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

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

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

Post by Mechagigan »

Man, this one is just a drag to get through. It's hard to even attempt to go in-depth, because there's almost literally nothing there to look at... each and every character is a walking trope with no development, let alone any individual entertainment factor, the effects are completely fake, the 'moral' slams you over the head harder than Godzilla's foot itself...

One can tell that it was at this point that Toho figured Godzilla himself was no longer a drawing point for audiences; and, hell, based on this one's sales, maybe they were completely right. As I've said before, this is inarguably a 'Pilot' for what became the Mothra series. I'm not one to be especially annoyed by limited Godzilla screentime, but this one feels like it's actively trying to ignore the monster.

That'd honestly be okay if it had some creative ideas behind it; but, nope, it's a direct remake of the original Mothra film, right down to the moral and imagery. That's my biggest issue with the movie; it depends entirely on your nostalgia. Things like the Twins, their song, Mothra's 'deity'-like being... none are explained. You can't reboot a character and throw them in with no exposition whatsoever. A thought that applies to the entire cast, as well.

Even the one shred of creativity, Battra, plays a relatively minor role in the real meat of the movie.

Compared to the movies that led to it, this is just amateurish. Gone is any sense of tone, atmosphere, or drama, making way for the first of the Heisei era that doesn't feel worthy of being a full-fledged film.

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

Post by ZeppandonConfirmed »

After watching this one and my least favorite Heisei film, Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla again, I have to say that this one is my least favorite Heisei film. This one was very enjoyable for me as a kid, but I just don't find it as enjoyable as I used to, but I still have enjoyment with the film.

Pros: The OST. Ifukube nailed the score yet again. This one is one of my personal favorites having a more elegant tone to the songs, but still being a very good OST. Not as good as the other scores in Heisei, specifically MG93 and KG, but still, good.

The First Battle: The first fight with Godzilla and the two Lavras is one of my personal favorite fights. I really like how they mix both beam weapons and physical combat in the fight. Also, the later part where Godzilla fights Battra underwater was very innovative and cool. We have Godzilla fight monsters at the surface of the ocean, but never underwater. Yeah, Ebirah dragged Godzilla into water in Sea Monster, and Godzilla fought Ebirah and Hedorah underwater in Final Wars, but I mean an actual fight that we are able to watch. It's very innovative and I enjoyed it.

Godzilla and Mothra: Godzilla gets a new design, with a different roar and he's very cool. Not my favorite Heisei design, but still fine. I do like his roar in this film, but not as much as his roar from the last three films. Mothra looks ok in this film. But it's Mothra, I don't expect a terrifying insect creature with Mothra, we got the new monster for that.

Battra: Battra is one of my all time favorite Kaiju. Right behind Godzilla and Rodan, he is my favorite, I love this Kaiju. I like his ferocious design, looks very cool and is the coolest new Heisei Monster design in my opinion. His backstory and concept are also very cool. The Yin to Mothra's Yang, Battra was a monster who protected the Earth, but hated humanity, and decided to destroy mankind. But Mothra fights Battra to give peace and was successful. Very interesting monster and a very badass one.

Cons: The Characters: These characters were eh. I only really enjoyed Miki. Other than that, I didn't care for the other characters. They were just boring and bland. I never really got into these characters and never even cared for them at any point, besides Miki.

The final battle: I really enjoyed the first battle, but this final battle was very boring. People say that MG93 was the worst with beam spamming. At least that film had a good amount of physical combat that balanced it out. But with this film? Yeah, this fight is beam spamming galore. That's like 75% of the fight. Beams, beams, Ferris wheel, getting thrown by Godzilla, more beams, and throwing Godzilla into the ocean, It got rather boring and repetitive fast.

All in all, I enjoyed this one, but it is my least favorite from the Heisei era. It has great things about it, like the monsters and the score, but other than that, it got very boring.
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by Zarm »

I always just want to love this one more than I do. I love the summoning sequence as a piece of filmmaking, and the bonus of actually having it subtitled (as very few Mothra releases do) just made it more sublime. Plus, the first battle you mentioned, pretty great. And because of those, I want to love it. i even tell myself I do, because those are the only parts I actively remember. :) But I think you're pretty much right about it.
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by LockBite »

The best thing about this movie is its color palette. Truly the most colorful Godzilla movie ever made. I used to love it as a young kid, until the bad writing became more apparent when stacked against the Showa greats.

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

Post by godzillafan1982 »

I'm still really trying to make it through this movie. Bought it on blu back in 2014 with King Ghidorah and still haven't gotten through it. I loved Godzilla vs King Ghidorah and this is the same director, so I plopped it in the next chance I had, and pressed "stop" after about 20 minutes. Last night was my FOURTH attempt to watch it, and I got the farthest I've ever gotten (the first time you see Battra swimming towards land) before I turned it off to do other things.

