Lower Decks

This movie, also known as Gojira vs. Mosura, was released in 1992. It was the fourth entry in the “Heisei” series of Godzilla movies and the 19th Godzilla movie overall. As the title implies, it saw Godzilla pitted against Mothra. The plot involves a meteor, an Indiana Jones-type character, his ex-wife, their daughter, the Cosmos (a pair of tiny priestesses), a mysterious island, a giant egg and, of course, Mothra (in both his larval and adult forms). It wasn’t a great movie but it was enjoyable and much better than the previous Godzilla movie I reviewed for Lower Decks (Son of Godzilla).

I found the non-Godzilla portions of the movie very dull. I didn’t care at all for the main character, Takuya Fujita, or his relationship with his ex-wife, Masako Tezuka. And the character of Kenji Andoh, apparently a secretary of sorts, was laughable at best. Still, the fight scenes were fun and we got to see not one giant moth but two: Mothra’s evil twin/counterpart Battra. According to the Cosmos, an ancient civilization attempted to use technology to control the weather, prompting the Earth to create Battra or Black Mothra.

Battra destroyed the civilization’s weather machine and then went berserk. Mothra defeated Battra but in the process Earth was flooded and just about everyone died. Battra and Mothra apparently then went into a dormant state. Mothra awoke due in part to the meteor impact and more generally due to global warming. The Cosmos worry that Battra will also wake up. And he does, joining the battle between larval Mothra and Godzilla, which ends with Godzilla and Battra presumably buried deep in the ocean.

Later, the Cosmos go missing! They’ve been stolen by an evil corporation. An angry Mothra crawls through Japan looking for the Cosmos before eventually stopping and building a cocoon. Adult Mothra, adult Battra and Godzilla battle anew. Mothra and Battra eventually join forces to fight Godzilla with Mothra even sharing some of its life essence with Battra, who was wounded by Godzilla.

Eventually, Mothra and Battra fly Godzilla out into the middle of the ocean. Battra is killed in the process but Godzilla is dropped into the choppy waters with Battra close behind. Japan is safe … for now. Unfortunately, Battra was apparently charged with stopping another meteor from hitting Earth in 1999. With Battra dead only Mothra is left to save the planet!

As I said, the portions of the movie not involving Godzilla, Mothra or Battra were boring. I suppose the fractured relationship between Takuya and Masako was supposed to parallel the relationship between Mothra and Battra. Or maybe it had nothing at all to do with Mothra and Battra and I’m desperately trying to find a reason for its inclusion in the movie. Was it just to pad the run time? Would it have been more interesting if I wasn’t forced to read subtitles?

Also, I wonder if a later movie addressed the prophesied meteor strike…