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Godzilla vs. Megalon

Godzilla vs. Megalon (ゴジラ対メガロ) is a 1973 Japanese kaiju film directed by Jun Fukuda, written by Fukuda and Shinichi Sekizawa, and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and produced under their effects subsidiary Toho–Eizo, it is the 13th film in the Godzilla franchise, and features the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Megalon, and Gigan, along with the mecha character Jet Jaguar. The film stars Katsuhiko Sasaki, Hiroyuki Kawase, Yutaka Hayashi, and Robert Dunham, alongside Shinji Takagi as Godzilla, Hideto Date as Megalon, Kenpachiro Satsuma as Gigan, and Tsugutoshi Komada as Jet Jaguar.

Godzilla vs. Megalon was released theatrically in Japan on March 17, 1973, it received generally mixed reviews from critics and audiences with criticism of its special effects and use of stock footage in previous Godzilla films. The film was given a theatrical release in the United States during the summer of 1976 by Cinema Shares. Given this release and subsequent home media, the film has become one of the most well-known kaiju films in the United States. The film's popularity might also be a major contributor to Western perceptions of kaiju films as comedic or campy. The film received revived recognition after an appearance on Mystery Science Theater 3000 in 1991.

The film was followed up by the fourteenth film in the Godzilla franchise, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, released on March 21, 1974.

Plot
In the first part of 1971 (197X in the Japanese version), the second of a series of underground nuclear tests is conducted, near the Aleutians, sending shockwaves as far as Monster Island in the South Pacific, severely damaging the island paradise and sending Anguirus plummeting into the depths of the Earth, with Godzilla narrowly escaping the fissure into which its friends tumble.

For millions of years, Seatopia, an opulent undersea civilization that resides in vast cities reminiscent of those of Ancient Greece and Rome, has existed in relative peace, ruled by Emperor Antonio, but nuclear tests in recent years have severely affected the cities via the earthquakes the tests produced. With the Seatopian capital badly affected by the most recent test, the Seatopians plan to unleash their civilization's beetle-styled god, Megalon, to destroy the surface world out of vengeance.

On the surface, an inventor named Goro Ibuki, his little brother Rokuro, and Goro's friend Hiroshi Jinkawa are off on an outing near a lake when Seatopia makes itself known to the Earth by drying up the lake the trio was relaxing nearby and using it as a base of operation. As they return home they are ambushed by agents of Seatopia who are trying to steal Jet Jaguar, a humanoid robot under construction by the trio of inventors. However the agents' first attempt is botched and they are forced to flee to safety.

Some time later, Jet Jaguar is completed but the trio of inventors are knocked unconscious by the returning Seatopian agents. The agents' plan is to use Jet Jaguar to guide and direct Megalon to destroy whatever city Seatopia commands him to do. Goro and Rokuro are sent to be killed, while Hiroshi is taken hostage. Megalon is finally released to the surface while Jet Jaguar is put under the control of the Seatopians and is used to guide Megalon to attack Tokyo with the Japan Self Defense Forces failing to defeat the monster. Eventually, the trio of heroes manage to escape their situation with the Seatopians and reunite to devise a plan to send Jet Jaguar to get Godzilla's help using Jet Jaguar's secondary control system.

After uniting with Japan's Defense Force, Goro manages to regain control of Jet Jaguar and sends the robot to Monster Island to bring Godzilla to fight Megalon. Without a guide to control its actions, Megalon flails around relentlessly and aimlessly fighting with the Defense Force and destroying the outskirts of Tokyo. The Seatopians learn of Jet Jaguar's turn and thus send out a distress call to their allies, the Space Hunter Nebula M aliens (from the previous film) to send the alien monster Gigan to assist their allies.

As Godzilla journeys to fight Megalon, Jet Jaguar starts acting on its own and ignoring commands to the surprise of its inventors and grows to gigantic proportions to face Megalon itself until Godzilla arrives. The battle is roughly at a standstill until Gigan arrives and both Megalon and Gigan double team against Jet Jaguar. Godzilla finally arrives to assist Jet Jaguar and the odds become even. After a long and brutal fight, Gigan and Megalon both retreat and Godzilla and Jet Jaguar shake hands on a job well done. Jet Jaguar bids Godzilla farewell and Godzilla returns to its home on Monster Island. Jet Jaguar returns back to human size and returns home with Goro and Rokuro.

Development
The origins of Megalon can be traced back to 1969's All Monsters Attack, as the original working idea for the film's antagonist Gabara was initially envisioned as a giant mole cricket called Gebara. The character was later reworked into Kaoru Mabuchi's 1971 treatment for Godzilla vs. the Space Monsters: Earth Defense Directive, a precursor to 1972's Godzilla vs. Gigan. The proposal called for Megalon to be paired with Gigan and King Ghidorah under the command of the hostile alien invader Miko, only to be defeated and driven off by the combined might of Godzilla, Anguirus, and a brand new monster called Majin Tuol. The next draft of the script, titled The Return of King Ghidorah!, retained the core villain cast of Gigan, King Ghidorah, and Megalon, but replaced Anguirus and Majin Tuol with Varan and Rodan. However, most of the proposed monsters were cut, leading to the final version of Godzilla vs. Gigan.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence Godzilla vs. Megalon was originally planned as a Jet Jaguar solo film, and no Japanese sources have surfaced which claim otherwise. Rather, the creation of Jet Jaguar was the result of a contest Toho had for children in mid-to-late 1972. The winner of the contest was an elementary school student, who submitted the drawing of a robot called Red Arone. Red Arone was turned into a monster suit, but when the child was shown the suit, he became upset because the suit did not resemble his original design. The boy's original design was white but the costume was colored red, blue and yellow. Red Arone was used for publicity, but Toho had renamed the character Jet Jaguar and had special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano redesign the character, only keeping the colors from the Red Arone suit. The Red Arone suit had a different head and wings.

According to Teruyoshi Nakano, Godzilla vs. Megalon was a replacement project for another film that was cancelled at the last minute, and evidence suggests this cancelled film was Godzilla vs. Red Moon, slated for 1973. As a result, the project was postponed during pre-production. Screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa had no time to write out a full script, and instead thought out a general story. Director Jun Fukuda ultimately ended up writing the screenplay.

The film had three early treatments, each written by Shinichi Sekizawa, one was titled Godzilla vs. The Megalon Brothers: The Undersea Kingdom's Annihilation Strategy which was completed in September 1972. The second was titled Insect Monster Megalon vs. Godzilla: Undersea Kingdom's Annihilation Strategy, which was turned in on September 5, 1972, and the third draft was submitted on September 7, 1972. The production time totaled nearly six months from planning to finish.

Creature design
According to Teruyoshi Nakano, the Godzilla suit used in this film (nicknamed "MegaroGoji" メガロゴジ ) was made in a week, making it the fastest Godzilla suit ever made to date. They did not have time to make the eyes work correctly, something they had more time to fix for Godzilla's five appearances on Toho's superhero TV series Zone Fighter (1973), which was produced around the same time.

