Godzilla vs. the Thing

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Cast & Crew

Akira Takarada

News Reporter Ichiro Sakai

Yuriko Hoshi

Professor Miura

Hiroshi Koisumi

Professor Miura

Yu Fujiki

Reporter Jiro Nakamura (with egg and frying pan)

Emi Ito

Shobijin (Twin Fairy)

Yumi Ito

Shobijin (Twin Fairy)

Yoshifumi Tajima

Kumayama

Kenji Sahara

Banzo Torahata

Jun Tazaki

Editor Arota

Ikio Sawamura

Priest

Ishirô Honda

Director

Shin'ichi Sekizawa

Writer

Sanezumi Fujimoto

Executive Producer

Tomoyuki Tanaka

Producer

Hajime Koizumi

Cinematographer

Ryôhei Fujii

Film Editing

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Critic Reviews for Godzilla vs. the Thing

Audience Reviews for Godzilla vs. the Thing

• Oct 07, 2014

  It's all of the excitement of a big lizard facing off against a big moth... and both combatants are giant monstrosities tearing up Japan. Wow, that actually does sound kind of cool, but after "King Kong vs. Godzilla", I think that we could have gone a while without seeing another crossover between "Godzilla" and another monster series, rather than the first of so very, very, very many. There ought to be a little more inspiration this time around, thanks to desperation, because even though the film "Mothra" was fairly successful, the people behind it just had to have known that the "Godzilla" franchise was going to be the best thing to happen to their franchise. If nothing else will make this film more inspired than "King Kong vs. Godzilla", it's the fact that this time around, there aren't any ignorant Americans to mess this project up, like you know they would have, seeing as how when they got ahold of this film, they came up with a title as "inspired and creative" as "Godzilla vs. the Thing". You know that they're not referring to Christian Nyby's "The Thin from Another World", because no one paid that much attention to that creature until John Carpenter's remake that came out about 22 years later, just as no one pays that much attention to Mothra outside of the "Godzilla" franchise. You know, maybe those involved in this crossover aren't too much more creative than the Americans, because, again, even though these rascals are big and destructive, at the end of the day, we are talking about a big lizard facing off against a big moth. Well, at least this film is decidedly better than "King Kong vs. Godzilla", in spite of its shortcomings, such as natural ones. I mean, I don't how much we're to expect out of a crossover between Mothra and Godzilla in the first place, but this film's story can't even be that meaty, being a lot of dramatically inconsequential chatter, punctuated by action sequences that come without any real sense of consequence over spectacle. That's the usual kaiju premise, and exactly ten years after this monster film genre was established, by way of "Gojira", it was already being worked to death, so, on top of being thin to begin with, this film's story concept is hardly anything new, crafting typical human characters, following a familiar beat and path, and ultimately hitting a number of other fluffy conventions, plenty of which are not the right ones, if you know what I'm getting at, people who saw "Mothra". The "Godzilla" series started out intelligent and reasonably grounded, with some real substance over spectacle, but "Mothra", a more stereotypical Japanese pop piece, carried many a silly aspect that returns here (Those stupid tiny twins), further taking you out of an already somewhat unengaging premise, backed by cheese on the writing that probably shouldn't be there. A lot of the dialogue is cornball, and the humor, while plenty charming and often quite amusing, breaks what tension there is in this rather dated, even if there is always a consistency in a lack of subtlety, which bloats a lot of the popcorn traits, and still not as much as it probably should to really liven things up, at least when it comes to pacing. Running not even 90 minutes, this film is almost as short as those stupid tiny twins, and it's not much of anything beyond dragging, taking what feels like a long, long time to unveil Mothra, and an even longer time to unveil Godzilla, let alone get into the action, and focusing a lot of talk that is colorful, but backed by a subdued air that is occasionally rather dulling. Too much talk has always been a problem with these kaiju classics, but this film, in particular, cannot afford to bore, especially not after "King Kong vs. Godzilla" fell flat as more of a snoozefest than the inconsequential fluff piece that it and this film aims to be. Fluffy, familiar, silly and draggy, this film stands a very real chance of falling to the level of "King Kong vs. Godzilla", but it ultimately gets by as entertaining and, well, focused, for what it is. Even with all of the over-reliance on chatter, this film doesn't have much pretense about what it is: a fluff piece, and while that establishes a whole lot of natural shortcomings that are made all the more distancing by silly story traits and some cheesy writing, but quite frankly, this premise is plenty of fun, and Shinichi Sekizawa's scripted interpretation does add to that through some charming comic relief, and perhaps even more charming characters. The human characters are genuinely memorable, and every one of them are played the way they ought to be, making them even more charming and endearing amidst all of their aimless chit-chat, and with the help of a competent director. Ishiro Honda, the director who started it all, finally returns to the "Godzilla" franchise, but brings with him sensibilities more in the vein of his directorial performance on "Mothra", complete with more limp pacing than ponderous thoughtfulness, and more emphasis on style over substance, although that is not a huge criticism, considering that Honda often manages to keep the pace tight enough for you feel some, maybe a little too much extensiveness, backed by an adequate deal of flare. Akira Ifukube adds to this flare with a formulaic, but lively and occasionally emotive score, whose underusage keeps it from being as recurrent of a compliment to aesthetic value as Hajime Koizumi's somewhat flat, but colorfully sound and, therefore, handsome cinematography. If nothing else can be admired about the visual style of this film, it's its scope, which immerses you into a number of distinguished, often lovely locations and settings, and creates a sense of scope that further adds to the fun factor of this popcorn piece, especially in the heat of action. We're ultimately here for Mothra and Godzilla, and they take a long time to show up, arriving as effects that have become terribly dated, like a couple of other effects in this film (Those stupid tiny twins didn't always blend in, and those tanks look like the toys they are), yet are still unique and flashy enough to sell, at least as components to spare, but grand and nifty action sequences that are worth waiting a long time for. As things progress, the film does grow livelier and livelier, after plenty of slow early phases, but, honestly, the final product is almost always some degree of entertaining and colorful, keeping up enough charm and entertainment value to satisfy as a fluff piece, even if only that. When the battle is done, this fluff piece finds its natural shortcomings as an inconsequential story that goes further plagued by familiarity and a silliness which is itself exacerbated by cheesy scripting moments that still don't manage to liven things enough to prevent a surprising amount of dragging and slow spells from threatening the final product's decency, ultimately secured by an at least entertaining premise's being done enough justice by colorfully charming humor, characters, performances and direction, and by charged score work, handsome cinematography and settings, and thrilling, if dated effects and action sequences to make Ishiro Honda's "Mothra vs. Godzilla" a fun, if inconsequential "first" crossover between two of Toho's biggest (Figuratively and literally) icons. 2.5/5 - Fair
  

