Rebirth of Mothra (1996)

And, of course, hard-core daikaiju fans. "Rebirth of Mothra" is an unsubtle morality-play in which evil loggers remove a sacred seal, releasing an ancient monster ('Desghidorah') who threatens to suck the life out of the Earth. This attracts the attention of a tiny 'witch' flying a miniature dragon, who torments the family of the man who took the seal until Mothra's fairy acolytes show up riding a cloying-sweet mini-Mothra to defend the kids. Meanwhile, 'Desghidorah' continues to ravage the environment until an aging Mothra appears, later followed by her larval offspring. Needless to say, most of the second half of the film is a kaiju battle, featuring pyrotechnics, inexplicable coloured lights, and, since this is a new-age Mothra movie, lots of sparkles. In the end, the environment is saved (at least for now), the forests are miraculously reborn, and the power of love reaffirmed. Even compared to some of the more 'child-friendly' Showa-era Godzilla films (e.g. Son of Godzilla, 1967), this film is strictly for the kids. The 'witch' character (her dubbed voice sounding like the "Wicked Witch of the West") is especially puerile and, like the later Showa-era Gamera films, the human 'heroes' are a couple of irritating kids. All could be forgiven (or at least tolerated) if the movie was a good kaiju epic, but it is not. Mothra has reverted to the furry puppet version seen in 1992's "Godzilla vs. Mothra", although now has a wide array of 'energy-weapons' and convenient supernatural abilities. The new incarnation of Ghidorah is now fatter with front legs, and has lost all of the sinuous grace of the original monster. The original Mothra song is briefly heard (the current fairies lack the charm of the original pair), but in general the film's score is trite and derivative, especially in the action scenes. The special effects are of mixed effectiveness, some of the flying shots of Mothra, Desghidorah, and the fairies/witch are terrible while some of scenes with the larval Mothra are excellent (especially towards the transformation scene, the cocooning is especially imaginative). There are none of the classic (and costly) cityscapes to be destroyed, as most all of the 'battles' are aerial or in forests or mountains (although there is an OK 'dam buster' sequence), and the JDF is never mobilised, so the usual scenes of tanks, missiles, carnage and collateral damage that are core to the canon are absent. As I was watching a dubbed version, I can't really comment on the acting but none of the human characters were interesting or engaging. The biggest problem with the film is the direction: scenes just go on toooo long. The 'dog fight' between flying fairies and the witch in the kids' house is endless, as are the repetitious scenes of Desghidorah emerging from the fire, and the ending of the film is an interminable series of good-byes and reminders of what the 'message' is (in the unlikely event that you missed it). Mothra is a unique and iconic part of Japanese kaiju culture. Her first appearance in 1961 and her battle with Godzilla in 1964 are among the best the genre has to offer. Too bad she's now reduced to being a flying green guilt-trip. I admit that the giant moth has a long history of being a 'guardian' of the Earth, but the heavy-handed 'eco' message in this film is a bit hard to take considering Japan uses about 24 billion disposable chopsticks every year (the equivalent of about 1.6 million trees).

Before R.o.M.: I was at my local video store and they just happened to have the entire trilogy on Blu-Ray. I can't even find the movies on DVD, so all three movies on Blu-Ray? That's gotta be a treat, I thought. After R.o.M.: This movie sucks. I hate this movie a ton. There are a few good things about it, being that it's a kaiju film and whatnot, but the flaws are too strong to be looked past. The first 2-3 minutes of the film are very promising, as we are introduced right away to Mothra. No build-up. However, as soon as that's done, we are taken right to, without warning, the absolute worst part of the whole movie: annoying, bratty, screaming, whiny kids. There is nothing in this world I hate more than children that aren't well-behaved. These two kids are our main characters, and they are Randy from Christmas Story (1983) and Gertie from E.T. (1982) times a million. They scream, wail, fight, and bicker constantly. I know that's common with little siblings, but they fight so much, it's to the point where their fights are just sporadic. No joke, there's one scene where the kids are just being normal (for once), then they just randomly start fighting and crying again! Well actually, it's more the girl that cries than the boy, and I tell you, she is probably the most annoying crying girl in a movie I have ever heard. That one scene in Pacific Rim (2013) with that crying kid may have been annoying enough, but this makes that scene look normal.The other biggest, most unforgivable flaw in the whole movie is the CGI. There are these familiars and tiny monsters that appear from time to time, but they are CGIed so badly, they are Birdemic levels of bad. Normally, I could forgive them for being bad since it was the mid 90's, but keep in mind that this is Toho, who previously used CG for Godzilla's fire-breath and lasers in prior films, and they actually looked really convincing! This film's CGI is totally unconvincing. Oh, and even before CGI, Toho was able to make anything look real. This movie's CGI is just a complete joke...yeah, you get the idea.Halfway into this movie, you'll also notice, that just when you were expecting a run-of-the-mill kaiju film, that this is a kiddie movie. Now, to make a kaiju film for the youngsters to enjoy isn't a bad idea, but aren't there plenty of 6-year-olds into kaiju films already? Overall, Rebirth of Mothra is just about one of the worst films of all time in my opinion. You can't defend it. You just can't. It was so bad in fact, that I actually stopped watching it 1 hour in. I just couldn't take it! It's too bad! Annoying kids unforgivably bad special effects make this a joke entry in Toho's long line of giant-monster movies. I wish I had spent my money on a Quizno's sub than this.

