2. Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
Often thought to be the best of the whole series, Mothra vs. Godzilla takes the message being delievered in King Kong vs. Godzilla and turns it up to eleven without being bogged down by need to appeal to children.
Mothra vs. Godzilla is once again darker in tone and, at times, can be very adult about the questions that it asks. It still has its goofy moments, but they aren’t pushed to the forefront like they were in King Kong vs. Godzilla. This was a movie that brought together two of Toho’s franchises and it takes full advantage of it. With an all-star cast, a brilliant script and first-rate special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya, Mothra vs. Godzilla is a true high-point of the series.
But like its predecessor, the brilliance of Mothra vs. Godzilla is in its fight between the two leads. When the suitmation technique was used in Gojira, critics around the world turned their noses up at it as it was not as sophisticated as stop-motion animation or Ray Harryhausen’s Dynamation, but Mothra vs. Godzilla is a movie that shows why it works so well. Godzilla suit actor Harou Nakajima wasn’t just walking through sets and stomping on buildings, he was acting through to suit which really brings the fight to a new level. There is a brilliant momentwhere Godzilla is trying to fight out of Mothra’s wing attack and he fires his atomic breath at random in the vein hope of one of the blasts hitting so he can escape. It seems silly to attribute this much thought into guys in rubber suits, but the work done by Tsuburaya and his team make you believe that this is two titan monsters doing battle. Great stuff.
The ending leaves a lot to be desired, but we’ll ignore that.
Originally published May 14, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
