Godzilla vs. Mothra (Mosura tai Gojira) (1964)

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General		Extras
Category	Science Fiction	Alternative Version-US Version of Godzilla vs. Mothra Theatrical Trailer-Original Godzilla vs. Mothra Trailer Gallery-Poster Trailer-Madman Trailers
Rating
Year Of Production	1964
Running Time	83:53
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Ishirô Honda
Studio Distributor	Toho Company Madman Entertainment	Starring	Akira Takarada Yuriko Hoshi Hiroshi Koizumi Yu Fujiki Emi Ito Yűmi Ito Yoshifumi Tajima Kenji Sahara Jun Tazaki Kenzo Tabu Yutaka Sada Akira Tani Susumu Fujita
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Akira Ifukube

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Unknown	Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (224Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     A typhoon devastates the Japanese islands, bringing destruction and, floating ashore, a massive blue / yellow egg. The egg is purchased from local villages by entrepreneurs Kumayama (Yoshifumi Tajima) and Jiro Torahata (Kenji Sahara) who plan to use it as an exhibit in their theme park that is currently under construction. Also interested in the egg is Professor Miura (Hiroshi Koizumi), who would like to study it for science, and reporter Ichiro Sakai (Akira Takarada) and his photographer girlfriend Junko Nakanishi (Yuriko Hoshi). Then suddenly twin 15 cm high fairies, Shobijin, (Emi and Yumi Ito) appear on the scene speaking and singing in unison. They are the tiny guardians of the egg; they reveal it to be the egg of the giant moth like creature Mothra from the south sea island of Infant where Hydrogen bomb weapons testing had taken place. The typhoon had washed the egg from the soil of Infant Island and the fairies want to take it back. Kumayama and Torahata of course refuse to give up such a potential lucrative exhibit, but Ichiro and Junko try to help without success. So the fairies, regretting the greed of humans, return disappointed to Mothra and Infant Island.

     Then out of nowhere and without warning Godzilla rises from the soil and begins to destroy the surrounding towns. Military weapons are useless; electric fences and tanks fail, people panic. It is decided that Ichiro, Junko and Professor Miura will fly to Infant Island to try to persuade Mothra to return with them to fight Godzilla. When they arrive the natives are hostile; they had been betrayed by the people who had then H-bombed their island, so are in no mood to help the outside world. But Junko successfully persuades the fairies to intercede with Mothra. Back in Japan, Mothra and Godzilla fight until Mothra, fatally weakened, dies. As Godzilla rampages, the blue / yellow egg hatches into two giant larvae who attack Godzilla with web like spray. Can they prevail against the beast and save Japan and the world from Godzilla?

     If the above plot summary sounds silly, it is! This is really two separate films. The first 30 minutes concern the egg of Mothra and the greed of humans. Then, without preamble or explanation, Godzilla appears and we have Godzilla vs. the military until the climactic battle between Godzilla and Mothra and then the larvae and Godzilla. The human characters are basically onlookers, there to bookend the creature action sequences and provide explanation (such as it is). None have any character. The special effects are also quite ludicrous; puppets, model army tanks that melt like the plastic they are, a man in a suit stomping model houses, lots of back projection, and it is hard to be serious about a giant moth puppet taking on a fire breathing huge dinosaur. Or said dinosaur being chased and assaulted by two giant moth larvae! And did I mention the red painted south sea islanders? Yet there is certainly a charm about these hokey effects that does seem entirely fitting to B grade monster movies of the 1960s.

     In spite of, or maybe because of, the silliness Godzilla vs. Mothra is hugely entertaining and a whole lot of fun. It is also certainly whimsical – what else can one say about two tiny singing fairies. It may not make much sense, but why should one look for sense in a monster movie? Just enjoy the spectacle and the entertainment.

Video

     Godzilla vs. Mothra is presented in a ratio of 2.35:1, the original theatrical ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced. While obviously the back projection and matte paintings lack sharpness (just look at any scene involving the fairies), this print is quite good. Other scenes have good clarity, colours are natural and skin tones good. Blacks are fine and shadow detail acceptable for a 40 year old B movie. There is mild grain and minor film artefacts but nothing distracting to spoil the enjoyment of the film.

     Lip Synchronisation is occasionally off but not too bad.

     The English subtitles are in a yellow font in American English. Given this spelling, I did not notice any other obvious spelling or grammatical errors. Some of the subtitles went too quickly to read, and on one occasion only flickered briefly then was gone. However, one could always get the gist of what was being said – most of it is not very important anyway.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
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Film Artefacts
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Audio

     Audio is a choice between Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 Kbps and Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 224 Kbps. The film would have been released with a mono track and in truth this was the track I preferred. While the 5.1 has some separation, there is only very infrequent use of the surrounds for pans and in fact the track sounded quite thin in many sequences, whereas the mono track was more robust, better rendering both Godzilla’s roars and the boom of the tank cannons. However, the mono track did suffer from very occasional distortion, something the 5.1 did not. I still enjoyed the mono better.

     The music by Akira Ifukube is sparingly used but does effectively support the on screen action.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

US Version of Godzilla vs. Mothra (83:53)

     Unlike the US version included on the Godzilla / Gojira disc this is not a re-edited version of the film. Rather, it is essentially the same film (except for a couple of inserted scenes where, for example, American ships are added to a sequence) dubbed into English and with English titles and credits. It is not presented in 2.35:1 but is cropped substantially and looks to be in a ratio closer to 1.85:1, and is not 16x9 enhanced. It is also in much worse shape than the original Japanese version as it exhibits consistent dirt marks, some scratches, variable contrast and some scenes look as if they were filmed through a gauze. Audio offered is a choice of English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 Kbps) or 2.0 mono (224 Kbps). Of minor interest.

Original Theatrical Trailer (2:09)

Poster Gallery

     8 colourful Japanese film posters.

Madman Trailers

     Trailers for other films from Madman. Included is Son of Godzilla (2:35), Breaking News (2:02) and The Grudge (2:08).

     There is a Region 1 version that has both versions of the film with similar video and audio as ours, but includes an audio commentary by Godzilla experts that is apparently quite informative and entertaining. Older US Region 1 and Region 0 versions include only the US version and are non-anamorphic. The only extra of note in the Region 2 Japanese disc is an audio commentary by actor Kenji Sahara, but there are no English subtitles. A win to Region 1 due to the commentary.

     It is hard to take seriously twin 15 cm high singing Japanese fairies, hokey special effects, a giant moth puppet taking on a fire breathing dinosaur, or said dinosaur being chased and assaulted by two giant larvae! Godzilla vs. Mothra has all these and more but is a whole lot of silly fun. It is presented on a DVD with good video and audio and the US version of the film as a substantial extra.

     Mothra vs. Godzilla is included in the Madman 6 disc box set Godzilla Showa Classics Volume 1 along with Godzilla (1954), Godzilla: Invasion of the Astro-monster (1965), Godzilla vs. Ebirah (1966), Son of Godzilla (1967) and Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters (1968). For a RPI of $49.95 this is a fabulous way to get to know “the original monster of mass destruction”.

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