Godzilla vs. Mothra (1964)

A hurricane and great flood wash Mothra's egg out to sea and to Japan, where fisherman of a local village haul it in and sell it to the greedy corporation, Happy Enterprises.  Two tiny women from Monster Island then come to Japan in order to try to get the egg back so that when it hatches the baby does not inadvertently cause all sorts of destructive chaos in it's search for food.  The little ladies fail to convince the businessmen to give the egg back and leave after talking to some reporters and telling their story.  In the meantime, Godzilla wakes up under some large industrial project and starts running around destroying things, mostly on accident.  The Japanese and American army forces combine to launch an ineffective attack on Godzilla, which mostly just seems to annoy him.  So the reporters decide to go and ask for Mothra's help in dealing with the radioactive lizard.  Eventually, the Monster Island natives and Mothra are convinced to help out and the venerable and dying Mothra is sent to help fight off Godzilla, arriving just in time to save it's own egg from the mighty reptiles rampage.  Giant monster battles ensue, while the humans pursue their own rather inconsequential story lines.

The special effects consist of big rubber suits, puppets, toy vehicles and model sets.  They aren't good, but they work for this movie.  In addition there is the 1964 high tech effect used to cut and splice the tiny twin Mothra priestesses into scenes with normal sized people.  Good times!  The story is pretty random and just an excuse for giant monster battles.  The acting is pretty much what you would expect as well, enhanced by the bad English dubbing.  Everything about this movie is Classic Godzilla!

This movie is a must see for anyone that is a Godzilla fan or wants to see what a Godzilla movie is all about.  If you didn't grow up watching these movies you probably won't find it nearly as entertaining.  You might still want to give it a chance though.  It's fun for the whole family and everything a good Godzilla movie should be.

3 out of 4

Reviewed by Scott Schwarzwalder

© Copyright 2009 John Shatzer