Godzilla vs. Mothra
Encyclopedia
, translated in English as Godzilla vs. Mothra, is the 19th installment in the Godzilla
series of films. It is the sixth film to feature Mothra
and the only film to feature Battra
. The movie was released theatrically in Japan on December 12, 1992. The film features Mothra
's egg being unearthed by a typhoon, and this sets off a chain of events that awakens both Godzilla and Mothra's doppelganger
Battra
, issuing a titanic feud between Godzilla and the two giant insects. It was directed by Takao Okawara
from a screenplay by Kazuki Omori
, produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka
and Shogo Tomiyama
, with special effects provided by Koichi Kawakita
. Akira Ifukube
's score won a Japanese Academy Award. The film is an update of the 1964 Godzilla film Mothra vs. Godzilla
. This version differs drastically from the original with a new plot, characters, and the inclusion of a new monster, Battra
.
. After searching around a bit, they find the Cosmos' voices. They explain that they keep the Earth's natural order of things in balance.
The Cosmos also tell them a story of ancient origin. Many years earlier, an advanced civilization once existed, and for a time, the Earth's Cosmos was in perfect order. However, the scientists of this civilization tried to control the Earth's climate by creating a weather machine, so the Earth created the Black Mothra, named Battra
. Battra then destroyed the weather machine. However, afterwards, Battra became uncontrollable, and started to harm the very Earth that created it. Mothra was then sent in to stop Battra. Mothra then fought a fierce battle with Battra, who eventually lost. However, in the course of this battle, the civilization was totally destroyed by both the fight, and by flooding caused by it. Mothra and Battra then lay in rest. Mothra on Infant Island, and Battra in the Northern Sea. But due to the recent changes in the atmosphere due to pollution
and Global warming
, Mothra's egg has been uncovered, and the Cosmos fear that Battra has awoken as well.
Meanwhile, Japanese forces try to stop Battra's invasion, but fails as Battra invades Japan and headed for Nagoya. While this was happening, Andoh calls his boss, Takeshi Tomokane. Makoto then orders a freighter sent to Infant Island to pick up the egg, planning to exploit it. Andoh explains to Masako and Takuya that, contrary to Takeshi's true intentions, he intends to protect the egg, and the Cosmos agree to let him take it. They also volunteer to go with them back to Japan. However, Battra invades and destroys Nagoya and the weapons before retreating. The freighter is already out at sea, carrying the egg back. As they are sailing, an atomic ray shoots up from the water. The crew runs to the edge of the boat, gazing at it. Takuya soon identifies it as belonging to Godzilla. Realizing the freighter was not fast enough with the egg attached, he runs down to the cables holding it. Andoh follows him. When he finally reaches the cables, Andoh tries to stop him from releasing them. At this point, Godzilla has surfaced, and is heading toward the egg. Andoh and Takuya argue aboard the ship. Takuya eventually manages to beat Andoh, and successfully releases the egg. Everyone watches Godzilla. However, rather than immediately destroying it, he continues towards it. The egg then hatches, and a Mothra larva crawls out. Mothra leaves the lift just in time to avoid Godzilla's atomic ray, which destroys it.
The two then begin fighting. Eventually, Mothra is cornered behind the ship. She then uses her silk webbing attack on Godzilla to stun him but it fails to stop him. However, Battra soon appears, and joins the fight. First he attacks Mothra and sends her flying as she tries to escape. However, one of his beams hits Godzilla, angering the mutant dinosaur. Godzilla then attacks back at Battra, with Mothra caught in the middle. The two continue to fight above water. Mothra finally gets a chance at escape, and takes it, heading back to Infant Island. However, Godzilla and Battra are still going at it. The battle is taken underwater, where it only gets fiercer. Eventually, the force of the battle causes a giant crack in the ocean's floor to open up, spewing massive amounts of magma, and opening a giant plate along the ocean's floor. This crack swallows up Godzilla and Battra. After the battle, Takuya, Andoh, Masako, and the Cosmos stay overnight at a hotel. While Andoh is drinking, Masako and Takuya have a discussion about the day's events, and about their history together. Masako awakens to discover that the Cosmos have gone missing, and immediately wakes up Takuya, who immediately realizes that Andoh took them back to Takeshi. The two take a flight back to Tokyo, where Masako meets up with their daughter, Midori Tezuka, her sister, Mayumi Fukazawa, and Professor Shigeki Fukazawa. They explain to her that the problem with the earthquake was so bad, that it is creating a large fault along the Philippine Plate
. While they talk, Takuya leaves the airport.
