is a 1996 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Okihiro Yoneda, with special effects by Kōichi Kawakita. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, the film serves as a

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

for the fictional giant monster character

Mothra is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that first appeared in the 1961 film '' Mothra'', produced and distributed by Toho Studios. Mothra has appeared in several Toho ''tokusatsu'' films, most often as a recurring character in the ''Godzilla'' ...

, and is the first installment in the ''Rebirth of Mothra'' trilogy. It was the final kaiju film produced under the supervision of

Tomoyuki Tanaka was a Japanese film producer. He is best known for co-creating the ''Godzilla'' franchise and its associated spin-offs. Early life Tanaka was born on April 26, 1910, in Kashiwara, Osaka. As a child, he would often walk miles to the nearest th ...

, who produced such films as the original ''

'', which was released in 1961, as well as every film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise up to this point. He died of a stroke several months after the film's release. ''Rebirth of Mothra'' stars

Sayaka Yamaguchi is a Japanese actress. Appearances Films * '' Rebirth of Mothra'' (1996), Lora * ''Tokimeki Memorial'' (1997), Mishio Yokoyama * '' Rebirth of Mothra II'' (1997), Lora * '' Rebirth of Mothra III'' (1998), narration only * '' Tomie: Replay'' (20 ...

Megumi Kobayashi is a female Japanese model, actress, and singer from Kanagawa, Japan and is employed by A-team Production. In 2006, Megumi Kobayashi made her debut as a Jazz singer with new name "meg". Filmography * '' Rebirth of Mothra'' * '' Rebirth of M ...

, Aki Hano, and Kazuki Futami. It was released theatrically in Japan on December 14, 1996, and was followed by ''

Rebirth of Mothra II is a 1997 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Kunio Miyoshi, written by Masumi Suetani, and produced by Hiroaki Kitayama and Shōgo Tomiyama. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, the film features the fictional monster character Mothra, an ...

'' the following year, which was then followed by ''

Rebirth of Mothra III is a 1998 Japanese Kaiju, ''kaiju'' film directed by Okihiro Yoneda, written by Masumi Suetani, and produced by Shōgo Tomiyama. Produced and distributed by Toho, Toho Studios, it is the final film in the ''Rebirth of Mothra'' trilogy, following ...

'' in 1998.

Plot

Millions of years before time, a giant three-headed space dragon called Desghidorah arrives on Earth and battles a species of enormous and highly advanced

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

s who serve as protectors of the "

Elias Elias is the Greek equivalent of Elijah ( he, אֵלִיָּהוּ‎ ''ʾĒlīyyāhū''; Syriac: ܐܠܝܐ ''Eliyā''; Arabic: الیاس Ilyās/Elyās), a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several holy ...

", a race of tiny, humanoid beings. After the battle, Desghidorah is defeated and sealed under the Earth while three Elias, the benevolent Moll and Lora and the vengeful Belvera, and one moth,

, remain. To preserve her species, Mothra lays an egg in 1996, which leaves her physically exhausted. Shortly after, a logging company uncovers Desghidorah's subterranean prison and inadvertently break the seal containing him. One of the workers, Yuichi Goto, takes the seal home and gives it to his young daughter Wakaba as a souvenir. Taking advantage, Belvera controls her and makes her torture her brother Taiki. Moll, Lora, and a smaller Mothra named Fairy battle Belvera for control of the artifact, though Belvera prevails and releases Desghidorah to help her destroy humanity before they can destroy her race. As the dragon drains the environment's lifeforce, Mothra is summoned to fight it despite her condition. Amidst the battle, Mothra's larva, Mothra Leo, senses his mother's deteriorating strength and hatches prematurely to help her. Though his energized silk seems to turn the tide of battle, Desghidorah bites Leo and drains his energy. Desperate, Mothra airlifts her son to safety and lures her ancient adversary to a dam to keep it at bay. After lowering her son into the sea, Mothra collapses from her age, wounds, and weariness and sinks to her death. The distraught Leo attempts to save his mother, but to no avail. Angered, the young moth creates a cocoon and begins to

metamorphose Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some insec ...

while Desghidorah goes on a rampage. Having befriended Taiki and Wakaba, Moll and Lora encourage them not to lose hope. Soon, Leo emerges as a swarm of multi-colored butterflies before coalescing into his adult form and taking to the air to confront Desghidorah. Arriving in a hail of energy beams and fueled by righteous fury, Leo relentlessly blasts the three-headed monster, who is unable to defend itself. Drawing upon an ancient legacy, Leo eventually renews the seal that originally bound Desghidorah, defeating him. After restoring a blasted region the dragon destroyed during its assault, Leo travels to his ancestral home as Moll and Lora thank the children for helping them and return home to Infant Island with Fairy while Belvera escapes.

Cast

as *

as * Aki Hano as * Kazuki Futami as * Maya Fujisawa as * Kenjiro Nashimoto as * Hitomi Takahashi as *

Mizuho Yoshida (born September 12, 1965 in Kanagawa Prefecture) is a Japanese actor. He is best known for playing Godzilla in the 2001 Millennium film '' GMK''. He also provided motion capture for several video games. Films * 1991 - ''Zeiram'' as Zeiram * 1994 ...

as A photograph of

Ishirō Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 44 feature films in a career spanning 59 years. The most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki, his films have had a significant influence on the film industry. Honda enter ...

appears in the Goto home.

Release

''Rebirth of Mothra'' was released in Japan on December 14, 1996 where it was distributed by

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...

. It was followed up with a sequel the following year with ''

''.

Box office

By January 1997, ''Rebirth of Mothra'' earned a distribution income (rentals) of in Japan. By the end of 1997, the film grossed a total box office revenue of in Japan.

Home media

''Rebirth of Mothra'' was released directly to video in the United States. It was released with an English dub by

Columbia TriStar Home Video Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...

on August 3, 1999. It was released on DVD on February 1, 2000 as a double feature with ''

''. Both films were only available with an English-dub. A triple feature of all three ''Rebirth of Mothra'' films was released on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on September 9, 2014 with both the Japanese and English voice tracks. In November 2017, Toho released the ''Rebirth of Mothra'' trilogy on Blu-ray in Japan.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

*
Rebirth of Mothra
at the

Japanese Movie Database The , more commonly known as simply JMDb, is an online database of information about Japanese movies, actors, and production crew personnel. It is similar to the Internet Movie Database but lists only those films initially released in Japan. Y. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rebirth Of Mothra 1996 films 1990s monster movies 1996 fantasy films Environmental films Films about dragons Films directed by Okihiro Yoneda Films set in 1997 Films set in Hokkaido Films set in Kagoshima Prefecture Films set on fictional islands Giant monster films 1990s Japanese-language films Japanese children's films Kaiju films Mothra Films scored by Toshiyuki Watanabe Films about mother–son relationships 1990s Japanese films