All Things Godzilla (1 Viewer)

[JeffT.]

Why doesn't someone release on DVD the longer more complete Japanese version of KING KONG VS. GODZILLA (1963) newly restored and digitally remastered which I have been told has a completely different ending (and music scoring which was issued on a soundtrack CD release)?

The original ending has King Kong seen swimming homeward to his tropical island paradise and in the distance Godzilla can clearly be heard but not seen angrily roaring away giving the conclusion a completely different connotation in that Godzilla is still very much alive after his spectacular plunge into the Japanese coastal waters with his adversary King Kong.

Jeff T.

 

[Jim_K]

Well the US version is solidly in the hands of Universal, that's for sure.

Universal should've secured the original and released both cuts on the same release I'd love to own an official DVD of the original version of KK vs. G but I'm thinking it's hopeless now.

I'm also still waiting for a proper DVD of Destroy All Monsters. With the great duel cut (which is the way to go) Toho releases from Classic Media, Media Blasters and Sony over the past few years I'm surprised the crowning jewel monster mash epic hasn't gotten the treatment it deserves in the US.

 

[RickER]

Id love a good copy of Destroy All Monsters. Didnt ADV put that out? A friend of mine owns it, and after i saw his disc, i never bought it. The damn thing didnt even have chapter stops!
With ADV gone, and the original disc pushing 10 years old, id say its time for someone like Blue Underground ( if they still exist) to get this movie!

 

[Nebiroth]

Originally Posted by RickER

Id love a good copy of Destroy All Monsters. Didnt ADV put that out? A friend of mine owns it, and after i saw his disc, i never bought it. The damn thing didnt even have chapter stops!
With ADV gone, and the original disc pushing 10 years old, id say its time for someone like Blue Underground ( if they still exist) to get this movie!

The Region-4 edition of Destroy All Monsters from Madman is superb. It is in anamorphic OAR and (optionally) you can hear the original Japanese track.

ADV's release was awful. The image quality was subpar, to say the least, and they'd cropped it to some weird aspect ratio that was neither 4:3 or original OAR, but something in between. Also, I believe that it featured ADV's own English dub - in any case, not the original one by AIP.

It is out of print anyway, but scarcely a major loss; certainly, not worth the big money being asked for it on the secondary market.


Their "Special Edition" was identical, the only difference being a CD of the music.

Madman are also the only available source - other than Japan, of course - for decent copies of vs Mothra, vs King Ghidora and vs Megalon.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

ADV's DVD of DAM (sorry, couldn't resist) features the original Toho international English dub, which is indeed vastly inferior to the AIP, but, to be fair, I believe the Madman DVD features this same international dub.

 

[DeWilson]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey Nelson

ADV's DVD of DAM (sorry, couldn't resist) features the original Toho international English dub, which is indeed vastly inferior to the AIP, but, to be fair, I believe the Madman DVD features this same international dub.

The Toho international dub is a litteral translation of the script/dialog,while the AIP Dub of DAMwhich is a more generalized dub has a more natural "American-speaking" feel to it.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

Originally Posted by DeWilson




The Toho international dub is a litteral translation of the script/dialog,while the AIP Dub of DAMwhich is a more generalized dub has a more natural "American-speaking" feel to it.

The AIP dub also has far superior voice acting, done by Peter Fernandez' Titra Studios, if I'm not mistaken.

My favorite line:

"I wouldn't say nobody has anything to fear from us, but we are going to control you now."

 

[DeWilson]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey Nelson




The AIP dub also has far superior voice acting, done by Peter Fernandez' Titra Studios, if I'm not mistaken.

My favorite line:

"I wouldn't say nobody has anything to fear from us, but we are going to control you now."

Yes, and Hal Linden does the voice of the lead

 

[Tony J Case]

Did the Classic Media Godzilla flicks go out of print? I was at Scarecrow Video today and saw their copy of G vs Mothra on the shelf with a big "Out of Print" sticker on the front. I didnt think it had come out THAT long ago so that the rights would expire.

I'm golden because I already have all of them, but was wondering out of curiosity more than anything.

 

[Nebiroth]

A while back Classic had some supply problems, a lot of retailers were runnign out of the single titles and the boxset leading some of them to mark them as "out of print" or "unavailable". Classic issued a statement to the effect that they weren't out of print, they'd found a new supplier and the titles should become readily available once more.

Of course, this was some while back, so this time they might well be genuinely OOP.

 

[Jay E]

Originally Posted by Nebiroth

A while back Classic had some supply problems, a lot of retailers were runnign out of the single titles and the boxset leading some of them to mark them as "out of print" or "unavailable". Classic issued a statement to the effect that they weren't out of print, they'd found a new supplier and the titles should become readily available once more.

Of course, this was some while back, so this time they might well be genuinely OOP.

They must be really back in supply, as a local chain here in New York are selling a bunch of these titles for 2 for $10.

 

[Tony J Case]

So had anyone gotten their hands on the Criterion blue ray release of King of the Monsters? This one: Not this one: Is it worth getting the new edition? Are there new extras? I'm thrilled with the old version, so it'd have to be extra special to catch my eye.

 

[Matt Hough]

You can find my review of the Criterion Blu-ray here. I didn't have the other releases in order to do an A-B comparison, but there is some discussion in the review thread from those who have those other discs that you may find helpful.