamura Sayaka Osawa Kenpachiro Satsuma 'Hurricane Ryu' Hariken |
Case | Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip | ||
RPI | $24.95 | Music | Akira Ifukube |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | English | Smoking | No |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
Japanese director Ishiro Honda surely could not have known what he was unleashing on the world when, in 1954, he created the first Godzilla (Gojira) movie. A highly influential monster movie feeding off the Cold War paranoia of the time and, specifically, the fear of nuclear weapons in the wake of the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it spawned a slew of sequels that were being churned out as recently as 2003, with the culmination of the Mekagojira trilogy, not to mention a Hollywood version and a series of monster movie parodies, including a Korean one in 2006 – the highly enjoyable The Host (which definitely owes more to Japanese monster movie making than to Hollywood ventures like King Kong and Jaws).
The 1990s saw a resurgence of popularity in those tacky Gojira low-budget popcorn flicks, including a trio of movies directed by Takao Okawara, commencing with the subject of this review – Godzilla vs Mothra (Gojira vs. Mosura), an attempt to revive the franchise for the Japanese market after Godzilla 1985 all but sank it, particularly insofar as US audiences were concerned, and perhaps also an effort by Okawara to redeem himself, having been the second unit director on that schlockfest.
I have to say that my experience of Godzilla is from the late-night Saturday cult film on SBS, which used to kick off about 10pm, and I would often arrive home at about 10:30pm from work and watch the last hour or so before heading out to whatever was going on that night. The great thing was that, with shows like this, you could miss the first 30 minutes and it didn’t seem to make a difference. Furthermore, they were often hilariously funny, putting you in a great mood before heading out, particularly if you were having a couple of drinks with friends at your place before heading off. So I have some nostalgic attachment to these movies, but I also take them for exactly what they are – lurid B-movies cashing in on a classic franchise.
Godzilla vs Mothra has a relatively simple plot – but don’t they always? Utilising another of Ishiro Honda’s creations, this time Mosura, from Honda’s 1961 Gojira follow-up, oddly enough entitled Mosura (Honda clearly had a flair for creative titles), Okawar revisits the classic territory of both films and attempts to combine them both into a monster-movie face-off – though perhaps without the overtones of a Nicolas Cage versus John Travolta style John Woo-directed action powerhouse. Let’s face it, while Face/Off might have had overtones of ridiculous science fiction, it was a far better movie than this effort at pillaging the best of Honda’s early work. In order to get both Gojira and Mosura in the same scene, we get the resurgence of another classic creature from Gojira mythology – this time the unbeatable Battra (I understand I’m meant to put the “trademark” symbol after this one too, but it all just seems like too much effort).
What begins as a barely decipherable plot about a Japanese fortune hunter stylised after Indiana Jones but with the acting ability of a well worn shoe turns into a mega monster fest with all three creatures – Battra, Gojira and Mosura – ravaging various Japanese cities. Unfortunately, in order to work in a sub-plot about ecological disaster and an environmentally friendly feel-good message, the overall plot comes out as a total mess with the motives and actions of most of the characters seeming worse than an Anita Blake novel where things just happen because author Laurell K. Hamilton seems to want them to, not because there is any plausible reason for them to do so. As a result, an example of fine Aristotelian story-telling this is not – but what do you expect; it’s a monster movie!
In short, if you can take this for what it is, you’ll have a ball laughing at just how bad it can be. If you’re after a serious science fiction horror monster movie flick (that sounds like a contradiction in terms, but anyway...), look elsewhere.
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, this is close to its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1.
This is an acceptable transfer, but far from a good one. While the picture suffers only mildly from film artifacts occasioned by damage to the print, there is some fairly obvious grain.
More troubling, however, is a fairly average contrast to the image and a less than stellar colour saturation. The whole show has a fairly pastel, washed-out look to it and the blacks had a general sense of grey about them the whole way through that was less than stellar. Part of that has to do with the fact that all the various and long FX scenes of puppets and men in rubber suits are filmed in a soft filter focus that smudges the whole shot. Part of it is that this is not a polished film with plenty of post-production.
Overall, I was not overwhelmed by this transfer, although I’m resigned to the fact that this is probably the best this show has ever looked or ever will look.
Subtitles are available in English, and are yellow with a grey border. They are clear and easy to read.
The cover says this is a dual-layer disc but I saw no dual-layer, so either it is not a dual-layer disc or the dual-layer is very subtle.
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Audio is available in Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound plus the original Japanese 2.0 Dolby Digital Mono and an English 2.0 Dolby Digital Mono overdub. I did the 5.1 track the whole way through and sampled the others.
The 5.1 Dolby Digital track is limited by its monoaural origins so it is a very directional monoaural field as if several mono cues were coming from each surround speaker.
Dialogue is clear and suffers from no discernible sync faults.
The music has a slightly canned quality about it, but I’m not sure how much of the budget was eventually sunk into the scoring – judging by the fact that it’s the one sequence repeated again and again, I would suggest, not much.
The subwoofer comes to life fairly regularly during the various destruction sequences, but with the monoaural field it seems very out of place.
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All menus are presented in 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced. The main menu has scenes from the show with sound in 2.0 Dolby Stereo. The other menus are static and silent.
This includes the teaser trailer, the theatrical trailer, and the TV spot. Oh my how far advertising has come.
Trailers for:
There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The R1 release comes as a double pack with Godzilla vs King Ghidorah or in a 7-pack with a bunch of other Godzilla movies. Aside from NTSC/PAL differentials and Region Coding, I hear that the US release has been shortened so most of the end credits are gone and it’s not 16x9 enhanced. Looks like we definitely get the better version of the film, though we lose the double-pack bonus.
Godzilla vs Mothura is a silly, silly film but good for beer and pizza nights with the boys ... though maybe leave it until later in the night after you’ve downed a six-pack or more, trust me.
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Review Equipment | |
DVD | Sony Playstation 3 (HDMI 1.3) with Upscaling, using HDMI output |
Display | Sony VPL-VW60 SXRD Projector with 100" Longhorn Pro-Series White Matt 16:9 screen. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Sony TA-DA9000ES |
Speakers | Jensen QX70 Centre Front, Jensen QX45 Left Front & Right Front, Jensen QX20 Left Rear & Right Rear, Jensen QX-90 Dual 10" 250 Watt Subwoofer |