Before I begin, I must note that this review is practically a milestone for my website because Godzilla vs. Mothra is the first official Godzilla film that I've reviewed here at the Vault. (Roland Emmerich's Godzilla and my little film, Godzilla: East Meets West don't count.) This review should have been posted nearly a year ago for the Godzilla vs. The Rogues roundtable, but due to writer's burnout, I just never got around to it. Now, after months of delays and false starts, I proudly present my long overdue review for the Toho classic, Godzilla vs. Mothra! This was the fourth Godzilla film made in the still ongoing franchise (Godzilla: Final Wars definitely isn't final, trust me.), and was the last time Godzilla would play a full blown villain until 1984!

As the film begins, a massive hurricane has swept across Japan and caused considerable damage to a land development project. Covering the scene of the devastation is news reporter Ichiro Sakai and his trusty amateur photographer Juko. As Ichiro tosses a few queries to the owner of the recently flooded land, Juko takes her sweet time setting up her camera to take a photo of a curious object she found floating among the debris near the beach. She and Ichiro end up taking the mysterious artifact with them after a new breaking story appears elsewhere in the form of a giant egg! Apparently the egg was blown across the ocean by the hurricane's winds and is now bobbing just off the coast of Japan. Once they arrive on the scene, both Ichiro and Juko doggedly question a scientist who attempting to study the massive egg, namely Dr. Miura. Their converstion is cut short when a sleazy-looking businessman named Kumayama approaches them. Apparently, Mr. Kumayama purchased the egg from the local villagers and is now the exclusive owner. (Apparently the villagers claimed the egg because it was in found in their "territorial" waters.)

After that, the egg is moved to a newly constructed and enormous incubator that is to be the main attraction at a future theme park. (Ok, time out folks! You find a monster-sized egg and the first thing you decide to do is try and hatch it?! Are you nuts?!) In the meantime, Juko, Ichiro, and Dr. Miura have suddenly become good friends and discuss Kumayama's purchase and planned exploitation of the giant egg. They come to the conclusion that perhaps someone else is pulling the strings and that Kumayama is merely a greedy little pawn. It turns out that Ichiro and his friends are indeed correct; Jiro Torahata, the spoiled son of a billionaire, is the mastermind behind the purchase of the egg. He and Kumayama plan on getting their money's worth from their newfound investment. Even when the men are visited by the tiny twin Shobijin, they refuse to give up their precious egg. In fact, the covetous duo attempt to capture the fairies in order to beef up future ticket sales to their fun park! (You can practically see the dollar signs in their eyes when they see the Shobijin!)

Luckily, the miniature girls escape their would-be captors, and seek aid from Ichiro, Juko, and Dr. Miura. The twin fairies need the egg back because it belongs to Mothra. If the egg should hatch before it is returned, the newborn larva will surely cause a great deal of damage as it searches for food. Naturally Ichiro, Juko, and Doc Miura want to help the Shobijin so they arrange a meeting with Kumayama and Torahata. During said meeting, the Shobijin and their trio of normal-sized allies try to talk some sense into the current "owners" of Mothra's egg. As expected, Torahata and Kumayama refuse to negotiate and add insult to injury when they offer to buy the two small women! Obviously these guys are totally unapproachable on the subject of Mothra's egg, so our heroes grudgingly admit defeat and leave Torahata's office. The Shobijin return to their island via Mothra, leaving their newfound friends behind to find a solution. The following day, Ichiro and Juko are called to Dr. Miura's lab on important business.

If you may recall, Juko had found a strange object in some rubble after the hurricane. It turns out that the object is organic and highly radioactive, and both she and Ichiro are given a sort of anti-radioactivity cleansing of some sort. (Looks like a steam room to me. I guess the idea is to sweat out all of the radioactive fallout?) With that taken care of, they all head for the original site where the strange object was found, to see if any more radioactive waste is present. Their investigation is cut short by the landowner, and just as they begin packing things up to leave, something incredibly bad happens: Godzilla emerges from the ground! (Wait huh?! If Godzilla was pummeled and knocked into the sea by King Kong in the previous film, then how has he managed to pop up out of the ground on dry land?!) In any case, Godzilla immediately starts stomping his way through the city of Nagoya and takes out a few landmarks along the way. (Including Nagoya Castle which had to be destroyed in two takes! Apparently it was more durable than expected!)