Masako then goes to the Diet to try to get them to buy the Cosmos back. They offer Takeshi all they can afford, but he turns them down. While this is happening, the Cosmos call out to Mothra and are saved. Marutomo employees discover the Cosmos are missing, and suspects the government of stealing them. Meanwhile, the government discovers that Mothra is on her way to Japan. While they are not certain of how Mothra will behave, they feel they must prepare for the worst. They set up a defense force, and put up a blockade that, if passed, would force them to send in soldiers. Mothra passes the defense force. The next day, Masako sets out with Midori and Miki Saegusa
to find the Cosmos. After driving throughout the city, Miki finally hears the song that the Cosmos are using to call Mothra. She leads them to a hotel, where the child finds Takuya, who is in possession of the Cosmos, and trying to sell them. While all this is happening, Mothra is heading through the city, directly towards the hotel. After Midori begs him to release the Cosmos, and Masako berates him for taking them, Takuya reconciles, and lets the Cosmos free. The Cosmos then tell Mothra to leave the city, and not to hurt anyone else. Mothra turns around, and heads back. The forces attack again, but stop when they realize that Masako and the others are in the hotel. Mothra, behaving strangely, heads for the Diet building. A crowd soon gathers to watch what will happen next. Mothra starts building a cocoon around herself. While she does this, Miki has a telepathic sense. Godzilla is alive, and has just surfaced from Mount Fuji
. The Japanese government soon confirms this. Mothra transforms into her adult form and flies away from the building. The Cosmos explain that she will go to find Battra and kill him. Battra, meantime, escapes from the magma, and surfaces. He then transforms into his adult form, and flies toward the mainland.
The Japanese government is shocked. They want to avoid the apparently inevitable meeting of the three monsters, so they devise a plan. They set up a force directed out toward the ocean, which would lure Godzilla there. However, the force is defeated, and Godzilla proceeds on his original course. Meanwhile, Mothra and Battra meet up at Yokohama Cosmo World, and proceed to battle. Eventually, Battra hits Mothra with a beam, knocking her out. At this point, Godzilla shows up. Battra decides that Godzilla is a more important target, and attacks him instead. However, Godzilla soon defeats Battra. At this point, Mothra has regained enough strength to fight again, and she charges Godzilla with her antenna rays and collapses a building upon him. With Godzilla temporarily disabled, Mothra flies towards Battra, and lands in front of him. She gives him some of her life energy as the Cosmos sing, and Battra revives.
The song is interrupted when Godzilla appears. Mothra takes off and flies at him. Godzilla manages to push her away, but she quickly comes back. She uses her paralyzing spore attack to immobilize Godzilla and reflect his atomic ray, trapping Godzilla. However, he uses his nuclear pulse, knocking her out. Godzilla then fires his atomic ray at a nearby Ferris wheel
and attempts to collapse it onto Mothra and crush her. Battra however flies up and grabs the Ferris wheel, carrying it and crashing it into Godzilla. The two fly off to fight Godzilla. Eventually Mothra uses her spore attack once again. Battra fires his beams and strengthens the spores. Eventually, Godzilla is overwhelmed and falls to the ground. Battra and Mothra hold a brief conversation, and then set out to carry Godzilla back into the ocean. Godzilla swings his tail to prevent Mothra from grabbing it, and takes a bite into Battra's neck, crushing through Battra's armor, causing Battra's blood to spill everywhere. Mothra shocks Godzilla's tail and both monstrous insects manage to get a good hold and carry him away. Over the sea, Godzilla fires a blast of atomic breath at Battra from point blank range, killing Battra once and for all. Eventually, Mothra, tired out from her battle with Godzilla and Battra, is unable to hold on further, and drops Godzilla and the lifeless Battra into the water. The next morning, Mothra is sitting at an airport, and the Cosmos are holding a conversation with government officials, Masako, Takuya, and Midori. Apparently, Battra had been waiting around for many years for a large meteorite that would hit the Earth in the year 1999, destroying it. Battra was going to stop the meteorite, but was killed by Godzilla. Mothra, in their previous conversation, had promised that she would stop the meteorite from landing.
