RoM Trilogy: The Positives

[Lord Gappa]

The Rebirth of Mothra trilogy is a rather infamous film series on this board. So I thought it might be interesting to discuss the positives of all three.
Rebirth of Mothra
- Death Ghidorah was an interesting monster.
- Mothra Leo.
- The Elias story
- The score
Rebirth of Mothra II
- Rainbow Mothra
- Daghara was also an interesting kaiju
Rebirth of Mothra III
- Time travel plot was handled well (much better than Godzilla vs King Ghidorah).
- Grand and Cretaceous King Ghidorah.
- The battles.
What positives can you name?

[TokyoVigilante]

Rebirth of Mothra

Despite being a nineties environmentalist children's fantasy film it's actually not that preachy and wasn't nearly as nerve grating (for me personally. skreeonk hippies) as it very well could have ended up being.

Death Ghidorah is a fantastically realized and detailed prop. Kawakita retired on a high note with this thing, proving that his proffered style of chunky ponderous beam-spewers works best when he's working on an original creation and has an idea that works with that aesthetic (Biollante, MOGUERA, Death Ghidorah) as opposed to forcing it on something that doesn't need it (oh hai Heisei Godzilla!).


Rebirth of Mothra II
uh, flesh eating star fish are cool?

But literally skreeonk everything about this shitty movie.


Rebirth of Mothra III
Time Travel works best when it causes either very simple and basic scenarios (Time Crimes), explained in ridiculous scientific detail (Primer) or is used in a free-spirited wreckless adventure sort of a way (Back to the Future). While I'm a pretty big fan of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, the time travel plot is far to complicated and puts to much emphasis on poorly explained details. It's an unpleasant middle ground between technical details and pulp sci-fi adventure that is just convoluted. RoM III on the other hand, manages to hit that light adventure vibe, with the goals and consequences of time travel in this universe being simple and precise. It works not because it's smart, but because it's not trying to be smart.

Grand King Ghidorah is the last real classy Ghidorah (not counting the Pachinko one of course) we have gotten. A savage planet killer who lays a brutal smack down on Mothra and kidnaps children to eat them. It's fantastically cartoonishly evil and it works. Looks great, despite the necks being noticeably stiff (and the wings are set kinda' low, but whatever) it's a great incarnation and what I would have vastly preferred for the regular Heisei continuity.

[Legion1979]

Kawakita retired on a high note with this thing...

Kawakita retired after Mothra 2.

[TokyoVigilante]

Daglarglhalgrala was his last work? I take back everything I said. He retired in a stew of unintentional self-parody.

skreeonk RoM II.

[Ethan]

I like the part where the end credits start to roll. It's almost Showa level of good.

[Tohosaurus]

Motha Leo had a good design in terms of the differences between the male and female Mothra (but the neon bright colors and super fluffy and stiff prop are a turn off) and I actually like Mothra having multiple "forms" that it it could change into, although I didn't necessarily like the execution of it. Similarly, I liked the backstory on the triplets and all but that wasn't carried out well either. The Ghidorahs also looked cool and were massively powerful. Otherwise, meh. I'd still like a region one release of RoM3 though.

[HayesAJones]

Grand King Ghidorah comes to mind immediately. Not my favorite incarnation, but still a real ass-kicker.

[JAGzilla]

The Elias were handled pretty well, overall. This is probably my favorite version of them, actually. I never liked how they got around by walking or being carried in a box in the older movies. As a goddess' messengers, that kind of thing seems beneath them, and is just generally impractical. It was good to see them get some decent transportation via Fairy Mothra in these movies. The new powers and ability to defend themselves and actively help Mothra out in combat were nice additions, too.

[Goji]

What exactly is so "interesting" about Dagarah? He looks ridiculous.

I enjoy the first film, and to an extent, the third one, but ROM II can go to hell.

[Hellspawn28]

I thought Dagarah look pretty cool looking. Just like Orga, he has potential but start in a bad movie and was never very popular. I also thought Aqua Mothra in the second movie was not too bad neither.

[Goji]

Aqua Mothra was kinda "cool" I suppose, but it wasn't enough. The movie is still nigh unwatchable to me.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

I thought Dagarah look pretty cool looking. Just like Orga, he has potential but start in a bad movie and was never very popular. I also thought Aqua Mothra in the second movie was not too bad neither.

Did you just equate the quality of Godzilla 2000 with that of Mothra II?

[Rody]

Daglarglhalgrala

Now spit....

[Tyler]

The basic stories these movies have are really cool. With some tweaking I think they'd be really cool. You could say that about any bad movie but I hate it when I'm watch something with a really cool concept and the people involved mananged to screw it up.

[Hellspawn28]

Did you just equate the quality of Godzilla 2000 with that of Mothra II?

I personally don't remember Mothra II being that bad. I did remember liking it more then the first movie. I need to re-watch these movies again if Sony ever re-releases them on DVD.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

I personally don't remember Mothra II being that bad. I did remember liking it more then the first movie. I need to re-watch these movies again if Sony ever re-releases them on DVD.

Ah, the mercifully vague recollection of a movie seen in the distant past...I envy you, sir.

I didn't remember it being too awful, either, having watched it once back in 98 or so. Last summer I decided to pick up the Tri-Star two-pack, and while I ended up enjoying the first ROM more than I had previously, Mothra II was spectacularly cringe-worthy. When the mystical fuzzy-animal sidekick started moving around via the magic of someone just off-screen rolling him like a ball, I knew it was going to be worse than I remembered. When that same fuzzy creature magically cured wounds with his urine...I think I died a bit inside. It also didn't help that Mothra spent a huge portion of the film knocked out of commission on top of the temple, just being blasted by Degarlah. Sigh.

Part of the disaster that part II became might've been due to the exchange of director Okihiro Yoneda for Kunio Miyoshi. I don't know why Yoneda didn't return, but Toho clearly learned from their mistake and brought him onboard for part 3.


Now for something relevant to this thread. I think the first flick in this series is decent as one of those eco-awarness family films, and should be given some credit on that level. The effects are pretty neat, though not remotely convincing, and the shot of the dead Mothra sinking into the ocean is one of the few really standout images from Kawakita's later years (I wonder if he or the director came up with the shot?).

I continue to enjoy Mothra III a great deal. Yes, I know it's kiddie and all, but it works for me in the same way as a Disney fairy-tale, only with two of my favorite Kaiju ever thrown into the mix. While those dinosaur miniatures are unbelievably terrible, the rest of the SFX look good, especially that badass Ghidorah. I love what an evil bastard he is in this movie, I find it to be a much more satisfying update from the Showa incarnation than the future-weapon of GvsKG.

Also, I liked the scores to these movies.

[Rody]

When that same fuzzy creature magically cured wounds with his urine...I think I died a bit inside.

I thought Ghogo's magical urine was pretty funny, in a gross sort of way.

[Living Corpse]

I like the evil monsters. That's pretty much it.

[Arrow]

The first Rebirth of Mothra wasn't terrible. Wasn't great, or even good, but I didn't completely hate it.

I have nothing positive to say about the other two.

[Irys X]

Well, the Ghidorahs were pretty awesome. Especially GKG of course. Even if all of the battle were mostly giant laser lightshows, they're still pretty fun to watch. Not for epileptic people, but it certainly isnt boring.