Mothra (1961)

Original title

モスラ

Directed by

Ishirō Honda

Genre

fantasy film, adventure film, science fiction film, kaiju, thriller film

Country

Japan

Runtime

1h 41m

Rated

12

Rating

7.2 of 10 from 185 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

An expedition to an irradiated island finds a primitive culture with two tiny priestesses. A businessman kidnaps the priestesses to exploit them, which causes their giant deity Mothra to rise up and come after them.

classicfantasticaladventurousmysteriousspectacularretroemotionallighthearted

What happens

Mothra (Japanese: モスラ, Hepburn: Mosura) is a 1961 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the first film in the Mothra franchise. The film stars Frankie Sakai, Hiroshi Koizumi, Kyōko Kagawa, Jerry Ito, and The Peanuts. In the film, an expedition to an irradiated island brings civilization in contact with a primitive native culture. When one sensationalist entrepreneur abducts two doll-sized priestesses for exploitation, their ancient deity, known as Mothra, arises in retaliation. In 1960, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka hired Shin'ichirō Nakamura to write an original story for a new kaiju film. Co-written with Takehiko Fukunaga, and Yoshie Hotta, The Luminous Fairies and Mothra was serialized in a magazine in January 1961. Screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa later adapted the story into a screenplay, patterning his version after King Kong (1933) and Godzilla (1954). Mothra was theatrically released in Japan on July 30, 1961. An edited, English dubbed version was released theatrically in the United States on May 10, 1962, by Columbia Pictures. The titular monster, Mothra, would become Toho's second most popular kaiju character after Godzilla, appearing in eleven Godzilla films and her own trilogy in the 1990s. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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