Mothra (1961)

Simply A Masterpiece

Crappy film

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Blistering performances.

Investigating the mysterious survival of a shipwrecked crew who had been exposed to radiation, an expedition (including the usual 'resourceful reporter' characters) lands on an ostensibly uninhabited tropical Island only to find a native culture who worship a deity called 'Mothra'. They also encounter two miniature women, who as it turns out, are fairy acolytes of the native god. The villainous capitalist Clark Nelson (Jerry Ito) who sponsored the expedition returns to the island and kidnaps the fairies, bringing them to Tokyo where they are forced to perform in his" Secret Fairies Show". The girls warn the reporters that they have a psychic link with Mothra, who will come to rescue them. Sure enough, an immense caterpillar appears and lays waste to much of Tokyo before cocooning in the wreckage of the Tokyo Tower but Nelson, who has escaped to his homeland of "Rolisica' (presumably a conflation of Russia and America), ignores pleas to return the girls to their home. The caterpillar expupates as a giant moth who continues to search for the girls, ultimately leading to Nelson's well deserved comeuppance and a happy ending (if you ignore billions of yen in property damage). "Mothra" (and her sequel 1964's "Godzilla vs the Thing") are among the best of Toho's daikaiju films. Similar to the creature in "Gorgo" (which came out the same year) Mothra is presented as a sympathetic character and the destruction that she brings about is not wanton or mindless, but a response (albeit overwhelming) to an injustice. The movie is very well done with a strong story and good human characters (admittedly somewhat stereotypical) supporting the titular monster who, in both her forms, is imaginative, engaging, and very well executed. The scenes of mayhem and destruction as Tokyo, and later "New Kirk City" in Rolisica are destroyed, are excellent, especially the scene of the larva spinning its cocoon against a backdrop of a ruined Tokyo. The two fairies, who in some form or another accompany Mothra in most of her movie outings, are played by the singing twins "The Peanuts" (Emi and Yumi Ito) who also star in "Godzilla vs the Thing" and "Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster" (1964), and (IMO) are the best of the various singers who have played the roles over the years. The film's score is excellent and introduces the iconic "Mothra's Song", which is heard in many of the later Mothra outings. The benevolent giant moth is one of Toho's most popular and enduring kaiju characters and appears in twelve more films (as of this writing), generally as a friend, ally, or guardian (except, or course, when her brain is taken over by malevolent space aliens). This, her debut film, is an outstanding example of Toho's skill in producing kaiju eiga and is well worth watching by anyone willing to suspend their disbelief long enough to watch a film about a colossal moth and just enjoy the spectacle and the story.

It was inevitable that that jerk would steal those tiny little women and use them in some two bit show of his. What he didn't realize was that they were in a kind of symbiosis with Mothra, a flying creature what would protect them if necessary. There are some pretty good scenes, where these men, lacking conscience, murder their way into the jungle and set everything in motion. The weapon that the caterpillars have, the ability to shoot out a kind of sticky thread, is pretty creative. The girl singing is quite tiresome. But, ultimately, we have creature that is normally non-threatening, doing its thing. I was once told by a fellow viewer that if they wanted to really destroy Mothra, they needed to create a giant screen door with a big light behind it, or, better yet, an enormous wool sweater. These are food for thought. I did find this more enjoyable than many of the subsequent offerings, using the same creatures.

This not best M.O.T.R.A movie. Some of the sequels are like the second one Godzilla vs M.O.T.R.A, or the third one G.H.I.D.O.R.A.H the three headed monster, or the forth one Godzilla and M.O.T.H.R.A vs the sea monster. But it's still good movie.Some people go to an island that as bin polluted nuclear radiation. They find I giant moth. And some bad guys that come with them take something the belongs to it. I can't remember what it was an egg I think. Anyway these bad guy take something that belongs to M.O.T.H.R.A and he follows them back to Tokyo were he goes on a rampage. It is not as good as the 5th movie Destroy all monsters. And it is not as good as the 6th movie Godzilla vs G.I.G.A.N. But it still a good movie. See it. Great story line. Great movie. All the M.O.T.H.R.A movies are great see all of them.

Shipwreck survivors are found on Beiru, an island previously used for atomic tests. Amazingly free of radiation effects, they believe they were protected by a special juice given to them by the natives.Nothing much to say about this one. I only knew Mothra as an adversary to Godzilla and was interested in seeing the film where he debuts and predates his epic fight with the lizard of destruction. It is a good story and gets to the heart of the Mothra myth with the singing fairies that summon him.While maybe not as iconic as Godzilla, Mothra is a kaiju worthy of his own film series (which he has), and those interested in Toho's work really ought to check it out.