  Super Reviewer
• Oct 17, 2013

  This one is considered one of the best Godzilla movies out there, but with that aside, I've been wanting to see this movie, and after finally getting around to watching it, it's actually pretty good. I mean, it's not extraordinary, but it's still worth watching. But now on with the plot: long story short, Mothra's egg washes on the beach and some corporate businessman wants to buy the egg just so he can put it up as an attraction in his amusement park. Two twin faeries show up and warn him to have the egg returned, but he ignores them and even tries to capture them. In the meantime, a news reporter, news photographer, and professor also find out about it and are determined to help the faeries and Mothra before anything bad happens to the egg. Later, Godzilla naturally comes along and interferes, leading to a serious grudge war between the two title monsters. My thoughts/defenses on this movie: okay, so the monster battles aren't great, but they're certainly not disappointing at all. In fact, the idea of Mothra against Godzilla apparently did sound like a step in the right direction for Toho, in my opinion. Yes, I know Godzilla is such a klutz in this movie, aside from the fact that his mouth is kinda wobbly in this one, but we certainly can't blame him 'cause the guy in the Godzilla costume can't see a thing. Okay, so the ending isn't very climactic, but it still leaves you with a good feeling. In conclusion, this is one Godzilla movie that I think that all Godzilla fans should give a try/give a chance 5 STars 10-13-13
  

  Super Reviewer
• Mar 13, 2013

  Godzilla VS Mothra is a step above its previous entry, which lacked a bit despite its interesting idea of having King Kong battle Godzilla. A lot of the film doesn't make sense, but what do you expect from a Japanese monster film? However, the plot is much more interesting this time around, and it improves on points where the last one needed some touch ups. The performances are pretty good; however it's the monsters that steal the show as usual. This is a very entertaining film from start to finish, and a definite must see for genre fans. I thoroughly enjoyed the film and it is a standout film despite its imperfections. The special effects are quite good, and the battle between Mothra and Godzilla is quite exciting as well. Monster films are sheer mindless fun, and this entry certainly provides that in spades. This is an improvement over the last entry, and it should certainly appeal to genre fans looking for a good time. But like every other film that has come before aside from the original, the acting is good, but never great either. In the end who cares? The monsters are the stars of the film and they certainly deliver the thrills that you expect. Although far from perfect, this is an amusing ride, one worth taking. If you love these types of films, don't pass up on this one, you won't regret the sheer mindless nature of it all. Be prepared to be entertained by two awesome monsters battling it out and have fun. Don't expect a masterpiece with this one, but you'll most likely come out of this one as thinking that this is a fine little monster picture that deserves to be among the most memorable of the genre.
  

  Super Reviewer
• Nov 08, 2012

  this is the well written and really fun installment of the original series. for one thing, it looks surprisingly great for a godzilla film. i love the colors that is shown throughout the film. one thing is that godzilla is just awesome in this one! i mean he always is, but this is the one that established that he is indestructable. i also thought that mothra was a worthy opponent, and as the hero. this is a great entry in the original godzilla series. its fun, surprisingly have a message of mercy, how about that, and is just a great godzilla film what else to say but its great one, check it out. A+
  

  Super Reviewer