The fourth installment in the Godzilla movie series would feature the first clash between two
of the studios most famous properties, Godzilla and Mothra. Once again the creative team
of Shinichi Sekizawa (screenplay), Ishirô Honda (director), and Eiji Tsuburaya (special
effects) would combine their efforts to create one of the better films in the series.

The films producers hoped to capitalize on the success of both ‘King Kong vs Godzilla’ and
‘Mothra’ and the storyline followed in line with events from both films. Mothra vs Godzilla
proved to be very popular movie, both in its native Japan, and in the United States where it
was released under the title ‘Godzilla vs The Thing’. At the time of the films release, in
September of 1964, American International Pictures had decided tha a giant moth just
wasn’t scary enough, so they changed the title and removed all images of Mothra from their
promotional material. The distributer even went as far as to leak information the ‘The Thing’
was a giant tenticaled creature. This of course is not too surprising when you take into
account all the publicity stunts that studios had gained a reputation for in the past.

Considered the best in the series by many fans, Godzilla vs. the Thing is nearly perfect on all
fronts: direction, special effects, and score. This would be Godzilla’s last role of a serious
villain until he was resurrected in the 1980s.