Mosura tai Gojira (1964)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writer:

Shinichi Sekizawa (writer)

Release Date:

17 September 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Nothing Like This Ever On the Screen!

Plot:

A greedy developer unwittingly hatches a gigantic baby moth upon Tokyo, while Godzilla strikes once again.

Plot Keywords:

Egg | Godzilla | Moth | Twins | Reporter

Cast

Akira Takarada	...	News Reporter Ichiro Sakai
Yuriko Hoshi	...	News Photographer Junko 'Yoka' Nakanishi
Hiroshi Koizumi	...	Prof. Miura
Yu Fujiki	...	Reporter Jiro Nakamura (with egg and frying pan)
Emi Ito	...	Shobijin (Twin Fairy)
Yûmi Ito	...	Shobijin (Twin Fairy)
Yoshifumi Tajima	...	Kumayama
Kenji Sahara	...	Banzo Torahata - U.S.:Shiro Torahata
Jun Tazaki	...	Editor Arota
Kenzo Tabu	...	Mayor
Yutaka Sada	...	Old Man
Akira Tani	...	Village Headman
Susumu Fujita	...	General
Ikio Sawamura	...	Priest
Ren Yamamoto	...	Sailor
Yoshio Kosugi	...	Chief of Infant Island
Toshihiko Furuta	...	Soldier
Katsumi Tezuka	...	Soldier
Yasuhisa Tsutsumi	...	Longshoreman
Kôzô Nomura	...	Soldier
Seishiro Kuno	...	Aide
Shin Otomo	...	Police Officer
Senkichi Omura	...	Villager
Hironobu Wakamoto	...	Villager
Wataru Omae	...	Islander
Koji Uno	...	Journalist
Yutaka Nakayama	...	Islander
Tadashi Okabe	...	Soldier
Miki Yashiro	...	Schoolteacher
Haruo Nakajima	...	Gojira
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kôji Uruki
Harold Conway	...	Weapon's Expert on US Ship (uncredited)
Osman Yusuf	...	Missile Surveyor on US Ship (uncredited)

Directed by
Ishirô Honda

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Shinichi Sekizawa		writer

Produced by
Sanezumi Fujimoto	....	executive producer
Tomoyuki Tanaka	....	producer

Original Music by
Akira Ifukube

Cinematography by
Hajime Koizumi

Film Editing by
Ryohei Fujii

Production Design by
Takeo Kita

Production Management
Boku Morimoto	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Koji Kajita	....	chief assistant director

Sound Department
Hiroshi Mukoyama	....	sound mixer
Sadamasa Nishimoto	....	sound effects editor
Hisashi Shimonaga	....	sound effects
Hisashi Shimonaga	....	sound technician
Fumio Yanoguchi	....	recording director

Special Effects by
Hiroshi Mukoyama	....	special effects opticals
Teruyoshi Nakano	....	assistant director of special effects
Teizo Toshimitsu	....	special effects suit designer
Eiji Tsuburaya	....	director of special effects
Akira Watanabe	....	art director of special effects

Visual Effects by
Sadamasa Arikawa	....	director of special effects photography
Kuichiro Kishida	....	special effects lighting
Yukio Manoda	....	optical photographer
Minoru Nakano	....	optical effects animation
Yoshiyuki Tokumasa	....	optical photography
Sokei Tomioka	....	special effects cameraman

Stunts
Haruo Nakajima	....	stunt choreographer

Camera and Electrical Department
Shoshichi Kojima	....	lighting technician

Production Companies

• Toho Company

Distributors

• Toho Company (1964) (worldwide) (all media)
• American International Pictures (AIP) (1964) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Astro Distribution (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Classic Media (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Genius Products (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Kuk Dong
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting (2008) (Japan) (TV)
• Paramount Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Simitar Video (1998) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Simitar Video (1999) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Sony BMG Music Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Music (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Gekidan Asunaro  extras
• Toho Studios  sound stages

Also Known As:

Godzilla Against Mothra (Japan: English title)
Godzilla Fights the Giant Moth
Godzilla vs. Mothra
Godzilla vs. the Giant Moth
Godzilla vs. the Thing (USA)
Mothra vs. Godzilla (International: English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

Germany:87 min | USA:89 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12 (nf)

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

Because of the commercial success of Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962), Toho decided to release another Godzilla film in 1964, San daikaijû: Chikyû saidai no kessen (1964). The Mosugoji suit, though, needed to go through some repairs. During the shooting of this film, the mouth had become wobbly and would not work properly. The head had also caught fire, which didn't help the suit much. So the head of the Mosugoji suit was replaced by one of a sturdier design. "Mosugoji II," as some fans refer to the repaired suit, also had more mobility than the original Mosugoji.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Professor Miura scrapes part of the Mothra egg into a culture disc, he answered News Reporter Ichiro Sakai's question. In the next scene when Kumayama appears, Miura is scrapping the egg again.

Quotes:

News Reporter Ichiro Sakai: Listen, when the girls came to us, we did nothing to help them, so why would they help us?
Editor Arota: Look, you three are the only ones who can talk to the girls. We need help or everything will get trampled. Godzilla will crush our entire nation!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)

Soundtrack:

The Prayer of the Fairies

Another one of Ishiro Honda's classic monster movies

As a major fan of the original dark, haunting kaiju movies, I very much enjoy watching "Godzilla vs. Mothra" even though I still can't understand why they call Mothra "the Thing" (maybe it's just in the Americanized dubbed version).

Godzilla's appearance in this movie is very good, however, there are some problems with his mouth in this movie. They are very wobbly and that's because in the sequence where Godzilla emerges from underground, the suit got damaged and the mouth got loose. And later on, the head caught on fire, although if you ask me, that was pretty cool and showed how invincible and invulnerable Godzilla really is.

The music's superior with legendary composer Akira Ifukube campusing the score. Eiji Tsuburaya handles the great special effects and Ishiro Honda's talents as a director come through in this movie.