Godzilla And Mothra: The Battle For Earth

Takuya (Tetsuya Bessho), an Indiana Jones-ish adventurer, is jailed in Thailand after stealing artifacts from an ancient temple. Representatives of the Marutomo Corporation, including his estranged wife Masako (Satomi Kobayashi), offer to bail him out in exchange for heading an expedition to Infant Island. There they discover a giant egg and two tiny women (Keiko Imamura, Sayaka Osawa). They are the Cosmos, remnants of an ancient civilization that was destroyed when the Earth rebelled against the attempts by scientists to control the planet by creating a monster, Battra. Now, man's meddling with the ecology has led to the revival of Battra, which (in a larval state) is headed toward Japan. Under orders from Marutomo, Takuya loads the egg and the Cosmos on a boat back to Japan. When the ship is attacked by Godzilla, the egg hatches into Mothra. Also in a larval state, it is attacked by both Godzilla and Battra before retreating back to Infant Island.

Looking to save face after losing the egg, company representative Andoh (Takehiro Murata) brings the Cosmos to CEO Tomokame (Makoto Otake), a ruthless businessman who refuses to take responsibility for despoiling the ecology. Takuya and Masako reconcile, and their daughter tries to shame her father out of his thieving ways.

Mothra comes to Japan, destroying everything in its path while searching for the Cosmos. Takuya steals the Cosmos back in order to return them to Mothra. But instead of leaving, it spins a cocoon in order to transform into its winged state. It emerges to battle Godzilla again, joined by Battra (also now in its winged form). The two giant insects defeat Godzilla and carry him off to the deepest ocean, but in the process Battra is mortally wounded. Translated for human observers by the Cosmos, Battra reveals that it was revived to destroy a huge meteor that is headed toward Earth. Mothra agrees to take on that responsibility and, with the Cosmos, heads off for outer space.

A plot description doesn't really convey the poetic, fairy tale-like aspect of a film in which Godzilla seems a bit out of place. Mothra remains the most beautiful of Toho's giant creatures, especially with improved special effects that make its flight look plausibly realistic. (That can't be said for the larval Mothra, which never looks very real, although it is always strikingly dramatic.) Of course, a giant monster movie can't be built around an effete insect, so Mothra is also given the usual accoutrements of 1990s monsters, including unexplained destructo-beams that shoot out of its head, the ability to secret a powder that neutralizes Godzilla's radioactive capabilities, and the complementary ability to deflect Godzilla's destructo-beam. (Much of this is not mentioned in the English dubbing, though to be fair it isn't that much clearer in the Japanese version.) Battra is an equally striking creation, more like a bat (appropriate to its name) than an insect. The new Mothra went on to its own series of films, while Godzilla returned in GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA II (1993). (Violence.) leave a comment