After watching Mothra slay in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, I was eager to revisit the Queen of the Monsters’ earlier work. Mill Creek Entertainment has serendipitously released her original film (known in its native Japan as Mosura) on Blu-ray in Steelbook packaging. Godzilla’s Ishirô Honda - who helmed numerous other Japanese monster movies, including King Kong vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster, Rodan, and Destroy All Monsters - directs with numerous other Godzilla alumni on both sides of the camera.
Following their success with Godzilla in 1954, Japanese studio Toho was quick to dominate the kaiju (giant monster) market like Godzilla on Tokyo. Not only did they immediately begin churning out Godzilla sequels, but they also introduced several creatures in standalone films before crossing them over with King of the Monsters. The first came in 1956 in the form of Rodan, then 1958’s Varan the Unbelievable, and finally Mothra in 1961. The latter went on to become widely popular, second on to Godzilla in its number of film appearances.