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** To describe this movie is in one word: SENSATIONAL! I was not prepared for how this movie would effect me. It seems silly to say that a monster movie could touch someone but this one does. In a nutshell, this movie picks up where Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth left off. Mothra is a few years older at the beginning (I don't know what that is in human years). She has just given birth to an egg and is on Infant Island recuperating from the difficult birth. We are introduced to her 'friends' Mol and Lora the 'Elias' sisters. In Hokaido an old gowth forest is being leveled to make room for industry and expansion. A ancient carving in stone is found with what seems like a medallion at its centre. A man takes a knife and works it free. Somewhere else, Belvera, the older and meaner sister of Lora and Mol is gleeful atop her fairy Desgaru (a litle dragon-like creature that breaths fire). She knows that the removal of the medallion will set off the chain reaction toward the end of the earth. Because of an accident caused by Belvera the stone carving begins to break apart causing the ground to heave up begetting an even larger stone structure. From this a fiery three-headed dragon appears. It is Desghidorah, and even fiercer cousin of King Ghidorah. It begins to feed off the forest killing the trees and flowers using their lifeforce to grow stronger. With Desghidorah released Lora and Mol must call upon the only one who can banish Desghidorah for good. Mothra on Infant Island summons all her strength and leaves her egg to go help mankind. There is a Japanese family who become imbroiled in this mess and who help Lora and Mol to help Mothra. During one of the many great battle scenes Mothra is hurt, her strength diminished. On Infant Island, the larvae inside the egg calls out to its mother and begins to work its way out of the egg. Once feed it makes its way to its mother. Mother and child are reunited when the baby is attacked by Desghidorah and Mothra with all the strength she has left deals the dragon a terrible blow and takes flight with her child in her grasp. Mothra though by this point is dying, she can no longer help mankind and succumbs to her wounds. This is the most touching part of the story. My heart broke as Mothra with her last breaths tells her child it must continue the battle. I believe Mothra told the larvae where to go to enhance itself. The baby begging Mothra to stay, goes to comfort her before she plumets to the bottom of the ocean in a poetic dive to her death. The bay heads for an island that has the oldest growth forest in Japan. There the baby spins it coccoon as the trees and ancient woods impart their knowledge and their strength to the little one. Fianlly in a beautiful swirl of kaleidoscopic colours the new Mothra is reborn, stunning, and different than her mother. As she harvests all her strength and courage this cheeky little girl flies off to battle Desghidorah to the death. Of course she wins sending Desghidorah back to the hellfire from which it sprang, but the world has changed. The forest is dead and lifeless. Mothra has one more trick up her wing. Using the force she received from the ancient forest she sets about to reseed the flora creating the most beautiful garden, this in final tribute to her mother. this movie succedes on different levels. For me it was one of the most orginal plots I've seen in kaiju films. Sure the environmental issue was there, but this goes beyond that. It is a human endeavour. How does a child best serve a dying parent? Complete the work that was started and leave a monument to that parent. In this case the reseeding of the dead forest. There wre human actors in this movie, however, I feel that the message was there from Mothra and her chld. All in all the best of the giant monster films. This one comes highly recomended as a must-see.

With Godzilla dead and gone (yah, right), Toho concentrated on their other major star, Mothra.In this first of a trilogy (more, more!) Mothra (the 1992 Mothra) battles a creature called Death Ghidorah (a cousin of King Ghidorah?). Thrown into the mix is the new Mothra, called MothraLeo. With time running out for Earth, can MothraLeo survive to carry on the long line of Mothras that have defended the planet?Of course he can! If he couldn't, why did "Mosura 2" follow it?The effects are outstanding in this movie. How can one moth have so many beam weapons?I have to say that Megumi Kobayashi and Sayoko Yamaguchi, who play the priestesses of Mothra, now called the Elias, are excellent in this movie, as well as Aki Hano, who plays Belvera, one of the new elements to the Mothra saga. Of the two Elais, Moll is more determined than Lora, especially on calling the "old" Mothra into battle.On the whole, a very good movie! Roll on Mosura 2!