The Megalon suit was one of the heaviest suits produced since the 1954 Godzilla suit, which made it even more difficult to raise the Megalon suit via wires in certain scenes up to the point where Nakano almost decided to scrap those scenes altogether. Since the film was shot in the winter, Katsuhiko Sasaki stated that director Jun Fukuda gave him and Yutaka Hayashi a shot of whiskey to warm them up.

The Gigan suit is similar to the previous design, but the suit was made thinner, less bulky, the horn on the head was less pointed, and the buzzsaw didn't move, since it was made of static pieces. This suit also has different-sized back fins, a more circular visor, scales running up the back/sides of the neck and longer legs compared to the original version.

Filming
Teruyoshi Nakano recalls how the film was rushed and that it took three weeks to shoot, stating, "It went into productions without enough preparation. There was no time to ask Mr. Sekizawa to write the script, so Mr. Sekizawa kind of thought up the general story and director Fukuda wrote the screenplay. The screenplay was completed right before crank-in". The film also heavily employs stock footage from previous films such as Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster (both from 1964), The War of the Gargantuas (1966), Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966), Destroy All Monsters (1968), Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971), and Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972).

English versions

In 1976, Cinema Shares gave Godzilla vs. Megalon a wide theatrical release in the United States and launched a massive marketing campaign for the film, along with the poster, buttons with one of the four monsters' faces on them were released. Given away at theatrical showings was a comic that told a simplified version of the film, which incorrectly named Jet Jaguar as "Robotman" and Gigan as "Borodan". These incorrect names were also featured in the U.S. trailer.

Cinema Shares originally planned to use the uncut Toho international English version, but to ensure a G rating, several minor cuts were made, which resulted in the film running three minutes shorter than the original version. These cuts included a majority of the opening titles, several mild obscenities and some shots of barely-visible pornographic magazine clips when the main characters are kidnapped in a truck.

Godzilla vs. Megalon is the first Godzilla film to receive an American prime time network television premiere, where it was broadcast nationwide at 9:00 PM on NBC on March 15, 1977. However, to accommodate commercials, the film was only shown in a one-hour time slot, which resulted in the film being cut down to 48 minutes. John Belushi hosted the broadcast where he did some skits, all in a Godzilla suit.

Mel Maron (who was president of Cinema Shares at the time) chose to release Godzilla vs. Megalon because he saw Godzilla as a heroic figure by that point and felt the timing was right to show children a hero who was a friendly monster and not Superman.

The U.S. rights for the film eventually fell into the public domain in the late 80s, which resulted in companies releasing poorly-cropped, fullscreen VHS tapes mastered from pan and scan sources. This also led to the film being featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000. In 1988, New World Video intended to release the original uncut version of the English dub but declined the project because it lacked the budget that was required for a full release. However, despite this, the film was released uncut and in widescreen in 1992 by UK company Polygram Ltd as a double feature with Godzilla vs. Gigan. In 1998 the film was again released by UK company, 4 Front Video. As of now it appears those are the only two VHS tapes on the film that are unedited and in high quality. It was also released on DVD by Power Multimedia in 1999 in Taiwan. Originally the Sci-Fi Channel (now SyFy) showed the cut version, until finally in 2002 as Toho regained ownership of that title alongside Godzilla vs. Gigan and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (both of which also were released by Cinema Shares) and broadcast the film fully uncut for the first time in the U.S.

Box office
In Japan, Godzilla vs. Megalon sold approximately 980,000 tickets. It was the first Godzilla film to sell less than one million admissions. It earned ¥220 million in Japan distribution income (rentals).

The film was a success in American theaters, earning $383,744 in its first three days in Texas and Louisiana alone. The film grossed about US$20 million worldwide.

Critical response
Godzilla vs. Megalon was released theatrically in America on May 9, 1976, though the San Francisco Chronicle indicates that it opened there in June, and The New York Times indicates that it opened in New York City on July 11. The New York Times film critic Vincent Canby, who a decade before had given a negative review to Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, gave Godzilla vs. Megalon a generally positive review. In his review on July 12, 1976, Canby said, "Godzilla vs. Megalon completes the canonization of Godzilla...It's been a remarkable transformation of character - the dragon has become St. George...It's wildly preposterous, imaginative and funny (often intentionally). It demonstrates the rewards of friendship, between humans as well as monsters, and it is gentle."

Godzilla vs. Megalon has attracted the ire of many Godzilla fans in the decades since its original release. The film contributed to the reputation of Godzilla films in the United States as cheap children's entertainment that should not be taken seriously. It has been described as "incredibly, undeniably, mind-numbingly bad" and one of the "poorer moments" in the history of kaiju films.

Author Stephen Mark Rainey's critique of the film was strongly negative, published in Japanese Giants, issue four. 1977. Edited and published by Bradford G. Boyle.

In particular, the special effects of the film have been heavily criticized. One review described the Godzilla costume as appearing to be "crossed with Kermit the Frog" and another sneeringly compared it to Godzilla vs. Gigan, stating that it did "everything wrong that Gigan did, and then some." However, most of the criticism is of the lack of actual special effects work, as most of it consists of stock footage from previous films, including Godzilla vs. Gigan and Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, but a few pieces of effects work have garnered praise, specifically a scene where Megalon breaks through a dam and the draining of the lake.

The other aspects of the film have been similarly skewered. The acting is usually described as flat and generally poor, and as not improving, or sometimes, worsening, the already weak script. One part of the film, on the other hand, has garnered almost universal praise: Godzilla's final attack on Megalon, a flying kick. It has been called the saving grace of the film, and was made famous by the mock exclamations of shock and awe displayed on Godzilla vs. Megalon ' s appearance on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Through the end of season three to the middle of season five, that clip would be shown during the opening of each show.

Despite all this, the film is also one of the most widely seen Godzilla films in the United States — it was popular in its initial theatrical release, largely because of an aggressive marketing campaign, including elaborate posters of the two title monsters battling atop New York City's World Trade Center towers, presumably to capitalize on the hype surrounding the Dino De Laurentiis remake of King Kong, which used a similar image for its own poster.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, approval rating of 38% based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 4.7/10.

Home media
The film was released numerous times in the VHS format, mostly as videos from bargain basement studios that featured the edited TV version (which was wrongly assumed to be in the public domain for many years), while PolyGram and 4 Front released the unedited version of the film in 1992 and 1998, respectively. Some rumors have circulated that the film's original VHS releases in the States were uncut, but there is no evidence confirming or denying this.

