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All Things Godzilla - Page 8

post #211 of 251
9/1/08 at 8:39pm

Re: All Things Godzilla

Sci-Fi Japan has a look at the Rodan/War Of The Gargantuas 2 disc set due next week.

SciFi Japan » Sneak Peek: Classic Media’s RODAN and WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS DVD Set
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post #212 of 251
9/2/08 at 7:54am

Re: All Things Godzilla

Those screen shots look great. Wonder why the US version of Rodan says that it's Copyright 1934?
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post #213 of 251
9/2/08 at 8:51am

Re: All Things Godzilla

I can hardly wait until this release next week. I have wanted to enjoy Rodan for years and have stayed away from any of the other DVD releases. Thank you Classic Media.
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post #214 of 251
9/9/08 at 5:17pm
Thread Starter 

Re: All Things Godzilla

Just watched the Japanese version of "Rodan" and it is a very dark print. During the night scenes, it's very hard to make out any detail. My television is a Mitsubishi Diamond CRT RPTV 65711 that has been professionally calibrated by two of the best in the business, so I know it's not my set, but the print.

I compared scenes from the U.S. version and the Japanese is very dark. The U.S. is bright but not as clear looking. This U.S. print is much better than you've seen on LD and the last DVD, which was released by Simitar?

It was really great hearing all the sound and sound effects in the Japanese version, unlike the U.S. that took it all away and then added everything back in.

I will wait until next week to sit down and watch the U.S. version of Rodan.

All in all, a pleasant experience.
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post #215 of 251
9/9/08 at 6:21pm

Re: All Things Godzilla

Quote:
This U.S. print is much better than you've seen on LD and the last DVD, which was released by Simitar?

I read reviews that said it was from the exact same master as the old Vestron VHS & LD, Video Treasures VHS, Paramount LD, and first DVD release (also from Classic Media). In fact, I read that it was even worse than the earlier DVD because the authoring isn't as good, with worse macroblocking. I've got the old Vestron LD and the first DVD. I'm hangin' on to 'em! But I will pick this up because of the widescreen WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS and the reportedly excellent documentary.
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post #216 of 251
9/9/08 at 7:19pm

Re: All Things Godzilla

Are these fullscreen only??
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post #217 of 251
9/9/08 at 7:42pm

Re: All Things Godzilla

Rodan was filmed 1.37:1 and is flat. The War of the Gargantuas is in widescreen letterbox.
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post #218 of 251
9/10/08 at 1:37pm

Re: All Things Godzilla

Quote:
Originally Posted by ahollis
The War of the Gargantuas is in widescreen letterbox.

Not anamorphically enhanced? That would be a great letdown and unusual for Classic Media.

The vertical squeezing of the subtitles in some of the screenshots indicate that it might be coded 16:9 after all...
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post #219 of 251
9/10/08 at 4:09pm

Re: All Things Godzilla

The War of the Gargantuas is anamorphically enhanced. Rodan is not and would not be since it is presented in the proper aspect ratio. For some reason I had always thought that Rodan was scope film, after viewing it last night i felt cheated that I thought it was Pan-Scan. So I did some researching and in at least three web sites and two Japanese Monster movie books, I found the same information it was shot in 1.37:1.
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post #220 of 251
9/10/08 at 4:37pm

Re: All Things Godzilla

Popped this in for a few minutes last night, long enough to see that the Japanese cut of Gargantuas looks terrible. It looks to me like they took the R2 transfer, made it a little darker (many/most R2 discs have lighter black levels than we're use to here in R1) and then compressed the hell out of it (shimmering everywhere). Also, it actually looks a little squeezed - the R2 is full Tohoscope, but I bet this CM release is a little less, so they just made the R2 transfer fit.

Not too good. The U.S. cut looked nice, however.

And both versions of Rodan (neither of which I watched last night) are on the same double sided disc along with the 70 + minute documentary "Bringing Godzilla Down to Size" (which is terrific), so not sure how they're going to look (though it can't be great). They do have two full-length Rodans on there, right?

I've stuck up for Classic Media in the past when folks have complained about their discs, but agree with the nay-sayers in this case: they dropped the ball. Would have been better to release the two films separately.

