NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Masters of Cinema Blu-ray (November 2020): Masters of Cinema have transferred Ishirô Honda's Mothra to Blu-ray. It offers both the Japanese and, 10-minute shorter, US versions of the film. They share the same dual-layered Blu-ray and are totally separate (not seamlessly-branched). The longer Japanese version has been given the robust, max'ed out bitrate, transfer and the US version has less than 1/2 the bitrate. It shows in compression issues - and the smoothness in-motion, but colors are mostly there looking rich and deep. There is plenty of appealing grain texture in the Japanese version 1080P transfer. Aside from a few spots with light vertical scratches and speckles it looks impressive.

NOTE: We have added 62 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Masters of Cinema use linear PCM mono tracks (24-bit) on each version in their respective languages. It is another advancement in the film's effect-heavy audio and score by Yûji Koseki. It sounds authentically flat punctuating Mothra scenes with heavy music. He also wrote "Mothra's song", sung by 'The Peanuts' (twin sisters Emi and Yumi Itō) miniaturized-in-effect for the film. Masters of Cinema include optional English subtitles for the Japanese version and English (SDH) subtitles for the DUB'ed version - on their Region 'B'-locked Blu-ray.

The Masters of Cinema Blu-ray offer a different commentary for both Japanese and US versions. MoC recycle the commentary from Sony's 2009 DVD, REVIEWED HERE, for the English DUB'ed version with Japanese sci-fi historians Steve Ryfle (writer of Japan's Favorite Mon-star  - The Unauthorized Biography of Godzilla) and Ed Godziszewski (Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo!: The Incredible World of Japanese Fantasy Films). They work well together and seem prepared and professional with plenty of details about the film(s) and science-fiction in general. The commentary on the Japanese version is by film historian and writer David Kalat (author of A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series.) He is excellent adding personal stories of seeing the film and highlighting important details of the production. We all love Kim Newman and he discusses the history and legacy of Mothra for about 1/4 hour. There are two stills galleries featuring rare archival stills and ephemera, a trailer and teaser for Mothra. The package has a hardbound slipcase that includes a reversible poster featuring the film's original US and Japanese poster artwork and a perfect bound 60-page collector's booklet featuring essays by Christopher Stewardson and Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp (Midnight Eye); a new interview with Scott Chambliss (production designer on 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters); an extract from Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski's Ishir Honda biography; and archival reviews and stills.

Mothra has Ishirô Honda's kitschy 60's Japanese sci-fi appeal. I much prefer it to the later efforts of the kaiju genre that were being cranked-out endlessly.  'The Peanuts' (twin sisters Emi and Yumi Itō) inclusion adds more of the desirable 'camp' element. Having both version and the commentaries is a big bonus on the Masters of Cinema Blu-ray as is Kim Newman and the entire slip-cased package cover. Yes, there is value here and Mothra maintains the innocence, eventually lost in the ensuing cycle of Japanese monster films.

Gary Tooze