I have two problems with the movie so far mainly. First, is all the Indiana Jones ripoffs. King Ghidorah borrowed a lot from Terminator 2 as well, but did its own thing with it (how they travel back in time to WW2, for example). This is just a blatant ripoff. Second, the tiny Mothra fairies just don't belong in the more serious/grounded Heisei series. The first few movies establish a believable world, and then the fourth movies brings in fairies and magic.

I just can't get through this movie. Even Megalon, which many consider one of the worst movies, has camp value. I'm still going to try to watch it, even if I have to just watch 20 minutes at a time, just so I can say I saw it...

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

Post by Zarm »

Honestly, if you pick up around that point, you might have better luck. The first 20 minutes- most of the time spent with the human characters- are kind of the worst. At least the kaiju bits have some entertainment and spectacle value. Take courage- the worst is behind you, now! :)
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by Mini-Godzilla »

I love the first hour, but once it starts focusing on the monsters, I lose interest quickly. It's amazing how incompetent the fight between Mothra and Godzilla is compared to the fight from 1964. I mean, Mothra just sorta hangs from the top of the soundstage and does nothing! That's pretty much a problem throughout the 90s Godzilla movies, admittedly, but it's especially disappointing here after such a fun lead-in story.
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by godzillafan1982 »

I actually finished it yesterday! I started from where I left off, with Battra headed towards land, and you're right the monster mayhem was enough to at least get me through it. I really liked Battra (even if you could see the strings in a couple shots). The second half wasn't nearly so bad, but overall I'd still say it's my least favorite G movie so far (I've seen all of them except Space Godzilla, which I hope to watch soon).

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

Post by Lain Of The Wired »

Spacegodzilla is dreadful, at least Godzilla vs. Mothra had some cool scenes, like Godzilla coming out of the volcano, and the whole ending battle is pretty bitchin, minus the laser light show scene x_x
Spacegodzilla is an utter blur, like nothing worth noting, any scene that COULD be cool is shot so cheaply and poorly, like Spacegodzilla awkwardly impelling MOGUERA through the chest and flinging him, or MOGUERA's screw attack, or Spacegodzilla levitating Godzilla, all of it just looks real
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by Destorogoji »

I really like Mothra's design in this film, it's so magestic, especially with those fluffy legs.
It's so sad the movie turned out as bad driven as it did.
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by szmigiel »

Things that have always bothered me about the movie is both Godzilla and Battra behavior.

Godzilla is supposedly awakened by the meteor impact near him, but spends days still in the Ogasawara trench, not really not doing anything till he intercepts Mothra’s egg way down by the Philippines. We know it has been several days, to even a week or two, between the meteor crash and the moving of Mothra's egg.

Battra is seen awakening later, heads towards Mothra’s egg making a slight detour to attack Japan and Nagoya. Good thing they already got the report from the Cosmos and didn’t come up with their own silly name for him. Then he is way down by the Philippines as well to attack Mothra larva and Godzilla.

As Godzilla and Battra battle at the bottom of the Pacific they disappear into an underwater volcano. They are both conveniently MIA while Mothra attempts to rescue the Cosmos, then cocoons to transform. Once Mothra emerges, Godzilla reappears walking out of Mt. Fuji. Battra is also seen again out of the blue and transforms into a smaller and weaker form just to attack Mothra in the air, but can no longer fight Godzilla head on.

Also a side note Godzilla could of left Mt Mihara anytime after “Return of Godzilla” just choose not to, or growing 20 meters gave him immunity to lava.

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

Post by KaijuDuke »

szmigiel wrote:Things that have always bothered me about the movie is both Godzilla and Battra behavior.

Godzilla is supposedly awakened by the meteor impact near him, but spends days still in the Ogasawara trench, not really not doing anything till he intercepts Mothra’s egg way down by the Philippines. We know it has been several days, to even a week or two, between the meteor crash and the moving of Mothra's egg.

Battra is seen awakening later, heads towards Mothra’s egg making a slight detour to attack Japan and Nagoya. Good thing they already got the report from the Cosmos and didn’t come up with their own silly name for him. Then he is way down by the Philippines as well to attack Mothra larva and Godzilla.

As Godzilla and Battra battle at the bottom of the Pacific they disappear into an underwater volcano. They are both conveniently MIA while Mothra attempts to rescue the Cosmos, then cocoons to transform. Once Mothra emerges, Godzilla reappears walking out of Mt. Fuji. Battra is also seen again out of the blue and transforms into a smaller and weaker form just to attack Mothra in the air, but can no longer fight Godzilla head on.

Also a side note Godzilla could of left Mt Mihara anytime after “Return of Godzilla” just choose not to, or growing 20 meters gave him immunity to lava.