Glad I've got the R2 discs of Rodan and Gargantuas...!
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post #221 of 251
9/10/08 at 10:46pm

Re: All Things Godzilla

I picked this up, and can confirm that it does indeed contain the same ancient transfer of the English cut of RODAN, with extremely weak sound. Are there no good elements left on this?

Luckily, the Japanese version looks and sounds a zillion times better, at least. Very nice to have that. And the American WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS looks specTACular! A joy to behold. Haven't watched the Japanese version yet.

The documentary is fantastic, BUT, due to improper authoring/flagging/encoding/whatever, it's herky-jerky-strobey, especially during the film clips. Pay close attention and you'll see that none of the pictorial transitions are smooth like they should be. This doesn't affect the stationary talking heads much, but it's really distracting during all the rest. It makes the film clips in particular look really bad. I wonder what happened there...?
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post #222 of 251
9/11/08 at 1:13am

Re: All Things Godzilla

I ordered this dual title last week. What is the release date?

I wanted it for "War of the Gargantuas," which I have waited years
to see on DVD. Does that film look fine on this release?
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post #223 of 251
9/11/08 at 5:22am

Re: All Things Godzilla

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein
I wanted it for "War of the Gargantuas," which I have waited years to see on DVD. Does that film look fine on this release?

Depends on which version you watch. The dubbed version looks great. The Japanese version, for whatever reason, is much darker and slightly washed out.
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post #224 of 251
9/11/08 at 5:34am

Re: All Things Godzilla

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffrey Nelson
.... And the American WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS looks specTACular! A joy to behold. ...


I don't remember ever seeing this. A rare TV airing in the 70s and 80s? I thought I'd seen pretty much all the japanese big monster stuff.
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post #225 of 251
9/11/08 at 8:23am

Re: All Things Godzilla

Quote:
Originally Posted by Radioman970


I don't remember ever seeing this. A rare TV airing in the 70s and 80s? I thought I'd seen pretty much all the japanese big monster stuff.

In the Southern California area this film was overplayed if anything back in the 70's. A local chanel KTLA(5) used to have one movie they would show a week straight everynight from Monday-Friday at 8:00 p.m. I got my 1st exposure to Godzilla vs. Monster Zero this way and War of the Gargantuas showed up numerous times as well. I would frequently get to see these movies two or three times in the same week. I must have seen War on T.V. at least 12 times back in the 70's.
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post #226 of 251
9/11/08 at 9:45am

Re: All Things Godzilla

@Randy
I'm guessing I've seen it and forgot. I mean, I was a fan of Ultraman in the early 70s because we lived near Atlanta and WTBS Channel 17. Ted loved this stuff! Those big dudes do look kind of sort of familiar....
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post #227 of 251
9/11/08 at 11:26am

Re: All Things Godzilla

Anyone else found this hard to get. Went to CC didn't have it, went to BB and they had one left. Be surprised how many people were waiting for this I guest. I'll pop it in tonite.
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post #228 of 251
9/11/08 at 11:58am

Re: All Things Godzilla

I would stick with the dubbed version if the Japanese version
quality is worse. However, how much extra material is on the
Japanese version and is it anything substantial I would miss?
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post #229 of 251
9/11/08 at 12:13pm

Re: All Things Godzilla

The American version has some alternate footage, including more scenes with Tamblyn. I'm not sure exactly what, as I've never seen the Japanese version, and have yet to watch it on this release. Also, it's got Tamblyn doing his own dubbing...yes, he had to dub his English into English because apparently the on-set dialogue recording was lost or damaged before the postproduction phase began.
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post #230 of 251
9/11/08 at 1:20pm

Re: All Things Godzilla

Quote:
Originally Posted by ahollis
The War of the Gargantuas is anamorphically enhanced. Rodan is not and would not be since it is presented in the proper aspect ratio. For some reason I had always thought that Rodan was scope film, after viewing it last night i felt cheated that I thought it was Pan-Scan. So I did some researching and in at least three web sites and two Japanese Monster movie books, I found the same information it was shot in 1.37:1.
That's good to know. I noticed deepdiscount has it listed as full screen.
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post #231 of 251
9/11/08 at 4:17pm

Re: All Things Godzilla

The most grievous thing re: the American cut of Gargantuas is the terrific Ikira Ifukube score has largely been replaced with stock music that's played over and over. Other than that (and the dubbing, of course) not a big difference.
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post #232 of 251
9/11/08 at 7:46pm

Re: All Things Godzilla

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Peavy
The most grievous thing re: the American cut of Gargantuas is the terrific Ikira Ifukube score has largely been replaced with stock music that's played over and over. Other than that (and the dubbing, of course) not a big difference.

