Gojira/Godzilla King of the Monsters
Title: Gojira/Godzilla the original Japanese Masterpiece Rated: N/R Screen format: 4:3 Standard Definition Studio: Toho/Sony Classic Media Year first released: 1954/1956 DVD released: 9/5/06 Director: Ishiro Honda Starring: Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi, Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura, Fuyuki Murakami and Raymond Burr Sound Formats: Dolby Digital Mono (Japanese/English) Length: 98 minutes Subtitles: English |
Plot: 4.5/5
Before he became an international icon, 1954’s Gojira introduced the 150+ foot tall monster as a thinly disguised metaphor for and veiled warning against nuclear proliferation. In 1956, Gojira hopped to American shores and was reintroduced as Godzilla, effectively splicing new footage of Raymond Burr into an almost unrecognizable chop of the original, twisting the story, removing the nuclear focus, and ‘Americanizing’ it in such a way to catapult Godzilla into popular culture superstardom. This two disk box set contains both films, which allows the viewer to see these extremes of editing and box office focus.
In Gojira, the titular monster appears off of Odo island, terrorizing local vessels. A team of scientists investigate, finding evidence such as a trilobite which leads them to conclude that the beast has left its hidden undersea home due to nuclear testing and a search for food. Taking cues from King Kong, Beauty and the Beast, and The Beast from 20,000 fathoms, Gojira wraps a complex love triangle into the various plans to stop Gojira, ending with the use of an ultimate weapon of destruction, one whose use could not only stop Gojira but be adapted for use by governments against less exotic enemies. Godzilla takes the basis of this story and thrusts Burr into the middle of it as an American reporter in Japan, changing the overall tone and lessening the politics of the situation in the process.
Sound Quality: 2/5
While mostly clean, the occasional crackling of these mono films reflects that no restoration appears to have been done. This is an authentic reproduction of the existing elements but it is disappointing that no digital restoration has been done, as was recently seen on the King Kong project. While it is hard to evaluate the Japanese language track of Gojira, the english Godzilla is clean and understandable. As it is mono, bass is minimal and there soundtrack is suitably unremarkable audio wise outside of the noted pops.
Visual Quality: 2/5
The visual elements feature a constant barrage of dust and tears. Other than that, it is a pretty sharp looking with decent detail, and balance. Grain appears consistent with the age of the film; however digital Edge Enhancement has been introduced and is notable in many scenes. Again it is disappointing that no restoration was done, given the immaculate cleanup recently seen on the Kong disks.
Extra Features: 2.5/5
The mere presence of both films in one edition is a nice treat, however there are also several other bonuses that add to the value of this package. The first featurette details the evolution of the original rubber suit, the exhaustion it caused the actors who wore it, and the considerations the film makers had to deal with when choosing a suit over other technologies such as stop-motion. A second featurette describes the changes the script took while under development and the differences between the Japanese and American cuts of the film. A short booklet is included that also fills in some of these details, and trailers are provided for both movies as well. There are also feature length commentary tracks which I did not listen to due to time constraints.
Overall: 3/5 (not an average)
As someone who was a huge fan of the whole series of Godzilla films as a child, viewing the original Gojira is a huge eye opener. Being able to compare and contrast the two films also gives huge amounts of insight into the two different markets and the film audiences for each. This package is somewhat frustrating in that such care obviously went into packaging all the content together to provide a compelling set, yet the audio and visual elements cry out for full restoration (or at least token clean up!) and do not get it.
