Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)

Mothra vs. Godzilla (Japanese: モスラ対ゴジラ, Hepburn: Mosura tai Gojira) is a 1964 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the fourth film in the Godzilla franchise. The film stars Akira Takarada, Yuriko Hoshi, Hiroshi Koizumi, Kenji Sahara, and Emi and Yumi Itō, with Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla. In the film, humans beseech the aide of the insect-god Mothra to stop Godzilla from destroying Japan.

Due to the success of King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), Toho chose to pair Godzilla against Mothra for the following film. Mothra was chosen due to the success of Mothra (1961). Honda directly intended for the film to be meant for children in addition to adults, as a way to compete with television’s growing popularity in Japan. Notably, it is the final film in the franchise’s Shōwa period to depict Godzilla solely as an antagonist.

Mothra vs. Godzilla was released theatrically in Japan on April 29, 1964. An edited version titled Godzilla vs. the Thing was released by American International Pictures in the United States on August 26, 1964.

via Wikipedia

As I continue my trek through Toho’s kaiju films, Toho continues to confirm that each subsequent movie is simply Godzilla versus another monster. However, Godzilla’s role in these confrontations changes after this movie.

As suggested in the Wiki quote this is the last film of not only the Showa period, but of Godzilla being the primary antagonist or “bad guy”. He’s still a destructive force as seen in every movie ever starring Godzilla, but he becomes more agreeable.

Mothra is a protective kaiju and is subject to suggestion from the tiny twins, but as Mothra goes through her life cycle, she can be weaker in some states. As the movie shows, Mothra lays her egg and then dies just as the egg hatches. In an interesting twist, the egg hatches twins. These twin Mothra continue throughout the Godzilla series (they show up later) which is interesting for it’s continuity.

I do like that its a little more than just “let’s see who wins” and more “lets do some background on Mothra while we see who wins”. Even though the kaiju storyline gets recycled a bit, it’s still worth a watch to get to know the kaiju a bit more.

My Ranking: ★ ★ ★