Mosura (1961)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Takehiko Fukunaga (novel)
Yoshie Hotta (story)

Release Date:

10 May 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Mystery | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Incredible! Inconceivable! World wrecked as monster hunts human mates!

Plot:

Shipwreck survivors are found on Beiru, an island previously used for atomic tests. Amazingly free of radiation effects...

Plot Keywords:

Island | Moth | Shobijin | Editor | Monster

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Frankie Sakai	...	Journalist Senichiro 'Sen-chan' Fukuda (AKA: 'Bulldog')
Hiroshi Koizumi	...	Dr. Shin'ichi Chûjô
Kyôko Kagawa	...	Photgrapher Michi Hanamura
Ken Uehara	...	Dr. Harada
Emi Ito	...	Shobijin (Twin Fairy)
Yûmi Ito	...	Shobijin (Twin Fairy)
Jerry Ito	...	Clark Nelson
Takashi Shimura	...	News Editor
Tetsu Nakamura	...	Nelson's Henchman
Akihiro Tayama	...	Shinji Chûjô
Obel Wyatt	...	Dr. Roff
Akihiko Hirata	...	Doctor
Seizaburô Kawazu	...	General
Yoshifumi Tajima	...	Military Advisor
Robert Dunham	...	Rolisican Cop

Also Known As:

Daikaijû Masura
Mothra (USA)

Runtime:

101 min | Japan:62 min (re-issue) | USA:88 min | USA:91 min (re-issue) | Germany:86 min (TV)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:G

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

Jerry Ito and Robert Dunham both spoke their lines in both English as well as Japanese.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Dr. Shinichi is showing the symbols he discovered in the cave to Senchan, you can see someone in black pants and shoes walking down the stairs behind Senchan's head.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Gojira tai Mosura tai Mekagojira: Tôkyô S.O.S. (2003)

Soundtrack:

Mosura ya Mosura

Mothra

Mothra (1961)

**American version**

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A jerk businessman finds a couple twin fairies on an island and kidnaps then, which lets loose Mothra, a giant caterpillar who eventually takes flight to wreck Japan. This monster movie from Toho is probably one of their most loved and it's also one of their best. As with others films from this genre, most of the dialogue is either over dramatic or just downright silly and that holds true here. It's a real shame the first hour isn't at least half as exciting as the final thirty-minutes, which features our beloved creature really doing some major damage and delivering all sorts of cheap thrills. The human characters are all pretty one dimensional as they're either bad, good or there for comic relief. The two twin fairies are somewhat as legendary as the creatures from Toho and I must admit they have a certain amount of charm that will keep a smile on your face. With all of that said, the real star here is the title creature who I prefer to Godzilla. The final thirty-minutes contain some great action sequences including a beautiful one where a bridge collapses into some water, which eventually causes some huge waves. The entire sequence of the caterpillar falling over, building a cocoon and then flying off is extremely well done. The special effects of the fire that comes before the flying sequence is rather silly looking but it doesn't take anything away from the film. People have often complained about the poor looking special effects in Godzilla and to a point I'd agree with them but I think the work here is much better. Perhaps because of the wind storm created by the creature is why they can get away with a lot more but the effects of this are nicely handled.