Godzilla finally gets quality US DVD releases from Cinema Classics

[The Lizard]

It looks like Sony has finally decided to do something useful with their ownership of the Godzilla property, and they are continuing to release the Godzilla franchise films on DVD under their "Classic Media" label.

The original 1954 Gojira was of course released last week as a double-DVD set paired with the 1956 Americanized version Godzilla, King of the Monsters. Now, Sony has announced they will continue this series with the upcoming releases of 1955's Godzilla Raids Again and 1964's Mothra vs Godzilla. http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2006/08/22/updated-covers-for-classic-media-releases/

I was hoping that 1962's King Kong vs Godzilla, which was another Godzilla flick that got butchered when it was brought to the US, would get the same treatment. However, Universal owns the rights to that movie so it would be up to them. Regardless, it would be nice if Sony releases uncut subtitled versions of all the Godzilla movies they own the rights to in the US.

 

[The Lizard]

No love for the big "G" on SHH these days?

Perhaps I'm the last kaiju fan still here....

 

[cabel]

no you're not

 

[War Party]

I just bought Gojira. It's awesome.

 

[bored]

I want that DVD so bad.

 

[The Shredder]

I just bought Gojira. It's awesome.

Same here. And I couldnt agree more.

Some very interesting tidbits during the commentaries to both films actually. Glad to see the subsequent Godzilla pictures getting the same treatment. Thanks for the heads up, The Lizard!

 

[cabel]

Is there a release date?

can't wait to see the other films

 

[Dr. Fate]

I want the original Japanese version of "Godzilla 1985" on DVD, otherwise known as "Godzilla 1984" or "Gojira 1984".

 

[Joker]

I got it on DVD. Was gonna get Seven Samurai, but my best buy didn't get it in for some reason, so I decided to pick this up in it's abscence. Great movie.

 

[War Party]

I got it on DVD. Was gonna get Seven Samurai, but my best buy didn't get it in for some reason, so I decided to pick this up in it's abscence. Great movie.

Seven Samurai Criterion Collection is awesome. Buy it when you get the chance. It's worth the money.

 

[Joker]

yeah, soon as I get my first check from my new job I plan on getting it from amazon.com

 

[The Lizard]

Good, the Godzilla fans have turned out after all.

The Godzilla movies that were the most heavily-edited when they were released in the US were:

-Gojira '54

-Godzilla Raids Again '55 (AKA "Gigantis the Fire Monster")

-King Kong vs Godzilla '62

-Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster '64 (although this editing was mostly just a bunch of scenes being rearranged, not cut out of the movie)

-Godzilla 1985

Those are the Godzilla flicks that most need to be commercially released in uncut subtitled form.

Some of the 1970s Godzilla movies were edited to remove violence and profanity, but during the late 1980s and early '90s, New World Video released most of these movies uncut. To my knowledge there still hasn't been a US release of Terror of MechaGodzilla (1975) that shows the uncut scene where the cyborg girl Katsura is topless on the operating table, but since her chest was a prosthetic mold anyway, that's really not a big deal.

I've had VHS bootleg copies of all the subtitled uncut Godzilla movies for a while, but these actual DVD releases make me very happy. The commentaries by long-time Godzilla fanzine authors Ed Godziszewski and Steve Ryfle are also great. Any serious Godzilla fans should hunt down Steve's out-of-print book "Japan's Favorite Mon-star" for one of the best anecdotal histories of the Godzilla movies.

 

[Knightsaber Priss]

Whoa, are you telling me we will be getting not just Gigantis the Fire Monster but the honest to goodness Godzilla Raids again? Would it shock anyone here to know I own the origfinal Japanese version, unsubtitled though?

 

[Matt]

awesome news.

 

[Joker]

Whoa, are you telling me we will be getting not just Gigantis the Fire Monster but the honest to goodness Godzilla Raids again? Would it shock anyone here to know I own the origfinal Japanese version, unsubtitled though?

if it's like the Gojira DVD, it'll have the original uncut japanese version on disc 1, and the americanized version on disc 2

 

[The Lizard]

^ Yep, that's right. Disc one will be the uncut Japanese with subtitles Godzilla Raids Again and disc two will be the horribly over-narrated Gigantis the Fire Monster, where Godzilla was called "Gigantis" in the hopes of fooling the US audience into thinking they were seeing an all-new monster.

I kind of wish that someone could digitally slow down the monster scenes in either version of Godzilla raids Again however, because the film was mistakenly under-cranked during shooting for the monster fight scenes and as a result the monsters move in a speeded-up jerky way that was not intended.


The cool thing about Mothra vs Godzilla is that the US version actually has a special effects sequence with Godzilla that was made just for American audiences by Toho itself. The scenes where a US navy fleet launches Frontier missiles at Godzilla was not shown in Japan.

 

[The Shredder]

Thats great news. "Godzilla Raids Again" was a favourite of mine growing up, and I'm very happy to see that I will finally be able to see the Japanense version. Any word on Ed Godziszewski and Steve Ryfle doing commentaries for these films as well? I very much enjoyed the commentaries they provided for "Gojira", as I found them to be very much informative about Godzilla in general, but especially "Gojira" .

 

[cookiva]

Seven Samurai Criterion Collection is awesome. Buy it when you get the chance. It's worth the money.

Oh god yes it is....

 

[Dr. Fate]

Long live Godzilla!

 

[The Lizard]

Thats great news. "Godzilla Raids Again" was a favourite of mine growing up, and I'm very happy to see that I will finally be able to see the Japanense version. Any word on Ed Godziszewski and Steve Ryfle doing commentaries for these films as well? I very much enjoyed the commentaries they provided for "Gojira", as I found them to be very much informative about Godzilla in general, but especially "Gojira" .

I believe one or both of them will be providing commentary on each continuing Godzilla release from Sony's Classic Media series.

 

[The Shredder]

Oh, ok. Well having both doing commentary is great, but as long as one of them is doing commentary, thats cool.

 

[Stevens25]

I want the original Japanese version of "Godzilla 1985" on DVD, otherwise known as "Godzilla 1984" or "Gojira 1984".

I picked that up at a horror show last month. I love that movie! I would love to see the American version on dvd as well.t: