A giant, ancient moth begins to attack japan when coming to the rescue of its two, foottall worshippers who were taken by shipwreck survivors. It is an adaptation of the serial novel the luminous fairies and mothra, published in weekly asahi earlier in 1961. The year is 1980, and the film opens with the launch of the jx1 hayabusa spaceship into outer space. Now toho continue to improve their kaiju films with mothra. The rest of the battle goes on as in the film until godzilla walks up to mothra after burning her wing. Mothra mosura is a 1961 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by toho, and the first film to feature the character mothra. Mothra, mosura is a fictional monster, or kaiju, that first appeared in the 1961 film mothra, produced and distributed by toho studios. Synopsis a pair of tinylooking twins, inhabitants of beru island, jealously guard their mothra deity. Mothra first generation wikizilla, the kaiju encyclopedia. And since the most recent godzilla film, 1962s king kong vs. If you like the godzilla films and love the ones with mothra, then this is a must see film for you. Mothra is a 1961 film about an expedition of scientists that explores an island previously used for atomic tests and discovers many curious things, including two women only one foot 30 centimeters high. Released july 28th, 1962, mothra stars frankie sakai, hiroshi koizumi, kyoko kagawa, ken uehara the movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 41 min, and received a score of out of 100 on metacritic.
The unscrupulous expedition leader abducts the women and puts them in a vaudeville show. One of the bestloved of all kaiju eiga, with the memorable title song performed by the peanuts. Mothra, mosura is a 1961 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by toho, and the first film to feature the character mothra. Meanwhile, the film s heroes are in close pursuit, having brought along the authorities to help save the boy. He previously fought gamera in the 35th episode of death battle, godzilla vs gamera.
Oct 27, 2009 pegged to the 75th anniversary of the new york film critics circle, bams 1962 revisits the year that, thanks to a newspaper strike that began on december 8, 1962, and extended through the. Directed by kaiju legend ishiro honda, this film was released in japan in 1961. I hadnt seen the original mothra in years so, when i saw it was coming out in a steelbook, i preordered it. He is the first incarnation of kong to appear in a film produced by toho, followed by the kong from king kong escapes. The most comprehensive database of movie posters in the world. The giant caterpillar mothra emerges and heads for japan, intent on destroying anybody and anything that gets in its path. Directed by ishiro honda 1961 when two identical sixinch twin princesses, guardians of a mysterious giant egg, are kidnapped and forced to sing in a japanese nightclub, the eggs larva transforms into a really angry giant moth.
King kong against godzilla is a 1962 tokusatsu kaiju film directed by ishiro hond with visual effects by eiji tsuburaya. Ford brody aaron taylorjohnson, a navy bomb expert, has just reunited with his family in san francisco when he is forced to go to japan to help his estranged father, joe bryan cranston. Nelson thinks when the girls are singing that the two beauties are enjoying performing before the audience. The film retained the basic premise of an elderly adult mothra doing battle with an ancient evil kaiju, receiving assistance from her newborn larva before perishing in battle. Mothra 1962 a flying monster terrorizes japan after a nightclub owner kidnaps two tiny princesses from their island paradise. Surely enough, a gigantic egg on infant island hatches not long after. Mothra was the most successful of these and is the only other toho film to have spawned its own remakes and sequels. Directed by ishiro honda with visual effects by eiji tsuburaya, the film starred tadao takashima, kenji sahara, and mie hama. The film was released by columbia pictures with an english dub produced by titra studios on may 10, 1962. An essential guide to all the godzilla movies movies. King kong, kingu kongu is a giant ape kaiju who appeared in the 1962 toho godzilla film king kong vs. Join watchmojo as we explore the origins of one of the big screens most iconic monsters. The film was released to japanese theaters on july 30, 1961. Watch mothra movie trailers, exclusive videos, interviews from the cast, movie clips and more at.
The first and most original mothra film presents the basics of mothra lore, which in turn echoes parts of the original king kong, and would stand proudly next to classic monster flicks like godzilla. May 19, 2011 trailer for the 1961 classic mothra two sixinch twins, kept captive by an evil sideshow owner, pray to their god mothra to save them. All hail mothra, the queen of the monsters, and one of godzillas fiercest rivals and closest allies. He kidnaps the girls and exploits them to the public in japan. Whats the story the new story follows the heroic efforts of the cryptozoological agency monarch as its members face off against a battery of godsized monsters, including the mighty godzilla, who collides with mothra, rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the threeheaded king ghidorah. Akira takarada, yuriko hoshi, hiroshi koizumi, yu fujiki. It was the third installment in the japanese series of films featuring the monster godzilla. But, actually, they are begging for their guardian, mothra, to come and rescue.
When the girls are taken off the island, a mysterious egg. Mothra was the third major addition to the toho studios giantmonster stable after godzilla and rodan, and the first female beast in the series. The jsdf attacks mothra, dropping napalm bombs and employing jet fighters. I found the first act of this film to be criminally boring but besides that i have limited to no complaints. Mothra is the 19th entry in the toho produced godzilla film series and 4th in the heisei era. An alternate angle of godzilla approaching mothra is used, and after the creature takes off to land on her egg we get a shot of godzilla roaring from a low point of view.