Yeah, I too am often perplexed by Battra's transformation at the end for that very reason, he goes from being in the same weight class as Godzilla to being both smaller and weaker than him during the final battle. What was the point of that? Supposedly his prism beams are stronger than before but I see no evidence of that since Godzilla shrugs off his attacks with ease, and while Mothra gained new attack capabilities, Battra loses his horn beam and only has his ineffective eye beams to back him up now. He also seems to have difficulty shooting Mothra even when she's flying right ahead of him lol. I know I've brought this up before but its worth repeating since it seems so nonsensical to the story.
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

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I must say this is the only film in the Heisei series that I genuinely do not like.

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

Post by MikeSTZillak »

And began the environmental message-filled kaiju movie craze that went went on through the rest of the 90's.

Although, this is the only Godzilla-related one that makes sense (What was up with GvSG?)
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by TigaLN »

KaijuDuke wrote:
szmigiel wrote:Things that have always bothered me about the movie is both Godzilla and Battra behavior.

Godzilla is supposedly awakened by the meteor impact near him, but spends days still in the Ogasawara trench, not really not doing anything till he intercepts Mothra’s egg way down by the Philippines. We know it has been several days, to even a week or two, between the meteor crash and the moving of Mothra's egg.

Battra is seen awakening later, heads towards Mothra’s egg making a slight detour to attack Japan and Nagoya. Good thing they already got the report from the Cosmos and didn’t come up with their own silly name for him. Then he is way down by the Philippines as well to attack Mothra larva and Godzilla.

As Godzilla and Battra battle at the bottom of the Pacific they disappear into an underwater volcano. They are both conveniently MIA while Mothra attempts to rescue the Cosmos, then cocoons to transform. Once Mothra emerges, Godzilla reappears walking out of Mt. Fuji. Battra is also seen again out of the blue and transforms into a smaller and weaker form just to attack Mothra in the air, but can no longer fight Godzilla head on.

Also a side note Godzilla could of left Mt Mihara anytime after “Return of Godzilla” just choose not to, or growing 20 meters gave him immunity to lava.

Yeah, I too am often perplexed by Battra's transformation at the end for that very reason, he goes from being in the same weight class as Godzilla to being both smaller and weaker than him during the final battle. What was the point of that? Supposedly his prism beams are stronger than before but I see no evidence of that since Godzilla shrugs off his attacks with ease, and while Mothra gained new attack capabilities, Battra loses his horn beam and is only has his ineffective eye beams to back him up now. He also seems to have difficulty shooting Mothra even when she's flying right ahead of him lol. I know I've brought this up before but its worth repeating since it seems so nonsensical to the story.
I have to agree. It seemed weird that Battra was a lot smaller than it his larval phase. The only real benefit that Battra seemed to get from his transformation was speed and maybe a stronger beam. But that came at the cost of durability he had in his larval phase. Battra seemed weaker in his imago phase than his larval phase. Battra went a lot longer solo against Godzilla in his larval stage than his imago phase.

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

Post by eabaker »

godzillafan1982 wrote:I loved Godzilla vs King Ghidorah and this is the same director
Sorry, I know you posted this a couple of months ago, but I've been away from the board. Just wanted to point out that, while Kazuki Oomori wrote both films, he only directed King Ghidorah. Mothra was the first of four Godzilla movies to be directed by the more... workmanlike Takao Okawara.
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by MechaGoji Bro7503 »

This is my second least favorite Godzilla film.....
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Re: Talkback Thread #19: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Post by godzilla1541 »

Just rewatched this movie and my memories are correct. The Godzilla in this movie has the same sound for his beam as shin. So Destoroyah ripped off Godzilla and shin ripped off Destoroyah. This movie isn't bad at all. People say the environment stuff I'd shoved down your throats but unless you're looking for it, It doesn't really bother me. Effects are great too. Only problems I have is some green screen stuff but otherwise it's great. I just don't get why so many people hate it. Maybe the Japanese dub is different ( I only own the English cut). Or maybe it's my nostalgia as this was one of my first Godzilla movies. I actually get why Battra transformed too. He wasn't going to fight Godzilla, he did it to fight Mothra. Which makes sense as Mothra had just recently emerged as her adult stage. Also this Godzilla's roars are my favorite. They sound like the Showa roars but they don't at the same time. These are the roars I hear when I think of Godzilla. Overall one of my favorites of the franchise.

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

Post by UltramanGoji »

godzilla1541 wrote: I just don't get why so many people hate it.
I don't hate it, but it's a painfully plain film whose messages and themes are better portrayed in its predecessors (Mothra 61 and Mothra vs Godzilla).

I like the concept and look of Battra, the soundtrack isn't too bad and the change of pace from a military/government protagonist is a nice touch. Some of the effects are pretty bad, such as the Mothra Larva rampage in Tokyo, where the puppet/costume of the Mothra moves in an unnatural way and makes it look more like a toy. Some of the characters are rehashes of those from the aformentioned Mothra films and others are just not developed well enough for me to care.

It's not one of the worst in the series, but it certainly isn't anywhere near the top of my list.
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