It’s been bad special effects night here as we viewed, with considerable nausea, Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992, aka Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth); in fact, I remarked during the credits that special effects had exactly one name, while Doctor Strange had something like 500 names in the special effects credits.
Just to confuse an already odd plot, a new kaiju, named Battra, makes an appearance, first in one form, apparently larval, and then, in the blink of an eye, into a flying kaiju; similarly, though with far more drama, Mothra transforms from larva to a spectacularly colored moth.
The first battle chases larval Mothra from his or her egg and out of the field of honor, as Godzilla and Battra (larval) have a go at it, and end up sinking together into a trench which begins leaking magma. Mothra then makes for Nagoya, where her singing caretakers are being held, and rescues them while flattening large portions of the city. This is followed by curling up on top of “the Capitol” (a Randian reference?) and transforming into the moth.
Meanwhile, Mt. Fuji begins to blow, and out of it hops Godzilla, who apparently swam through the magma, under the ocean floor, and to the sacred mountain; and then Battra comes swimming in and transforms into a sort of a flying … or perhaps it’s just a monstrous fly. First, it’s an everyone for themselves cage match, all the monsters exhibiting distance weapons guaranteed to turn the US Air Force green with envy. Battra starts by shooting up Mothra something fierce, but then Battra and Mothra join forces against Godzilla, eventually carrying him out to sea. Battra is expended in the effort (he or she is apparently filled to the brim with dijon mustard) and joins Godzilla in a watery grave.
MEANWHILE, the singing twins of Mothra reveal there’s a monster meteor headed for Earth. Battra was going to save the Earth, but now Mothra will do so. Why are we being told this? Oh, that’s right, a meteor started this entire mess by hitting the Earth and awakening Godzilla.
There’s nothing particularly good here. Best to watch this one if you have a severe headache and a requirement to see every single Godzilla movie ever made.