Media Blasters acquired the DVD rights to both Godzilla vs. Megalon and Destroy All Monsters. Both films were released under one of the company's divisions, Tokyo Shock. Media Blasters originally planned to release Godzilla vs. Megalon on DVD and Blu-ray on December 20, 2011; however, because of technical difficulties with the dubbing and Toho having yet to give its approval for the release, the DVD/Blu-ray release was delayed. Media Blasters finally released the film on August 14, 2012, but only on a bare-bones DVD and Blu-ray. Despite this, a manufacturing error led to several copies of the originally planned version featuring bonus content being released by accident. These special features versions are incredibly rare and are not labeled differently from the standard version, making them nearly impossible to find. This release was commercially the first to remaster the film to its original full-length version. In 2019, the Japanese version and export English dub were included in a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection, which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era.

title: Godzilla vs. Megalon


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Godzilla vs. Biollante

Godzilla vs. Biollante (ゴジラvsビオランテ) is a 1989 Japanese kaiju film directed and written by Kazuki Ōmori, with special effects by Kōichi Kawakita. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 17th film in the Godzilla franchise, the second film in the franchise's Heisei period, and a sequel to 1984's The Return of Godzilla. The film stars Kunihiko Mitamura, Yoshiko Tanaka, Masanobu Takashima, Megumi Odaka, Toru Minegishi, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Toshiyuki Nagashima, Yoshiko Kuga, Ryunosuke Kaneda and Kōji Takahashi. This was Odaka's first appearance in the Godzilla franchise as Miki Saegusa, and would reprise the role in every film for the remainder of the Heisei series.

In the film, corporations struggle for control over samples of Godzilla's cells, while the monster itself battles a creature born from a combination of Godzilla's cells, the cells of a plant, and the cells of a woman. The idea originated from a public story-writing contest, and set a trend common to all Heisei era movies, in which Godzilla faces off against opponents capable of metamorphosing into new, progressively more powerful forms.

Godzilla vs. Biollante was released theatrically in Japan on December 16, 1989. It received generally positive reviews who praised the storyline, visual effects, and Sugiyama's score, but was a disappointment at the Japanese box office due to competition with Back to the Future Part II. It received a direct-to-video release in the United States on November 25, 1992, through HBO Video.

It was followed by Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah which was released on December 14, 1991.

Plot
In the aftermath of Godzilla's attack on Tokyo and later imprisonment at Mount Mihara in 1985, the monster's cells are secretly delivered to the Saradia Institute of Technology and Science, where they are to be merged with genetically modified plants in the hope of transforming Saradia's deserts into fertile land and ending the country's economic dependence on oil wells. Dr. Genshiro Shiragami and his daughter, Erika, are enlisted to aid with the project, but a terrorist bombing destroys the institute's laboratory, ruining the cells and killing Erika.

Five years later, Shiragami has returned to Japan and merged some of Erika's cells with those of a rose in an attempt to preserve her soul. Meanwhile, scientist Kazuhito Kirishima and Lieutenant Goro Gondo of the JSDF are using the Godzilla cells they collected to create "Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria" (ANEB), hoping it can serve as a weapon against Godzilla should it return. They attempt to recruit Shiragami to aid them, but are rebuffed.

International tensions increase over the Godzilla cells, as they are coveted by both the Saradia Institute of Technology and Science and the American Bio-Major organization. An explosion from Mount Mihara causes tremors across the area, including Shiragami's home, badly damaging the roses. Shiragami agrees to join the JSDF's effort and is given access to the Godzilla cells, which he secretly merges with one of the roses. A night later, rival Bio-Major and Saradian agents break into Shiragami's lab, but are attacked by a large plant-like creature which later escapes to Lake Ashi and is named "Biollante" by Shiragami.

Bio-Major agents plant explosives around Mount Mihara and blackmail the Diet of Japan, warning the explosives will be detonated and thus free Godzilla if the cells are not handed over. Kirishima and Gondo attempt to trade, but Saradian agent SSS9 thwarts the attempt and escapes with the cells. The explosives are detonated, and Godzilla is released. Godzilla attempts to reach the nearest power plant to replenish its supply of nuclear energy, but Biollante calls out to Godzilla.

Godzilla arrives at the lake to engage Biollante in a vicious battle, and emerges as the victor. Godzilla then proceeds toward the power plant at Tsuruga, but psychic Miki Saegusa uses her powers to divert it toward Osaka instead. The city is quickly evacuated before Godzilla makes landfall. A team led by Gondo meet Godzilla at the central district and fire rockets infused with the ANEB into its body. Gondo is killed in the process, and Godzilla leaves unharmed.

Kirishima recovers the cells and returns them to the JSDF. Shiragami theorizes that if Godzilla's body temperature is increased, the ANEB should work against it. The JSDF erects microwave-emitting plates during an artificial thunderstorm, hitting Godzilla with lightning and heating up its body temperature during a battle near the shores of Wakasa Bay. Godzilla is only moderately affected, but Biollante, having obtained a more powerful form, arrives to engage Godzilla in battle once again.

After a long battle, the fight ends after Godzilla fires an atomic heat ray inside Biollante's mouth, severely injuring Biollante. An exhausted Godzilla collapses on the beach as the bacterial infection finally takes hold, and Biollante splits apart into glowing spores which rise into the sky, forming an image of Erika among the stars. Shiragami, watching the scene, is shot by SSS9. Kirishima chases the assassin and, after a brief scuffle, SSS9 is killed by a microwave-emitting plate activated by Sho Kuroki. Godzilla reawakens and leaves for the ocean.

Pre-production
Tomoyuki Tanaka announced a sequel to The Return of Godzilla in 1985, but was skeptical of its possibilities, as the film had been of little financial benefit to Toho, and the failure of King Kong Lives following year convinced him that audiences were not ready for a continuation of the Godzilla series. He relented after the success of Little Shop of Horrors, and proceeded to hold a public story-writing contest for a possible script. In consideration of The Return of Godzilla's marginal success in Japan, Tanaka insisted that the story focus on a classic monster vs. monster theme. Tanaka handed the five finalist entries to director Kazuki Ōmori, despite the two's initially hostile relationship; the latter had previously held Tanaka responsible for the decline in the Godzilla series' quality during the 1970s. Ōmori chose the entry of dentist Shinichiro Kobayashi, who wrote his story with the hypothetical death of his daughter in mind.

Kobayashi's submission was notable for its emphasis on dilemmas concerning biotechnology rather than nuclear energy, and revolved around a scientist grieving for his deceased daughter and attempting to keep her soul alive by merging her genes with those of a plant. The scientist's initial experiments would have resulted in the creation of a giant rat-like amphibian called Deutalios, which would have landed in Tokyo Bay and been killed by Godzilla. A female reporter investigating the scientist's activities would have suffered from psychic visions of plants with humanoid faces compelling her to infiltrate the scientist's laboratory. The scientist would have later confessed his intentions, and the finale would have had Godzilla battling a human-faced Biollante who defeats him by searing his flesh with acid.

Ōmori proceeded to modify the story into a workable script over a period of three years, using his background as a biologist to create a plausible plot involving genetic engineering and botany. In order to preserve the series' anti-nuclear message, he linked the creation of Biollante to the use of Godzilla cells, and replaced Kobayashi's journalist character with Miki Saegusa. He openly admitted that directing a Godzilla film was secondary to his desire to make a James Bond movie, and thus added elements of the spy film genre into the plot. Unlike the case with later, more committee-driven Godzilla films, Ōmori was given considerable leeway in writing and directing the film, which Toho staff later judged to have been an error resulting in a movie with a very narrow audience.

