Cheap Godzilla vs. Mothra (DVD) (Akira Takarada, Yuriko Hoshi, Hiroshi Koizumi, Yu Fujiki) (Ishirô Honda) Price

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Customer Reviews of Godzilla vs. Mothra

The greatest of all Godzilla sequels
1964's "Godzilla vs. Mothra," (originally released in the U.S. as "Godzilla vs. The Thing" as a publicity gimmick to hide the identity of Godzilla's adversary) is the best of the many sequels to the original "Godzilla." The film series reached a level of wonderful pop-culture entertainment here: imaginative effects, gripping and simple story-line, and fantastic monster mashing. It's actually a smart, well-put together movie, something that people who look down on Japanese monster movies as silly and stupid would never expect. And it is LOADS of fun.

This film followed up quickly on the massive success of "King Kong vs. Godzilla." The studio, Toho, wanted Godzilla to go up against another 'name' monster, and selected one of their own: the gigantic moth/caterpillar Mothra, who had starred the hit 1961 film "Mothra." The story has Godzilla returning to wreck havoc on Japan (this is the last time for many years that Godzilla would be the unquestioned 'bad guy'), defying the military's numerous ingenious -- but ineffective -- attempts to stop him. The one hope for humanity lies in recruiting Mothra to take on the big lizard. But the people of Infant Island where Mothra lives are reluctant to help because two unscrupulous businessmen have captured Morthra's lost egg and turned it into a sideshow attraction. When they refuse to surrender the egg, it begins to look like Godzilla will get to have his way with Japan unopposed...

The film is absolutely loaded with stunning effects and action sequences. Godzilla's initial rampage in Nagoya is a knock-out, with the Big-G smashing a radio tower and Nagoya castle to the ground (Haruo Nakajima, the actor inside the suit, does a wonderful performance in this scene). The Godzilla suit used in this movie, known as the "Mosu-Goji" to fans, is beautiful: sleek, evil, and extremely personable. The two confrontations between Godzilla and Mothra, the first time in moth form, the second time in caterpillar form, are the best monster fights in all of the G-movies. Effects wizard Eiji Tsubaraya finds creative ways to have the monsters tackle each other, and the music from Akira Ifukube just keeps building and building. The finale is as exciting as anything you'll see in a big effects film from any country.

The human scenes are very effective as well, with good performances all around from actors like Kenji Sahara and Akira Takarada, regulars in monster movies. Director Ishiro Honda provides his customary humanitarian touch to the story, and he takes it with an appropriate level of seriousness. No doubt about it, Honda was a great director, and in his hands, giant monster movies could seem like more than just light entertainment.

The version on this disc is the dubbed American version. The Japanese language version with subtitles is superior -- a five-star rating easily -- but has never been available on a home video format (someone should really do something about this!). However, this is probably the best dubbed version ever of a Godzilla film. The voice acting is quite good, and almost nothing has been changed or edited from the original. Actually, a scene has been added, involving a U.S. military ploy to attack Godzilla with newly developed missiles. (Guess how effective that is.) The only real trouble with the dubbing is that the characters sometimes refer to Mothra as "the Thing" and other times by its real name, which is pretty strange sounding.

The disc has nothing in the way of real extras. Also, the advertised 5.1 stereo is a cheat: the producers of the disc added a few extra sound effects here and there for the back speakers -- such as when Godzilla is being electrified or when tanks are firing -- that sound tinny, awful, and unconnected to the actual film. Stick with the original mono option.

Even dubbed, "Godzilla vs. Mothra" is a four-star film and a must for anyone who loves giant monsters or just wants to have a good time on a Saturday night with friends. ROAR ON GODZILLA!

Dreadful Monster on Monster Action
First the bad: The photographers and the director of this movie were sleeping and in their place they found a bunch of kids with ADD and gave them the cameras. Well that is my theory because of all the Godzilla films this movie has the worst fight scenes. They are analogous to a adult movie when the camera in the middle of the action goes and focuses in on the guy;s butt. Basically when Godzilla was fighting Mothra we saw one random part of Godzilla moving then another part moving then switch over to Mothra and see a part of Mothra moving. All in all it was what made this movie not get a good rating.
Now the Good: The movie was hilariously ironic. Let's say that the evil Happy Enterprises happened to return the egg to Mothra's Island, well then Japan would have been doomed. So maybe evil businesses are capable of good in the long run. Also Happy Enterprises is probably one of the greatest names for a business. All the dialouge was classic. Where did the twins come from; nobody knows.
Also the movie shows a strong anti-nuke message in a not so subtle way. For example the characters on the ravaged island say "this island is reason enough to stop nuclear testing." HINT HINT! The plot like all other Godzilla movies was full of holes and it is also obvious that the Japanease military never learns that tanks are worthless against Godzilla.
For all the Godzilla fans this is a must have, but for the casual viewer pick up a different video.