Godzilla vs. Mothra (Gojira tai Mosura) (1992)

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General		Extras
Category	Science Fiction	Theatrical Trailer-Teaser Trailers (3), Theatrical Trailer, TV Spot Gallery-Photo-Stills Gallery-Poster Trailer-Madman Trailers
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)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
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

     During the opening titles, a meteor crashes into the sea south-east of Japan, affecting the Earth’s tectonic plates and awakening Godzilla. At the same time a typhoon rages north of Indonesia, its torrential rain creating a rockslide on Infant Island, revealing a giant egg. Elsewhere, Indiana Jones-type archaeologist Takuya Fujita (Tetsuya Bessho) is languishing in a Thai gaol after a failed attempt to steal a statue when he is recruited by his ex-wife Masako (Satomi Kobayashi) and the Marutomo property development company to visit Infant Island (which the company intends to redevelop). Takuya, Masako and company employee Kenji Ando (Takehiro Murata) travel to the island and have various adventures involving a precarious bridge and a river. They find the egg and also discover twin tiny female creatures called Cosmos, who reveal that the egg belongs to Mothra, guardian of the Earth. 12,000 years ago the Earth had been peaceful until disturbances with the Earth’s life force resulted in conflict between Mothra and Battra (called the “Black Mothra”). Now humans were again threatening the wellbeing of the Earth with pollution and overdevelopment, hence the Earth’s life force is again stirring. The Cosmos agree to accompany the egg to Japan; it is moved to a barge and towing commences.

     Meanwhile, Godzilla is not the only monster awoken by the meteor; Battra (at this stage a large caterpillar type creature) also awakens and comes ashore to Japan. Impervious to the military’s weapons, it destroys a city before heading back out to sea. Away to the south, the ship towing the egg with Takuya, Masako, Ando and the Cosmos on board is attacked by Godzilla; the egg hatches and the Mothra larvae battles Godzilla until Battra arrives and makes it a three-way contest. Locked together, Godzilla and Battra sink to the sea bed and are engulfed by volcanic magma; Mothra swims back to Infant Island.

     Back in Japan, Ando steals the two Cosmos and takes them to Takeshi Tomokane (Makoto Otake), the greedy the head of Marutomo Corporation, who decides to keep them captive and use them to promote his company. Masako wants to return them to Infant Island, but Tomokane refuses; Takuya then takes a hand and steals them back, but his act is hardly altruistic as he offers to sell them to an American company for $1 million. Distressed, the Cosmos call to Mothra, who leaves the island to come to their rescue, destroying navy warships and part of Tokyo in the process. And just to compound the military’s problems, Godzilla bursts through Mt Fiji and Battra returns to wreak havoc. The stage is set for a climactic battle to decide the fate of Earth.

     Godzilla vs. Mothra: Battle for Earth (simply Gojira tai Mosura in Japan) from 1992 was the follow-up to the terrific Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah of the year before. While it had a new Godzilla director in Takao Okawara, Kazuki Ohmori, the writer / director of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, continues as writer, while the director of special effects Koichi Kawakita and special effects production designer Tetsuzo Osawa return, as does original Godzilla composer Akira Ifukube. Indeed, the music and the special effects are the film’s highlights. The special effects, a combination of models, men in suits plus early CGI, are exciting, explosive, colourful and effective; there is enough destruction of model buildings, ships, tanks, bridges and roads to satisfy the most demanding fan. The budget was also enough to get into shot some real tanks. The monster fights vary in quality. Some, such as the Godzilla / Battra underwater fight, are hard to see, but others, such as the three-way climax within the environs of Tokyo, are very colourful and spectacular. And amid the mayhem there are some quite beautiful sequences, especially Mothra’s transformation on top of the Japanese parliament building.