The Cosmos then join Mothra, and the three fly off into space to divert the meteorite.
, It remains the fourth most-attended monster film in Japan, the second biggest film in Asia, and the third in Europe during 1993, behind Jurassic Park
.
, this film is unable to hide its hurried nature [but] effects-wise, the film makes up for the story’s shortcomings and then some." Japan Hero said, "While this movie is not the best of the Heisei series
, it is still a really interesting movie. The battles are cool, and Battra was an interesting idea. If you have never seen this movie, I highly recommend it."
Stomp Tokyo said the film is "one of the better Godzilla movies in that the scenes in which monsters do not appear actually make some sort of sense. And for once, they are acted with some gusto, so that we as viewers can actually come to like the characters on screen, or at least be entertained by them." Mike Bogue of American Kaiju said the film "[does] not liv[e] up to its potential," but added that "[its] colorful and elaborate spectacle eventually won me over" and "the main story thread dealing with the eventual reconciliation of the divorced couple adequately holds the human plot together."
, Sony Tristar distributed the previously unreleased Heisei Godzilla films on April 28, 1998, less than half a month before the release of Tristar's Godzilla remake. Excluding Godzilla 1985 and Godzilla vs. Biollante
, since they were already released prior. Some VHS copies that opened with the 1984 Tristar Pictures logo.
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
series of films. It is the sixth film to feature Mothra
Mothra
is a kaiju, a type of fictional monster who first appeared in the serialized novel The Luminous Fairies and Mothra by Takehiko Fukunaga, Shinichiro Nakamura, and Yoshie Hotta...
and the only film to feature Battra
Battra
is a fictional kaiju appearing in the Heisei Godzilla film Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth. He is the main antagonist of the film. Like Mothra, Battra has both larval and adult forms.-Biography:...
. The movie was released theatrically in Japan on December 12, 1992. The film features Mothra
Mothra
is a kaiju, a type of fictional monster who first appeared in the serialized novel The Luminous Fairies and Mothra by Takehiko Fukunaga, Shinichiro Nakamura, and Yoshie Hotta...
's egg being unearthed by a typhoon, and this sets off a chain of events that awakens both Godzilla and Mothra's doppelganger
Doppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
Battra
Battra
is a fictional kaiju appearing in the Heisei Godzilla film Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth. He is the main antagonist of the film. Like Mothra, Battra has both larval and adult forms.-Biography:...
, issuing a titanic feud between Godzilla and the two giant insects. It was directed by Takao Okawara
Takao Okawara
Takao Okawara is a Japanese film director, writer and producer.-Biography:Most famous for directing three Heisei Godzilla films, Okawara joined Akira Kurosawa and Ishirō Honda on the film Kagemusha . Four years later, Okawara became the assistant director for the first Heisei Godzilla film: The...
from a screenplay by Kazuki Omori
Kazuki Omori
is a Japanese film director and screenwriter.-Career:Born in Osaka, Ōmori studied at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine and actually holds a license to practice medicine. While in school, he began making films independently, with Kuraku naru made matenai! , which featured Seijun Suzuki,...
, produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka
Tomoyuki Tanaka
----Tomoyuki Tanaka was a Japanese film producer, most famous for creating the Godzilla series. He was born in Kashiwara, Osaka, Japan on April 26, 1910, and died in Tokyo on April 2, 1997. He died of a stroke at the age of 86....
and Shogo Tomiyama
Shogo Tomiyama
Shōgo Tomiyama is a Japanese film producer. He is best known for producing all of the Godzilla films from the 1990s onward.-Biography:...