Special effects
Koichi Kawakita, who had previously worked for Tsuburaya Productions, replaced Teruyoshi Nakano as head of the series' special effects unit after Toho became impressed at his work in Gunhed. Kawakita made use of Gunhed's special effects team Studio OX, and initially wanted to make Godzilla more animal-like, using crocodiles as references, but was berated by Tanaka, who declared Godzilla to be "a monster" rather than an animal. Kenpachiro Satsuma returned to portray Godzilla, hoping to improve his performance by making it less anthropomorphic than in previous films. Suitmaker Noboyuki Yasamaru created a Godzilla suit made specifically with Satsuma's measurements in mind, unlike the previous one which was initially built for another performer and caused Satsuma discomfort. The resulting 242 lb suit proved more comfortable than the last, having a lower center of gravity and more mobile legs. A second 176 lb suit was built for outdoor underwater scenes. The head's size was reduced, and the whites around the eyes removed. On the advice of story finalist Shinichiro Kobayashi, a double row of teeth was incorporated in the jaws. As with the previous film, animatronic models were used for close-up shots. These models were an improvement over the last, as they were made from the same molds used for the main costume, and included an articulated tongue and intricate eye motion. The suit's dorsal plates were filled with light bulbs for scenes in which Godzilla uses his atomic ray, thus lessening reliance on optical animation, though they electrocuted Satsuma the first time they were activated. Satsuma was also obliged to wear protective goggles when in the suit during scenes in which Godzilla battles the JSDF, as real explosives were used on set. The film was mainly shot at the Toho lot, although some filming occued on location at the East Fuji Maneuver Area.

Designing and building the Biollante props proved problematic, as traditional suitmation techniques made realizing the requested design of the creature's first form difficult, and the resulting cumbersome model for Biollante's final form was met with disbelief from the special effects team. Biollante's first form was performed by Masao Takegami, who sat within the model's trunk area on a platform just above water level. While the creature's head movements were simple to operate, its vines were controlled by an intricate array of overhead wires which proved difficult for Satsuma to react to during combat scenes as they offered no tension, thus warranting Satsuma to feign receiving blows from them, despite not being able to perceive them. Biollante's final form was even more difficult to operate, as its vine network took hours to rig up on set. Visibility in both the Godzilla and final form Biollante suits was poor, thus causing difficulties for Takegami in aiming the creature's head when firing sap, which permanently stained anything it landed on.

While it was initially decided to incorporate stop motion animation into the film, the resulting sequences were scrapped, as Kawakita felt they failed to blend in with the live-action footage effectively. The film however became the first of its kind to use CGI, though its usage was limited to scenes involving computer generated schematics. The original cut of the movie had the first battle culminating in Biollante's spores falling around the hills surrounding Lake Ashino and blooming into fields of flowers, though this was removed as the flowers were out of scale.

Music
Unlike the previous film, Godzilla vs. Biollante incorporates themes from Akira Ifukube's original Godzilla theme, though the majority of the soundtrack was composed of original themes by Koichi Sugiyama. The score was orchestrated by conductor David Howell through the Kansai Philharmonic, though Howell himself had never viewed the movie, and thus was left to interpret what the scenes would consist of when conducting the orchestra.

English version
After the film was released in Japan, Toho commissioned a Hong Kong company named Omni Productions to dub the film into English.

In early 1990, Toho entered discussions with Miramax to distribute the film. When talks broke off, Toho filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Federal Court, accusing Miramax of entering an oral agreement in June to pay Toho $500,000 to distribute the film. This lawsuit delayed the film's release for two years. An out of court settlement was reached with Miramax buying the rights to the film for an unreported figure. Miramax would have entertained thoughts of releasing the film in theaters, but in the end it was decided to release the film straight to home video instead. HBO released the film on VHS in 1992 and Laserdisc in 1993. Miramax utilized the uncut English international version of the film for this release.

Home media
Godzilla vs. Biollante was released on VHS by HBO Home Video on November 25, 1992. It was later relicensed by Miramax and released on Blu-ray and DVD by Echo Bridge on December 4, 2012. It was released as a double feature and 8-disk movie pack on both Blu-ray and DVD with Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus (2009) by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment in 2013. It was last released by Lionsgate on Blu-ray and DVD on October 7, 2014. On the latter two releases, the film is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for "traditional Godzilla violence".

In 2021, Toho premiered a 4K remaster of the film on the Nippon Classic Movie Channel, along with seven other Godzilla films also remastered in 4K. The film was downscaled to 2K for broadcast.

Box office
In Japan, the film sold approximately 2 million tickets, grossing ¥1.04 billion.

Critical response
Godzilla vs. Biollante has received positive reviews, with praise for the story, music and visuals. Ed Godziszewski of Monster Zero said the film is "by no means a classic" but felt that "for the first time in well over 20 years, a [Godzilla] script is presented with some fresh, original ideas and themes." Joseph Savitski of Beyond Hollywood said the film's music is "a major detraction", but added that it's "not only one of the most imaginative films in the series, but also the most enjoyable to watch." Japan Hero said, "[T]his is definitely a Godzilla movie not to be missed."

In their scholarly book Japan's Green Monsters on kaiju cinema, Rhoads and McCorkle offer an ecocritical assessment of Godzilla vs. Biollante. The scholars focus on the film's critique of genetic engineering and biotechnology years before the subject appeared in more popular Hollywood blockbusters like Steven Spielberg's 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park. Rhoads and McCorkle counter prior reviews of the film and argue that Godzilla vs. Biollante possesses far deeper environmental messages than the obvious ones present on the film's surface.

In July 2014, in a poll reported by the, Godzilla vs. Biollante was selected as the best Godzilla film by a group of fans and judges.

Composer Akira Ifukube, who had refused to compose the film's score, stated on interview that he disliked the way Koichi Sugiyama had modernized his Godzilla theme, and defined the Saradia theme as "ridiculous", on account of it sounding more European than Middle Eastern.

On Rotten Tomatoes, approval rating of 71% based on 7 reviews, with a rating average of 5/10."

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Godzilla vs. Biollante


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Terror of Mechagodzilla

Terror of Mechagodzilla (メカゴジラの逆襲) is a 1975 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, written by Yukiko Takayama, and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka and Henry G. Saperstein, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and produced under their effects subsidiary Toho–Eizo, it is the 15th film in the Godzilla franchise, serving as a direct sequel to the 1974 film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, the final film in the initial Showa Era of the franchise before Godzilla returned nine years later in The Return of Godzilla, directed by Ishirō Honda and scored by Akira Ifukube before their deaths.

Terror of Mechagodzilla stars Katsuhiko Sasaki, Tomoko Ai, Akihiko Hirata, and Gorō Mutsumi, and features Toru Kawai, Kazunari Mori, and Tatsumi Nikamoto as the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Mechagodzilla 2, and Titanosaurus, respectively. The film was released theatrically in Japan on March 15, 1975, to mostly positive reviews. It was released in the UK in June 1976 under the title Monsters From an Unknown Planet. It received a limited release in the United States in 1978 by Bob Conn Enterprises under the title The Terror of Godzilla. The film remains the least financially successful entry in the Godzilla franchise to this day.

