Reviews of "Gojira" (1 Viewer)

[Mark Zimmer]

It is kind of disappointing; Sony's releases of other classic era Godzilla films have looked very nice. Maybe they decided since it was black and white no one cared what it looked like?

 

[Joseph Goodman]

For starters, this disc is produced by Classic Media, not Sony; Classic Media's discs are merely distributed by Sony Wonder. All mastering, authoring, content, etc., are done by Classic Media.

Regarding the video, this is likely about as good as it's going to look (progressive issues aside) without a full digital clean-up of a Lowry or Criterion's recent "Seven Samurai" nature. I doubt Classic Media felt that a Godzilla DVD priced at Criterion prices would sell that much.

Pointing out the cleaner quality of other discs of Godzilla films made twelve to twenty years after this one doesn't really apply... practices change, facilities get upgraded, etc.

 

[Tony J Case]

Sounds like that's the best print in existance. There was a lot of scratches and dust on the prints back in the 50's - they even mention on the commentary that how the act of vacuming around the studio would stir up more dust that it elimated. So this proabbly looked pretty rough even a couple of years after release. The only way to take care of it now would be LOTS of restoration work.

 

[Eric Huffstutler]

I don't agree. I know of smaller release labels that use a $400 software package called Sony Vegas that will clean up specks and such. They could have cleaned up this print a whole lot more than they did without out a restoration, which looks like they did nothing at all.

 

[JayHM]

Dust and scratches aside, a proper non-interlaced release should be expected of any decent DVD in this day and age. I hope the other Godzilla releases from CM will be progressive.

 

[Jim Peavy]

Hear, hear! Although I watch stuff on my main set upconverted to 1080i, I occasionally watch it on my 'puter monitor. That, and I may not have my CRT forever (though I do hope to have it a while longer...!).

Speaking of the Big G, is anybody looking forward to Godzilla Raids Again as much as I am? I've only ever seen the American version, and that only once on an old VHS. I remember it being fun.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Is this stil a better choice than the Australian R4 release from a year or so ago?

 

[Jim Peavy]

I'd say definitely, yes. Comparing a couple shots at dvdbeaver shows the R4 release as pretty soft:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDRev...dvd_review.htm

I've got both, though, and the number of bytes used for each feature is pretty close: the R1 is 4,326 MB and the R4 is 4,159 MB (for Gojira and it's subtitles, only). So that may not account for the softness on the R4 disc. I could post some screenshots of each if anyone's interested.

 

[Sam Posten]

I got a copy for review and have watched both disks and will be posting my thoughts soon. VERY interesting film, very scratchy quality but neat package.

Full review soon.

Sam

 

[Jim Peavy]

I look forward to your review.

 

[Tony J Case]

So, aside from the wide spread release of "G Raids Again" and "G V Mothra" this april (listed on Godzilladvd.com), I've heard nothing about the other movies despite keeping my ear to the ground. Anyone heard anything about the forthcoming Ghidrah, Monster Zero G's Revenge or Terror of Mechagodzilla DVDs?