Mothra vs Godzilla Blu-ray Review

Egg Eater

A typhoon technically causes Mothra vs Godzilla’s catastrophe. Winds and waves push Mothra’s egg onto the mainland, while floodwaters (apparently) dump a sleeping Godzilla under the shoreline sand. Godzilla wakes up, destroying cities while marching toward the sizable egg. It’s instinct, maybe.

Japan had a chance though. The egg appeared in waters controlled by a small fishing business. They claim ownership, and in steps a smug investor to exploit the poor, buying the egg based on chicken egg’s wholesale price. That purchase becomes a tourist attraction, part of “Happy Land,” with industrial smokestacks pushing fumes into the air while incubating this new world wonder.

Media fights back. Part of Mothra vs Godzilla’s onus is finding balance amid Japan’s post-war boom economy. Headlines lash out at greed and morality – how does one claim ownership of a living thing? “Mothra gave you power of attorney?” spouts Torahata (Kenji Sahara), a comical retort if not lacking truthful substance. The prior Mothra went through similar motions. King Kong vs Godzilla made these profiteers out to be fools.

Mothra vs Godzilla is socially aware fiction, composed to ensure entertainment and social value

Mothra vs Godzilla doesn’t stick to comedy; it’s more pop/blockbuster material with skittish reporter Nakamura (Yu Fujuki) downing hard boiled eggs for irony, and an occasional run-in with the newspaper’s rude editor. Those platitudes do not extend to Torahata who instead of a partnership, seeks to ruin his opposition. Reporters become heroes, risking their lives to save children in Godzilla’s path. The plutocrats die with their money, crushed by Godzilla, the monster equally unsympathetic as they are.

It’s not all anti-capitalist. A shrewd politician wants to ensure positive coverage concerning his expansion project after the typhoon. That’s his focus, yet the main character trio bemoan the slow government response in helping preserving two tiny fairies from Mothra’s home, Infant Island. There, nuclear tests wrecked the island’s organic beauty, leaving behind significant radiation. In that, Mothra vs Godzilla finds a secondary theme: renewal. Adult Mothra dies battling Godzilla, but the egg hatches, and the new generation defeats evil. Those larvae will begin to restore Infant Island.

Mothra vs Godzilla is socially aware fiction, composed to ensure entertainment and social value. Godzilla’s city marching and building trampling hit a peak, and the dynamic brawl between monsters finds a way to make the mutant bug a plausible adversary. Plus, Mothra vs Godzilla predicts the franchise’s future, introducing fantasy elements like telepathy. Soon, six-inch tall singing women and mind powers were the norm as Toho Studios began giving in to their own profit motivations.

Video

Utilizing a release print and Toho’s Blu-ray master, the end result is a middling effort. Resolution never finds momentum, lacking throughout. Without it, definition sags. Grain turns to mush. A smidgen of noticeable detail happens in the jump between formats, if not to any great degree.

If there’s touch-up, that’s in color. Saturation boasts an impressive range. On Infant Island, natives coat themselves in vibrant red paint. Their dress looks looks gorgeous too. Flesh tones bring out strong hues, and where needed, other elements bring out primaries.

Overall contrast pleases, although lacking black levels tend to leave things murky. A sense of the disc’s range comes during a jet attack on Godzilla, flames flaring up against a dim backdrop. It’s intense.

One key caveat (and Mothra vs Godzilla isn’t the only such victim in the Showa Era Collection) comes from the multi-generational print. Nearly every edit shows an artifact on either the frame’s top or bottom. These look like remnants of editing, or just splicing this specific print together. It’s annoying.

Audio

Akira Ifukube’s score comes across thin. It struggles in the upper registers. Major action scenes exhibit dry dynamics, flat and uninspired. This is nothing unexpected for the age, if still needing clean-up.

Dialog holds its place. Action doesn’t overwhelm anything, and balance between elements is great.

Note this is Japanese only with subtitles. No dubbing is available, nor is the US version that added a small action scene.

Extras

Nothing.

The 15 unaltered images below represent the Blu-ray. For an additional 21 Mothra vs Godzilla screenshots, early access to all screens (plus the 100,000+ already in our library), 100 exclusive 4K UHD reviews, and more, support us on Patreon.