‘Rebirth of Mothra III’: What were they thinking?

Rebirth of Mothra III (1998)

Directed by Okahino Yoneda

It’s the same old story: messy script, bad acting, and horrendous visual effects. That’s “Rebirth of Mothra III” in a nutshell. That’s the whole trilogy in a nutshell. I actually finished it…but at what cost?

When King Ghidorah returns to Earth and begins kidnapping children (placing them, unharmed, in an impenetrable bubble), Mothra must go back in time to try to kill him before he becomes the all-powerful monster we’ve come to know. Even with the help of evil sister Belvera (Aki Hano), who’s had a change of heart, this is one enemy that will be tough to defeat.

The “Rebirth of Mothra” trilogy isn’t even “cult classic” material. There are no catchphrases, no reasons to make a meme of it, nothing funny to parrot to your friends. What was Toho thinking? Well, they may have been thinking they needed some more kid-friendly content. The Godzilla movies of the 1990s had been more mature than the ones that released in the ’70s and ’80s. Whatever it was, it didn’t work. Toho’s attempts at catering to children almost always left me rolling my eyes.

For whatever reason, though, “Rebirth of Mothra III” seemed to go faster than the prior two movies. But I still clicked the remote every thirty minutes to see how much time was left. It was grueling, if I’m being honest. I’m shocked there was enough demand for this trilogy to get a nice Blu-ray release. There are plenty of better movies that would love to be in a set like this. Well, at least I’m done. No more spinoff Toho movies for me.

2/10