TALKBACK #19: Godzilla and Mothra, The Battle for Earth

[jellydonut25]

This movie is a dookie.

[davezilla]

Well this was my G-flick tonight, one that I haven't seen in a while. Sadly my feelings toward it have dampened a little. I guess I'm looking at it with a more critical eye. The script is awful! I mean seriously it feels so rushed and hacked together it's a utter disappointment overall. It really is a shame because I LOVE Mothra and I LOVE Battra. I want to love this movie so much but I just can't "love" it. I don't know if I should list what's wrong with it first (cause there's so much) or what is good.

I guess I like Battra a lot, very nice introducing an "evil" Mothra. I love the design of Battra's larva and adult stages. I think the fight underwater while not perfect in interesting and new for the Godzilla series. And I guess that's about all I like about it.

The adult and even larva Mothra are an embarrassment. I mean seriously they couldn't get the larva stage to move better than that! And the adult is such a plush you want to hug it and squeeze it, not watch it fight.

Why oh why did they change the sound effect for Godzilla's breath? It's horrific!!!!! Heck why is he even in this movie. Would have been a better script without him!

And the film's "bad guys" are frankly annoying. Even if he does a 180, I wanted to punch Andoh in the face. Something about him just annoyed me to death. The acting overall is just incredibly juvenile. I guess after 3 dark and serious films (ok so maybe GvsKG was campy but still) they had to decide to go this flowery route and the film suffers for it. Not even just a little, it suffers hard.

Such a disappointment for my favorite bug, and yes Imago Mothra looks and acts better in Rebirth of Mothra 1 than in this. The final fight is a snooze fest.

Sad

[Alpha OTS]

Just finished watching the bluray. I don't hate this movie. That said, I'm still not a Heisei fan either.

I like that the movie tells a coherent story and the character motivations are pretty clear, especially after the huge Emmy plot hole that still bothers me in GvKG. The problem is that while the plot is more logical, the pacing sucks. We've heard it discussed before, these plot elements have been done before and done better.

The final battle is boring and epitomes what I dislike about Heisei in general. The effects feel subpar, and the kaiju world feels way too much like its on a small studio set. The wire work doesn't do enough to make the winged kaiju feel alive. Again, this has been done before and done better.

That said, each time I watch this I like Battra more. He's clearly the best thing in this movie, probably the best thing to happen in Heisei in general, and there's some great sequences when he does his initial rampaging and then the subsequent battle with G in the ocean. Leaving larva form is unfortunately the worst thing to happen to his screen presence.

GvKG definitely has an energy and pace that this movie lacks, and the final battle there is *much* more satisfying. Although again, like GvKG, the bluray experience here is definitely better than the dvd. So an improvement, but still my least favorite Mothra appearance in a G movie.

Btw, while I am disappointed that GvKG and G&M:BFE share the same menus, I do like the disk art.

[XvGojira]

I think the servers glitched or something when I posted here last and ate my post.

Anyway, I watched this the other day and I had a good time watching the dub. Oh sure it's bad and I'm sure it'll be low on my re-watch list, but I had fun with it this time around.

[jellydonut25]

This rancid pile of feces is INSUFFERABLE. I now own it, because it came in the two-pack with the infinitely superior Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, but UGH....it's entirely possible that I never watch this movie again.

[Jorzilla]

If any of you can get your hands on a copy of Japan's favorite Mon-Star, Steve Ryfle hilariously rips this movie apart. I was grinning ear to ear the entire time I read it. He also brings up points that I hadn't even considered but are definitely issues with this film.

[lhb412]

Random thing I thought was actually good: the radically different clothing each person wheres when they go to explore Infant Island. It does a nice job of communicating each character in a visual way. Cleverest thing in the film.

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

I think my favorite part of this movie is Battra and specifically his larva. I liked the fight between the Battra larva and Godzilla. I also like Mothra and Battra shooting lasers at each other, but damn they just cannot be portrayed as fliers. The sfx work is just so shoddy. And that makes me sad because I really liked Koichi Kawakita's sfx work in vs Biollante, Sayonara Jupiter (THE saving grace of the movie. The rest was a pretty big turd), and I think his best were the World War II movies he worked on.

[Gentleman]

[jellydonut25]

This script should have been discarded. As well as the actors. And suits. And well...pretty much everything.

[XvGojira]

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

[Hybrid Gojira]

I watched this tonight.

I....liked it. I don't really know how that happened.

Actually, I do.

I really dig Battra and I really like the slightly revamped Godzilla suit. He has a slightly slimmer face and it's ferocious. Granted, some of the SPFX are awful and the daylight sets are really bad, but the stuff at night works extremely well and I was entertained by the fights. This was not simply a beam fest - the fights had a little substance/grappling to them.

The story...well that is where this movie suffers. The Indiana Jones rip off scenes are insufferable, but somehow by the end of the film I looked past all of that because I enjoyed how Godzilla was portrayed.

[jellydonut25]

You're a terrible person.

[Jorzilla]

I've tried watching this movie 2 or 3 times in the last year, and I just end up finding things I hate about it more. Good on you for finding enjoyment in it, but this is my least favorite Godzilla movie ever.

[Hybrid Gojira]

[kiryugoji04]

[Rody]

This movie is the worst. Seriously, it's a blatant rehash of Mothra but with extra monsters for more fight scenes. And the effects are inexcusable. It pains me that this was one of the most successful Godzilla movies.

[Dr Kain]

Are we sure this movie even had an actual script? It seems more like they just took a rejected draft of the 1964 script and threw Battra in just to make it different than anything else. I'm going to be filming my review for this one tomorrow and I have very little nice things to say about it. Ick, almost as bad as Megalon and Revenge.

[XvGojira]

[DannyBeane]

[Gman2887]

I've heard rumors Omori didn't even finish the script for this film before it started filming. It's led to some discussions about Omori having a "falling out" of some kind and Okawara was replacement director. No idea how much of this is actually true. It does seem odd that Omori would write, but not direct after the last two films.

[daikaijusaurus]

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

I think my only favorite part of this movie is Battra. Much like Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla, I like the Spacegodzilla and MOGERA kaiju, but the stories...eh.

Mothra vs Bagan would probably have been a better feature just based on how enthusiastic they were for it, and how they had everything done for before the movie was shot down.

Thanks for your share Daikaijusaurus. I have the Heisei Perfect Collection artbook, but I am not sure the pics you shared are in the book I have.

[Hybrid Gojira]

I'd love to know if Godzilla and Battra were supposed to fight in a city at some point since I've seen these pics floating around -