Plot
Following the events of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Interpol agents search for Mechagodzilla's remains at the bottom of the Okinawan Sea in the hopes of gathering information on the robot's builders, the alien Simeons. However, their submarine is attacked by a giant, aquatic dinosaur called Titanosaurus and the crew vanishes.

Interpol launches an investigation into the incident. With the help of marine biologist Akira Ichinose, they trace Titanosaurus to a reclusive, mad scientist named Shinzô Mafune, who wants to destroy mankind. While the group visits the scientist's old home, they meet Mafune's daughter, Katsura, who claims her father is dead and that she burned his notes about Titanosaurus at his request. Unbeknownst to Interpol, the living Mafune is visited by Tsuda, an aide to the Simeon leader Mugal, who is leading a project to rebuild Mechagodzilla. Mugal offers the Simeons' services to Mafune so that their respective monsters can wipe out mankind and allow them to rebuild the world for themselves.

Complicating matters, Ichinose falls in love with Katsura and unwittingly gives her Interpol's information on the Simeons, Mechagodzilla, and Titanosaurus. She is also revealed to be a cyborg, having undergone cybernetic surgery after she was nearly killed during one of her father's experiments as a child, and implanted with Mechagodzilla's control device. An impatient Mafune releases Titanosaurus on Yokosuka without the aliens' permission. While Interpol discovers the dinosaur is vulnerable to supersonic waves, Katsura destroys their supersonic wave oscillator. However, Godzilla arrives and easily defeats Titanosaurus, causing the latter to retreat.

When Ichinose visits Katsura, the Simeons capture him and force him to watch as they unleash Mechagodzilla 2 and Titanosaurus on Tokyo. At the same time, Interpol repairs their wave oscillator and the Japanese armed forces struggle to fend off the monsters. Godzilla arrives but is initially outmatched until Interpol distracts Titanosaurus with the repaired wave oscillator, allowing Godzilla to focus on Mechagodzilla 2. Interpol agents infiltrate the aliens' hideout, rescue Ichinose, and kill Mafune and many of the aliens. The remaining Simeons attempt to escape, but Godzilla shoots down their ships with its atomic breath. The wounded Katsura shoots herself to destroy Mechagodzilla 2's control device and dies in Ichinose's arms. With the robot non-functional, Godzilla tosses it into a chasm before blasting it with its atomic breath, causing Mechagodzilla to explode and get buried. With help from Interpol, Godzilla then defeats Titanosaurus and returns to the sea.

Development
The original screenplay that Yukiko Takayama created after winning Toho's story contest for the next installment in the Godzilla series was picked by assistant producer Kenji Tokoro and was submitted for approval on July 1, 1974, less than four months after Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla was released.

The original concept is similar to the finished version of Terror of Mechagodzilla, with many of the changes being budgetary in nature. The most obvious alteration is the removal of the two dinosaurs called the Titans, which merged to become Titanosaurus in the first draft. It was an interesting concept, although something that was also under-explained, considering the magnitude of such an occurrence of the creatures merging. Another noticeable change to the script is that of the final battle, which does not move to the countryside but instead would have reduced Tokyo to rubble during the ensuing conflict between the three monsters.

After her initial draft, Takayama submitted a revised version on October 14, 1974. This went through a third revision on December 4, and then yet another on December 28 of that same year before it was met with approval and filming began.

Jun Fukuda was initially offered the role of director for this installment but refused having finally had enough of the series. Before Ishiro Honda agreed to return rumours persist Yoshimitsu Banno was also asked to direct due to Tomoyuki Tanaka being pleased with his work on Prophecies of Nostradamus.

Director Ishiro Honda later lamented not having been able to work with the story's writer, Yukiko Takayama, on other films, enjoying that a "woman's perspective was especially fresh" for the genre.

Kensho Yamashita, who would later direct Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla was the chief assistant director on the project. He notes, though, that Honda never actually assigned any of the shooting to him, possibly because he was happy to be directing again after a long gap in his career and wanted to do the work himself.

Nudity
This film is one of two Godzilla films with brief nudity (the other being 1994's Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla). The scene occurs when Katsura undergoes an operation to have Mechagodzilla 2's control device placed inside her body, at which point her breasts are exposed. While she was portrayed by a mannequin in the scene, the scene was cut when the film was released in the U.S., both from the theatrical and TV versions of the film, and was also missing from the UK theatrical version, though the scene was intact in the 1992 VHS release which used the Terror of Mechagodzilla title.

English version

Toho titled its English version of the film Terror of Mechagodzilla and had it dubbed into English in Hong Kong. This “international version” has never seen wide release in the United States, but has been issued on VHS in the United Kingdom by PolyGram Video Ltd. and on DVD in Taiwan by Power Multimedia.

The film was given a North American theatrical release in March 1978 by independent distributor Bob Conn Enterprises under the title The Terror of Godzilla. Just as Cinema Shares had done with the previous three Godzilla movies, Bob Conn Enterprises chose to utilize the Toho-commissioned English dub instead of hiring a new crew to re-dub the film. The Terror of Godzilla was heavily edited to obtain a "G" rating from the MPAA. Several scenes with violent content were entirely removed, disrupting the flow of the narrative.

Henry G. Saperstein, who sold the theatrical rights to Bob Conn Enterprises, also released the film to television in late 1978, this time under Toho's international title, Terror of Mechagodzilla. Unlike The Terror of Godzilla, the television version remained mostly uncut, with only the shot of Katsura's naked breasts excised. Saperstein's editors also added a 10-minute prologue that served as a brief history of Godzilla, with footage from Saperstein's English versions of Invasion of Astro-Monster and All Monsters Attack (the latter of which utilized stock footage from both Ebirah, Horror of the Deep and Son of Godzilla).

In the mid-1980s, the U.S. television version, Terror of Mechagodzilla, was replaced by the theatrical edit, The Terror of Godzilla, on television and home video. For some reason, the title was also changed to Terror of Mechagodzilla. The 1994 Paramount release of Terror of Mechagodzilla listed a running time of 89 minutes on the slipcase, implying that this release would be the longer version first shown on American TV. The actual video cassette featured the edited theatrical version. In a 1995 interview with G-Fan magazine, Saperstein was surprised to hear about this mistake. In 1997 on Channel 4 in the U.K., three Godzilla movies were shown back to back late at night, starting with Godzilla vs. Megalon, Godzilla vs. Gigan and then Terror of Mechagodzilla; all were dubbed versions. This showing was uncut, including the Katsura nudity scene, but it did not have the Western-made prologue.

In the mid-2000s, the television version showed up again on Monsters HD, and in 2007, it made its home video debut as the U.S. version on the Classic Media DVD. Although the added prologue was originally framed for fullscreen television, it was cropped and shown in widescreen on the disc. The rest of the movie featured the audio from Saperstein's television version synced to the video from the Japanese version.

The first article about the movie's storyline was published in Japanese Giants #4 in 1977, edited and published by Bradford G. Boyle, and was written by Richard H. Campbell, creator of The Godzilla Fan News Letter (a.k.a. "The Gang").

