Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)

Title: Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)

Director: Ishiro Honda

Review:

Mothra, the spirit of the earth, the gigantic magical Moth from Infant Island that appears in many Godzilla films, is quite the popular creature in Japan . The creature is often times referred to as a female, because its name ends with an ‘a’ and Mothra lays eggs and protects them, much like a mother wood with her offspring. Also, in the films themselves, characters refer to Mothra as a “she”, also, Im thinking this is the creature they wanted little girls to identify with so they could sell them Mothra toys in Japan. Mothra first appeared in her own Kaiju film called ‘Mothra’ (1961), where she served as the protector of her worshippers, the people of Infant Island. Then after the success of that film, Mothra crossed over into the Godzilla universe and confronted Godzilla himself in ‘Mothra vs. Godzilla’, the second film ever to feature Mothra and the film I will be reviewing today. So, how was this fourth entry into the Godzilla franchise? 

The original Japanese Poster for Mothra (1961), the creatures first appearance

The poster for the American release of Mothra (1961)

In Mothra vs. Godzilla, a typhoon causes one of Mothra’s egg to loosen from its resting place on Infant Island. Because of the typhoon, the egg ends up traveling through the ocean until it reaches the beaches of Japan, where an entrepreneur acquires it and decides to build a whole amusement park around the giant egg, a la Jurassic Park. Of course, Mothra doesn’t like the fact that humans have hijacked one of her eggs, so she politely asks the humans to return her egg by talking through her magical twin fairies called ‘The Shobijin’ or The Cosmos, these two fairies go by quite a few names. But of course, as is to be expected of the greedy humans, the entrepreneur who wants to build his amusement park doesnt want to give the egg back! So Mothra and The Shobijin’s returns to Infant Island, sad that the humans would not return them Mothra’s egg. Soon after Mothra’s departure, Godzilla reawakens and starts destroying Japan! Now the humans need Mothra to help them out; but will Mothra help the humans beat Godzilla even after they decided not to return her egg? Do they even deserve to be helped?

Glad to say that Mothra vs. Godzilla was yet another excellent Ishiro Honda Godzilla film! Ishiro Honda was the director who made the original Gojira (1954), and I’m of the opinion that he has been responsible for some of the most entertaining and well made Godzilla films in the whole series. Honda’s great success with these movies was that he made the human side of the films as interesting as the Monster fights. In fact, I’ve noticed that monster fights come secondary in Ishiro Honda films. The really good monster fight is usually reserved for the ending of the film, with the human story being what dominates most of the picture. In this case, we have the humans finding Mothra’s egg after a typhoon. The debacle comes when some want to return the egg to Mothra while others want to open an amusement park around it. Money wins at the end of the day, and the egg ends up prisoner in a hangar, ready to be displayed to the world at the price of an admission ticket. The films main theme is greed and how it can take over our lives, blinding us to what is right. Actually, one of the bloodiest moments on any Godzilla film appears on this one, when a greedy business man bludgeons another business man almost to death, over money. I found that scene especially shocking for a Godzilla film. I mean, most of these films were aimed at kids, and here was one guy beating another to a bloody pulp over money!

What I liked most about this movie was that we get to go to Infant Island and meet Mothra’s worshippers! The inhabitants of Infant Island have this whole religion set up around worshipping Mothra. They sing, dance, and pray to it. It was fun to finally get to meet the people of Infant Island . Another interesting aspect of Mothra is that she has a special connection with these two tiny fairies that according to the fairies themselves goes deep and is beyond their control. It is this connection that makes Mothra search out these two fairies wherever they are. This holds true for every Godzilla movie that Mothra appears in, if Mothra appears, ‘The Shobijin’ are sure to be there as well. They have some sort of telepathic bond with the creature. In this film, the fairies where played by a popular Japanese pop band called 'The Peanuts'. These pop singers happened to be twin sisters as well, so they were perfect for playing The Shobijin Fairies for three films! Smart move in using pop singers for these characters, especially when we take in consideration that the main thing they do is sing songs to Mothra, to summon her. The song they sing is actually kind of catchy and has been used in various films.

