Rebirth of Mothra 3

[Terasawa]

They were made for children, so yeah, they're children's films.

[MasonWerx]

It isn't that they are kids movies that makes me not like them. I like alot of films that are "made for kids" (Hook, Labyrinth, Super Mario Brothers, Heavyweights, Sandlot, Toy Story, and even alot of Godzilla and Ultraman, etc. etc.),

ROM trilogy loses me because I don't like the stories and I dont like the fairies, especially the villain fairy. I just don't think that they are very good movies, but thats just my opinion.

The one thing that ROM has going for it is that there are some excellent Kaiju suits. Also, I've only seen dubbed versions of the three films. I'm sure that the subbed versions are slightly more enjoyable.

[Terasawa]

They are more enjoyable, the Dub just adds to the many problems the film already has. Those voice actors were awful, worse than the 90s Godzilla films.

Well I agree that the ROM dubs are horrible, but they were dubbed by the same people that did the '90s and 2000s Godzilla dubs.

[JAGzilla]

History would have changed if this thread had really been dead, and none of us would be here right now. No, it just cocooned itself in a time capsule for nine years, and now it's back right on time!

But yeah, I just got done watching RoM 3 for the first time since 2011 or so. I'd say it's the middle movie of the trilogy, overall. The first is the most fun, I'd say, and has some legitimately solid action and emotional punch, along with some top-tier music. 3 has some pros and cons I'll get into below, and then 2 is 2.

- Grand King Ghidorah is definitely one of the best incarnations of the character. Good design and suit, impressive power, unique and varied abilities, unexplained space-based origin, and a dastardly personality. He's everything King Ghidorah should be. I see why the fandom hypes him up so much, and if I pry my Showa Bias Goggles off, I can even concede that he is a better King of Terror than the original, although Showa trounces him in some aspects of the actual execution.

- GKG was severely let down by the effects and camera work. His rampages looked like shit, which took away from their impact, and his first battle with Mothra had some abysmal flying shots that hurt the whole scene. That's par for the course with this trilogy, though. All those hideous blue filter scenes at the beginning of the movie really bogged everything down, too.

- The dome is controversial, I know, but I actually liked it. I don't know if stealing children is really an appropriate activity for Ghidorah in an overall franchise sense, but in the context of this particular movie it works out pretty well. The scenes of the kids being abducted are suitably horrific for a movie aimed at kids, and probably scared the crap out of a lot of young viewers. And the inside of the dome made for a nice hellscape, with acid bubbling up out of the geysers and kids running and screaming. It was scary and apocalyptic, and a standout twist to set GKG apart from the crowd. The fact that it was all so random, lazily written, and unexplained is often treated as a negative, but I like the mysterious, cosmic horror quality that adds. Fuck our understanding of logical storytelling, GKG does what he wants.

- You do kinda have to ignore the lifeless direction, though. Half the child extras, and even Shota's actor half the time, clearly had no idea what they were supposed to be doing.

- The time travel scene is wonderful. Visually goofy, yes, but in an endearing sort of way. Haora Mosura elevates it all and makes it exciting.

- The Cretaceous sequence is just plain fun. The over the top landscape, the so bad they're good dinosaurs, the brutal and intense fight, the random prehistoric Mothras. You have to love it.

- Half-baked as it all is, I appreciate that this trilogy attempted to give the Elias an expanded, more complex role. They even had a sword fight, of all things, in this movie. They come across as very cheesy, yes, but at least the movie is totally unapologetic about it. No matter how silly any of it looks, they're played completely straight and sincere in classic kaiju genre style, and there's honor in that.

- One issue with this movie is the runtime. It's too long, and some scenes drag out more than they need to. Trimming about five minutes would've been beneficial.

[Voyager]

- GKG was severely let down by the effects and camera work. His rampages looked like shit, which took away from their impact, and his first battle with Mothra had some abysmal flying shots that hurt the whole scene. That's par for the course with this trilogy, though. All those hideous blue filter scenes at the beginning of the movie really bogged everything down, too.

I know I’ve been one to occasionally prop up GKG, but I do concede he’s probably the least visually threatening.

[Legion1979]

It's really hard to defend this King Ghidorah (regardless of the cool design) if everything else about his execution sucks.

[JAGzilla]

Everything else about his execution sucks? That's a little extreme, isn't it?

[Legion1979]

Everything else about his execution sucks? That's a little extreme, isn't it?

Not really. Again, cool design. Everything else sucks.

[JAGzilla]

I will say that I liked the shooting stars accompanying his entrance. A beautiful, seemingly harmless phenomenon associated with good luck, and a living apocalypse comes with it.

And while I know it's fashionable to sneer at power levels, GKG did legitimately pose a threat, more so than most Ghidorah incarnations.

[godjacob]

Rebirth of Mothra 3 is defiantly my fav of the ROM Trilogy. The whole time travel element spiced up the formula pretty well and felt it did well to focus on the dynamic between Moll & Lora and Belvera which was always the strongest aspect of the series.

While I think the decision to use another Ghidorah was a bit lazy (Should've been Bagan TBH) this version for the longest time was my fav till the MV version came to be. A malevolent creature with its own agency rather than being a mind-controlled superweapon though the whole kidnap kid subplot...eh, would've been better without it. Just felt so Showa Gamera.

Its flaws are the same as the rest of the trilogy, pretty weak child lead and an overly formulaic structure. Mothra Leo fights a monster, gets stomped, gets a undeserved and out of nowhere power up and curb stomps the villain to win. Still the most enjoyable entry.

[LegendZilla]

This film's version of Ghidorah is a major saving grace of this film.

[shadowgigan]

This film's version of Ghidorah is a major saving grace of this film.

It feels more faithful to its Showa counterpart than the 91 design, although I enjoy them both immensely.

[LegendZilla]

This film's version of Ghidorah is a major saving grace of this film.

It feels more faithful to its Showa counterpart than the 91 design, although I enjoy them both immensely.

I dare say this is the best version of the character that Toho's ever given us.

[shadowgigan]

This film's version of Ghidorah is a major saving grace of this film.

It feels more faithful to its Showa counterpart than the 91 design, although I enjoy them both immensely.

I dare say this is the best version of the character that Toho's ever given us.

I might agree with you in terms of design, but not in terms of character. That being said, it's not like the script gave them a lot to work with. GKG feels less of a character to me than Showa Ghidorah doe, I guess is what I am getting at.

[edgaguirus]

GKG is a great design, but the villain isn't provided a chance to be truly threatening. The kaiju has brief moments when it does, like the mind control and the second kidnapping, but the kaiju has no big destruction scene and doesn't show much cruelty towards the children.

[Anguirus]

Easily my favorite of the trilogy. Which I find really strange, considering I thought the first film was awful, yet that has the same director as this.