, with special effects provided by Koichi Kawakita
Koichi Kawakita
is a special effects artist.-Biography:In 1958, Kawakita was a member of the Jury at the 6th Berlin International Film Festival....
. Akira Ifukube
Akira Ifukube
was a Japanese composer of classical music and film scores, perhaps best known for his work on the soundtracks of the Godzilla movies by Toho.-Biography:...
's score won a Japanese Academy Award. The film is an update of the 1964 Godzilla film Mothra vs. Godzilla
Mothra vs. Godzilla
is a 1964 science fiction kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda. It was the fourth film to be released in the Godzilla series, produced by Toho Company Ltd...
. This version differs drastically from the original with a new plot, characters, and the inclusion of a new monster, Battra
Battra
is a fictional kaiju appearing in the Heisei Godzilla film Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth. He is the main antagonist of the film. Like Mothra, Battra has both larval and adult forms.-Biography:...
.
Plot
In 1993, A large meteor hurtles towards Earth, and lands in the ocean, causing many natural disasters, such as typhoons, and awakens Godzilla. One particularly large typhoon is monitored over the Pacific ocean. This typhoon uncovers a giant egg from underground. The next day, a young man named Takuya Fujita is detained after stealing an ancient artifact. Later, the Japanese Prime Minister arrives with Takuya's ex-wife, Masako Tezuka, and offers him to explore an island in the sea with Masako and Marutomo company secretary, Kenji Andoh, and become a free man. Takuya initially turns down the offer, on the basis that he is to be released in another week. But after his ex-wife informs him that his sentence has been reconsidered, he accepts. After the trio arrives at the island, they find a cave behind a waterfall. Inside the cave, they discover ancient paintings, including a picture of two giant insects fighting one another. While studying them, the sun shines through a hole in the wall, shaped like a cross inside a circle. The light points to a small opening in the cave, where they come upon the giant egg. After taking a small sample of the outer shell, the three hear a pair of voices, which informs them that the egg belongs to MothraMothra
is a kaiju, a type of fictional monster who first appeared in the serialized novel The Luminous Fairies and Mothra by Takehiko Fukunaga, Shinichiro Nakamura, and Yoshie Hotta...
. After searching around a bit, they find the Cosmos' voices. They explain that they keep the Earth's natural order of things in balance.
The Cosmos also tell them a story of ancient origin. Many years earlier, an advanced civilization once existed, and for a time, the Earth's Cosmos was in perfect order. However, the scientists of this civilization tried to control the Earth's climate by creating a weather machine, so the Earth created the Black Mothra, named Battra
Battra
is a fictional kaiju appearing in the Heisei Godzilla film Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth. He is the main antagonist of the film. Like Mothra, Battra has both larval and adult forms.-Biography:...
. Battra then destroyed the weather machine. However, afterwards, Battra became uncontrollable, and started to harm the very Earth that created it. Mothra was then sent in to stop Battra. Mothra then fought a fierce battle with Battra, who eventually lost. However, in the course of this battle, the civilization was totally destroyed by both the fight, and by flooding caused by it. Mothra and Battra then lay in rest. Mothra on Infant Island, and Battra in the Northern Sea. But due to the recent changes in the atmosphere due to pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
and Global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, Mothra's egg has been uncovered, and the Cosmos fear that Battra has awoken as well.
Meanwhile, Japanese forces try to stop Battra's invasion, but fails as Battra invades Japan and headed for Nagoya. While this was happening, Andoh calls his boss, Takeshi Tomokane. Makoto then orders a freighter sent to Infant Island to pick up the egg, planning to exploit it. Andoh explains to Masako and Takuya that, contrary to Takeshi's true intentions, he intends to protect the egg, and the Cosmos agree to let him take it. They also volunteer to go with them back to Japan. However, Battra invades and destroys Nagoya and the weapons before retreating. The freighter is already out at sea, carrying the egg back. As they are sailing, an atomic ray shoots up from the water. The crew runs to the edge of the boat, gazing at it. Takuya soon identifies it as belonging to Godzilla. Realizing the freighter was not fast enough with the egg attached, he runs down to the cables holding it. Andoh follows him. When he finally reaches the cables, Andoh tries to stop him from releasing them. At this point, Godzilla has surfaced, and is heading toward the egg. Andoh and Takuya argue aboard the ship. Takuya eventually manages to beat Andoh, and successfully releases the egg. Everyone watches Godzilla. However, rather than immediately destroying it, he continues towards it. The egg then hatches, and a Mothra larva crawls out. Mothra leaves the lift just in time to avoid Godzilla's atomic ray, which destroys it.