Apparently, U.S. distributors where afraid that Mothra was going to scare away young male audiences who would consider it “too girly” so for the U.S. release of this movie, the title was changed to ‘Godzilla vs. The Thing’. The poster for this American release hid Mothra’s appearance from the audience; in fact, it actually misled people to believe that the creature that Godzilla fought in this film was a tentacled creature. Interesting how in Japan , a creature like Mothra is ultra popular, accepted and was prominently displayed on the films poster, yet for the U.S. audiences it was considered too silly. I guess that has a lot to do with Japanese audiences being more accustomed to seeing ‘Kaiju’ movies while in America, they are not as easily accepted. There's something about the cheese factor that some people cant take. And thats just the thing about these Godzilla movies, the thrive in cheese! I haven’t seen the American cut of this film, but I hear it includes a couple of sequences filmed especially for it that include scenes of the U.S. military helping out the Japanese military attack Godzilla. I guess the U.S. was trying to make up for past mistakes in that cut of the film! Like throwing a couple of nuclear bombs on Japan!

The American release poster for Mothra vs. Godzilla hides Mothra from the poster entirely, and misled audiences to believe the creature has tentacles

I’ve read some reviews that say that this film has no “social relevance” and that it’s merely meant to be enjoyed as a Kaiju movie, simply there for us to delight in watching giant monsters fighting each other. I don’t agree so much with that idea because that would make this film seem hallow, and its anything but that. There is a clear and distinctive message in the film against greed. In fact, a major point in the film comes when the humans don’t want to give Mothra’s egg back to the people of Infant Island because they want to profit from it. The “good humans” in the film have to let Mothra and the people of Infant Island know that we are not all greedy entrepreneurs who only care about money, that we are all humans living together on this earth. There’s also a desire expressed by the characters for humans to co exist in this world without distrust. So yeah, this movie has got something to say. It’s thinly layered, but it’s there.

Some seem to think that this movie isn’t so good because Godzilla gets his ass handed to him by a giant moth and by a pair of worms, but keep in mind that in this film, Mothra is the main character. The original title for this film was Mothra vs. Godzilla, not the other way around. So of course, Mothra was going to be doing most of the ass kicking on this film. Still, no matter who wins on this one (Godzilla can’t win them all!) this was a very entertaining film with an interesting story and characters. It’s not a dark or adult oriented Godzilla film like some of them out there. In fact, it’s very colorful and has an extremely happy ending. Had tons of fun with this one, highly recommend it to anyone out there who hasn’t experienced a Godzilla film yet.

Rating: 5 out of 5

   

Invasion of the Astro-Monster (1965)

Title: Invasion of the Astro-Monster (1965)

Director: Ishiro Honda

Review:

There’s something about older Godzilla movies, they seem better produced than some of the newer ones; I dont know if its the caliber of directors behind these films, or the way they were made (probably a bit of both) but the production values seem higher on these old movies. I mentioned something about this on my review for Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). The polished look and feel we see on these older films had a lot to do with what veteran Godzilla director Ishiro Honda was aiming to achieve. It appears to me that Mr. Honda made some of the best movies in the whole series, and the film I'll be reviewing today, Invasion of the Astro-Monster is certainly one of them. I mean, he really did  some great sci-fi films, he even made sci-fi out of the Godzilla universe of films. Ishiro Honda  is certainly an important director from Japan. By this I don’t mean that the newer Godzilla films are a joke, I’m just saying that these older films took themselves more seriously somehow. Invasion of the Astro-Monster has many good things going for it, lots of elements that make it one of the best Godzilla films out there. Come with me as I review Godzilla film #6, Invasion of the Astro-Monster a.k.a. Godzilla vs. Monster Zero!

Story is all about these alien beings from Planet X; who call upon the help of the earthlings to battle against a creature that doesn’t let them live in peace. The inhabitants of Planet X call the creature ‘Monster Zero’ because they name everything by numbers; these aliens are numerical that way. So anyhow, we soon find out that this creature they call ‘Monster X’ is actually King Gihdorah! That’s right my friends, this is King Gihdorah, the same creature that fought Godzilla just one year before in Gihdorah: The Three Headed Monster (1964)! This is the reason why some people see this film as a direct sequel to Gihdorah: The Three Headed Monster, cause Gihdorah attacks again. So anyways, the aliens from Planet X are forced to live underground because King Gihdorah is constantly terrorizing the planet. So they ask the humans for permission to use Godzilla and Rodan to fight against King Gihdorah on the surface of Planet X! As a special prize for agreeing to help them in this matter, they aliens offer the humans the cure for cancer, and quite possibly the cure for all deceases on earth! Are these aliens to be trusted? Should the humans agree to give Godzilla and Rodan to the aliens? Will they truly hand over the cure for cancer?

