Rebirth of Mothra III

Rebirth of Mothra 3 (モスラ 3 キングギドラ来襲, Mosura Surī Kingu Gidora Raishū, released in Japan as Mothra 3: Invasion of King Ghidorah) is a 1998 Japanese kaiju film directed by Okihiro Yoneda, written by Masumi Suetani, and produced by Shōgo Tomiyama. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the final film in the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy, following the previous year's Rebirth of Mothra II.

Rebirth of Mothra III
Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Kanji	モスラ 3 キングギドラ来襲
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn Mosura Surī Kingu Gidora Raishū
Directed by	Okihiro Yoneda
Written by	Masumi Suetani
Produced by	Shōgo Tomiyama
Starring	Megumi Kobayashi Misato Tate Aki Hano Koichi Ueda Atsushi Onita
Cinematography	Yoshinori Sekiguchi
Edited by	Nobuo Ogawa
Music by	Toshiyuki Watanabe
Production company	Toho Pictures
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	December 12, 1998 (1998-12-12)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Box office	¥850 million (USD$$6,493,258)

Rebirth of Mothra III stars Megumi Kobayashi, Misato Tate, Aki Hano, Atsushi Ohnita, and Miyuki Matsuda, and features the giant monster characters Rainbow Mothra and King Ghidorah. The film was released theatrically in Japan on December 12, 1998, and was released in the United States as a Sci-Fi Channel TV premiere on May 31, 2003. However, despite its predecessors being released on DVD in 2000, the film did not receive a North American home media release until 2014, when all three films were released on a Blu-ray bundle by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Plot

The Elias sisters, Moll and Lora, attempt to stop their vengeful sister, Belvera from seeking the secret power of the Elias Triangle, three power units that can transform the sisters' daggers into powerful swords. Belvera succeeds, but is thwarted by her sisters' pet, Fairy, and fails to retrieve the proper unit for her dagger while Moll and Lora end up with one for the former.

The next day, preteen Shota ditches school to investigate a meteor that recently landed in Aoki Forest, while children from across the city mysteriously vanish. Upon examining the meteor's remains, Moll and Lora deduce King Ghidorah, a three-headed space dragon who had invaded Earth and killed the dinosaurs, has returned to capture the children and placed them in an organic dome to feed upon. The pair summon their ally, Rainbow Mothra, to fight Ghidorah, but after a brief battle, the dragon overpowers Mothra and hypnotizes Lora, forcing her to attack Moll before attempting to drag them both into the dome. Lora falls inside but Moll is rescued by Fairy. Intrigued by Ghidorah's arrival, Belvera investigates, but gets dragged into the dome as well.

While regrouping with Mothra, Moll befriends Shota, who learned his siblings Shuehei and Tamako were among those captured. Moll tells Shota about Ghidorah's plan to feed on the children's life force. After the two encounter Mothra, Moll and Mothra devise a plan where Mothra travels back in time to confront a younger Ghidorah, with Moll using all of her powers to send Mothra there. Afterward, Moll gives Shota her dagger and asks him to enter the dome to find Lora and convince her to help Mothra battle Ghidorah. After Shota reluctantly agrees, Moll collapses and falls into a state of suspended animation. In the dome, Belvera encounters Lora and informs her of Ghidorah's plans to destroy Earth. Still under the monster's spell, Lora takes Belvera's unit, transforms her dagger, and engages her sister in combat.

Belvera begs Lora to see reason and work with her, but to no avail. Shota, letting himself get sent inside the dome, soon finds Lora and urges her to help Mothra; however, she attacks him. Belvera stops Lora and Shota helps her break free of Ghidorah's spell. As Lora passes out, her dagger combines with Moll's. Realizing the Elias Triangle represents her and her sisters, Belvera uses her dagger and unit to merge with the other swords, transforming into one super sword and uses it in attempts to break the dome.

At Shota's urging, Lora sends her powers to Mothra, allowing her to immobilize Ghidorah, defeating him by dropping him in a volcano, but unaware a severed piece of the dragon's tail burrowed underground. Grievously injured during the fight and burnt from the volcano, Mothra crashes to the ground. However, three ancient Mothra larvae appear and encase Mothra in a silk cocoon, allowing her to rest and recover from her injuries.

In the present, Ghidorah and the dome disappear, freeing the captives. Shota reunites with his siblings and join Belvera and Lora as they stand vigil over Moll. Suddenly, Ghidorah, having regenerated from the severed tail, reemerges and recaptures the children. Belvera and Lora join forces to fight Ghidorah and Mothra emerges from her cocoon as Armor Mothra. Using her new powers, she combats and disintegrates Ghidorah into ashes, saving everyone from his wrath. Afterward, she evolves into Eternal Mothra and tells Belvera and Lora to channel their powers through their sword to revive Moll. After they do so, the sword disappears, and Moll revives. After a brief touching reunion of all three Elias sisters, Belvera flies off. As the children are released once more and reunite with their parents, Shota and his family watch as Moll, Lora, Fairy, and Mothra fly off into the sunset.

Cast

• Megumi Kobayashi as Moll.
• Misato Tate as Lora.
• Aki Hano as Belvera.
• Atsushi Ohnita as Father
• Miyuki Matsuda as Mother
• Kôichi Ueda as Kôchô

King Ghidorah was played and worn by Tsutomu Kitagawa, who also portrayed Cretaceous King Ghidorah in the film and would go on to play Godzilla in five of the six Millennium films.

Release

Home media

The film was released on Blu-ray by Sony, as part of the Toho Godzilla Collection, with all 3 Rebirth of Mothra films in September 2014.

External links

• Rebirth of Mothra III at IMDb
• "モスラ3 キングギドラ来襲 (Mosura Surī Kingugidorah Raishū)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-07-19.