Gojira vs. Mosura (1992)

Director:

Takao Okawara

Writer:

Kazuki Omori (writer)

Release Date:

12 December 1992 (Japan)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Plot:

In the midst of another rampage by Godzilla, Mothra emerges to save the human race from Battra.

Plot Keywords:

Godzilla | Creature | Monster Movie | Monster Terrorizes City | Moth

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Tetsuya Bessho	...	Takuya Fujita
Satomi Kobayashi	...	Masako Tezuka
Takehiro Murata	...	Kenji Andoh
Saburo Shinoda	...	Professor Fukazawa
Akiji Kobayashi	...	Yuzo Tsuchiashi
Akira Takarada	...	Environmental Planning Board Chief Jyoji Minamino
Makoto Ôtake	...	Marutomo Head Takeshi Tomokane
Keiko Imamura	...	Cosmos #1
Sayaka Osawa	...	Cosmos #2
Kenpachiro Satsuma	...	Gojira
'Hurricane Ryu' Hariken	...	Batora
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Megumi Odaka	...	Miki Saegusa
Yoshiko Tanaka	...	Asuka Okouchi
Kôichi Ueda	...	Marutomo Employee

Directed by
Takao Okawara

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kazuki Omori		writer

Produced by
Tomoyuki Tanaka	....	executive producer
Shogo Tomiyama	....	producer

Original Music by
Akira Ifukube

Cinematography by
Masahiro Kishimoto

Production Management
Takahide Morichi	....	executive in charge of production

Special Effects by
Koichi Kawakita	....	director of special effects
Tetsuzô Ôsawa	....	special effects production designer

Visual Effects by
Tetuzo Osawa	....	visual effects designer

Production Companies

• Toho Company

Distributors

• Toho Company (1992) (Japan) (theatrical)
• TriStar Pictures (1993) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Astro Distribution (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Kuk Dong
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (DVD)
• Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting (2008) (Japan) (TV)

Special Effects

• Marbling FineArts (miniatures and models)

Other Companies

• Toho Studios  sound stages

Also Known As:

Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth (USA) (video title)
Godzilla vs. Mothra
Godzilla - Kampf der Sauriermutanten (Germany) [de]
Godzilla contra Mothra (Spain) [es]
Godzilla et Mothra (France) (DVD title) [fr]
Gozdilla e Mothra (Portugal) [pt]

Runtime:

102 min | USA:100 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:PG | Germany:12 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

This film's origin went back to 1990 with the concept Mothra Vs. Bagan. The film would include battles all across Asia in places like Shanghai and Bangkok. However, when Gojira tai Biorante (1989) failed, Toho blamed the fact that an unfamiliar monster was used and this project was put on hold to give Godzilla another shot with Gojira tai Kingu Gidora (1991).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Godzilla is grappling with Mothra Larva in the sea, right before he throws it, a string is visible on Mothra.

Quotes:

Miki Saegusa: [using her psychic powers to locate Cosmos] Wait, turn off the radio! I can hear it... their song... it's close!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Angry Video Game Nerd: Godzilla (#4.15)" (2009)

Godzilla vs. Steven Spielberg!

The film opens with the Japanese Indiana Jones pillaging some archaeological ruins. Just as he makes his way out of a perilously collapsing old temple, he's stopped by rifles pointed at his head. The armed men are from the government, and they're accompanied by his ex-wife. It seems that a strange meteor has crashed near a remote island, and he's been pegged to lead an expedition on the island. They encounter a strange egg, then they run into the Cosmos, two tiny fairy-like beings, who tell them that it's the egg of Mothra, who protects the earth. While taking the egg back to Japan, suddenly, Battra, another monster, shows up, as does Godzilla, in his first appearance of the film, and all hell begins to break loose, as is wont to happen in Godzilla films.

That's a bit more detailed than I usually try to present premises (although that's just the first fifteen minutes or so of the film), but I want to give you of how exquisitely bizarre Godzilla vs. Mothra is and at the same time, give some clues as to why I've titled this review "Godzilla vs. Steven Spielberg!" There are all kinds of Spielberg references (occasionally rip-offs) and Spielberg-like touches to this film. But imagine Spielberg on acid, making a live-action adaptation of some wacky kid-oriented anime, with the addition of monsters that are going to rip each other to shreds with death rays emanating from their eyes and mouths and biting each others' necks off while alien-colored blood spews out. That might sound like an atrocious concatenation to some people, but it's heavenly to me, which is why this particular Godzilla film is a 10 out of 10 for me.

It's worth noting that director Takao Okawara managed quite a few "poetic" touches in this film, including some beautiful cinematography, the wonderfully weird cocoon-building sequence, and the scene of Mothra flying out into space, trailing sparkly dust. What really works best here, though, is the bizarre combination of kid-oriented fantasy and the more adult-oriented, menacing tone of the typical Godzilla film. The design of Mothra in this film is the perfect example. It looks like somewhat of a cross between a butterfly, a Muppet, a teddy bear, an Ewok, and a Gremlin at their "cute" stage. Only it is a giant fighting monster capable of killing other giant fighting monsters, destroying downtown, or maybe even destroying the Earth. The effect isn't that far removed from the Sta-Puft Marshmallow man at the end of Ghostbusters. It's all wonderfully surreal.