The two then begin fighting. Eventually, Mothra is cornered behind the ship. She then uses her silk webbing attack on Godzilla to stun him but it fails to stop him. However, Battra soon appears, and joins the fight. First he attacks Mothra and sends her flying as she tries to escape. However, one of his beams hits Godzilla, angering the mutant dinosaur. Godzilla then attacks back at Battra, with Mothra caught in the middle. The two continue to fight above water. Mothra finally gets a chance at escape, and takes it, heading back to Infant Island. However, Godzilla and Battra are still going at it. The battle is taken underwater, where it only gets fiercer. Eventually, the force of the battle causes a giant crack in the ocean's floor to open up, spewing massive amounts of magma, and opening a giant plate along the ocean's floor. This crack swallows up Godzilla and Battra. After the battle, Takuya, Andoh, Masako, and the Cosmos stay overnight at a hotel. While Andoh is drinking, Masako and Takuya have a discussion about the day's events, and about their history together. Masako awakens to discover that the Cosmos have gone missing, and immediately wakes up Takuya, who immediately realizes that Andoh took them back to Takeshi. The two take a flight back to Tokyo, where Masako meets up with their daughter, Midori Tezuka, her sister, Mayumi Fukazawa, and Professor Shigeki Fukazawa. They explain to her that the problem with the earthquake was so bad, that it is creating a large fault along the Philippine Plate
Philippine Plate
The Philippine Sea Plate is a tectonic plate comprising oceanic lithosphere that lies beneath the Philippine Sea, to the east of the Philippines...
. While they talk, Takuya leaves the airport.
Masako then goes to the Diet to try to get them to buy the Cosmos back. They offer Takeshi all they can afford, but he turns them down. While this is happening, the Cosmos call out to Mothra and are saved. Marutomo employees discover the Cosmos are missing, and suspects the government of stealing them. Meanwhile, the government discovers that Mothra is on her way to Japan. While they are not certain of how Mothra will behave, they feel they must prepare for the worst. They set up a defense force, and put up a blockade that, if passed, would force them to send in soldiers. Mothra passes the defense force. The next day, Masako sets out with Midori and Miki Saegusa
Miki Saegusa
, played by Megumi Odaka, is a recurring fictional character from the Heisei series of Godzilla films. She's notable for being a psychic that uses her powers to communicate with and, in some instances, control the mutant dinosaur Godzilla and is credited for being the most frequently recurring...
to find the Cosmos. After driving throughout the city, Miki finally hears the song that the Cosmos are using to call Mothra. She leads them to a hotel, where the child finds Takuya, who is in possession of the Cosmos, and trying to sell them. While all this is happening, Mothra is heading through the city, directly towards the hotel. After Midori begs him to release the Cosmos, and Masako berates him for taking them, Takuya reconciles, and lets the Cosmos free. The Cosmos then tell Mothra to leave the city, and not to hurt anyone else. Mothra turns around, and heads back. The forces attack again, but stop when they realize that Masako and the others are in the hotel. Mothra, behaving strangely, heads for the Diet building. A crowd soon gathers to watch what will happen next. Mothra starts building a cocoon around herself. While she does this, Miki has a telepathic sense. Godzilla is alive, and has just surfaced from Mount Fuji
Mount Fuji
is the highest mountain in Japan at . An active stratovolcano that last erupted in 1707–08, Mount Fuji lies about south-west of Tokyo, and can be seen from there on a clear day. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and...