Aliens take Godzilla and Rodan to their home planet

Well, what I liked most about this film is that apart from being a good Godzilla flick, it was also a great sci-fi story. This was Toho's succesful attempt at uniting Kaiju movies (giant monster movies) with more traditional science fiction, the kind of films that Ishiro Honda was making when he wasnt making Godzilla films. Films like The Mysterians (1957) for example, a film I've yet to see, but I'm looking forward to the experience. This is the kind of science fiction film that was made back then, with flying saucers that make that strange whistling sound when they fly, and aliens that come from ‘Planet X’.

Monster Zero, terrorizing the inhabitants of Planet X

On this film, Godzilla doesn’t spring into action for a long time, I think the film hits the one hour mark and we still don’t see Godzilla fighting. Godzilla is frozen beneath the sea for a huge part of the film until he is finally reawakened by the aliens. But here’s the thing about this Godzilla movie: the human stories where actually good, the characters were interesting, and well portrayed. We have Fuji and Nick, two astronauts who are the best of buddies. One is Japanese the other is American, together they explore the universe for the Japanese nation. On this particular trip they head towards the mysterious Planet X, going where no man has gone before! Cool thing is they act as if they've gone to a new planet a few times already, and they are just having a casual conversation during the flight, cracking jokes. I thought that was kinda funny also, they go on this long journey to a planet thats behind Jupiter, and they dont get up from their seats not once! Nick is in love with a Japanese woman while Fuji is an overprotective brother who doesn’t want his sister marrying her crazy boyfriend Tetsuo, who also happens to be an inventor. Fuji thinks Tetsuo is unworthy of his sister, but Tetsuo’s inventions just might end up saving the human race! Point is, the stories that go on amongst the humans are solid, a bonus in my book.

Things get crazier when the film amps up the sci-fi angle and we get to meet the inhabitants of Planet X. These aliens are a funky looking bunch, they might end up reminding you of something you might have seen in a DEVO music video. They talk in numbers and calculations, they are cold and robotic. They follow rules, to the point where it becomes constrictive. I liked this angle the film has, the human vs. the robotic. In many ways, this story comments on oppressive governments. Are we to loose our humanity in order to become a strict, law abiding society? There has to be a balance somewhere, can it be achieved? This is the core of this films story, and actually, it took me by surprise, the interesting themes. But then again, in one form or another Godzilla films have always criticized governments and their experiments on humanity, when we get right down to the core of who Godzilla is, he's a mutant caused by Nuclear Bombs hurled at Japan by the United States, the  results of years of nuclear testing near Japan. This isn’t the first Godzilla film I see that criticizes governments; Godzilla vs. King Gihdora (1989) did the same thing if I remember correctly. In fact, Godzilla vs. King Gihdorah is very similar to this one especially when it comes to having flying saucers and aliens that control giant creatures through thought waves. So this film my friends, same as the best science fiction films, comments on human nature, and why we do the things we do. The aliens from Planet X are a reflection of any oppressive government that wants to strip its people of its culture and uniqueness. God knows there’s a lot of those out there! This films message is as relevant today as it was way back in 1965.

Then there’s Godzilla himself and the monster fights! We don’t see Godzilla as often on this movie, but the rest of the movie was so interesting, it really didn’t bother me. This was classic 1960 style sci-fi and I was loving it. On this one, Godzilla and Rodan end up being dragged through space, carried to Planet X by alien spaceships. We get to see a re-match between Godzilla and King Gihdorah on the surface of an alien planet! That was pretty cool! Best part is that after Godzilla wins the fight (of course he wins it, you already know that) Godzilla does this hilarious victory dance, it has to be the funniest moment on any Godzilla movie. I mean Godzilla leaps in the air and literally does this little dance, moving his arms and legs, it was hilarious! It made me chuckle, but Godzilla's victory dance also felt kind of out of place in the film. It completely takes you out of the film, it made Godzilla a little too silly, a little too human for me. I guess this sort of thing was done on purpose though. Toho was purposely trying to make Godzilla look friendlier and less scary. They even changed his face so it wouldn't be as monstrous as the previous films.  I guess they didn’t want the kids being too scared of Godzilla, and so this is one of the first movies to portray Godzilla as saviour of humanity, though at one moment he does get to destroy a little bit of Japan, which I guess Godzilla cant help doing. It’s as if he saw houses, and the impulse immediately takes, like instinct. If we could hear Godzilla's thoughts, they'd probably go something like this: "Destroy Japan, destroy, destroy!" But then again, his brain was being controlled by the evil aliens at one point, so I have to cut him some slack on this one. His a good guy on this one, not a force of nature destroying everything. But speaking of Godzilla's 'friendlier' look, its the only thing I didnt like about the movie. He doesn't look menacing at all, in fact, the suit looks too baggy, like it doesnt fit the actor properly. I like the newer Godzilla films where Godzilla looks lean and strong and muscular, ready to kick some ass. My main problem with this one is that its too obvious that its a guy in a suit. Way too obvious and its the only reason why I didnt give the film a perfect five.

