Honda Ishirō's monster movie favourite Mothra on Blu-ray in November
1 September 2020
Eureka Entertainment are to release Mothra, Honda Ishirō’s stunningly inventive monster adventure-fantasy, on home video for the first time in the UK. Available on Blu-ray in November as part of The Masters of Cinema Series in a Limited Edition set of only 3000 copies, featuring a Hardbound Case, 60-page Perfect Bound Collector’s Book & Reversible Poster.
One of the most iconic Japanese kaiju, Mothra has appeared in over a dozen feature films. Presented here is her debut, a gloriously vibrant piece of filmmaking that forever changed how kaiju eiga would be produced in Japan.
Following reports of human life on Infant Island, the supposedly deserted site of atomic bomb tests, an international expedition to the heavily-radiated island discovers a native tribe and tiny twin female fairies called “Shobijin” who guard a sacred egg. The overzealous expedition leader kidnaps the Shobijin to exhibit in a Tokyo stage show but soon they summon their protector, hatching the egg and releasing a giant caterpillar. When Mothra arrives in Japan and transforms into her final form, the nation and its people face their destruction.
Psychedelically colourful, with an intelligent, benevolent protector as its lead kaiju, Mothra was radically different to every other monster movie that had come before it, and it remains a classic of the genre to this day. The Masters of Cinema Series presents Honda Ishirō’s Mothraon Blu-ray for the first time on home video in the UK.
Mothra will be released on UK Blu-ray on 16 November 2020 by Eureka Entertainment as part of the Masters of Cinema series at the RRP of £29.99.
LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:
Hardbound Slipcase
Reversible poster featuring the film’s original US and Japanese poster artwork
Includes both Japanese and English versions of each film (101 mins & 90 mins respectively)
Original mono audio presentations (LPCM)
English subtitles (Japanese version) and English SDH (English version)
Brand new audio commentary with film historian and writer David Kalat
Audio commentary with authors and Japanese sci-fi historians Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski
Kim Newman on ‘Mothra’ – an interview with film critic and author Kim Newman on the history and legacy of Mothra
Mothra: 1974 Champion Festival Version [61 mins] – a special version of the film edited by Ishirō Honda for the 1974 Toho Champion Festival (INCLUSION TBC)
Stills Galleries featuring rare archival stills and ephemera
PLUS: 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 Ishirō Honda biography; and archival reviews and stills