Mothra vs Godzilla

 Mothra vs Godzilla is considered by many ,including myself, to be one of the best of the series. The film matches Godzilla up against Mothra who had its own movie in 1961. While the films feature the same monster, they don't seem to follow the same continuity. This film marked the last time Godzilla was presented as a villain until the reboot in 1984.

 The plot is Mothra's egg washes up on the shore of a village.

A evil businessman buys the egg from the villagers so he can exploit it. Mothra wants the egg back, and of course he wont give it up. Godzilla show up in a grand entrance,
and wrecks havoc the whole movie. The military tries everything including electricity again. Mothra fights Godzilla,

but dies.

Her egg hatches,Which turns out to be twins, and her offspring takes down Godzilla by encasing him silk as he falls into the sea.

 What makes this film great is it has a faster pace then most of the series. Godzilla shows up sooner in the film and he just goes on a rampage throughout. The military throws everything at him including some creative tactics, but he just keeps going. This perfectly displays his invulnerable attribute. At the end of the film, Godzilla heads to an island where there are schoolchildren ,therefore, there are actually stakes in the scene which has been missing since the original. This film also feature memorable characters that you care about. The leads are News reporter Ichiro  and photographer Junko. There is some romantic tension between them, but nothing comes out of it. They both have very distinct  personalities. 

The villains are two businessmen who are fun to hate. They both get what's coming to them.  The film does have an important message in it. The island that Mothra comes from has been almost entirely destroyed due to nuclear testing, and the natives are very bitter. Ichiro, Junko, and a scientist go to the island to ask the natives to send Mothra to fight Godzilla. They first refuse, but junko convinces them by telling them not all people are responsible for what has become of their island, that the innocent are being killed. Ichiro continues on by stating humans must help one another. Therefor the film does contain a message of unity. The compositing effect are a lot better than that last entry especially when people and Godzilla are blended in the same shot. This film is definitely one that hold the attention throughout.

 The American version was titled Godzilla vs The Thing and some releases just switched the title to Godzilla vs Mothra.

Very little was actually changed for this version. Except for the dubbing, the only real difference is the scene when the American Navy fires special missiles at Godzilla. This was actually filmed by TOHO, but was cut due to it possibly being uncomfortable for the Japanese to see Americans firing upon Japanese soil less than 20 years after WW2. Overall, it is very faithful to the original version.

 Mothra vs Godzilla is definitely a high point for the series and is highly recommended to newcomers and fans alike.