. The Japanese government soon confirms this. Mothra transforms into her adult form and flies away from the building. The Cosmos explain that she will go to find Battra and kill him. Battra, meantime, escapes from the magma, and surfaces. He then transforms into his adult form, and flies toward the mainland.
The Japanese government is shocked. They want to avoid the apparently inevitable meeting of the three monsters, so they devise a plan. They set up a force directed out toward the ocean, which would lure Godzilla there. However, the force is defeated, and Godzilla proceeds on his original course. Meanwhile, Mothra and Battra meet up at Yokohama Cosmo World, and proceed to battle. Eventually, Battra hits Mothra with a beam, knocking her out. At this point, Godzilla shows up. Battra decides that Godzilla is a more important target, and attacks him instead. However, Godzilla soon defeats Battra. At this point, Mothra has regained enough strength to fight again, and she charges Godzilla with her antenna rays and collapses a building upon him. With Godzilla temporarily disabled, Mothra flies towards Battra, and lands in front of him. She gives him some of her life energy as the Cosmos sing, and Battra revives.
The song is interrupted when Godzilla appears. Mothra takes off and flies at him. Godzilla manages to push her away, but she quickly comes back. She uses her paralyzing spore attack to immobilize Godzilla and reflect his atomic ray, trapping Godzilla. However, he uses his nuclear pulse, knocking her out. Godzilla then fires his atomic ray at a nearby Ferris wheel
Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on...
and attempts to collapse it onto Mothra and crush her. Battra however flies up and grabs the Ferris wheel, carrying it and crashing it into Godzilla. The two fly off to fight Godzilla. Eventually Mothra uses her spore attack once again. Battra fires his beams and strengthens the spores. Eventually, Godzilla is overwhelmed and falls to the ground. Battra and Mothra hold a brief conversation, and then set out to carry Godzilla back into the ocean. Godzilla swings his tail to prevent Mothra from grabbing it, and takes a bite into Battra's neck, crushing through Battra's armor, causing Battra's blood to spill everywhere. Mothra shocks Godzilla's tail and both monstrous insects manage to get a good hold and carry him away. Over the sea, Godzilla fires a blast of atomic breath at Battra from point blank range, killing Battra once and for all. Eventually, Mothra, tired out from her battle with Godzilla and Battra, is unable to hold on further, and drops Godzilla and the lifeless Battra into the water. The next morning, Mothra is sitting at an airport, and the Cosmos are holding a conversation with government officials, Masako, Takuya, and Midori. Apparently, Battra had been waiting around for many years for a large meteorite that would hit the Earth in the year 1999, destroying it. Battra was going to stop the meteorite, but was killed by Godzilla. Mothra, in their previous conversation, had promised that she would stop the meteorite from landing.
The Cosmos then join Mothra, and the three fly off into space to divert the meteorite.
Cast
- Tetsuya Bessho as Takuya Fujita
- Satomi KobayashiSatomi Kobayashiis a Japanese actress from Tokyo. She won the award for best newcomer at the 4th Yokohama Film Festival for Exchange Students. She was previously married to screenwriter Kōki Mitani.-Filmography:# Exchange Students...
as Masako Tezuka - Megumi OdakaMegumi Odakastarted her career in 1984 as a voice-actress for the animation-TV-Series Fushigi na koala Blinky aka Noozles aka The Wondrous Koala Blinky , where she played the character Sandy Brown...
as Miki SaegusaMiki Saegusa, played by Megumi Odaka, is a recurring fictional character from the Heisei series of Godzilla films. She's notable for being a psychic that uses her powers to communicate with and, in some instances, control the mutant dinosaur Godzilla and is credited for being the most frequently recurring... - Keiko Imamura and Sayaka Osawa as The Cosmos
- Takehiro Murata as Kenji Andoh
- Saburo Shinoda as Professor Fukazawa
- Akira Takarada as Jyoji Minamino
- Makoto Otake as Takeshi Tomokane
- Kenpachiro Satsuma as GodzillaGodzillais a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
- Hurricane Ryu as BattraBattrais a fictional kaiju appearing in the Heisei Godzilla film Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth. He is the main antagonist of the film. Like Mothra, Battra has both larval and adult forms.-Biography:...
