Subject: REVIEW: GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA/GODZILLA VS. MECHA-GODZILLA

From: [email-masked] (Jim Mann)
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 1995 15:28:41 GMT

GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA
		      GODZILLA VS. MECHA-GODZILLA
		       A film review by Jim Mann
			Copyright 1995 Jim Mann

Warning: This review contains a few spoilers. (As if that really
matters in movies involving giant monsters battling to the death.)

     I recently watched GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA (1992) and GODZILLA VS.
MECHA-GODZILLA (1993), the 4th and 5th films in the revisionist
Godzilla series.  Like the previous film in the series, GODZILLA VS.
KING GHIDORAH, they are good films (if you take them for what they
are), a return to a quality in Godzilla films that, prior to KING
GHIDORAH, we hadn't seen since the mid-1960s.

     One note, though, before I begin my reviews.  The GODZILLA VS.
MOTHRA tape I watched was entirely in Japanese (which I don't speak).
Therefore, I really watched it as a visual/musical experience.  I could
make out most of the plot, but I'm sure there are things I've missed.
GODZILLA VS. MECHA-GODZILLA was subtitled.

     GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA is sort of a remake of parts of the original
Mothra and of GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA (1964; a.k.a.  GODZILLA VS. THE
THING).  Mothra's egg hatches, Mothra comes to Japan, creates a cocoon,
turns into a giant moth, etc.  At the same time, Mothra and another
moth-like giant creature, Batra, battle Godzilla.

     The effects are impressive, by and large.  Toho studios have
gotten very good at making the destruction of miniature buildings look
real.  American movie makers could learn something here (and perhaps
save themselves hundreds of millions of dollars).  The monster fights
are very good and some are rather innovative, especially the undersea
fight between Godzilla and the Batra.

     Another nice point is the soundtrack.  It is again by Ikira
Ikafube and is again very good.  It contains echoes of some previous
soundtracks, but with some completely new themes. (Though, as noted
below, the GODZILLA VS. MECHA-GODZILLA soundtrack does this one
better.)

     It's not as good as the original GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA which still
remains the second best movie in the whole series.  I'd rank it,
though, high in the second level--behind GODZILLA, GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA
and GODZILLA VS. MECHA-GODZILLA (1993), and about on the par with
GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH and GHIDRA, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER.

     GODZILLA VS. MECHA-GODZILLA is a step up.  This is surprising.
First of all, it is following a couple of pretty good movies, so it is
a pleasant surprise to find one that's even better.  Secondly, though,
this time they didn't remake one of the better Godzilla.  Instead, they
remade (at least in the sense of borrowing title and main protagonist
from) a so-so (to be kind) movie and turned it into a very good.  It's
probably the third best movie in the series.

     As the movie begins, the Japanese government has raised the body
of Mecha King Ghidorah from the ocean floor.  Using the 23rd century
technology, they create the ultimate anti-Godzilla weapon,
Mecha-Godzilla.  Meanwhile, a prehistoric egg is discovered on an
island.  When scientists show up to investigate the find, they first
find the egg defended by Rodan (his first appearance in the revisionist
series).  Moreover, Godzilla also shows up.  They make off with the egg
while Godzilla battles Rodan.

     They assume that the egg is a Rodan egg.  However, when it
hatches, out pops a baby (8-foot) Godzilla (or gojirosaurus).  This
raises some intriguing questions.  Was the Godzilla egg put in the
Rodan nest much as a cuckoo puts its eggs in other bird's nests.  Or
are Rodan and Godzilla somehow related? There is certainly some
connection between the two, as we find in the movie's climax, when the
energy of a dying Rodan regenerates a dead Godzilla.

     The battles between Godzilla and Mecha-Godzilla are impressive.
They fight twice, and each time the battle is pretty evenly matched.
The effects are good here, as are the effects of various buildings
being destroyed.

     Ikira Ikafube's soundtrack is once again very good.  The
Mecha-Godzilla theme is perhaps the best new theme "signature" theme
for a Toho creation since the 1960s.  This new theme is mixed
effectively with many echoes of older themes, all to good effect.

     A nice point in both films as that they are internally consistent
and not particularly silly.  I cringed in GODZILLA 1985 when the used
bird calls as a Godzilla lure and when they used cadmium missles to
"moderate" Godzilla.  There's nothing like that here.  What nonsense
there is is the sort of fun nonsense that seems to fit with our
enjoyment of the movie rather than making us squirm in our seats.

     After watching GODZILLA VS. MECHA-GODZILLA I anxiously await
GODZILLA VS. SPACE GODZILLA.  I also really wish someone would show
these on the big screen.

Jim Mann
[email-masked]