Mothra

Japanese Release Date:
1961
Japanese Title:
Mothra
Japanese Running Time:
101 minutes
U.S. Release Date:
1962
U.S. Title:
Mothra
U.S. Distributor:
Columbia Pictures
U.S. Running Time:
88 minutes
Monsters:
Mothra & Mothra Larva
My Rating:
My Comments
Not as good as the other kaiju movies, in my opinion, but then again what can you expect from Mothra?(just kidding Mothra fans). To me it was an OK film though, good acting and some interesting points. Now for the synopsis...
Synopsis
In the Pacific Ocean, a Japanese boat is caught up in a hurricane, forcing the sailors to abandon ship, but few survive and actually make it to land, a nearby island called, Pharoah Island. They are soon discovered by a rescue party and brought home, but when they return to Japan, everyone is shocked to see that they suffered no effects from the high levels of radiation on the island. The sailors say that the island's natives gave them some juice that must have protected them from the radiation. An expedition, funded by Nelson, is then sent to Pharoah Island to investigate this "juice." On the island, a man named Chu Cho is attacked by a carnivorous plant, but is saved by two tiny women. After he recovers, the expedition returns to the island, this time to find the two tiny women, soon finding them and Nelson captures them. When the natives of the island protest and surround the expedition, they are needlessly gunned down. Nelson then returns to Japan and exploits the twin girls, but back on Pharoah Island, Mothra hatches from an egg and makes her way toward Japan. The JSDF attacks the insect kaiju, using everything it has to try and stop her from reaching the Japanese capital of Tokyo to no avail. However, one evening Chu Cho and Sin Chon sneak by Nelson's guards and speak with the twins, only to discover that Mothra is on her way and then they go to a scientist who creates a special box for Nelson that will block the psychic waves being emitted from the twins to Mothra. The plan works, but Mothra soon arrives in Tokyo anyway, wreaking havoc on the great city. After the attack, Mothra crawls to Tokyo Tower and builds a cocoon around it. Meanwhile, the Orlisikan government, along with the rest of the world, put out an A.P.B. on Nelson, but the crook makes it back to Orlisika and manages to hide out for a while.
Nelson then tries to leave, but is discovered in public and is shot to death after killing a police officer. The twins are then recovered, but Mothra hatches from her cocoon as an adult and then begins flying around and destroying the city searching for the twin girls. Now, tith the girls back in his possession, Chu Cho thinks up a plan to construct a huge landing pad for Mothra. The plan works and the twin girls return home along with Mothra.
Other Features: Behind the Scenes
Cast & Crew
Mothra Larva
Haruo Nakajima
Director
Ishiro Honda
Tsinchan Fukuda
Frankie Saki
Producer
Tomoyuki Tanaka
Dr. Shinichi Chujo
Hiroshi Koizumi
Screenplay
Shinichi Sekizawa
& Shinichiro Nakamura
Clark Nelson
Jerry Ito
Special Effects
Eiji Tsuburaya
The Shobijin
Emi & Yumi Ito
Music
Yuji Koseki
Michi Hanamura
Kyoko Kagawa
Dr. Haradawa
Ken Uehara
Shinji Nakazo
Akihiro Tayama
News Editor
Takashi Shimura
Nakamura
Tetsu Nakamura