Critical response
On American Rotten Tomatoes, approval rating of 43% based on 7 reviews, with a rating average of 6/10."

Box office
In Japan, the film sold 980,000 tickets. Despite earning mixed reviews, it would be the least-attended Godzilla film in Japan and also one of only two Godzilla films to sell less than 1 million tickets. This was part of a decline in attendance for monster movies as a whole and Toho put the production of monster movies on hold. Toho had no intention of permanently ending the Godzilla series. Throughout the remainder of the 1970s, several new Godzilla stories were submitted by various writers and producers. None of these films, however, were ultimately made. It was not until 1984 and Godzilla's 30th anniversary that Toho would start production on a new Godzilla movie.

Home media
The film has been released several times on DVD in the United States. The first release, by Simitar Entertainment, was on May 6, 1998 in a fullscreen version under the title The Terror of Godzilla. The second release, by First Classic Media and distributed by Sony Music Entertainment, was on September 17, 2002. It was released both individually and as part of the Ultimate Godzilla DVD Collection box set, the latter being released on the same day.

It was then re-released by Second Classic Media, this time distributed by Genius Entertainment, on November 20, 2007 both individually and as part of the Godzilla Collection box set on April 29, 2008.

In 2019, both the Japanese version and the export English version were included in a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection, which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era.

title: Terror of Mechagodzilla


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Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (Japanese: ゴジラvsキングギドラ) is a 1991 Japanese kaiju film written and directed by Kazuki Ōmori and produced by Shōgo Tomiyama. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 18th film in the Godzilla franchise, and is the third film in the franchise's Heisei period. The film features the fictional monster characters Godzilla and King Ghidorah, and stars Kōsuke Toyohara, Anna Nakagawa, Megumi Odaka, Katsuhiko Sasaki, Akiji Kobayashi, Yoshio Tsuchiya, and Robert Scott Field. The plot revolves around time-travelers from the future who convince Japan to travel back in time to prevent Godzilla's mutation, only to reveal their true motives by unleashing King Ghidorah onto the nation.

The production crew of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah remained largely unchanged from that of the previous film in the series, Godzilla vs. Biollante. Because the previous installment was a box office disappointment, due to a lack of child viewership and alleged competition with the Back to the Future franchise, the producers of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah were compelled to create a film with more fantasy elements, along with time travel.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah was the first Godzilla film since 1975's Terror of Mechagodzilla to feature a newly orchestrated score by Akira Ifukube. The film was released theatrically in Japan on December 14, 1991, and was followed by Godzilla vs. Mothra released on December 12, 1992. It was released direct-to-video in North America in 1998 by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. Despite mixed reviews from critics, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah was more financially successful at the box office than Godzilla vs. Biollante. The film attracted controversy outside Japan due to its perceived Japanese nationalist themes.

Plot
In 1992, Godzilla is still weakened after being infected by the ANEB (Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria). Meanwhile, science fiction author Kenichiro Terasawa is writing a book about the monster and learns of a group of Japanese soldiers stationed on Lagos Island during the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign. In February 1944, while threatened by American forces, the Japanese soldiers were saved by a mysterious dinosaur, which Terasawa theorizes was subsequently mutated into Godzilla in 1954 after a hydrogen bomb test on the island. Yasuaki Shindo, a wealthy businessman and army veteran who commanded the Lagos Garrison, confirms that the dinosaur did indeed exist.

Meanwhile, a UFO lands near Mount Fuji. When the JSDF investigates, it is revealed that the UFO is in fact a time machine and they are greeted by Wilson, Grenchiko, Emmy Kano, and the android M-11. The visitors, known as the "Futurians", explain that they are from the year 2204, where Godzilla has completely destroyed Japan. The Futurians plan to travel back in time to 1944 and remove the dinosaur from Lagos Island before the island is irradiated, thus preventing the mutation of the creature into Godzilla. As proof of their story, Emmy presents a copy of Terasawa's book, which has not yet been completed in the present.

The Futurians, Terasawa, Miki Saegusa, and Professor Mazaki, board MOTHER's time machine, KIDS, and travel back to 1944 to Lagos Island. There, as American forces land and engage the Japanese forces commanded by Shindo, the dinosaur attacks and kills the American soldiers. The U.S. Navy then uses a detachment of warships to bombard the dinosaur from the sea and gravely wounds it. After Shindo and his men leave the island, M-11 uses KIDS to teleport the dinosaur from Lagos Island to the Bering Strait. Before returning to 1992, the Futurians secretly leave three small creatures called Dorats on Lagos Island, which are exposed to radiation from the hydrogen bomb test in 1954 and merge to become King Ghidorah. After returning to 1992, the Futurians use King Ghidorah to subjugate Japan and issue an ultimatum, but Japan refuses to surrender.

Feeling sympathy for the Japanese people, Emmy reveals to Terasawa the truth behind the Futurians' mission: in the 23rd century, Japan is an economic superpower that has surpassed the United States, Russia, and China, and even bought out the entirety of South America and Africa. The Futurians traveled back in time in order to change history and prevent Japan's future economic dominance by creating King Ghidorah and using it to destroy present-day Japan. At the same time, they also planned to erase Godzilla from history so that it would not pose a threat to their plans. After M-11 brings Emmy back to the UFO, she reprograms the android so it will help her.

Shindo plans to send his nuclear submarine to the Bering Strait and irradiate the dinosaur in order to recreate Godzilla. However, Terasawa discovers too late that a Russian nuclear submarine sank there in the 1970s and released enough radiation to mutate the dinosaur into Godzilla. En route to the Bering Strait, Shindo's submarine is destroyed by Godzilla, who absorbs its radiation, recovers from the ANEB and becomes larger. Godzilla arrives in Japan and is met by King Ghidorah. They fight at equal strength, each immune to the other's attacks. With M-11 and Terasawa's aid, Emmy sabotages the UFO's control over King Ghidorah, causing the three-headed monster to lose focus during the battle. Godzilla eventually ends the battle by blasting off Ghidorah's middle head. Before sending King Ghidorah crashing into the Sea of Okhotsk, Godzilla destroys the UFO, killing Wilson and Grenchiko. Godzilla then turns its ire on Japan, first attacking Sapporo, then Tokyo, where it kills Shindo.

Emmy travels to the future with M-11 and returns to the present day with Mecha-King Ghidorah, a cybernetic version of King Ghidorah. The cybernetic Ghidorah blasts Godzilla with beams, which proves useless. Godzilla then counters by relentlessly blasting Ghidorah with its atomic breath before Ghidorah launches clamps to restrain Godzilla. Ghidorah carries Godzilla out of Japan, but Godzilla breaks from its restraints and causes Ghidorah to send both crashing into the ocean. Emmy then returns to the future with M-11 in KIDS, but not before informing Terasawa that she is his descendant.

At the bottom of the ocean, Godzilla awakens and roars over Mecha-King Ghidorah's remains before swimming away.

