Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth (1992)

Movie Info

Hey bro…I saw a killer light we can fly around over Tokyo

A meteorite crashes in Earth and awakens Godzilla but also awakens another danger in Battra.  Meanwhile, Masako Tezuka (Satomi Kobayashi), Takuya Fujito (Tetsuya Bessho), and Kenji Ando (Takehiro Murata) have traveled to Infant Island where a giant egg has been unearthed.  Little women named Cosmos reveal that the egg is Earth’s protector Mothra while Battra intends to protect Earth by wiping out those who destroy the Earth.  As Mothra and Battra set up for battle, Godzilla could be the wildcard and all of humanity lies in the balance.

Directed by Takao Okawara, Godzilla and Mothra:  The Battle for Earth (ゴジラvsモスラ or Gojira tai Mosura or Godzilla vs. Mothra) is the nineteenth film in the Godzilla franchise.  The film is part of the Heisei period and followed Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah in 1991.

Godzilla was a childhood series.  I say this because it affects my judgment some.  I love the old, old Godzilla with their dubbed lines, the cheesy plots, and the bad visuals.  The ’90s Godzilla continued the cheese factor of the early Godzilla, but it loses some of its charm in the ’90s…despite that, I enjoyed Godzilla and Mothra a bit more than some of the other later entries.

Got to love Cosmos!!!

Godzilla and Mothra didn’t try too hard for its plot which is often a part of the problem with the ’90s Godzilla films.  It is just a bunch of big monsters fighting and throw in some human drama with the broken family of Masako and Takuya and the morally bankrupt Kenji who works for big business.  It just (like all Godzilla movies) really devolves into a monster mash at the end with Battra, Mothra, and Godzilla fighting.

The only problem with the whole plot is that Godzilla is almost an afterthought in his own movie.  Mothra is really the star, and it should be Mothra vs. Battra.  Both want the same thing (Earth protected), but both go about it in a different way.  Godzilla seems almost shoehorned into the plot by having him battle both of them (Mothra taking a lot of the brunt of the fighting since Mothra is “good”).  I wish that it had just been Mothra or more of a team-up then Godzilla essentially just causing problems.

Oh yeah, Godzilla’s in this movie…I forgot

The movie continues to look rather cheap, but there is some charm to the cheapness.  The quality of the picture is better than the older Godzilla movies but you still have those scale models and guys in rubber suits.  It is weirdly mixed with some more technical effects (which get even more technical as the series continues).  It is a hodgepodge of effects.

Godzilla and Mothra:  The Battle for Earth isn’t any great cinematic event, but for fans of Godzilla, it is a quick fun entry.  The Godzilla series isn’t at its best at this period, but it is nice to see Mothra back since he was always a favorite of mine (especially Mothra’s little friends Cosmos).  I look forward to Mothra to return to the new Godzilla/King Kong/Monsters series.  Godzilla and Mothra:  The Battle for Earth is followed by Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II in 1993.

Preceded By:

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)