(larval form)
Box office
The film sold approximately 4,200,000 tickets in Japan, becoming the number one Japanese film on the domestic market in the period that included the year 1993. It made ¥2.22 billion in distribution income (roughly $20,000,000 (U.S)). Not only was it the most popular film of the Heisei Godzilla series, but it was the most popular Godzilla film since Ghidorah, the Three-Headed MonsterGhidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, released in Japan as and originally released in the US as Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster, is a 1964 science fiction kaiju film, and is the 5th film in Toho's Godzilla series...
, It remains the fourth most-attended monster film in Japan, the second biggest film in Asia, and the third in Europe during 1993, behind Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park (film)
Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Martin Ferrero, and Bob Peck...
.
Critical reaction
Ed Godziszewski of Monster Zero said, "Rushed into production but a few months after Godzilla vs. King GhidorahGodzilla vs. King Ghidorah
, alternatively spelled Godzilla vs. King Ghidora, is the 18th installment in the Godzilla series of films. This is the fifth film to feature King Ghidorah and the first film to feature Mecha-King Ghidorah, . The movie was released theatrically in Japan on December 14, 1991...
, this film is unable to hide its hurried nature [but] effects-wise, the film makes up for the story’s shortcomings and then some." Japan Hero said, "While this movie is not the best of the Heisei series
Heisei era (daikaiju eiga)
In the context of Japanese monster cinema the Heisei Era refers not to the current era in Japan but to all kaiju eiga made between 1984 and 1999...
, it is still a really interesting movie. The battles are cool, and Battra was an interesting idea. If you have never seen this movie, I highly recommend it."
Stomp Tokyo said the film is "one of the better Godzilla movies in that the scenes in which monsters do not appear actually make some sort of sense. And for once, they are acted with some gusto, so that we as viewers can actually come to like the characters on screen, or at least be entertained by them." Mike Bogue of American Kaiju said the film "[does] not liv[e] up to its potential," but added that "[its] colorful and elaborate spectacle eventually won me over" and "the main story thread dealing with the eventual reconciliation of the divorced couple adequately holds the human plot together."
Home media
To tie in with the American remakeGodzilla (1998 film)
Godzilla is a 1998 science fiction monster disaster film film co-written and directed by Roland Emmerich. It is a loose remake of the 1954 giant monster classic Godzilla. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The film relates a tale of a nuclear incident...
, Sony Tristar distributed the previously unreleased Heisei Godzilla films on April 28, 1998, less than half a month before the release of Tristar's Godzilla remake. Excluding Godzilla 1985 and Godzilla vs. Biollante
Godzilla vs. Biollante
is a 1989 science fiction kaiju film written and directed by Kazuki Ōmori. It was the seventeenth film to be released in the Godzilla franchise and the second in terms of the franchise's Heisei period...
, since they were already released prior. Some VHS copies that opened with the 1984 Tristar Pictures logo.
DVD releases
Columbia TriStar- Released: November 10, 1998, Double feature with Godzilla vs. King GhidorahGodzilla vs. King Ghidorah, alternatively spelled Godzilla vs. King Ghidora, is the 18th installment in the Godzilla series of films. This is the fifth film to feature King Ghidorah and the first film to feature Mecha-King Ghidorah, . The movie was released theatrically in Japan on December 14, 1991...
- Aspect Ratio: Full frame (1.33:1)
- Sound:English (2.0)
- Supplements: Liner notes
- Region 1
Awards
In Japan, Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth won the following awards:- 1993 Tokyo Sports Movie Awards - Best Leading Actor [GODZILLA AND MOTHRA: THE BATTLE FOR EARTH]
- 1993 Best Grossing Films Award - Golden Award and Money-Making Star Award [GODZILLA AND MOTHRA: THE BATTLE FOR EARTH]
- 1993 Awards of The Japanese Academy - Newcomer of The Year: Keiko Imamura, Sayaka Osawa
- 1993 Awards of The Japanese Academy - Best Music Score: Akira Ifukube
- 1993 Awards of The Japanese Academy - Best Supporting Actor: Takehiro Murata