Movie Name: Godzilla vs. Mothra (II) (a.k.a. "Godzilla and Mothra: Battle for Earth")
Rank: 3 1/2 godzillas

Review:
Just when you thought it was safe to take your woolens out of storage, the giant moth is back! When a giant meteorite plunges into the ocean, the Earth is thrown into ecological turmoil. As if tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, typhoons and earthquakes weren't bad enough, the impact uncovers a Mothra egg which has lain buried for millenia and also awakens the evil Battra ("Dark Mothra"), Mothra's ancient enemy. Then, to make things even worse, Godzilla is roused from his slumber at the bottom of the sea! Well, Battra hates Mothra, Mothra hates Battra, and Godzilla is just generally pissed off at everyone on general principals! Battle after mind-numbing battle ensues, including a great underwater fight scene. At the end, Battra and Mothra decide that team up to defeat Godzilla, Battra is killed, and Mothra takes off to save the planet from being wiped out by a killer comet. Confused? Well, let me try to explain. Thousands of years ago an ancient race called the "Cosmos" lived on Earth and despoiled the heck out of it. In retaliation, the Earth itself created a creature called "Battra" to destroy the ecologically insensitive Cosmos. In self-defense, the Cosmos created Mothra as their protector. The two big bugs battled it out, fought to a standstill, and then went to sleep until the meteorite woke them up. This is the key to understanding the entire movie: Battra was created to protect the Earth, and Mothra was created to protect the people on the Earth. They were enemies only because the people were damaging the planet. Godzilla, however, wreaks havoc on both the planet and the people thereon, so Mothra and Battra are willing to reconcile and join forced to defeat Godzilla. Besides, there's this huge comet streaking toward Earth, which will destroy the entire planet unless Battra can fly out into space to prevent it, and with Battra dead, Mothra has to take his place.... Got all that? All in all, a very enjoyable movie! Now, if only someone would just shoot those annoying twin fairies ...


CREDITS

Gojira tai Mosura [Godzilla vs. Motha] (1992)

CAST
Takuya Fujito...........................Tetsuya Bessho
Masako Tezuka.........................Satomi Kobayashi
Cosmos....................Keiko Imamura & Sayaka Osawa
Ryuzo Dobashi..........................Shoji Kobayashi
Miki Saegusa..............................Megumi Odaka
Joji Minamino...........................Akira Takarada
Kenji Andoh............................Takehiro Murata
Takeshi Tomokane..........................Makoto Otake

CREW
Director.................................Takao Okawara
Screenplay................................Kazuki Omori
Special Effects........................Koichi Kawakita
Music....................................Akira Ifukube

Running Time: 102 min.

U.S. VERSION:
Released direct to video by TriStar Pictures
Running Time: 102 min.