     The humans fare less well. The first 28 minutes start with an Indiana Jones-type adventure with not a monster in sight. But once the monster rampages start, the humans are relegated to standing around looking awed and / or amazed, and they make no contribution to the resolution of the film. Other characters are underdeveloped: greedy Marutomo Head Tomokane just disappears from the plot, and the character of Professor Fukazawa (Saburo Shinoda) seems to be there for a reason, although that reason is hard to discern. Meanwhile, Environmental Planning Board Chief Minamino (Akira Takarada) stands around giving dire warnings about the environment. Takarada had been the lead in three of the best Godzilla films from the mid 1960s, Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964), Godzilla – Invasion of the Astro Monster (1965) and Godzilla vs. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966), but this was a long way from there. As well, the scenes where Takuya’s young daughter pricks his conscience by telling him she does not want to be the daughter of a thief are decidedly mawkish! However, in the end the humans really don’t matter, for it is the monsters and their battles that are important.

     If Godzilla vs. Mothra is not quite as good as Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah due to the uninteresting leads and the blatant environmental message, it is still a strong, enjoyable Godzilla film featuring mass destruction of cities, colourful creature fights, and that wonderful Akira Ifukube score. While not one of the very best, it is still highly entertaining, and is especially a must for Mothra fans.

Video

     Godzilla vs. Mosura is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, close to the original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     This is a good print. While some back projection scenes and CGI shots are not overly sharp, the rest of the film has good sharpness and clarity. Colours vary. In the early scenes in the jungle on Infant Island, the colours look flat and not particularly vibrant. In contrast, during the sequence after Mothra transforms, the yellows and reds on her wings brilliantly stand out against the dark night sky. Blacks and shadow detail are fine, brightness is consistent and skin tones are good. There is mild grain but I did not notice any film or film-to-video artefacts.

     The English subtitles are in a very clear yellow font and have no obvious spelling or grammatical errors. This print is the Japanese version: on the occasions when English is spoken, white burnt in Japanese subtitles appear.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a choice between Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 Kbps, Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 at 224 Kbps and English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 224 Kbps. The 5.1 is quite good, if not window-shattering. Dialogue is clear; it has separation and reasonable clarity. The surrounds are used for music and effects, and the subwoofer supported the music, explosions and the rumble of Godzilla’s feet. While not up to more recent standards, this has a good enveloping feel that compliments the onscreen action.

    The Japanese 2.0 is surround encoded but sounds thin by comparison. The English 2.0 is very much a poor third. It is mono only and the voice cast are indifferent, so this track should be avoided.

     The score by Akira Ifukuba is simply wonderful and adds to the film experience. The Godzilla March is used selectively, but when it occurs it helps build the tension very nicely.

     Lip synchronisation is good.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Original Trailers

     Included are 3 Teaser Trailers (1:38 in total), the original Theatrical Trailer (1:53) and a TV spot (0:32).

Stills Gallery

     10 movie stills.

Poster Gallery

     3 Japanese film posters.

Madman Trailers

     Trailers for other films from Madman; Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (II) (1:43), Godzilla - Invasion of Astro Monster (2:24) and Godzilla vs. Hedorah (2:13).

    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.

     The Region 2 Japanese version has an audio commentary by director Takao Okawara, a “making of” (approximately 50 minutes), behind the scenes, staff parties, music composing, deleted scenes, trailers, music video, photo galleries and a multi-angle section. However, the feature, featurettes and commentary do not have English subtitles.

     The US Region 1 disc has an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and is non 16x9. There are a number of Region 2 European versions; some are not 16x9 enhanced and none have any significant extras.

     Region 4 is the pick for English speakers.

     If Godzilla vs. Mothra is not quite as good as the great Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah from the year before, it is still a strong, enjoyable Godzilla film featuring mass destruction of cities, colourful creature fights and that wonderful Akira Ifukube score. It is still very entertaining, and a must for Mothra fans.

     The film is presented on a DVD with good video and audio but minimal extras.

     Godzilla vs. Mothra: Battle for Earth is included in the Madman 5 disc box set Godzilla Heisei Series along with Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (II) (1993), Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla (1994) and Godzilla vs. Destroyah (1995). For a RPI of $49.95 the box set is still a fabulous way to stay in touch with “the original monster of mass destruction” during his later reincarnations.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall