Mothra

Mothra (1961)
; Japanese poster
Directed by	Ishirō Honda
Produced by	Tomoyuki Tanaka
Music by	Yuji Koseki
Running time	106 minutes (Japan)
Budget	¥200 million Yen

Mothra (also known as Mothra: Attacks Tokyo) is a 1961 Toho kaiju film,Directed by Ishirō Honda.

Plot[]

	SPOILER WARNING: This section may contain major plot and/or ending details. Proceed at your own discretion.

in 1962,The Japanese freighter Daigen Genyomaru sank due to a typhoon. A crew member ashore at Infant Island, a hydrogen bomb test site in Lorishka, was rescued, but mysteriously no radiation damage was found. For the scoop interview, of Nitto newspaper reporter who infiltrated the hospital crew is housed Zen'ichiro Fukuda is a photographer Hanamura Michi together, Harada Dr. while be noted, that should be atomic and hydrogen bombs testing ground Infant Island to Know that there are natives.

later the giant monster mothra attacks tokyo trying to save her fariy's.

Cast[]

Frankie Sakai as Zenichiro "Snapping Turtle" Fukuda, journalist
Hiroshi Koizumi as Dr. Shinichi Chujo, linguist
Kyoko Kagawa as Michi Hanamura, photographer
Ken Uehara as Dr. Harada, radiation specialist
Yumi Ito, Emi Ito as Shobijin
Jerry Ito as Clark Nelson, Rolisican businessman
Takashi Shimura as News editor
Akihiro Tayama as Shinji Chujo, Chujo's little brother
Obel Wyatt as Dr. Roff
Akihiko Hirata as Ship doctor
Kawazu as General Seizaburo
Yoshibumi Tajima as Military advisor
Robert Dunham as Rolisican cop
Harold Conway as Rolisican ambassador
Kenji Sahara as Helicoptor pilot
Akira Yamada, Takeo Nagashima, Arai Hayamizu as Infant Islanders
Tetsu Nakamura, Akira Wakamatsu, Hiroshi Akitsu, Hiroshi Iwamoto, Toshio Miura, Osman Yusuf as Nelson's henchmen
Yoshio Kosugi as Ship captain
Ren Yamamoto, Haruya Kato, Ko Mishima, Rinsaku Ogata as Ship survivors
Kazuo Imai as Announcer
Wataru Omae, Kazuo Higata as Officials
Shoichi Hirose, Toshihiko Furuta as Dam workers
Koji Uno as Reporter
Tadashi Okabe, Akio Kusama, Mitsuo Tsuda as Surveyors
Mitsuo Matsumoto, Hiroyuki Satake as Police officers
Hiroshi Sekita as Sekida, Orion Maru steering assistant

Staff[]

Directed by Ishiro Honda
Written by Takehiro Fukunaga, Yoshie Hotta, Shinichiro Nakamura, Shinichi Sekizawa
Produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka
Music by Yuji Koseki
Cinematography by Hajime Koizumi
Edited by Kazuji Taira
Production design by Teruaki Abe, Takeo Kita, Akira Watanabe
Special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya

Titles[]

The Giant bug Monster, Mothra (大怪獣物 Daikaijūmono, first outline title)
Mothra, The Giant Monster Attacks Tokyo (Original Japanese Alternate titleGiant Monster Mothra (大怪獣モスラ Daikaijū Mosura, production title)
Mothra Threat to the World (Germany release title)
Mothra the Indestructible (Mothra la indestructible; Mexico)
Mothra, the Wild Goddess (Mothra, a Deusa Selvagem; Brazil)
Mothra's Counterattack (Japanese title)
The Tokyo Devil Mothra (Untold japanese title)
MOTHRA (all Japanese and american posters title)

Production[]

In addition, there are many ways to add depth to the screen, especially when a larva Mothra appears near Yokota base and pushes the Ome highway as it is to destroy the gas station, a road extending straight from the front of the screen to the back It was designed to emphasize perspective, by making the taper toward the back and making the telephone poles along the road gradually lower from the front to the back.

In addition, at that time , ahead of the Tokyo Olympics , extension and mutual entry work of subways and redevelopment work in front of major stations were underway around Tokyo, and some work was also underway in front of Shibuya station where larva Mothra attacks. , In the miniature in the play, this construction area has also been reproduced, and there are black and yellow two-color off-limits fences and warning signs near the tank corps. The shooting scene of the Self-Defense Force was also polite, expressing the difference in the explosive form on hit by changing the mix of gunpowder depending on the type of firearm that fired, such as tank gun, missile, recoilless gun.

This work is also made to the premiere publication date of July 30, there was a thing unwilling to synthetic cut feats supervision of Eiji Tsuburaya has carried out the editing of special effects scene, from time to time delivered to theaters manufacturing In order, it was said that there was a film replacement from the 4th, Akiko Nakano went to Shibuya Toho (where Mothra is rampaging) at that time, cut the film before the second screening and did this. there .

Change last scene[]

Originally, it was designed to include American scenes in a contract with a Columbia movie , but Toho side unilaterally decided to bring the last "with a small beauty" due to budget and number of days. Nelson, who had fled to Minami Kyushu and Takachiho peak, was chased by Mothra, where Nelson died and became a big circle . Director Honda also doubted this change, but under the direction of Toho, who could not wait for a reply from the Columbia movie, he went to Kagoshima for two weeks and completed the shooting . However, of course, the Colombian movie protested against this as a breach of contract, and was returned to the current version in which the adult mosquito emerged in the draft manuscript attacked the country of Lorishka, and was filmed again . Honda testified that the photographic film in Kyushu was not developed but Sakurajima is reflected in the departure scene of the Japan-Russia joint research team in the first half.

For the scenery cut of New Kirk City, using the library film of Toho in the United States and California, shooting of the main part and special effects scene was urgently taken. Despite the sudden change, the special effects staff responded to this with a spectacular special effects cut, such as producing large-scale urban miniatures in New Kirk city, breaking the show window with the wind pressure of Mothra and plunging the vehicle into the store ing. Director Honda says the budget was low and omissions resulted in this scene .

Due to such circumstances, Yasuhisa Tsutsumi, whose appearance part was cut off, remains credited as the role of “ Kuchi ” in the poster at the time of release .

Honda's airport, which guides Mothra at the end, was taken at US Tachikawa base , Honda said.

Initially, the name of the city will be, but it was New wagon City is changed, it was at the time director assistant Hiroshi Haryu is Newark that was proposed and I think we can say, is the name of the city that actually exist in the United States Jerry It was corrected by New Kirk based on the indication from Ito .

When shooting in Kyushu, the staff left the life-sized doll used for shooting in the scene where the bad guy fell at the crater of Takachiho peak , and the mountain climber discovered at a later date misunderstood as a suicide and reported to the police There is a riot that rescue teams are being driven out .

Honda described the end of the last scene change in an essay that he later contributed to the science fiction movie club's magazine "MONSTERS" .

U.S. release[]

Columbia Pictures distributed Mothra in the United States in a double bill with The Three Stooges in Orbit. Columbia removed about ten minutes of footage from the Japanese version of the film, the longest omission being the removal of the second Shobijin song, "Daughters of Infant Island." The English dialogue was dubbed by Titra Sound Studios in New York under the direction of Lee Kresel. Infant Island is referred to as "Beiru Island" in the English script, and Fukuda's "Snapping Turtle" nickname was localized as "Bulldog."

Columbia initially released Mothra on home videocassette in 1984, with a hi-fi audio reissue following in 1986. The company renewed its rights to the film in 1987 and retains its North American distribution rights to this day. In 1988, home video rights were sublicensed to GoodTimes Entertainment, who issued the film on cheaper LP mode tape with the Columbia logo removed. In 1992, Columbia restored Mothra for cable broadcasts and later released this restoration, which differed in several regards from the original theatrical and television cut, through Columbia/TriStar Home Video in 1995. It later released the film on DVD through its parent company Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2009 in a set with its two other Toho tokusatsu films, The H-Man and Battle in Outer Space. The U.S. version was again restored to a presentation almost identical to the original theatrical cut. This set also included the Japanese cut of the film, marking the first time it was available officially in North America. Mill Creek Entertainment sublicensed the film in 2019 and released it on a special SteelBook Blu-ray. This release also included both the Japanese and American cuts of the film.