Godzilla vs Mothra (1992) "Review 19"

[abraxas]

Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth (Godzilla vs Mothra) released in Japan as Godzilla vs. Mothra is the 19th installment in the Godzilla series of films. The movie was released theatrically in Japan on December 12, 1992. It was directed by Takao Okawara from a screenplay by Kazuki Omori, produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka and Shogo Tomiyama, with special effects provided by Koichi Kawakita. It is the sixth film to feature Mothra and the only film to feature Battra.






What an improvement, this film is ten times better then the last Godzilla movie, this is about as perfect as you can get. I think this film is better then the original, yes you heard that right, this remake is better, this is how a remake should be, taking the original characters and making a totally unique film that stands on its own.

This film has one or two week points in terms of special effects, but they are extremely minor, the monster suits and the effects associated with them are top notch. This is the best looking Godzilla film that has been made, in fact on its release in Europe it was third most attended film, only behind Jurassic Park.

The humor that did so much damage to certain Godzilla movies in the past is almost totally absent from this film. Godzilla is the coolest he has ever looked, Mothra was given a new better look and Battra was very sinister looking. Even though Godzilla is basically fighting two giant butterflies the fight scenes are some of the best in the series.

PLOT:

A large meteor hurtles toward Earth, and lands in the ocean, causing many natural disasters, such as typhoons, and awakens Godzilla. One particularly large typhoon is monitored over the Pacific ocean. This typhoon uncovers a giant egg from underground. Three explorers come upon the giant egg, the three hear a pair of voices, which informs them that the egg belongs to Mothra. After searching around a bit, they find the Cosmos' voices (two 4 inch tall twin Japanese girls). They explain that they keep the Earth's natural order of things in balance. A freighter is sent to Infant Island to pick up the egg, planning to exploit it. At this point, Godzilla has surfaced, and is heading toward the egg, the egg then hatches, and a Mothra larva crawls out. The two then begin fighting. Eventually, Mothra is cornered behind the ship. She then uses her silk webbing attack on Godzilla to stun him but it fails to stop him. However, Battra soon appears, and joins the fight. First he attacks Mothra and sends her flying as she tries to escape. However, one of his beams hits Godzilla, angering the mutant dinosaur. Godzilla then attacks back at Battra, with Mothra caught in the middle, eventually the battle reaches Japan.


5 out of 5 roars for this

[GL]

To me, the original is one of the top 5 films ever made in the history of cinema, so I clearly don't agree with that statement.

The fact is, the one area the original got this one doesn't is in terms of the special effects: beyond Godzilla, they're completely lacking, and in some cases, atrocious. Battra is cool, but that gremlin horn is way too large on the larva and it looks too top-heavy, plus those fangs on it's mouth don't move all that much, except when the mouth opens to deliver that ray blast. And, do my ears deceive me, or is that Rodan's roar used for the creature? Everyone's had a unique one, and his is straight-up ripping off Rodan.

As for Mothra, where to begin? The fur is too plushy and cuddly, the details on the face are totally missing, the wings are way too ridged and don't flap with any grace or subtlety, and it frankly looks like a model all the way through instead of appearing as a living thing. The larva is hardly any better, as it simply cruises along like it's on a track, never undulating at all, which the original's and true ones, do. A massive disappointment all around.

Godzilla indeed looks great, but I thought it was better in the previous one. That Godzilla was indeed awesome, this one looks cool but doesn't feel as alive as he did.

The battle in the Philippine Sea is pretty static, mostly consisting of Mothra hiding behind the damaged contained while Godzilla tries blowing it up from a distance before Battra appears, and that's hardly any better. Nor is the finale in Yokohama, which is way too static, drawn-out, and quite lame. That Godzilla can't seem to hit Mothra, despite flying at a lesuirely pace, with his ray is just a poor idea, making it seem like the writers are behind it all to prevent the kids from being upset that Mothra's hit by something far more powerful than it could take than anything to do with her abilities to out-smart Godzilla or his inability to hit it. He can hit jets at supersonic speed, yet Mothra, an object ten times they're size flying at a third their speed, is unable to be hit once? Lame. Godzilla should've roasted that thing and turned it's attention to Battra fairly early on, since that was a far more interesting creature, and frankly, we hadn't seen it yet so it would've been fun to see what it could do.

And the less said about the low-rent Indiana Jones subplot, the better.

[abraxas]

Well they ripped off various creature sounds pretty much all throughout the series, and in some cases even changed the way the monsters look from one film to another, but since this a pretty different storyline and so I think its alright to shuffle things like that around, of course designing a new creature sound would have been better, but what can you do.

[GL]

Still, though, you go to the trouble to creating new voices for everyone but this? Why does this one get a repeat of the same roar? Even during the 60s that didn't happen (Godzilla's roar in that time was sped up a little, where it's not as deep and booming as it was in the original, but it's still clearly his and his alone) that it just stuck out a bit.