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

Director:

Masaaki Tezuka

Writers:

Masaaki Tezuka (screenplay)
Masahiro Yokotani (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 December 2003 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Two is company but three is a very big crowd!

Plot:

One year after the fight between Godzilla and Mechagodzilla, the two monsters along with Mothra face off in a conclusive battle royale.

Plot Keywords:

Godzilla | Mechagodzilla | Mothra | Monster | U Boat

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Noboru Kaneko	...	Yoshito Chûjô
Miho Yoshioka	...	Pilot Azusa Kisaragi
Mitsuki Koga	...	Mechagodzilla Operator Kyôsuke Akiba
Hiroshi Koizumi	...	Dr. Shin'ichi Chûjô (Linguist / Yoshito's father)
Akira Nakao	...	Premier Hayato Igarashi
Kôichi Ueda	...	General Dobashi
Koh Takasugi	...	JSDF Lieutenant Togashi
Masami Nagasawa	...	Shobijin (Twin Fairy)
Chihiro Ôtsuka	...	Shobijin (Twin Fairy)
Takeo Nakahara	...	JSDF Chief Hitoyanagi
Norman England	...	Sgt Woodyard
Naomasa Musaka	...	Gorô Kanno
Yumiko Shaku	...	Akane Yashiro
Yûsuke Tomoi	...	Lieutenant Hayama
Tsutomu Kitagawa	...	Gojira

Also Known As:

Godzilla, Mothra, Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (International: English title)
Gojira tai Mosura tai Kiriyu/Mekagojira: Tôkyô S.O.S. (Japan) (long title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for sci-fi monster violence and some language.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Australia:PG | Canada:G (Ontario/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Canadian Home Video Rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Shiba Park, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

In this film, Hiroshi Koizumi reprises his role of Professor Shin'ichi Chûjô from the original Mosura (1961), which he starred in 40 years earlier.

Movie Connections:

Features Mosura (1961)

Stupid incoherent fun

Essentially a remake of the first Godzilla vs. Mothra and the Godzilla vs. Megaguirus which has nearly the same kind of main characters. Apparently Toho has been running the recent Godzilla series as an advertisement for toys and collectibles since three films of the last four have been following a very restrictive formula.

Not the best of the new series, the plot is incomprehensible to anyone who hasn't seen the previous film or hasn't watched the average Ultraman episode from the last twenty years. It was nice to see the actor from the first Mothra film and he actually lent some professionalism to the mostly light weight cast.

The SFX were excellent at times but Mothra still looks like a plush toy on wires. The Godzilla suit looked very rubbery, like the cheap rubber animals you get at the toy store. Part of the problem is the Toho effect crew overlighting the scenes. I first noticed this in GMK:All Out Attack. The day scenes looked fine but anything set at night was overlit. The new Gamera films never had this problem so I attribute it to the Toho SFX style. The first full shot of Mothra in this film is so flat and phony it's like the FX guys were purposely trying to roll their craft back 40 years. In Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, the monster scenes were set almost entirely during the day and overall looked pretty good. Another problem was the stiffness of the Godzilla suit. Compare the puppetry in this film to the Godzilla in Megaguirus and you'll see what I mean.

All told the film moves at a good clip and if you don't get too serious it's an OK way to spend 90 minutes.