Conception
Although the previously filmed Godzilla vs. Biollante had been the most expensive Godzilla film produced at the time, its low audience attendance and loss of revenue convinced executive producer and Godzilla series creator Tomoyuki Tanaka to revitalize the series by bringing back iconic monsters from pre-1984 Godzilla movies, specifically Godzilla's archenemy King Ghidorah.

Godzilla vs. Biollante director and writer Kazuki Ōmori had initially hoped to start a standalone series centered on Mothra, and was in the process of rewriting a 1990 script for the unrealized film Mothra vs. Bagan. The film was ultimately scrapped by Toho, under the assumption that, unlike Godzilla, Mothra would have been a difficult character to market overseas. The planning stages for a sequel to Godzilla vs. Biollante were initially hampered by Tanaka's deteriorating health, thus prompting the takeover of Shōgo Tomiyama as producer. The new producer felt that the financial failure of Godzilla vs. Biollante was due to the plot being too sophisticated for child audiences, and thus intended to return some of the fantasy elements of the pre-1984 Godzilla films to the series. Ōmori himself blamed the lackluster performance of Godzilla vs. Biollante on competition with Back to the Future Part II, and thus concluded that audiences wanted plots involving time travel. His approach to the film also differed from Godzilla vs. Biollante in his greater emphasis on developing the personalities of the monsters rather than the human characters.

Akira Ifukube agreed to compose the film's score on the insistence of his daughter, after as he was dissatisfied with the way his compositions had been treated in Godzilla vs. Biollante.

Special effects
The Godzilla suits used in Godzilla vs. Biollante were reused in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, though with slight modifications. The original suit used for land-based and full body shots had its head replaced with a wider and flatter one, and the body cut in half. The upper half was used in scenes where Godzilla emerges from the sea and during close-ups during the character's first fight with King Ghidorah. The suit used previously for scenes set at sea was modified with rounder shoulders, a more prominent chest, and an enhanced face, and was used throughout the majority of the film's Godzilla scenes.

The redesigned King Ghidorah featured much more advanced wirework puppetry than its predecessors, and effects team leader Koichi Kawakita designed the "Godzillasaurus" as a more paleontologically accurate-looking dinosaur than Godzilla itself as a nod to American filmmakers aspiring to direct their own Godzilla films with the intention of making the monster more realistic. Ōmori's original draft specified that the dinosaur that would become Godzilla was a Tyrannosaurus, though this was rejected by creature designer Shinji Nishikawa, who stated that he "couldn't accept that a tyrannosaur could become Godzilla". The final suit combined features of Tyrannosaurus with Godzilla, and real octopus blood was used during the bombardment scene. Because the Godzillasaurus' arms were much smaller than Godzilla's, suit performer Wataru Fukuda had to operate them with levers within the costume. The creature's distress calls were recycled Gamera cries.

Home media
The Columbia/TriStar Home Video DVD version was released in 1998 as a single disc double feature with Godzilla vs. Mothra. The picture was full frame (1.33:1) [NTSC] and the audio in English (2.0). There were no subtitles. Extras included the trailer for Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah and Godzilla vs. Mothra.

The Sony Blu-ray version was released on May 6, 2014 as a two-disc double feature with Godzilla vs. Mothra. The picture was MPEG-4 AVC (1.85:1) [1080p] and the audio was in Japanese and English (DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0). Subtitles were added in English, English SDH and French. Extras included the theatrical trailer and three teasers in HD with English subtitles.

Reception
Joseph Savitski of Beyond Hollywood said "This entry in the popular monster series is a disappointing and flawed effort unworthy of the “Godzilla” name." Film historian and critic David Kalat wrote "Despite its shortcomings, illogic, and overpopulated cast, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is crammed full of ideas, richly visualized innovations, a genuine spirit of fun, and some of the most complex emotional manipulation ever to grace the series."

Controversy
The film was considered controversial at the time of its release, being contemporary to a period of economic tension between America and Japan, but mainly due to its fictional World War II depictions. Gerald Glaubitz of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association appeared alongside director Kazuki Ōmori on Entertainment Tonight and condemned the film as being in "very poor taste" and detrimental to American-Japanese relations. Ishirō Honda also criticized Ōmori, stating that the scene in which Godzilla attacks and crushes American G.I.s went "too far". Conversely, Godzilla historian Steve Ryfle said American media reports of supposed anti-Americanism "weren't really thought-provoking or insightful." Ōmori has denied all such allegations, stating that the American extras in the film had been "happy about being crushed and squished by Godzilla." Commenting on the controversy in 2006, Ōmori stated: I am not anti-American. I love American movies, and I've always watched American movies. Most American movies are, in the same sense, made the way I made my movie. I just wanted to make a movie with American army people in it, and to put the rumors to rest, I am not anti-American. I love American war movies, but looking at all the ones I've watched over the years, Americans never lose. And so I thought they should lose at least once! Why don't the Americans ever lose?!

title: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah


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Godzilla vs. Mothra

Godzilla vs. Mothra (ゴジラvsモスラ) is a 1992 Japanese kaiju film directed by Takao Okawara, with special effects by Kōichi Kawakita. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 19th film in the Godzilla franchise, and is the fourth film in the franchise's Heisei era. The film features the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Mothra, and Battra, and stars Tetsuya Bessho, Satomi Kobayashi, Takehiro Murata, Megumi Odaka, Shiori Yonezawa, Makoto Otake, Akiji Kobayashi, Koichi Ueda, Shinya Owada, Keiko Imamura, Sayaka Osawa, Saburo Shinoda and Akira Takarada, with Kenpachiro Satsuma as Godzilla. The plot follows Battra and Mothra's attempts to stop Godzilla from attacking Yokohama.

Originally conceived as a standalone Mothra film entitled Mothra vs. Bagan, the film is notable for its return to a more fantasy-based, family-oriented atmosphere, evocative of older Godzilla films. Although he did not return as director, Ōmori continued his trend of incorporating Hollywood elements into his screenplay, in this case nods to the Indiana Jones franchise.

Godzilla vs. Mothra was released theatrically in Japan on December 12, 1992. The film received critical acclaim and became the highest-grossing Japanese film of 1993. Godzilla vs. Mothra was released direct-to-video in the United States in 1998 by Columbia Tristar Home Video under the title Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth. The film was the second highest-grossing film in Japan in 1993, with Jurassic Park being the highest-grossing.

It was followed by Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II which was released on December 11, 1993.

Plot
In mid-1992, following the events of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, a meteoroid crashes in the Ogasawara Trench and awakens Godzilla. Six months later, explorer Takuya Fujito is detained after stealing an ancient artifact. Later, a representative of the Japanese Prime Minister offers to have Takuya's charges dropped if he explores Infant Island with his ex-wife, Masako Tezuka and Kenji Ando, the secretary of the rapacious Marutomo company. After the trio arrives on the island, they find a cave containing a depiction of two giant insects in battle. Further exploration leads them to a giant egg and a pair of diminutive humanoids called the Cosmos, who identify the egg as belonging to Mothra.