While the Japanese Self Defense Forces scramble to prepare for Godzilla's onslaught, the American Navy sails in to bombard Godzilla with "Frontier Missiles." (This scene was shot specifically for the American theatrical release of Godzilla vs. Mothra and was never shown in Japanese theaters!) The powerful explosives manage to temporarily knock Godzilla down, but that's about it. After a quick recovery, Godzilla continues his scenic stroll through the Japanese countryside. Things look hopeless for the denizens of the "Land of the Rising Sun" until Ichiro's egg-loving coworker Jiro Nakamura comes up with a brilliant plan. Essentially, "Why not ask Mothra for help?" After applauding Jiro for his ingenious idea, Ichiro, Juko, and Dr. Miura travel to desolate Infant Island to seek help from the island's resident deity. However, their greeting on the island is not a warm one.

Infant Island was ruined by atomic bomb testing in nearby waters and now it's a barren slab of stone in the middle of the ocean. The Shobijin and natives get their nourishment from an unpolluted oasis located within the island's interior. The trio of ambassadors pleads with the natives for Mothra's help, but they refuse to lend out their god to the wielders of the "devil flame." After a heartfelt apology and speech from Juko, followed by a more rational but equally apologetic speech from Dr. Miura, the Shobijin ask Mothra if she's willing. Of course Mothra accepts to do battle with Godzilla to save humanity (hence the film's title), but there is a slight catch. It seems that Mothra was actually waiting to die at home on her comfy altar, but she plans on using her final moments to engage Godzilla in mortal combat in order to save her egg... and oh yeah, the people of Japan too.

With their task completed, Ichiro, Juko, and Doctor Miura go back to Japan and deliver the good news. In the meantime, things aren't going well for Kumayama. It turns out that Jiro Torahata has swindled Kumayama's life savings, and has more than likely ruined his line of credit. Kumayama bursts into Torahata's hotel room and delivers a few blows to his former partner's face. Kumayama then starts clearing out the money from Jiro's metal cabinet. (All that money and Jiro doesn't put a lock on the cabinet?!) Jiro is temporarily stunned from the attack but regains his senses once he sees Godzilla bearing down on the hotel. Torahata shoots Kumayama in the back (coward!), grabs most of his money, and heads for the nearest exit. Unfortunately for Jiro, he's not quick enough and he gets crushed under rubble as Godzilla completely demolishes the building. Godzilla then continues on his trek and eventually arrives at the massive incubator that envelops Mothra's egg.

Godzilla destroys the incubator with his tail and prepares for a monster-sized omelette. At that moment, Mothra arrives on the scene and the movie's first kaiju battle is soon underway. Now you may be wondering one thing: How in the hell is a giant moth going to fight against a radioactive fire-breathing reptile? This was something that the film makers definitely thought through and it shows. Mothra uses her wings to batter Godzilla with hurricane force winds and constantly attacks her dangerous opponent from behind. Mothra manages to get a firm grasp on Godzilla's tale at one point, and drags the Big-G away from her egg. With her egg temporarily safe, Mothra unleashes her final weapon: a sort of poison dust that is excreted through her wings. Godzilla writhes on the ground as the poison engulfs him, but the Big-G manages to knock Mothra out of the sky with a blast of flame, thus ending the battle. In Mothra's dying moments, she flies to her egg and lays a protective wing over it. Seconds later, the once mighty moth monster expires. (She is survived by her two children.)

Instead of stomping back over and finishing what he started with the egg, Godzilla instead starts traveling in the opposite direction. Since Mothra's assault resulted in failure, the Japanese Self Defense Forces enact a series of superfluous attacks. The military attempts to use "artificial lightning" to take Godzilla down while bombarding the creature with missiles and tank shells. The first wave of artificial lightning attacks fails (of course), so the JSDF ups the ante by dropping giant metal nets over Godzilla and cranking up the high voltage! For a few brief moments, it appears that this newest attack may actually defeat Godzilla. (HA! The Japanese will never be that lucky!) Unfortunately, the electrical onslaught is cut short when an overloaded transformer(?) explodes. Godzilla manages to swiftly regain his composure and then tears down the offending high tension towers. After this, the military decides that the best course of action is to get the hell out of Godzilla's way, and a general alert is sounded throughout the area.

