JLRVancouver "Godzilla vs. Mothra" is a somewhat preachy kaiju movie in which Mothra, a friend to mankind (despite, as we are constantly reminded, our selfish and stupid behavior) faces off against Battra, a guardian of Earth who was created millennia ago in response to an attempt by our distant ancestors to control the weather. Godzilla, having been awakened by a meteorite crashing into the ocean shows up and the two giant bugs have to decide whether to join forces against a common enemy of both man and the Earth. Other than some superfluous "Indiana Jones"-style archeological adventures, the movie is essentially a bug-fight with Godzilla thrown in as an after-thought. I liked the original adult Mothra (1961, 1964) but I'm not a fan of her colourful new appearance (she looks like she's made of fuzzy pipe-cleaners and covered with dyed poodle fur) or her new 'laser beam' (?) abilities. Both larval forms and the adult Battra look pretty good, and the scenes where Mothra passes through her cocoon stage (wrapped in silk, leaning against the Japanese parliament buildings) was great (I was disappointed when Battra's corresponding morphological change was instantaneous). The Heisei-era Godzilla suit is still looks great and the 'fight' scenes are pretty well staged (for a monster that can take tank shells in the chest at close range, Godzilla sure hates having the tip of his tail bitten). As always, Akira Ifukube's score is great and brings back both Godzilla's iconic march and Mothra's beautiful theme (IMO, the best music in the franchise). The acting is pretty typical for a 90's Kaiju outing: fine in non-demanding roles, but the 'Cosmos', Mothra's little fairy-familiars are neither as sweet nor as melodic as the Peanuts (who originated the roles in "Mothra" (1961)). The dubbing in the version I watched (a Tristar DVD) was OK (although the greedy CEO of Murutomo has a silly, cartoonish voice). The environmental self-flagellation in the film is about as subtle as one would expect from a Godzilla film (even when compared to G. vs Hedorah) and comes across a bit self-righteous for a country that uses over 20 billion disposable wooden chopsticks a year, mostly made from imported wood. All-in-all, number 19 in the series is an OK outing but a step down from its antecedent, the gloriously silly "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah". The Japanese seem to suffer from collective kaiju-amnesia (there is no reference to Mothra having visited the islands before) and show tremendous aplomb (no one seems particularly surprised when two gigantic moths show up).

Michael_Elliott Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth (1992)** 1/2 (out of 4)Japan once again has major fears as Godzilla is back and storming towards the country looking for much more destruction. The Japanese people are in luck as Mothra is back in action and willing to take on Godzilla as well as Battra, a dark butterfly who went to the bad guys club.I must admit that I found this film to be slightly more entertaining than the previous entry, GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH simply because you didn't have to wait as long to get to the actual monsters. You know, I will freely admit that I enjoy watching these movies but I'm not a die hard fan of them and quite often while watching them I wonder who these were meant for. Were they adults who enjoyed watching the previous entries as children? Was this made for the children of Japan? I'm not really sure who they were made for but there's some childish charm to be had with them.For my money the best thing about this film are the various battle scenes. Yes, the special effects can be a bit childish and silly but to me that's part of the charm. I mean, if you're willing to believe that a giant butterfly is going to battle Godzilla then do we really need special effects like something in JURASSIC PARK? The film manages to have a child-like attitude and it's best that the viewers don't take this too seriously because, after all, we're dealing with a movie about monsters and little fairies that can predict things. I mean, what about the song these fairies sing to Mothra? The Godzilla costume looks quite good here and for the most part I liked the look of Battra. As for Mothra, he's a cute and cuddly little monster but he might be too cute for his own good. With that said, once the three are battling it certainly makes for a fun picture and one that fans should enjoy. As far as the rest goes, it is quite silly as the human characters are complete bores and there's really nothing fascinating about the actual story.

twobaglife A three way wrestling match between Godzilla, Mothra, and newcomer Battra, who is a mean, evil, spiky version of Mothra. The plot honestly is stupid. We have a gratuitous opening aping Indiana Jones, and Mothra's egg getting captured by some industrialist. There's a lot of retconning-Mothra's fairies are now called the Kosmos, and Mothra seems to be more the spirit of humanity than a deity on a specific island, who holds in check the deity of the earth, Battra. Meanwhile Godzilla wakes up, and gets in the middle of things yet again.To be honest it's a lot of gibberish, even for a Godzilla film. What matters are the battles, and this is a mixed bag. Godzilla is fine, but Mothra looks incredibly cheap, almost toy-like, whenever its shown. Battra steals the show from both of them by being almost hilariously mean and angry in action. Where as larva Mothra spins silk, larva Battra fires lasers(!), goes toe to toe with Godzilla ending in another hilarious underwater battle which shows that Battra takes no nonsense from anyone. Another funny moment is in the usual transformation. Mothra spins a cocoon, and slowly changes to adult Mothra. Battra changes into adult Battra by sheer force of will, and proceeds to chase Mothra around like a large dog chases a small cat. Mean Battra is incredibly entertaining, but it's not to last.For some reason, Mothra and Battra join forces to stop Godzilla, and defeat him in a manner aping Mecha-King Ghidorah's efforts in a previous film. People are happy, Godzilla is KO'ed at the sea bottom yet again, and so on. Honestly, if this weren't for Battra it's be unwatchable, but he makes it fun enough to tolerate.

The_Depressed_Star_Wars_fan This is an okay movie. But of course it is not at all flawless. First let's talk about the Special Effects. Without a doubt this film has some of the most non-Special, Special Effects I've ever scene. First of All Godzilla still looks great. Mothra and Battra also look good. When they're larva that is! You see they look okay when they are in Imago form, until you realize that the strings are not hidden well. Actually they are clear as day to see. I wish I could say that I had to look hard to see them, but I didn't. I just had to look at the screen to see them. To be fare most of the Films in the Godzilla series the effects seemed rushed, so they could have the film out by December. In fact a lot of the Godzilla movies seemed rushed. That is why I think that GODZILLA (2012) might be good, because hopefully it won't be rushed. Now that we've talked enough about the effects, let's get on to the acting. It is pretty generic. Unfourtudentally it's nothing we haven't scene before in a Godzilla flick. Some new monster(or monsters in this case)show up they end up causing damage and eventually fight Godzilla. Same old stuff. The acting in this movie is okay, and let's just leave it at that.