Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

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Arrow
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Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by Arrow »

Godzilla vs. Mothra aka Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth

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Talkback thread for the highest grossing Godzilla film in Japan to date. Discuss the fourth entry in the Heisei series, which re-introduces Mothra and introduces a new monster - Battra, the "Black Mothra". With Cosmos, indestructible rafts, flying maser jets and more!

Not really much to say except: second worst Heisei Godzilla film ever.

Discuss it.

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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by GodzillavsJason »

Well i think it sucks it is the worst Heisei movie, its the second worst Godzilla film in history. Oh and also we have to have goodie little to shoes Mothra come in and have try to spread peach and happiness of the world. God this movie sucks i always fall asleep through this and when i watch a Godzilla film i watch for Godzilla and the other monsters killing each other.
God i really wish they made the sequel to Godzilla vs King Ghidorah instead.
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by DaikaijuSokogeki! »

I'm mixed on this one. Like King Ghidorah, I haven't seen this one in a long time. I remember liking a few things about this film such as Ifukube's music score, Godzilla's new suit and Battra as a whole. However, the pacing is really poor and the writing is extremely bad. Although I've only seen this dubbed, Kazuki Omori's horrid writing is ever present here. The SPFX also start taking a downward spiral here. Mothra and Battra's flying props are stiff and the fight scenes are not exciting.

So yeah, I can't really say much more about the film. Unlike King Ghidorah, Mothra's not too memorable. I don't hate it, but it's not one I watch too often as you can probably tell.

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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by HayesAJones »

Instead of focusing the negatives, I'll go ahead and list the positives:

- Godzilla emerging from Mt. Fuji
- The score
- Battra
- Some great money shots of Godzilla as shadows fall across his face
- Mothra emerging from her cocoon

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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by ZigraDude »

The music is great, Battra was a neat creation, the scene with Godzilla emerging from Mt. Fuji was fantastic, and the battle with Godzilla and the Battra Larva was cool. And that's pretty much it. This is in my bottom five Godzilla films.

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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by Armor Mothra »

I know I'm in the minority here, as it's one of my favorites in the heisei series. The human plot revolving around a divorced family is an interesting concept and I really liked the musical scores in it. I loved the scenes of battra and godzilla battling under water, mothra emerging from her cocoon, godzilla emerging from the volcano ,battra's transformation and mothra instilling her energy into battra. I thought the battle scenes were great as well. My favorites were mothra and battra's aerial battle over Yokohama, Imago mothra's brief battle with godzilla when she used her scale and lightning combo on him, and at the end of the battle where mothra and battra teamed up against godzilla.

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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by Xx_The_Masquerade_xX »

I hardly remember this movie from memory so i might have to watch it again to change my mind but from what i remember i hatted the human scene's, i was never a big Mothra fan from the beginning... Battra was cool, Esp with it fighting with Godzilla.

I remember the ending battle being fun to watch, otherwise my memory is very blank on this movie. Although i remember them not showing what happened with Godzilla an battra after they fell into the ocean pissing me off.. It was like a disappointing ending unlike ''GMK'' or ''Godzilla vs King Ghidorah''

This an Space Godzilla being the worst in the Heisei Series.

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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by HedorahLives »

I don't think the fans hated it, since it made so much money.

Like:

--Mothra. The special effects in GMK, SOS, and Final Wars all blow away Mothra's presentation here and arguably so does the Mothra trilogy. Still, I thought larva Mothra was the best version of it since the 1961 original and I like her soft furry look here. I've seen criticisms of the way she flies, but that's too nitpicky for me to care.

--Godzilla. He takes a backseat, but he still looks as good as ever. His personality in this movie is one of constant exasperation. He's woken up by a giant rock, finds himself in the middle of a war between two big bugs, and gets stuck in the earth's crust. Godzilla is nature's punching bag.

--I enjoyed the divorced couple and Mr. Andoh. Good chemistry between them all early on. Some of the more likeable characters of the entire series. Being a major fan of the original King Kong, I'm always a sucker for when the heroes go to a deserted island to look for something in monster movies.

