Laikals
The greatest movie ever made..!
WasAnnon
Slow pace in the most part of the movie.
Doomtomylo
a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
Keira Brennan
The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.
Eric Stevenson
As a fairly old film, this movie is interesting in setting up its own Universe with Godzilla and Rodan. I'm glad to have seen all of their original movies now. The original "Godzilla" film depicted the title character as just this monster that wanted to destroy. Mothra actually has a lot more depth, even though I will admit it's pretty awkward. The plot of this movie is that some tiny singing people (probably fairies) are taken from an island to perform. They use telepathy to get Mothra to free them. Now, I admit that sounds like a really dumb premise. It actually does make it a lot more interesting.We get a much greater sense of why Mothra is destroying everything. The effects aren't bad either. I will admit that when it became a pupa, it looked like a giant peanut. Well, I like peanuts anyway. Much of this is dialogue and that can be pretty distracting. It was kind of predictable too. I mean, Mothra first appears as a larvae, so it's pretty obvious by its name that it's going to turn into a moth later. Still a nice first entry. ***
classicsoncall
Wow, it's taken me a long time to get around to the original "Mothra" and I was surprised to see that it was actually filmed in color, unlike the 1956 film "Godzilla, King of the Monsters". Even though I'm late to the party, I always considered Mothra to be part of the iconic monster trio of Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan, so I've finally completed the trilogy.When I saw "Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth" a few months ago, I wondered whether Mothra was male or female, so it was pretty cool that this picture answered the question. Mothra's a 'she', having the power of telepathic communication with a pair of twin fairy island girls who have been kidnapped by an unscrupulous Japanese businessman in order to cash in on the discovery. The caterpillar form of Mothra wreaked it's own brand of destruction on the city of Tokyo, while the colorful moth version headed over to the Rolisican island city of New Kirk in search of the twins.Not too much scientific mumbo-jumbo is offered regarding the existence of Mothra, but I did get a kick out of the introduction of the atomic heat gun used to attack the cocoon on the Japanese tower. There was also that business about the specially constructed box designed to stop the telepathic communication between the fairy girls and Mothra. The fact that the girls always spoke in unison was another nifty touch. Older viewers might also experience a bit of nostalgia seeing that old Mobilgas logo sign dangling in the wind during the Mothra rampage.Well, I realize all these Japanese monster movies were intended for a largely juvenile audience but they're kind of cool to catch every now and then even for seasoned movie fans like myself. I'll take one in every now and then, so until next time, I guess it's Sayonara.
JoeKarlosi
Definitely one of Toho's finest giant monster movies of all. An evil businessman (Jerry Ito) abducts two adorable foot-tall twin fairies from their remote island, in an unscrupulous plan to exploit them for his own monetary gain. The two "peanuts" call to their protector Mothra for aid, and the title monster travels to Japan to save the little ladies, while leaving unintended harm and destruction in its path.Mothra is a sympathetic character which became popular and went on to co-star in many more Toho adventures. The female creature starts out as a gigantic crawling caterpillar, but late in the movie emerges out of its self-spun cocoon, as a huge and colorful flying moth that causes intense catastrophic winds when flapping its wings. Jerry Ito is a perfect hateful lead villain, but he is counterbalanced partly by the agreeable presence of comedian Frankie Sakai on the side of the good guys. The story is involving, and the pacing very comfortable. I have always been a big fan of the charming little song that the twin fairies sing in honor of their savior, Mothra. The English language version is well dubbed, and there are some differences between the U.S. and original Japanese versions; but either one is good and enjoyable. *** out of ****
Michael_Elliott
Mothra (1961) **American version**** 1/2 (out of 4)A jerk businessman finds a couple twin fairies on an island and kidnaps then, which lets loose Mothra, a giant caterpillar who eventually takes flight to wreck Japan. This monster movie from Toho is probably one of their most loved and it's also one of their best. As with others films from this genre, most of the dialogue is either over dramatic or just downright silly and that holds true here. It's a real shame the first hour isn't at least half as exciting as the final thirty-minutes, which features our beloved creature really doing some major damage and delivering all sorts of cheap thrills. The human characters are all pretty one dimensional as they're either bad, good or there for comic relief. The two twin fairies are somewhat as legendary as the creatures from Toho and I must admit they have a certain amount of charm that will keep a smile on your face. With all of that said, the real star here is the title creature who I prefer to Godzilla. The final thirty-minutes contain some great action sequences including a beautiful one where a bridge collapses into some water, which eventually causes some huge waves. The entire sequence of the caterpillar falling over, building a cocoon and then flying off is extremely well done. The special effects of the fire that comes before the flying sequence is rather silly looking but it doesn't take anything away from the film. People have often complained about the poor looking special effects in Godzilla and to a point I'd agree with them but I think the work here is much better. Perhaps because of the wind storm created by the creature is why they can get away with a lot more but the effects of this are nicely handled.