GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA
A film review by Jim Mann
Copyright 1993 Jim Mann
GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA (1964 version) Producer: Tomoyuki Tanak Director: Ishiro Honda Japanese title: Mosura tai Gojira Original US Title: Godzilla vs. the Thing
After having watched GODZILLA VS. BIOLANTE last week, I decided to go back and watch a *good* Godzilla-vs.-another-monster movie. So I pulled out my tape of GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA (a.k.a. GODZILLA VS. THE THING).
I should start by saying that I feel very nostalgic about this movie. It is one of the first movies that I ever got to see in a theatre by myself. More importantly (to me), it is the first film that I actually waited for. Ads showed up in the paper a week in advance. I looked at the ads (which stated "The face of the Thing is too horrible to show in this ad. You must go to the theatre to see it.") every day for a week, waiting for the Saturday matinee. I wasn't disappointed then, and I wasn't disappointed now.
GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA stands head and shoulders above the other battle of the monsters movies. It has a reasonable story line, is well paced and well directed, has good special effects, and a wonderful score (by Akira Ifukube).
The movie starts with the appearance of a giant egg in the waters off Japan. The egg, it turns out, is the egg of Mothra (a giant moth, who had appeared in the movie MOTHRA (1961)). Japanese industrialists decide to keep the egg and make money by charging admission. Meanwhile, Godzilla has resurfaced, and sets about laying waste to much of Japan. Japan's only hope is to appeal to Mothra for help. Mothra, though near death, comes to Japan, battles Godzilla to a standstill, but dies. However, the egg hatches, two caterpillars emerge, and battle and defeat Godzilla.
Why is this movie better than the others of its type? Well, for one thing, there is real tension built up. This happens in a number of ways. First of all, it is the only Godzilla movie in which the army actually seems to be on near equal footing with Godzilla. It isn't just Godzilla stomping the tanks. The tanks and planes have an effect, herding Godzilla toward a prepared trap: an artificial lightning setup. The lightning nearly defeats Godzilla, knocking him from his feet. Only when the impatient general orders the power to be turned up, thus overloading the generator, does Godzilla manage to break free. In the battles with Mothra (both mother and children), the monsters are on equal footing (unlike other movies when it is apparent from the start that Godzilla is going to stomp the other guy in the rubber suit).
Tension is built up in other ways: Godzilla threatens the giant egg, for example. Also, at the time of the final battle, Godzilla is threatening an island to which a number of school children have gone for a field trip. Thus, scenes of the battle are intercut with scenes of the heros going to the island to rescue the children.
The pacing and editing is also good. After about fifteen minutes of setup, the rest of the movie zips along, helped by good editing. As we head toward the climax, there are several cuts in which we flip back and forth between Godzilla heading toward the island where the climactic battle will take place and the Mothra egg, which is about to hatch. This contributes to the tension that I mentioned above.
The special effects are good. The scene of Godzilla destroying an oil refinery is one of the best of its type ever done. But what makes the effects in this movie good is more than just their technical quality: the effects are well directed. The battles between Godzilla and Mothra are not just random, unfocused wresting as is the case in so many of the other Godzilla-vs.-somebody movies. Other nice scenes include a panicking crowd fleeing the city; after about five seconds of crowd shots, the top of Godzilla appears over some buildings in the background.
Godzilla himself looks reasonable. Raised ridges over the eyes give him an evil look that was abandoned in future movies (in which Godzilla was to become Earth's hero). The eyes, often a real embarrassment in later movies, are reasonably well done.
The music is also nice, and is some of Ifukube's most memorable. He uses some of the themes from the original Godzilla, but changes them enough to make them distinctive.
Overall, this is a reasonably good movie. A juvenile, certainly, and not for everybody. But if you like monster movies but avoid the Godzilla movies as simply "championship wrestling in rubber suits," take a look at this. In the Godzilla series, only Godzilla is better.
-- Jim Mann Stratus Computer jmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com
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