--Some fine battle sequences. I like the climatic ferris wheel fight and also the earlier confrontation in the ocean.


--Liked the Cosmos. Worthy successors to the peanuts

--Also liked Mothra's revamped origin. Like Ghidorah's makeover in the prior film, it completely rewrites the backstory, but leaves the character in tact.

--Well-paced. Balances well the human character moments and the monster mayhem. Hardly lagged.

Dislike:

--Having Godzilla and Battra getting sucked into the earth for the entire middle part of the movie feels like a cheap way to get rid of them while Mothra does her thing.

--The moral implications of the hero stealing the Cosmos and thus prompting Mothra's wrath is too easily glossed over. But, then, it's a kaiju movie. That's par.

--Akira Takarada is given too little to do. It was nice to see him, but anyone could've played his part.

--Miki is also given the least to do of any of her appearences. She's a cosmos detector and that's it.

--The "environmental" message is shallow, intrusive, and Omori continually beats us over the head with it. That's the usual for most "morals" in kaiju movies, but this is a particularly annoying case.

Purgatory:

--Battra. Like him in concept (the ying to Mothra's yang) and mostly in execution. However, he doesn't get nearly enough to do. His rampage early on was nice, but adult Battra didn't get to show his stuff nearly enough before forming a truce with Mothra. Also, using Rodan's roar was lazy.

--Anyone else want to see the Maritomo (sp?) guy get whacked a la the two business men in the 1964 original? Granted, his lifeblood is destroyed and he's left a wimpering mess at the end...

--That weird sound for Godzilla's ray was an odd touch. I don't hate it, but it is curious.


Overall, a good addition to the franchise, but not a great one. I probably watch this the most of any of the Heisei movies, aside from Biollante. Possibly because it's a lighter, fun film where, for once, Godzilla's existence isn't on the line. Just an enjoyable romp and I can see why it was so successful.

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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by Showa Gyaos »

A boring rehash of Mothra, but with Godzilla and Battra added to the story. Let's just say this: Mothra, despite being in the title, ruined it.
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by HedorahLives »

Here's a question: would it have been preferable if the climax was actually Godzilla and Mothra being forced to join forces against a mega powerful Battra? Or was the Mothra/Battra truce the better way to go with the story? Godzilla essentially saved Mothra's ass from Battra twice in this movie, albeit unintentionally, and one might accuse the big bug of ingratitude.

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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by GodzillavsJason »

HedorahLives wrote:Here's a question: would it have been preferable if the climax was actually Godzilla and Mothra being forced to join forces against a mega powerful Battra? Or was the Mothra/Battra truce the better way to go with the story? Godzilla essentially saved Mothra's ass from Battra twice in this movie, albeit unintentionally, and one might accuse the big bug of ingratitude.
Heres a better idea how about Godzilla and Battra joining forces against Mothra and they would kill her slow and painful. Then when Battra turns around Godzilla kills him. Now that would make the movie a thousand times better.
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by Showa Gyaos »

HedorahLives wrote:Here's a question: would it have been preferable if the climax was actually Godzilla and Mothra being forced to join forces against a mega powerful Battra? Or was the Mothra/Battra truce the better way to go with the story? Godzilla essentially saved Mothra's ass from Battra twice in this movie, albeit unintentionally, and one might accuse the big bug of ingratitude.
I still think Gigamoth would have been the best option.
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by Mini-Godzilla »

It suffers from being a 90's Godzilla movie, but it's still fairly decent. The characterization helps immensely, especially considering the divorce angle. I like it more than most of the 90's films, actually.
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by Goji »

ZigraDude wrote:The music is great, Battra was a neat creation, the scene with Godzilla emerging from Mt. Fuji was fantastic, and the battle with Godzilla and the Battra Larva was cool. And that's pretty much it. This is in my bottom five Godzilla films.
This is literally exactly how I feel about the film. It's funny how this was the only film that was screened subtitled at G-fest...and it STILL sucked just as bad.