Actually the only piece from Ifukube's score that was replaced the excellent march (which was itself played over and over, to the point I was ready to start hurling furniture at the speakers by the end). Everything else is the same.
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post #233 of 251
9/15/08 at 11:28am

Re: All Things Godzilla

Enjoyed WOtG a great deal, (3x watched), and the picture is really a good picture. Now Rodan, that's a different story, but the fact it's on DVD it's a bonus. I haven't seen this movie in so long I completely forgot: Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
the opening with the giant octopus and the boat
Certainly will go as one of the frequently viewed DVDs with me.
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post #234 of 251
9/19/08 at 7:18pm
Thread Starter 

Re: All Things Godzilla

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffrey Nelson
I picked this up, and can confirm that it does indeed contain the same ancient transfer of the English cut of RODAN, with extremely weak sound. Are there no good elements left on this?

Luckily, the Japanese version looks and sounds a zillion times better, at least. Very nice to have that. And the American WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS looks specTACular! A joy to behold. Haven't watched the Japanese version yet.

The documentary is fantastic, BUT, due to improper authoring/flagging/encoding/whatever, it's herky-jerky-strobey, especially during the film clips. Pay close attention and you'll see that none of the pictorial transitions are smooth like they should be. This doesn't affect the stationary talking heads much, but it's really distracting during all the rest. It makes the film clips in particular look really bad. I wonder what happened there...?

Wait until you watch the Japanese version of WOTG. The whole movie is one big edge enhancement. The most glaring is the one running horizonally on top of the picture under the black bar!

Most all the reds have vertical lines in them. The pic is dark and, like what Jim Peavy said, it looks sqeezed in some spots.

Now, the US version looks super. Just watched a few minutes of it and it's night and day with the Japanese.

We sure got screwed on these DVDs and what's sad is, we'll probably never see them again in our lifetime!!!
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post #235 of 251
9/30/08 at 9:42pm

Re: All Things Godzilla

I picked up the Rodan/WOTG but haven't gotten around to watching it yet. I'm really looking forward to seeing the documentary. I've been ordering all of other Godzilla titles from the 50s through the 70s recently,that I don't already own, from Amazon. They have been on sale for $8.49 each. Not sure if I will buy the later movies. I do wish Megalon was available though.

My nephews, both under 10, are just starting to get into these movies. Every time they come over to visit, they ask to watch them. Their favourites are Godzilla's Revenge (only shown them the English version), Terror of Mechagodzilla, Godzilla Vs Gigan and Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla. I haven't shown them Godzilla: King of the Monsters, not sure if it is too scary for them.
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post #236 of 251
9/15/09 at 11:10am
Anyone know anything about the new King Kong vs Godzilla that just came out today: http://www.amazon.com/King-Kong-Godzilla-Ichiro-Arishima/dp/B000P24FAE/ref=sr_1_96?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1253031032&sr=1-96

Anything new about it, or is it just a single disc reissue of that Kong vs G/Kong Escapes two pack from a couple of years ago?

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post #237 of 251
9/15/09 at 12:20pm
Well, King Kong Escapes is released today as well, so I presume they are merely reissues of the original release.  Even the cover art looks the same.
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post #238 of 251
9/15/09 at 2:06pm
Considering the two pack has been floating around Big Lots for under ten bucks, (I just got around to watching the copy I bought there recently) this seems an odd time for a reissue.

Is it just coincidence the main villain in King Kong Escapes is named Doctor Who? 
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post #239 of 251
9/15/09 at 2:07pm
Yeah, those KKvG and KKE look exactly the same as what is already out.  I feel like I have this covered.  

I still need to get WotG though.... 
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post #240 of 251
9/18/09 at 1:44am
 The word out is that the new US GOJIRA BR is crap. They just took the desperately in need of restoration transfer as was used on the then pretty good DVD, so that scratches and speckles and tears take on a whole new dimension in viewing pleasure;

However, it appears that TOHO have done the right thing based on one google translated pre-review ive read and restored it-one of their crown jewels; It is out this week, no english subs and will set you back about $60;
We do need a confirmation, anyone?
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