The Cosmos tell of an ancient civilization that tried to control the Earth's climate 12,000 years ago, thus provoking the Earth into creating Battra. Battra, a male divine moth similar to Mothra, but much more fearsome in appearance, destroyed the civilisation and their weather-controlling device but then became uncontrollable, and started to harm the very planet that created him. Mothra was then sent by the Earth to fight Battra, who eventually lost. The Cosmos explain how the meteoroid uncovered Mothra's egg, and may have awoken Battra, who is still embittered over humanity's interference in the Earth's natural order.

The Marutomo company sends a freighter to Infant Island to pick up the egg, ostensibly to protect it. As they are sailing, Godzilla surfaces and heads toward the newly hatched Mothra larva. Battra, also as a larva, soon appears and joins the fight, allowing Mothra to retreat. The battle between Godzilla and Battra is eventually taken underwater, where the force of the battle causes a giant crack on the Philippine Sea Plate that swallows the two.

Masako and Takuya later discover Ando's true intentions when he kidnaps the Cosmos and takes them to Marutomo headquarters, where the CEO intends to use them for publicity purposes. Mothra enters Tokyo in an attempt to rescue the Cosmos, but is attacked by the JSDF. The wounded Mothra heads for the National Diet Building and starts constructing a cocoon around herself. Meanwhile, Godzilla surfaces from Mount Fuji, while Battra frees himself from the Earth's crust and continues towards Japan.

Both Mothra and Battra attain their imago forms and converge at Yokohama Cosmo World where they begin to fight once more. Godzilla interrupts the battle and initially attacks Battra. Mothra then briefly incapacitates Godzilla and comes to Battra's aid before returning to battle with Godzilla. Battra then returns the favor coming to Mothra's defense. Regrouping, the two moths decide to join forces against Godzilla, determining him to be the greater threat to the planet. Eventually, Mothra and Battra overwhelm Godzilla and carry it over the ocean. Godzilla bites Battra's neck and fires its atomic breath into the wound, killing him. A tired Mothra drops Godzilla and the lifeless Battra into the water below, sealing Godzilla below the surface by creating a mystical glyph with scales from her wings. The next morning, the Cosmos explain that Battra had been waiting many years to destroy an even larger asteroid that would threaten the Earth in 1999. Mothra had promised she would stop the future collision if Battra were to die, and she and the Cosmos leave Earth as the humans bid farewell.

Production
The idea of shooting a movie featuring a revamped Mothra dated back to a screenplay written in 1990 by Kazuki Omori entitled Mothra vs. Bagan, which revolved around a vengeful dragon called Bagan who sought to destroy humanity for its abuse of the Earth's resources, only to be defeated by Mothra, the goddess of peace. However, following the poor box office performance of Godzilla vs. Biollante, the project was ultimately scrapped by Toho, under the assumption that Mothra was a character born purely out of Japanese culture, and thus would have been difficult to market overseas unlike the more internationally recognized Godzilla.

After the success of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, producer Shōgo Tomiyama and Godzilla series creator Tomoyuki Tanaka proposed resurrecting King Ghidorah in a film entitled Ghidorah's Counterattack, but relented when polls demonstrated that Mothra was more popular with women, which makes up a larger percentage of Japan's population compared to men. Tomiyama replaced Ōmori with Takao Okawara as director, but maintained Ōmori as screenwriter. Hoping to maintain as much of Mothra vs. Bagan as possible, Ōmori reconceptualized Bagan as Badora, a dark twin to Mothra. The character was later renamed Battra (a portmanteau of "battle" and "Mothra"), as the first name was disharmonious in Japanese. Tomiyama had intended to feature Mothra star Frankie Sakai, but was unable to because of scheduling conflicts. The final battle between Godzilla, Mothra and Battra was originally meant to have a more elaborate conclusion; as in the final product, Godzilla would have been transported to sea, only to kill Battra and plunge into the ocean. However, the site of their fall would have been the submerged, Stonehenge-like ruins of the Cosmos civilization, which would have engulfed and trapped Godzilla with a forcefield activated by Mothra.

Ishirō Honda, who directed the first Godzilla film and many others, visited the set shortly before dying.

Special effects
Koichi Kawakita continued his theme of giving Godzilla's opponents the ability to metamorphose, and had initially intended to have Mothra killed off, only to be reborn as the cybernetic moth MechaMothra, though this was scrapped early in production, thus making Godzilla vs. Mothra the first post-1984 Godzilla movie to not feature a mecha contraption. The underwater scenes were filmed through an aquarium filled with fish set between the performers and the camera. Kawakita's team constructed a new Godzilla suit from previously used molds, though it was made slimmer than previous suits, the neck given more prominent ribbing, and the arrangement of the character's dorsal plates was changed so that the largest plate was placed on the middle of the back. The arms were more flexible at the biceps, and the face was given numerous cosmetic changes; the forehead was reduced and flattened, the teeth scaled down, and the eyes given a golden tint. The head was also electronically modified to allow more vertical mobility. Filming the Godzilla scenes was hampered when the suit previously used for Godzilla vs. Biollante and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, which was needed for some stunt-work, was stolen from Toho studios, only to be recovered at Lake Okutama in bad condition. The remains of the suit were recycled for the first battle sequence. Godzilla's roar was reverted to the high-pitched shriek from pre-1984 Godzilla films, while Battra's sound effects were recycled from those of Rodan. In designing Battra, which the script described as a "black Mothra", artist Shinji Nishikawa sought to distance its design from Mothra's by making its adult form more similar to its larval one than is the case with Mothra, and combining Mothra's two eyes into one.

Release
Godzilla vs. Mothra was released in Japan on December 12, 1992 where it was distributed by Toho. The film sold approximately 4,200,000 tickets in Japan, becoming the number one Japanese film on the domestic market in the period that included the year 1993. It earned ¥2.22 billion in distribution income, and grossed ¥3.77 billion in total.

The film was released in the United States as Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth on April 28, 1998 on home video by Columbia TriStar Home Video.

Critical response
Godzilla vs. Mothra received critical acclaim upon its Japanese release. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes has a 78% approval rating from critics, based on 9 reviews with an average score of 5.7/10.

Ed Godziszewski of Monster Zero said, "Rushed into production but a few months after Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, this film is unable to hide its hurried nature [but] effects-wise, the film makes up for the story's shortcomings and then some." Japan Hero said, "While this movie is not the best of the Heisei series, it is still a really interesting movie. The battles are cool, and Battra was an interesting idea. If you have never seen this movie, I highly recommend it."

Stomp Tokyo said the film is "one of the better Godzilla movies in that the scenes in which monsters do not appear actually make some sort of sense. And for once, they are acted with some gusto, so that we as viewers can actually come to like the characters on screen, or at least be entertained by them." Mike Bogue of American Kaiju said the film "[does] not live up to its potential", but added that "[its] colorful and elaborate spectacle eventually won [him] over" and "the main story thread dealing with the eventual reconciliation of the divorced couple adequately holds the human plot together."

Home media
The film was released by Sony on Blu-ray in The Toho Godzilla Collection on May 6, 2014.

title: Godzilla vs. Mothra