And this is not a "love or hate" type of movie at all. MOST people dislike it, with a few feeling that it's "okay", with an even smaller group that "loves it" (which I personally have seen maybe once or twice).
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by Goji »

Hellspawn28 wrote:
Goji wrote: And this is not a "love or hate" type of movie at all.
I disargee since I always view this as love or hate type of movie since crtics enjoy it seeing that it holds a 80% on RT but fans hated it. I don't know why fans bash this movie so much.
Because it's a bad Godzilla movie. Simply put.
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by Ethan »

I'd say in some strange way, it's better than Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. It's got more consistent special effects and succeeds at being more entertaining. It's still far from decent, but it's not on my bottom 5. All in all, it's Takao Okawara's best film, though that doesn't say much.

Also, what's up with the chicken legs?
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by Blackout286 »

Goji wrote:
Hellspawn28 wrote:
Goji wrote: And this is not a "love or hate" type of movie at all.
I disargee since I always view this as love or hate type of movie since crtics enjoy it seeing that it holds a 80% on RT but fans hated it. I don't know why fans bash this movie so much.
Because it's a bad Godzilla movie. Simply put.
Actually that is a opinon only. Simply put.

This is my favorite and only favorite Godzilla Heisei film, yes meaning this film even tops Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, including Big G's death. I guess as to why I like this film is because regardless of the whole enviorment thing. The main threat overall, especially to the earth is still Godzilla. He's just as destructive and instinctive as ever, he even proved to be able to handle both Battra and Mothra. And his beam sound, I don't know. I like it alot for some reason. Don't know why though. And I guess another reason why I like this film is because, during the final battle. Both Moths understood(Well at least Mothra) that if they don't team up to take down a force greater than themselves, then they will both die. And even though Godzilla lost, he takes one of his opponents down with him.

Oh and how Godzilla just out-matches Mothra larvae in pretty much everything is amusing yet sick. Then Batta Larvae comes along and fights Godzilla underwater, that fight was awesome. Because to me, it seemed that Battra Larvae was evenly matched to Godzilla. Which was cool, sadly the battle dragged off scene with both monsters being swallowed whole by a underwater volcanic eruption.

I understand that the movie is mostly around Mothra and some of Battra, which can be boring to some G-fans. But sill I find this film enjoyable and awesome.

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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by Goji »

Hey, if you like it, that's cool...but it's still pretty bad, and WAY too derivative of other, BETTER Toho films of this genre. Sorry, but the truth hurts.
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by Mini-Godzilla »

I think that it's just as good as GvKG. I tend to move them back and forth when making "best" lists because the two films complement each other well. Where one film fails, the other tends to step up and fill the void. GvKG brings creative plotting while GvM brings worthwhile characterization. Destroyah easily trumps both, but so what?

My previous thoughts:

It's strange how often the films that feature these two monsters feel like Mothra movies that Godzilla has crashed uninvited. This almost feels like a warmup for the Rebirth of Mothra movies, but it features one of the more exciting human story threads in terms of matinee serial thrills.
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by godzilla1996 »

Godzilla vs. Mothra has horrible pacing, a very stiff Mothra, and Batra. The final fights scene isn't great. I'm a fan of the Heisei series (it's my favorite of the three) and I like the beam wars, but the final fight drags on. What I don't like is how back when Mothra vs. Godzilla was released, Tanaka knew Mothra was weaker than Godzilla, so he created a "move-set" for Mothra, having her pull Godzilla's tale and what not, and he didn't use any of that stuff! On the bright side, we do get a cool creation, Battra. Battra is Mothra on steroids. He is dark, menacing, has a cool beam, and his transformation is awesome! However, Battra imago is very stiff. This brings us to Mothra. Mothra imago is also stiff. But, we get a nice design. Godzilla is cool looking, but his beam effects suck. Also, he thrown in the middle of some million year war, and ends up getting pwned by two giant moths. The human plot is very entertaining, and we get some enjoyable characters. The score is nice. The pacing sucks. Overall, 2/5
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