Mothra vs. Godzilla - Monarchs Battle!

So far we've seen a lot of great movies and some really, well, not as great ones. What is consistent I find is that with a few exceptions, most of the films seem to have a mixed consensus. For example, I am not a huge fan of Varan or Atragon. I found them bland, uninspired, and largely, rubbish. But of course, those films still have their fans. But what we are discussing today is one revered by almost all. This movie is simply a classic of the genre, and deserves mention in the same tier as movies like Godzilla, King Kong, and Mothra. What we have right here folks is an instant classic and a movie that I just adore: Mothra vs. Godzilla!

After a giant egg washes on shore from a typhoon, a man named Kumayama buys the egg from locals and plans to turn it into a tourist destination. Ignoring the pleas of the Shobijin to return the egg to Infant Island, everything soon falls apart. With Godzilla suddenly reemerging and the egg ready to hatch at any minute, Mothra returns to Japan in hopes of defending her egg from Godzilla, and seeing it safely returned to Infant Island. Who will win?! The atomic God of Destruction, or the Divine Moth and soon to be mother?

There are so many positives of this movie, that it almost gets ridiculous at times, so, we're gonna start with the human cast. Or that is to say, my favorite member of the human cast; Yoshifumi Tajima as Komayama (pictured right). In terms of human villains, he might take the cake as the best one so far, the only one I think that has any competition so far is Jerry Ito as Clark Nelson in Mothra. He's really a pure scumbag, and he is delightfully enjoyable to watch. He doesn't listen to the Shobijin, tries to kidnap them, and in general is clearly okay with being a despicable man. He just relishes being the bad guy for every second he's on screen. Being the main motivator for just about everything that happens in the movie, it only makes sense he'd be such a fun character. Because I mean, he steals Mothra's egg. A very important egg for the continuation of a giant species who just a few years prior showed how powerful she is and how capable she is of destroying a city quickly. And yet, when he is confronted with Mothra's emissaries, the Shobijin, he doesn't even consider listening to them and the utter importance of what they have to say. He's ready more prepared to make a quick buck than save lives, and that makes him really fun to watch.


But of course, the movie can't be called Mothra vs. Godzilla and not make its stars memorable. Well, I am more than happy to report for all those that haven't watched it, that the two headline monsters are in peak form in this film. First, I want to talk about Godzilla. This is one of the best appearances of the character ever put on screen. Despite making a very strange first appearance, everything else about him in this movie is just perfect. This is the first movie that shows how much Godzilla really doesn't care. Cinemassacre compared this Godzilla to a killer in a slasher movie, just killing everyone in sight and giving no cares about it. And it really is true in this one. The army just throws EVERYTHING at him, and he just runs over it all without a care in the world. He was scared away in King Kong vs. Godzilla from the supercharged towers, but in this movie they drop an electrically charged net right on his head and he just keeps on moving. He really just does not care in this one, and he needs to be stopped. He really is badass in this one. There really is no word to describe him but that. Godzilla is badass in this one, and this movie really establishes just how killer he is. Although he better be happy the humans don't have an Oxygen Destroyer in this one. But even if they did, who knows? He just bosses through everything so well that he might even shrug that off too! And of course we have to talk about Mothra, otherwise we're only talking about half the title. Mothra is even better in this than her own debut film. After the events of Mothra and only being alive for a little bit, she's already getting weak and basically old. When the Shobijin convince Mothra to come to Japan and fight, she's not powerful enough and knows if she tries to fight Godzilla that she'll die. But she returns for peace and to make sure her offspring can survive. She's really noble in this one, and she always is, but this is the one that really establishes just how lawful good she is. She only fights and intervenes to help save the world, even though she knows she'll die. In general, this movie is important for both Godzilla and Mothra because it really solidifies their character traits that will be used for a lot of the series. The noble Mothra who will always fight for peace and the true destroyer Godzilla who won't be stopped and you have to deal with it. And of course the effects for both monsters are awesome. In particular with Godzilla. The suit used for this movie is one of my favorite in the whole series. He looks really mean, which he 100% is. It's not on a lot of suits, but this one has these almost eyebrows that really just look awesome to me. This suit is also cool because it gets lit on fire! On accident, and it's only for a brief little shot, but it's awesome. Godzilla just keeps trudging along like a damn champion. Mothra's puppets all look fantastic too, in particular her twin larva. They weren't operated like the Chinese dragon effects in Mothra, instead operating and running on internal mechanisms. And they both look really great. And it's really cool to see them in action in such a big way. The Larva Mothra didn't really do a lot in 1961. She just kinda walk in a linear path. She did break a damn, but that was part of her linear path. But these two actually fight! Covering Godzilla in silk and being his ultimate defeat is really cool, and making good use of the entire character.

The last aspect of the movie that I want to give a special mention to is the music, especially the music of the Shobijin. Like in Mothra, the Shobijin are really stand out characters. Yumi and Emi Ito both return to the role, and do an excellent job yet again. But in this film they stand out even more, in particular because of the music they sing. Now, of course they sang a lot in Mothra. Their singing actually being a plot element. But the music they sing here in Mothra vs. Godzilla is some of the best in the entire franchise. The rendition they sing of the Mothra Song is really quite sad, but it is utterly brilliant in its sound. As the return to Infant Island and convince Mothra to fight Godzilla, the key is lower and without instrumentation, it is really sad. As if they know they are preparing for Mothra's funeral. But the song that really is just about perfect is Sacred Springs. Mothra vs. Godzilla has an interesting tone at times. With Godzilla being utterly unstoppable in this movie, and Mothra being pathetically frail, it can be a bit sad at times. And Sacred Springs really nails that feeling. With the people of Japan being told that Infant Island won't come to their aid because of the nuclear devastation that ravaged their land up until about Mothra, they swear they won't help in revenge. With the humans scared for the future, the Shobijin sing this gorgeous song and are prepared to ready Mothra for a final battle to possibly save the world. I'll let you listen to it with the clickable link above. It really is special. Akira Ifukube always seems to out do himself, and he really set the bar for Mothra related music with this movie. I really hope we'll get to hear Sacred Springs in a new movie soon, because it hasn't made a reappearance since Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, which is a downright shame. So, let's hope we hear it again. Maybe when Mothra opens her wings in King of the Monsters? Please?

Overall, Mothra vs. Godzilla is just a classic. A likeable human cast lead by a great villain and two wonderful reprisals of the Shobiijin, fantastic scenes and effects work on the two leading monsters and music that can make a grown person cry, Mothra vs. Godzilla has just about anything you can ask for. Toho's Vs. format will be used for most of the series, and it usually makes some pretty great stuff, but I'd say that the greatest Godzilla film with Vs. in its title is without a doubt Mothra vs Godzilla.

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Tomorrow is looking to be an, how can I put this, an interesting one. It's a movie that's not going to have any kind of connection for a long LONG time, but, like with Gorath, it has characters that get introduced and will see an appearance later, and I want to give every aspect of this series its proper introduction. So, with that in mind, tomorrow we're going to review one of the last solo movies for awhile as we look at Dogora. To be honest, my only knowledge of Dogora is it appeared very briefly in the first anime film, Planet of the Monsters, so to call my info bare bones is a compliment. So, here's hoping we get a good introduction then.