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

[lhb412]

[Legion]

[Andrew Nguyen]

This is definitely one of the weakest films for me (particularly in the context of the Heisei series of Godzilla films). In fact I believe that this film should not have been produced at all. If the tone of the previous films had been different then I would have no problem having Mothra being in this film but with what we've got, well you get the idea.

[Mac]

[Legion]

Oh yeah, because I didn't say it yet...I flarkin' hate Sony's title for this one. I understand why they couldn't just call it Godzilla vs Mothra - though with the '64 film now officially called Mothra vs Godzilla they could always ditch the subtitle next time they revisit the film, if ever.

It's like using titles like "All Monsters Attack" and "Invasion of Astro Monster" or names like Anguirus and Desghidora. Not gonna happen as far as I'm concerned.

[DannyBeane]

[H-Man]

[jellydonut25]

[msunz27]

[MouthForWar]

[Legion]

I think what happened is that Godzilla vs King Ghidora was an experiment to see if bringing back classic monsters would work or not. It did and the movie did well at the box office. Toho is simple to figure out. After two less-than-successes all it took was for one film to make money and Toho felt they had the right formula (Ifukube and bringing back old monsters) and could let their guard down and coast on that formula without trying as hard as they would have otherwise.

[Tyler E. Martin]

While I've only seen the dubbed version and would certainly enjoy it more in its original form, there's not much saving this movie from being pretty terrible in just about every arena.

The weak points have already been addressed--lazy writing, crummy effects, and an overall lack of material to hold interest really kill this one for me. And what the heck is with those weird noises for the beams? They have a very "electronic" quality to them, which hurts the already poorly-done attempt at an illusion that the monsters are actual living beings.

Though I, too, like the idea of an evil counterpart for Mothra. I think it's a pretty cool concept, and Battra could have turned out great...too bad he didn't. I do think his larval form was executed reasonably well, and the underwater fight was pretty cool too. And as with every other Heisei movie he scored, I think Akira Ifukube's music makes the film sound a lot better than it actually is. For my money, it's a solid score and a nice listen on its own, separated from the awful story and visuals.

When I first saw this at about age ten, I thought it was one of the coolest things ever, but it hasn't held up too well at all. It's a shame, because it definitely had some potential, but the filmmakers obviously weren't willing to go anywhere with it.

[Legion]

Tyler's post makes me think a little...without an Ifukube score behind it how much worse would this movie be? Would it have been on Space Godzilla's level? A little better? Worse? We'll never know but it's something to think about.

It's too bad that the Japanese versions of the Heisei films aren't legally available in this country. As it stands the only one we've got in widescreen and with a dual language audio track in Mechagodzilla. Everything else is just dubbed, dubbed and in fullscreen or isn't available at all. Most of the Heisei films aren't fantastic, but they're definitely better in their original language and with the entire picture intact.

I only own the English version of Godzilla vs Mothra just so I can say I own it. Why the hell would I ever want to watch this version of the movie when I own the Japanese version on R2, even if it's not subtitled? The pisspoor dubbing and the fullscreen image makes Godzilla vs Mothra look like an even worse film than it already is.

[kiryugoji04]

[kent]

[MouthForWar]

[Tyler E. Martin]

[MouthForWar]

[Tyler E. Martin]

[MouthForWar]

[Legion]

[zekend01]

The music in this film, as it has now been stated OFFICIALLY redundantly, was one of the better aspects. To my memory, it's about the only thing that stands out as being pretty good.

I could recount several of the more rancid aspects at this point, which would also be redundant, but I'll inject a new one with the mind-killing Heisei Mothra Fairies introduced in this flick. Man, I despised those little girls then and now. They make me feel stupid when I watch them. The dub job with doubled tracks of Emi's (from the previous film) English-speaking voice actress makes me bleed from the nose and ears and I feel an overwhelming urge to reach through the telly and snap their little necks with my thumb and fore-finger.

[Destroysall]

[Benjamin Haines]

[zekend01]