Back at Mothra's final resting place, Ichiro, Juko, and Dr. Miura bear witness to the birth of Mothra's twin larvae. (Oh ick! They're all slimy and gross! Miracle of birth my ass!) The two mighty silkworms, mere moments after their birth, go after Godzilla to avenge the death of their mother! The final battle takes place on Iwo Jima, and the two giant grubs manage to give Godzilla quite a fight. Using hit and run tactics, the two larvae manage to encase Godzilla in a shroud of silk. Godzilla then ends up stumbling around blindly until he falls over a cliff and into the sea below. With Godzilla defeated, Mothra’s “children” and the Shobijin return to Infant Island while Ichiro and his friends bid them Sayonara. Yes, peace has been restored in Japan, but that would all change later that year when Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah duke it out in Ghidrah, The Three-Headed Monster!

Godzilla vs. Mothra is definitely one of the best entries in the Showa series of Godzilla films. Toho's holy trinity of fantasy film makers once again combine their talents to create a vastly memorable monster movie. Ishirô Honda took his rightful place as director, Eiji Tsuburaya expertly handled the film's special effects, and Akira Ifukube created the film's spectacular music. The cast of this film is comprised of many familiar faces, including Hiroshi Koizumi, who has played similar roles in several Godzilla films and a slew of other Japanese sci-fi films. Also present are Akira Takarada (Frankenstein vs. Baragon, Godzilla vs. Monster Zero), Jun Tazaki (Atragon, Destroy All Monsters), Yu Fujiki (King Kong vs. Godzilla, Yog, the Space Monster), and lastly Kenji Sahara, a veteran of Toho's sci-fi/fantasy film industry who has had roles in countless Godzilla (and other daikaiju) films. The people I've listed are some of the best actors Toho has ever had, and they all do a fantastic job.

Though the majority of the film revolves around the human characters, Godzilla and Mothra each get a generous amount of screen time. Godzilla continues his streak as the villain, but this time around he actually looks the part. The suit used in the film (known by die hard fans as the Mosugoji suit) is very different from previous designs, and Godzilla looks downright evil in some scenes. (Most notably when he's eyeing up Mothra's egg near the film's climax.) However, Godzilla's aura of doom is slightly tarnished by his clumsiness in this movie. To see what I mean, watch the scene where Godzilla approaches Nagoya castle. The King of the Monsters slips and falls into the ancient structure, then throws a tantrum and rips it down! In contrast, Mothra is a far prettier sight that Godzilla and is portrayed as a graceful, sentient creature. Mothra has a fairly easy time outwitting Godzilla during their struggle, but because she is dying, she doesn't have the strength to carry the fight for long. Had she still been young and in her prime, I predict that Mothra could've taken Godzilla down in this film.

As I stated earlier, Godzilla vs. Mothra is one of the best in the series and is a must see for Godzilla afficionados, as well as fans of Japanese sci-fi and fantasy films. (The odds are pretty good that every Godzilla fan on Earth has already seen this movie.) Currently Godzilla vs. Mothra is available on DVD from Sony's Classic Media division. The DVD showcases a worn (albeit watchable) pan-scan transfer of the movie, and gives you the option of a 2.0 Mono soundtrack or 5.1 Surround Sound. (As is the case with the other Classic Media Godzilla titles, the 5.1 audio track is terrible. Every sound reverberates through your speakers as if you were watching the movie in a cave!) Despite the shortcomings of this release, the DVD is inexpensive and can be found on bargain racks (or bins) in most DVD retailers.

Recently, I've heard news that Classic Media is getting their act together and will be re-releasing Godzilla vs. Mothra, and a variety of other Godzilla films, in their original widescreen formats with "fixed" 5.1 audio tracks. (Once this claim is officilally confirmed, I will most definitely let you know about it here.) In the meantime, you can purchase this film at Video Daikaiju. The DVD-R contains the uncut, widescreen version of the film, with the original Japanese audio track and fairly accurate English subtitles. (The DVD-R also contains the original Japanese theatrical trailer for Mosura tai Gojira!) I've compared it to the current Classic Media release and the difference is monumental! If you're an impatient daikaiju eiga purist, the DVD-R from Video Daikaiju is definitely the way to go.