All Things Godzilla (1 Viewer)

[JayHM]

Yeah, I would love a release of the American Godzilla 1985 as well. Although I usually prefer the Japanese originals, the Raymond Burr version is much more fun and entertaining than the somber original. It's also a wonderful cold war time capsule. (In the American version, the dialogue was changed to imply that the Soviets intentionally launch the missile toward Tokyo, whereas in the original, the Soviet character is trying to stop the launch.)

 

[Tony J Case]

Woot! Official word!

On June 5th, Classic Media and Genius Products will release two more classic Godzilla movies on DVD, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and Invasion of Astro-Monster (originally titled Godzilla vs. Monster Zero in the U.S.). Each title includes both the original Japanese and US versions of films. Available for the first time, both Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster and Invasion of Astro-Monster will have a suggested retail price of $19.93 each.

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster mixes giant-monster action, paranormal mystery and James Bond-style intrigue for one of the most exciting and beloved entries in Toho’s long-running Godzilla series. Classic Media presents the film in both the original Japanese-language version (1964) in glorious Toho Scope, and the re-edited U.S. version (1965).

A prophetess from Venus foretells cataclysmic disasters! Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan reappear in Japan, wreaking havoc! A giant meteor crashes into the mountains and the three-headed, fire-spitting space dragon King Ghidorah emerges! As the Venusian’s prophecies come true, assassins from a tiny Asian kingdom hunt her down, while the Earth monsters must decide whether to settle their petty differences and join forces against the extraterrestrial enemy!

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster Bonus Features:

Audio Commentary by David Kalat
Eiji Tsuburaya Biography featurette
Original Japanese Trailer
Poster Slide Show
Image Gallery

Invasion of Astro-Monster aka Godzilla vs. Monster Zero
Aliens from Planet X borrow our monsters for a little extermination project, but they’ve got something else up their sleeves: world domination! Using mind-control technology, these vinyl-and-sunglasses wearing spacemen turn Godzilla, Rodan and King Ghidorah loose in Japan, demanding Earth’s surrender! It’s up to American astronaut F. Glenn, his galaxy-trotting buddy Fuji, and nerdy inventor Tetsuo to break the aliens’ hold on the monsters and save our planet from certain doom.

Invasion of Astro-Monster represents the pinnacle of Toho’s monster cinema, with an all-star cast featuring Nick Adams (The Rebel), Akira Takarada (the original GODZILLA) and Kumi Mizuno as alien temptress Namikawa, plus a cavalcade of amazing retro-riffic special effects. The original, un-cut Japanese version was released in 1965. The English-dubbed, US version was released in 1970 as Godzilla vs. Monster Zero.

Invasion of Astro-Monster/Godzilla vs. Monster Zero Bonus Features:

Audio Commentary by Stuart Galbraith IV
Tomoyuki Tanaka Biography featurette
Original Japanese Trailer
Poster Slide Show
Image Gallery

 

[Jim_K]

Good to see an official announcement! Now I can get excited!

 

[Joe Fisher]

Here is the artwork as posted on Club Tokyo:



Cant wait for June 5th.

 

[Jeff Robertson]

OAR in anamorphic?

 

[Jeff Robertson]

Nevermind. I found the answer here:

http://www.tohokingdom.com/news/2007...h_astro_pr.htm

Now if we can only get a decent version of Destroy All Monsters, I'll be set. I do not recall if this was one of the titles Classic Media will be re-releasing also.

 

[AndrewR]

They don't have the rights to that one. I think ADV still has it.

 

[Jeff Robertson]

I was afraid of that. :frowning:

 

[Jim Peavy]

Yeah, forget the ADV disc of DAM. Get the R4, Madman disc. It's durn near as nice as the R2, Toho one. And it has Engrish subs...!

 

[Richard_Gregory]

Yeah, I'd agree with that; the ADV version is horrible. It's taken from a rubbish master, and is presented in almost-but-not-quite OAR. And the cheeky blighters used exactly the same disc for their "collector's edition", which just has a "bonus CD".