My final thoughts on this one are that it was one of the best Godzilla movies I've seen in terms of the humans. I also liked the art direction on the film which was very art deco. At times, I felt as if I was watching a Mario Bava movie when it came down to the sets and art direction, it kind of brought to mind  Planet of the Vampires (1965) which I loved so much. They are from the same era, and have a similar vibe going for them. If you like old school science fiction films, and you love Godzilla films, then this is your ticket right here. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

Gojira (1954)

Title: Gojira (1954)

Director: Ishiro Honda

Review:

This is my first real incursion into the world of Godzilla films, and I find it fitting that I start at the very beginning, with the first Godzilla movie ever made. I’d also seen Godzilla 1985 many years ago, but that was it, I don’t remember it that well, so I feel as though I’ve never really seen it. Truth is, I never really swam down to the depths of the many Godzilla films that have been produced over the decades. Yeah, I’d seen the American remake directed by Roland Emerich, and truth be told, I didn’t hate it as much as everyone else did. I mean, it’s a giant monster movie and that is exactly what we got; a giant monster rampaging through the city, fighting the military. I think what pissed people off with that movie was the fact that Godzilla didn’t look like the classic Godzilla from the Japanese films, so people immediately disconnected. Or was it that the film didn’t take itself too seriously? Or was it the baby Godzilla’s that people didn’t like? Was it that it was a souless showcase of special effects? Whatever the reason that ignited people’s hatred towards that 1998 Godzilla remake, I haven’t seen it in years; chances are that there are many other reasons why people didn’t like it. I seem to remember thinking that it felt too much like a Jurassic Park movie towards the ending, and because of that it felt too much like I’d been there and done that. But whatever, we are here to talk about THE classic Godzilla movie from the 50’s, the one that started it all! Gojira! How was it?

The story starts out with a fishing boat in the middle of the ocean. A flash of blinding light that emerges from the depths of the ocean obliterates the entire ship! And it’s happening to every ship in that area! To top things off, fishermen are complaining that the fish are disappearing from the ocean! What could be causing all this? Well, if you ask an old man who resides in the Island of Odo, this is all happening because of ‘Gojira’, an ancient creature that the elders of the island used to feed virgins to in order to appease it. But who’s going to believe a crazy old man? Well, it doesn’t matter if they believe him or not because Godzilla shows itself anyways and lays waste to the island before quickly disappearing into the ocean once again. Now, Gojira is headed towards Japan itself! The military tries to stop the creature, but with no success! Apparently nothing can kill it!

First time we see Gojira, it looks something like this

In the film, a scientist explains how the ocean floor still has many unexplored depths that could easily harbor such a creature. On top of it all, he mentions that there is radiation on the sand that Gojira leaves behind, which let’s us know that Gojira is actually a mutated prehistoric creature. The fact that Gojira is a mutation caused by the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki let’s us see that Gojira is a film that comments on these nuclear attacks and the damage that it inflicted upon the thousands of Japanese people who died during the actual nuclear explosion or where affected by the radiation that was left behind. Any intelligent individual can see that Gojira represents the U.S. coming to annihilate the Japanese with its weapons of mass destruction. If you are still uncertain of this, just remember that Gojira fires a ray from its mouth that burns and disfigures the people horribly, same way the radiation from a nuclear blast would.

Watch out for those rays!

