Shipwreck survivors are found on Beiru, an island previously used for atomic tests. Amazingly free of radiation effects, they believe they were protected by a special juice given to them by the natives.

Nothing much to say about this one. I only knew Mothra as an adversary to Godzilla and was interested in seeing the film where he debuts and predates his epic fight with the lizard of destruction. It is a good story and gets to the heart of the Mothra myth with the singing fairies that summon him.

While maybe not as iconic as Godzilla, Mothra is a kaiju worthy of his own film series (which he has),and those interested in Toho's work really ought to check it out.

Having an honored place in Japanese monster film lore is Mothra a giant caterpillar/butterfly who's a Deity on the island of Beiru. A shipwreck strands several survivors on an island where atomic testing has taken place, but the natives are free of any radiation. Some native brew that the castaways are given keeps the atomic effects away from them too.

Holding a special place in the affections of these natives are a pair of twin girls, barely a foot tall. An unscrupulous survivor kidnaps them, figuring they'll turn a good buck for him to exhibit as freaks.

But not when you've got a giant caterpillar/butterfly on your case. He's the one these girls are continually chanting for and by telepathy Mothra's beating a path to them and it takes him to Japan where Tokyo once again undergoes monster urban renewal.

I like Mothra because the monster really is the hero of the piece. And while the special effects of Mothra destroying Tokyo with the flapping of his giant wings, those paper mache, baling wire models that are a trademark of these film, still it's good fun. And of course Mothra came back several times, often in conjunction with other Japanese monster creations.

Almost fifty years later Mothra's still a lot of fun.

Of all the Japanese kaiju, or giant monster movies that I've seen, MOTHRA has to have one of the most ridiculous menaces: a giant caterpillar that ends up cocooned before turning into a giant furry moth. Is it scary? Nope. Are the special effects decent? Not really, which is why the titular menace remains hidden for much of the film, with the giant moth itself only appearing for a final reel rampage. Kaiju films are by their very nature pretty unbelievable productions, but I couldn't stop chuckling when I saw the beast in this one.

The film itself is squarely aimed at kids. In case you weren't convinced, the presence of two annoyingly cute little twin fairy women hit that point home. Yes, they're twee, and their singing scenes are surreal in the extreme, but I don't think this film would be the same without them. Elsewhere, it's business as usual for a monster flick, with the human side divided into two forces: the good guys – here, virtually all of them are reporters, which makes for a nice change – and the bad guys, who, as usual, plan to exploit the situation for themselves.

The acting is what you'd expect for the film. The characters are larger than life and the actors all seem to be having a ball. I enjoyed Takashi Shimura's turn as 'news editor'; this is a guy used to playing roles in Kurosawa films, so it's kind of funny to see him here. The special effects are, shall we say, primitive, but the film remains colourful and engaging throughout, so it's hard to dislike them. The climatic scenes of Matchbox cars being tossed through the air and cardboard buildings falling over are quite a lot of fun.

The storyline is a virtual retread of KING KONG, with the fairies replacing Fay Wray and Mothra replacing Kong. I'm down with that, but it does mean you always know what's going to happen next. I also found the first half pretty talky, with lots of long, drawn out dialogue, some repetition, and a whole lot of sequences where the story doesn't really progress. Still, there's some fun action along the way, including an improbable fight scene and the always entertaining monster rampage scenes. All in all a pretty good film, if not a fabulous one.