Godzilla vs Mothra
(Sony Classic Media Region 1 NTSC DVD)
(1964)
review by Big McLargehuge

I admit it, next to the Big G himself, Mothra is my favorite Toho monster.

Arguably the best of the Showa series of Godzilla films, and very probably arguably the best of any series of Godzilla films, 1964's Godzilla vs. Mothra reached heights of entertainment value and fantasy film making unseen in daikaiju cinema since the original 1933 King Kong.

Penned by Shinichi Sekizawa, Toho's best "special effects film" scriptwriter responsible for the preceding titles, Varan, King Kong vs. Godzilla, and the original Mothra, Godzilla vs. Mothra mixes the best elements of his earlier work into a cohesive and entertaining whole.

Further rounding out the advantages of Godzilla vs. Mothra is the cast. All of Toho's best stable of giant monster stars make appearances in this film, of course the familiar names Akira Takarada, Hiroshi Koizumi, and Kenji Sahara (making a rare appearance as a villain) appear but so do relative but familiar bit players Yoshifumi Tajima as the scenery chewing Torohata, Kenzo Tabu as the mayor, and Yuriko Hoshi as cub photographer Junko Nakanishi.

Ishiro Honda in the directors chair and Eiji Tsubaraya on special effects hit their stride with this film and present the most memorable images of Godzilla outside of the 1954 original.

And finally, the score by stalwart Godzilla composer Akira Ifukube mélanges all of the well known themes of the previous films, including Mothra and Varan, into the most fitting and exciting score of any Godzilla film to date.

The film begins with a typhoon washing a giant egg off of Infant Island.

Once the storm subsides, and the local fishermen bring the egg ashore outside Tokyo, businessman Torohata, representing Happy Industries, purchases the egg and finances the construction of a massive incubator. He and Kumayama had a plan to charge visitors to see the giant egg. Meanwhile, the mayor is busy overseeing the completion of a land reclamation project to create a new industrial area closer to the seashore. Unknown to all of them, Godzilla has also washed ashore.

Joining the action are investigative reporter Sakai (Akira Takarada) and his innocent yet determined cub photographer Junko (Yuriko Hoshi). Sakai has already covered several corruption stories about the mayor and his project and instantly knows that Torohata has something rotten up his sleeve.

Finally, the scientists arrive in the form of Professor Miura (Hiroshi Koizumi) who is much more interested in the egg and a strange surge of latent radioactivity that has appeared at the industrial site and near the Happy Enterprises enclosure.

Before you can say "what the hell does this have to do with Mothra?" the twin fairies arrive and beg Kumayama to return the egg before mother Mothra decides to come back and get it.

If she does come back, she won't be happy.

Kumayama, of course, ignores their tiny pleas.

Finally, 30 minutes into the film Godzilla rises from the industrial site and begin wreaking havoc on the countryside on his way to eat/smash the giant egg in the Happy Industries incubator. Meanwhile, Junko, Professor Miura, and Sakai trek to Infant Island with the twin fairies to beg the natives to let Mothra fight Godzilla.

Of course, the JSDF is also working to drive Godzilla off and with the help of tanks, planes, artificial lightning and, only in the American version Frontier Missiles fired from a US naval group, These weapons all prove useless in even slowing the monster down.

Torohata realizes that Kumayama has double crossed him and the two men fight as Godzilla bears down on the Happy Industries headquarters. Kumayama murders Torohata before he's stomped flat.

Back in Infant Island, Junko delivers a short speech to the chief of Infant Island about the brotherhood of humanity that convinces him to pray for Mothra to tackle the Big G.

I should note here that this is the best Godzilla costume ever created. And not consequently, these are the best destruction and battle scenes in any of the Showa and most of the Heisei and Millennium series'. Tsubaraya's effects shop mixes standard high-speed filmed suitmation and exquisite miniature work with excellent matte and composite shots. There is little here that defines the cheapy men-in-suits stereotype that follows daikaiju around like a smelly shadow.

Godzilla begins smashing the incubator open but before he can make the worlds largest omelet, mother Mothra arrives. Again, the effects shots here are better than in any daikaiju that Toho would produce until the early 2000s. Mother Mothra fights Godzilla to a standstill, and it's a fight to the death. Thankfully, the egg hatches just as the giant moth dies and releases two caterpillars who take up the battle.

Godzilla is driven away with the two squirming infants in pursuit.

Meanwhile, a school trip to a small island is right in the path of Godzilla's advance. Junko, Saiko, and Professor Miura attempt a rescue as the two Mothra larvae finally drive Godzilla off.

The film ends with both caterpillars swimming back towards Infant Island.

Classic Media has again delivered a DVD that is by far the best ever released in Region 1. The disk contains a flawless widescreen transfer of both the original Japanese and Americanized versions of the film, commentary tracks for both with Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziewski, a short documentary on Akira Ifukube, trailers, and stills.

The commentary track is a real gem too since Ed and Steve are both authors of non-fiction Godzilla books and know every possible fact and detail about the production of the film, the history of the actors, the politics at Toho, and any other point of minutia you can imagine. The commentary really makes the overall experience special for we fans too as they bring in interview clips with Henry Saperstein the original importer for AIP, and Peter Matthews, one of the more well recognized English voice actors who worked on dozens of Showa titles. It's like getting a college course in kaijuology in 90 minutes. The commentary here is easily as good as their work on Gojira and Godzilla Raids Again. I can't wait to hear what they have to say on the next batch of Classic Media releases.

Toho would never put as much money or care into a production as they did with Godzilla vs. Mothra as the subsequent entries would either skimp on sets or suits or story. So it's no surprise that for many of my generation, Godzilla vs. Mothra was our gateway drug into the complex and compelling world of giant monster addiction.