The r4 Madman disc is proper anamorphic OAR and is the only decent release, outside of Japan.

It's also well worth checking out the Madman releases of Godzilla vs King Ghidorah and Godzilla and Mothra:The Battle for Earth, since they are also proper OAR anamorphic wheras the r1's are pan-and-scan (and pretty lously prints, too).

Even more the case with Godzilla vs Megalon, since the r1 releases of that have been absolutely dire public domain style ones.

The Madman discs have the original Japanese track.

Just four more reasons to have a multi-region player

It's unfortunate that (apparently*) the Madman release of Godzilla 2000 is the trimmed US theatrical one, not the original, which you can only get in the Toho edition (no English), Hong Kong (but with forced Chinese subs) and Germany (with forced German subs).

You just can't win.

*According to DVDCompare. However, the Madman website indicates that G2000 is the full 107 minutes. DVDCompare also says that it only has the English track, making the entry suspect, since all Madman Godzillas have the Japanese track AFAIK.

 

[Jim_K]

There's still nothing about these on their GodzillaonDVD website. Weird.

I wonder if these will these be exclusive to the Classic Media site like Gvs.M and GRA or are these going to be available for all retailers?

Kaiju titles get announced, delayed and cancelled so much I don't know what to believe anymore.

 

[Richard_Gregory]

Bad isn't it?

However the first two are going on general release soon.

Classic Media, I have to say, seem to have issues with release dates. Remember that boxset due last September? And how the Frankenstein one was rumoured to be for early this year...not the middle of it...

 

[Jim Peavy]

Though from what I've heard of the original Japanese cut of G 2000, we ain't missing much (though I've not seen it). Most say the American cut improved the film.

 

[Jeff Robertson]

I'm curious as to what happens when one attempts to view a PAL DVD (assuming they've overcome the region lock) on a computer with an LCD display. Since the LCD doesn't employ a refresh like a CRT does, would it be able to adapt the signal into something viewable?

 

[Richard_Gregory]

Not a problem if you use the RGB output.

In any case, most equipment these days is multi-standard, that's because its cheaper to have one standard global unit than it is to manufacture local specific ones.

Though, it is more common in Europe than the States.

Also, all r2 players have to be multi-standard, since r2 includes Japan, and they are NTSC. The DVD standard mandates that a player must be able to play ANY regionally compatible disc and r2 includes PAL and NTSC.

The chances are that the player will do a conversion, or that the TV will accept a non-converted signal.

 

[Richard_Gregory]

That's what it does the other way; I happily play NTSC discs here

 

[Joe Fisher]

SciFiJapan has a 1st look at the Ghidorah The Three-Headed Monster & Invasion of Astro Monster(Godzilla vs Monster Zero) dvds.

http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2...ds-first-look/

 

[Jeff Robertson]

Looks good! Although, now I'm a bit saddened to learn that there is no 5.1 mix in addition to the original mono. The domestic Japanese releases have 5.1 mixes and they sound pretty good. Why does the American audience always have to compromise when it comes to Godzilla? According to the site, the Japanese versions will be transfers from superior source prints. Why couldn't they just use the same transfer for both versions? I know some of the dialog is modified for the US dub, but the actual scenes should be identical.

 

[Joe Fisher]

The Japanese version of Ghidorah runs about 8 minutes longer then the US edit so 2 different prints are needed. Astro Monster runs 2 minutes longer then the US version.

Here are the run times.

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster:
US version 84:46
Japanese version 92:58

Invasion of Astro-Monster:
US version 92:57
Japanese version 94:13

 

[Jeff Robertson]

Wow. I was not aware of the time differences. I'll have to do some more A/B comparisons. The missing parts must not be too significant. Scene extensions perhaps?

This also begs the question, why would you need to make cuts for a US release? I know, I know, these were originally released in the late 60's/early 70's in the US but surely there wouldn't be any reason today to not have the original cut.