JLRVancouver Investigating the mysterious survival of a shipwrecked crew who had been exposed to radiation, an expedition (including the usual 'resourceful reporter' characters) lands on an ostensibly uninhabited tropical Island only to find a native culture who worship a deity called 'Mothra'. They also encounter two miniature women, who as it turns out, are fairy acolytes of the native god. The villainous capitalist Clark Nelson (Jerry Ito) who sponsored the expedition returns to the island and kidnaps the fairies, bringing them to Tokyo where they are forced to perform in his" Secret Fairies Show". The girls warn the reporters that they have a psychic link with Mothra, who will come to rescue them. Sure enough, an immense caterpillar appears and lays waste to much of Tokyo before cocooning in the wreckage of the Tokyo Tower but Nelson, who has escaped to his homeland of "Rolisica' (presumably a conflation of Russia and America), ignores pleas to return the girls to their home. The caterpillar expupates as a giant moth who continues to search for the girls, ultimately leading to Nelson's well deserved comeuppance and a happy ending (if you ignore billions of yen in property damage). "Mothra" (and her sequel 1964's "Godzilla vs the Thing") are among the best of Toho's daikaiju films. Similar to the creature in "Gorgo" (which came out the same year) Mothra is presented as a sympathetic character and the destruction that she brings about is not wanton or mindless, but a response (albeit overwhelming) to an injustice. The movie is very well done with a strong story and good human characters (admittedly somewhat stereotypical) supporting the titular monster who, in both her forms, is imaginative, engaging, and very well executed. The scenes of mayhem and destruction as Tokyo, and later "New Kirk City" in Rolisica are destroyed, are excellent, especially the scene of the larva spinning its cocoon against a backdrop of a ruined Tokyo. The two fairies, who in some form or another accompany Mothra in most of her movie outings, are played by the singing twins "The Peanuts" (Emi and Yumi Ito) who also star in "Godzilla vs the Thing" and "Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster" (1964), and (IMO) are the best of the various singers who have played the roles over the years. The film's score is excellent and introduces the iconic "Mothra's Song", which is heard in many of the later Mothra outings. The benevolent giant moth is one of Toho's most popular and enduring kaiju characters and appears in twelve more films (as of this writing), generally as a friend, ally, or guardian (except, or course, when her brain is taken over by malevolent space aliens). This, her debut film, is an outstanding example of Toho's skill in producing kaiju eiga and is well worth watching by anyone willing to suspend their disbelief long enough to watch a film about a colossal moth and just enjoy the spectacle and the story.

Leofwine_draca Of all the Japanese kaiju, or giant monster movies that I've seen, MOTHRA has to have one of the most ridiculous menaces: a giant caterpillar that ends up cocooned before turning into a giant furry moth. Is it scary? Nope. Are the special effects decent? Not really, which is why the titular menace remains hidden for much of the film, with the giant moth itself only appearing for a final reel rampage. Kaiju films are by their very nature pretty unbelievable productions, but I couldn't stop chuckling when I saw the beast in this one.The film itself is squarely aimed at kids. In case you weren't convinced, the presence of two annoyingly cute little twin fairy women hit that point home. Yes, they're twee, and their singing scenes are surreal in the extreme, but I don't think this film would be the same without them. Elsewhere, it's business as usual for a monster flick, with the human side divided into two forces: the good guys – here, virtually all of them are reporters, which makes for a nice change – and the bad guys, who, as usual, plan to exploit the situation for themselves.The acting is what you'd expect for the film. The characters are larger than life and the actors all seem to be having a ball. I enjoyed Takashi Shimura's turn as 'news editor'; this is a guy used to playing roles in Kurosawa films, so it's kind of funny to see him here. The special effects are, shall we say, primitive, but the film remains colourful and engaging throughout, so it's hard to dislike them. The climatic scenes of Matchbox cars being tossed through the air and cardboard buildings falling over are quite a lot of fun.The storyline is a virtual retread of KING KONG, with the fairies replacing Fay Wray and Mothra replacing Kong. I'm down with that, but it does mean you always know what's going to happen next. I also found the first half pretty talky, with lots of long, drawn out dialogue, some repetition, and a whole lot of sequences where the story doesn't really progress. Still, there's some fun action along the way, including an improbable fight scene and the always entertaining monster rampage scenes. All in all a pretty good film, if not a fabulous one.

Woodyanders A motley group of folks embark on an expedition to an island that's been ravaged by radiation. The explorers discover a pair of diminutive twin fairies. Evil and unscrupulous businessman Clark Nelson (excellently played to the hateful hilt by Jerry Ito) abducts the girls and forces them to sing for him in a stage act. Complications ensue when the girls' giant moth guardian Mothra arrives and begins leveling Japan while searching for the fairies. Directed with real skill and intelligence by Inoshiro Honda, with a thoughtful script by Shinichi Sekizawa, a steady pace, exquisite widescreen cinematography by Hajime Koizuma, exciting sequences of mass destruction, a sweeping, majestic score by Yuji Koseki, a strong central message about the severe consequences of human greed and selfishness, a strangely beautiful and poetic creature, a potent and affecting conclusion, and fine and convincing special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya, this film achieves a certain poignancy and resonance because of its unusually graceful and sympathetic monster who's essentially benign, yet still dangerous because of her immense size. Kudos are also in order for the uniformly sound acting by the able cast, with especially stand-out contributions by Frankie Sakai as likable bumbling journalist Senichiro Fukuda, Kyoko Kagawa as spunky photographer Michi Hamamura, Ken Uehara as the no-nonsense Dr. Harada, and Hiroshi Koizuma as the compassionate Dr. Shinichi Chujo. Emi and Yumi Ito are absolutely adorable as the sweet and gentle twin fairies. The island scenes have a tasty exotic atmosphere. Essential viewing for Japanese creature feature fans.

bkoganbing Having an honored place in Japanese monster film lore is Mothra a giant caterpillar/butterfly who's a Deity on the island of Beiru. A shipwreck strands several survivors on an island where atomic testing has taken place, but the natives are free of any radiation. Some native brew that the castaways are given keeps the atomic effects away from them too.Holding a special place in the affections of these natives are a pair of twin girls, barely a foot tall. An unscrupulous survivor kidnaps them, figuring they'll turn a good buck for him to exhibit as freaks.But not when you've got a giant caterpillar/butterfly on your case. He's the one these girls are continually chanting for and by telepathy Mothra's beating a path to them and it takes him to Japan where Tokyo once again undergoes monster urban renewal.I like Mothra because the monster really is the hero of the piece. And while the special effects of Mothra destroying Tokyo with the flapping of his giant wings, those paper mache, baling wire models that are a trademark of these film, still it's good fun. And of course Mothra came back several times, often in conjunction with other Japanese monster creations.Almost fifty years later Mothra's still a lot of fun.