Godzilla ghidorah, the threeheaded monster invasion of astro monster godzilla raids again. Kenji sahara as the helicopter pilot at the beginning of the film see more. After a meteorite unleashes a threeheaded beast upon tokyo, mothra tries to unite with godzilla and rodan to battle the extraterrestrial threat. There is a certain sameness to all the toho studios monster movies a monster is born, usually from some sort of nuclear mishap, the monster attacks. First, classic media has done a bangup job with this release, giving us both the. The second godzilla gojira is a daikaiju created by toho that appears in the showa era of godzilla films, starting with the release of godzilla raids again. Godzilla, also known as the king of monsters, is a character of the eponymous godzilla franchise. The scientists agree that this discovery should not be made public. Aug 07, 2015 members of a japanese expedition goes to a heavilyradiated island find two tiny, beautiful girls and take them home for observation.
This includes a shorter version of the film distributed by toho with a 62 minute running time on december 14, 1974. What comes out is a giant mothlike creature which inadvertently weaves a path of destruction over tokyo on the way to its rescue mission. The ship, originally sent to collect data on saturn, has its course diverted to investigate the mysterious star gorath, reported as being 6000 times the size of the earth. The film has been rereleased theatrically in japan since its release. Godzilla was released theatrically in japan on april 20, 1964. Mothra is a giant monster movie, but its a giant monster movie about an enormous. Since the time of the dinosaurs, a giant prehistoric creature lay dormant at the bottom of the ocean until, in 1954, americans tested their hydrogen bombs in the pacific ocean, awaking it, as well as mutating it. You thought deeply about the movie mothra and now you think its time to put these thoughts into words and to do so in a wellstructured form. The film was ranked 10th place in kinema junpos annual box office tally. Mothra, mosura is a 1961 japanese kaiju film directed by ishiro honda, and written by.
All of this takes place while mothra is still in its cocoon, meaning that fukuda and the others werent originally planned to witness the birth of mothra s imago form. Mothra mosura is a 1961 science fiction kaiju film directed by ishiro honda and starring frankie sakai. Nelsons claim that the attack has killed mothra is met with doubt by chujo, tsinchan and dr. If you can imagine one of those goofy old mothra flicks with great soundtrack music, good acting, very nice cinematography, and special effects at least as good as those in sinbad and the eye of the tiger, then you can imagine the rebirth of mothra. The 5 stars are for the film only based on just the movie. The film was followed by ghidorah, the threeheaded monster, released in the same year on december 20. With all the fairies and monsters on display, i always felt that mothra was a grade more unbelievable than most other monster movies, but thanks to the film s earnest tone, it works as a fine and dandy fantasy and its pretty neat to see such fantasy being opposed by modern and ultramodern weaponry.
Mothra original trailer after singing twin maidens are kidnapped from a tropical island, a giant larva and soontobe moth travels to japan to rescue them. Members of a japanese expedition goes to a heavilyradiated island find two tiny, beautiful girls and take them home for observation. Mothra, mosura is a 1961 japanese kaiju film directed by ishiro honda, and written by shinichi sekizawa, with special effects by eiji tsuburaya. The news of mothra s survival causes michi, tsinchan and chujo to head to the scene. Please note that that chapters may vary in length also. Mothra is born and follows the twins to tokyo to get them back. A great classic kaiju film which is right up there with the others. No matter how silly or fantastic it gets, i have a soft spot for mothra, especially in seeing her future clashes with godzilla and other monsters. The first generation mothra, shodai mosura is a giant divine moth kaiju that first appeared in the 1961 film, mothra. The commentaries provided for battle in outer space and mothra, by toho film scholars steve ryfle and ed godziszewski, hover between bonedry and insightful definitely leaning more toward the latter. Mothra, the good guardian of the earth, and her evil sister battra. October 22 mothra urgent text classic japanese monster movie. I watched the japanese version because its 11 minutes longer.
All 33 godzilla movies including king of the monsters. Akira ifukube, the composer for the original godzilla gojira, returns to provide what many consider to be his finest score. King kong 1962 mothra first generation second generation third generation. Mothra has to be the coolest looking kaiju developed during the time.
Mothra was released by columbia pictures with an english dub on may 10, 1962. Mothra 1962 cast and crew a flying monster terrorizes japan after a nightclub owner kidnaps two tiny princesses from their island paradise. Mothra has appeared in several toho tokusatsu films, most often as a recurring character in the godzilla franchise. Mothra rebirth of mothra wikizilla, the kaiju encyclopedia.
Mothra 1962 listing of the movie releases complete with movie posters from around the world. On the plus side, each film in the set features both english dubbed and original japanese subtitled soundtracks. This godzilla succeeded the 1954 godzilla after its death during the final moments of the original 1954 film. Godzilla still remained tohos most lucrative franchise and almost all of the creatures in the abovelisted films were eventually pitted up against it. Columbia released mothra on a doublebill with the three stooges in orbit in some markets. Mothra was released in japan on july 30, 1961 where it was distributed by toho. By mohammad tabari 01 june 2019 to celebrate legendarys latest entry in its godzilla universe, heres every godzilla film ranked from worst to best, including king of the monsters.
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