The whole nuclear fallout angle goes even further with this film. Yes, the film is commenting on the attacks on Nagasaki and Horishima, but it also comments on another nuclear event that happened on the same year that the film premiered. The film opens with a three fishing boats getting wiped out by Gojira’s radiation blasts, this opening sequence is actually a reflection of a series of nuclear tests that the United States conducted near Japan in 1954. This nuclear test was called ‘Castle Bravo’, basically, this secret military test consisted of the U.S. blowing up nuclear bombs in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. government thought that the explosion would yield a 4 to 5 megaton explosion, but instead, thanks to a theoretical error made by the designers of the device; the bomb actually yielded a 15 megaton explosion! Castle Bravo ended up being the most powerful nuclear explosion ever detonated by the United States. It contaminated a large part of the Pacific Ocean; in fact, Castle Bravo went down as the most powerful accidental radiological contamination ever caused by the United States. Sadly, the nuclear fallout (aka radiation dust) that came as a result of the explosion contaminated people in nearby islands with large amounts of deadly radiation. The crew of a local fishing boat called ‘Lucky Dragon No. 5’ was fishing in the area (which had been declared safe by the U.S. government) but since the explosion was so huge, it ended up affecting the crew members of the ship, including the ships captain who died seven months later due to acute radiation syndrome. So as you can see, this film has a lot more reality laced into its story than people believe. It’s more then just a film about a giant monsters, it’s a film commenting on the results of mans obsession with trying to control nuclear power.

Castle Bravo in action

But all that aside, was it a good monster movie? Hell yeah it was! What I enjoyed most about it was how the director chose to handle most of the scenes where we see Gojira the same way you would handle a horror film. Most of the time we see Gojira, it during the night, beneath the shadows, which instantly makes the creature look more menacing, even if it is just a man in a suit. And speaking of the ‘man in a suit’ angle, this is the kind of movie where a healthy dose of 'suspension of disbelief' is suggested in order to enjoy the movie. So what if it’s a guy in a suit, you have to believe it’s a monster destroying the city in order to enjoy the film. If not, you wont have any fun. The director does his best to hide the monster in the shadows,  for example, when Gojira first attacks an island, it happens during a storm, and so everything looks spooky, like a horror film, which for all intents and purposes is what Gojira is: a perfect marriage of sci-fi and horror that leans a bit more towards the sci-fi angle of things. The makers of Gojira were inspired by various films similar to Gojira, the two that first come to mind are King Kong (1931) and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), which by the way had been released only a year before Gojira. One could say that Gojira is actually Japans answer to King Kong. This makes perfect sense when we take in consideration that Gojira actually ended up fighting King Kong in one of its sequels called King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962). Kong and Gojira's first films both have similar storylines that include virgin sacrifices, mysterious islands, and massive destruction of public property.

The miniature work on this film was decent. Gojira works its way through Japan, destroying buildings, train tracks, electrical towers, you name it and Gojira destroys it. The creativity involved in this film is amazing, especially when we take in consideration that this was the first time that Japanese cinema attempted to make a giant monster movie. That’s right; this was their first big monster movie! After this film, giant monster movies would become a norm in Japanese pop culture. Making the film was a trial and error thing. A monster suit of this kind had never been created, so they went through various suits and designs before they finally came to the one we know. The actor who wore the Gojira suit could only wear it for three minutes at a time or else he would risk passing out from heat and dehydration! There are more interesting anecdotes to the whole making of this film, which can all be seen in the making of featurette that comes with the dvd. I highly recommend checking it out after you see the movie. It was a real pleasure seeing everything these guys had to go through in order to make this grand daddy of monster movies.

An actor shooting footage of Gojiras feet destroying Japan

On a final note, the film offered up some moments I never thought I’d see. For example, I never thought I’d see Godzilla walking through the depths of the ocean like some underwater God or something! That was a cool image! Also, the ending, when the good guys decide to go down to the depths with a bomb called ‘The Oxygen Destroyer’ brought to mind the ending in James Cameron’s The Abyss (1989). Actually, after seeing the ending for Gojira, I was convinced that Cameron stole that whole sequence and used it on The Abyss. The similarities are just too obvious! So anyways, that’s my review for Gojira, a grand old monster movie that has a lot more going for it than most give it credit for.

Rating: 5 out of 5

P.S. If your hunger for more info on older sci-fi movies like Gojira, then head on over to The Celluloid Highway where my good buddy Shaun Anderson is conducting a month long sci-fi themed series of articles, he's been writing some really interesting and informative articles about sci-fi movies from the 50's, go on over and check em out, you wont be dissapointed!