In 1964 Toho studios began decided it would be a good idea to let Godzilla have a whack at another established monster within their kaiju family. This was the first Godzilla film to pit Godzilla and Mothra together and weave their discorporate back stories into one amazingly well conceived film.

AIP brought this one to the states with neither a poor dubbing job nor inserted scenes. Apparently someone at AIP recognized the quality of the actual story, and perhaps saw some of the flaws in the earlier Americanized releases. Thus we get Godzilla vs Mothra sporting the original music, a fantastic score by Akira Ifikube, all scenes intact, and talented voice work.

The only problem this film had on initial release was the name. Mothra was not considered all that threatening, so in keeping with the tradition at AIP of lurid titles for generating buzz, this film was released as “Godzilla vs The Thing!” and the other monster was obscured on the posters.

That probably hurt this movie more than anything else. Consider waiting in line to see what is advertised as Godzilla’ s most terrifying enemy and finally meeting... A big moth.

Yes, it’s anticlimactic.

That aside, this proves to be one of the most fun Godzilla movies from the whole Showa series. What we get aside from kaiju mayhem is; a greedy corporation screwing local fishermen out of their property, money, and a giant egg, two reporters investigating that corporation and its shifty boss, the twin fairies (known as The Peanuts) from Infant Island who have a spiritual connection to Mothra, an island that is considered uninhabitable but still contains a whole society of native people who worship a giant moth.

That’s an awful lot for one plate.

Godzilla vs Mothra plays to the growing environmental movement of the early 1960’s. The film begins with a typhoon ravaging Infant Island and a single egg washing into the turbulent ocean.

We meet our heroes just after, they are Ichiro Sakai, Yuki, and Jiro Nakamura, all reporters for one of Japan’s newspapers. Sakai and Yuki are investigating the dealings of Mr. Kumiyama, a ruthless businessman who is developing an industrial site on the shoreline. His operation was destroyed by the typhoon, and he is anxious to rebuild with the help of local politician Torohata.

Jiro Nakamura is part of a running gag related to his love of eggs, but does provide some well timed comedy as the film moves on. He is closer to both of the main characters in King Kong vs Godzilla, that is, sort of funny regardless of the situation, but unlike the “road picture” characters in King Kong vs Godzilla, Jiro never wears out his welcome.

The local fishermen, displayed by Kumiyama’s construction, bring the giant egg to shore. Some underhanded dealings between Torohata, now a chairman in Kumiyama’s corporation, and the fishermen put Kumiyama in a position of ownership over the egg.

This is where the problems start. The egg is not radioactive, according to Dr. Murata, but clearly comes from no known specimen of... well... anything.

Also awakened by the typhoon is Godzilla, who until the storm hit, lay buried beneath the construction site. Ostensibly this is where he ended up at the end of his last film King Kong vs Godzilla. Well, he’s awake now, and pissed.

The suit in this film is brand new and a marked improvement over the King Kong vs Godzilla suit of the last film. He looks perpetually angry with a newly sculpted face, hanging upper jowls (which look great!) and almost squinty eyes. He immediately begins rampaging through the countryside.

The twin fairies of Infant Island come to beg Kumiyama to “please return the egg” but he ignores them. This is obviously a mistake, but never mind that. Sakai and Yuki chase the Godzilla story and pin the blame for the whole event on Kumiyama, which in all fairness isn’t his fault... Well, not yet I guess.

With Sakai and Yuki’s help the fairies escape Kumiyama and Torohata and return to Infant Island. Knowing that Godzilla can’t be stopped by mere mortal men and their machines of war, Sakai and Yuki appeal to the natives of Infant Island to ask Mothra to help them.

We get to hear the fairies sing to wonderful songs in this film. The first is the “Mosura... Mos-u-ra,” song that was in the original Mothra movie, the second is a hauntingly beautiful piece that wakes the beast up.

I actually picked up the Best of Godzilla 1954-1977 CD specifically for these two songs.

And, gosh those little girls are cute!

Back at Infant Island the natives reluctantly agree to ask Mothra for help and we are treated to several long, well shot, exciting, fun battles between the big G and Mothra. See, apparently Godzilla knows of the egg and wants to eat it. Mothra wants the egg back at Infant Island, so the stage is set.

Mothra though, is dying.

Overall this film really showcases what can be done with a Godzilla movie special effect wise. Godzilla is clumsy, and as in the previous film, shot mostly in slow motion to enhance the appearance of bulkiness and weight. Godzilla even gets his tail stuck in a tower and crashes to the ground.

The mother Mothra model/costume is fantastic, the wings even have a little flutter at the tips, which is a definite nice touch. The caterpillar Mothra’s look cool too, and even manage to hold their own against the Big G, finally coating him in silk and driving him off until the next movie.

Kumiyama has the best line in any kaiju film. When confronted by Torohata who is asking for the money promised to the fishermen for the egg, Kumiyama blurts, “they can’t have it. I need all the money I can get.”

It’s a laugh-out -loud silly line.

There are a couple of different options for this film should you choose to buy. I picked up a letter boxed copy that looks absolutely flawless on VHS no less! There is also a cropped version kicking around, but really, who wants to see only half of the film?

The DVD contains both the cropped and letter boxed versions.

Considering you can pick these up for less than ten bucks or so now, this is certainly the best film in the early series, and one of the best kaiju films ever produced.

So what are you waiting for... A typhoon?

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