1954 "Godzilla" DVD Over-saturation?

Above, the Japanese original Godzilla DVD is being reissued by Classic Media. Photo by Toho Co., Ltd.

With the new Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures Godzilla coming out next month, companies with Godzilla licenses are jumping to take advantage of the high public awareness of the new movie and the Godzilla character.

Classic Media is planning to release a reissue of their DVD on May 13. It will be sold as Godzilla, King of the Monsters in new packaging and will have both the Japanese and American versions and the extras that were issued previously.

I have to wonder how this DVD reissue will do in sales. It seems to me the market is already over-saturated.

Classic Media originally put out the original Japanese version along with the Americanized Raymond Burr version (Godzilla, King of the Monsters!) back in 2006. The set with these versions was called Gojira. The set, to my understanding, did quite well in sales at the time.

Later, after sub-licensing the video rights to Criterion, the two movies (with different extras) were given the "Criterion treatment" of digital restoration that totally "blew away" the versions offered by Criterion in 2006 and were offered in Blu-ray and DVD sets in 2012. The restoration work was outstanding. These sets are still available. Classic Media released a Blu-ray of their 2006 set a year earlier. Many fans passed on that and went instead for the Criterion Collection Blu-ray.

While I understand the reasoning behind Classic Media's taking advantage of the new movie to get "their piece of the action," I would think that hardcore fans already have either the previous Classic Media or Criterion Collection sets (or both, as I do) and just pass on this. Naturally, they are probably hoping that non-hardcore fans will grab this in their excitement over the new movie. We'll see.

To be quite honest, if it were me and had I not already purchased the earlier Classic Media and Criterion Collection sets, I would pass on this reissue and grab instead the 2012 Criterion Collection set while it is still out in stores. The difference between the Classic Media and Criterion Collection versions are like night and day!

Criterion's "Godzilla" Blu-ray: The Movie

Criterion's newly-released Blu-ray edition of Godzilla (1954) and Godzilla King of the Monsters! (1956) is definitely a must-have item. No other previously-released DVD or Blu-ray of these movies can even compare to this one.

I can categorically say that these movies never looked so good!

If you are expecting no scratches or other flaws in either movie, you will likely be disappointed. There are some scratches evident in both films. However, the images of both movies on this disc have never been as sharp or vibrant, or as clean (Criterion cleaned up both versions). My roomie (no kaiju fan by any stretch of the imagination) was very impressed. She was most impressed by the water images.

If I were to gripe about the Japanese version, it would be over the white subtitles. Criterion should have used yellow or some other colored font for easier reading. But that's just a pet peeve of mine.

The "long-lost" TransWorld Releasing Corp. logo card has been restored to Godzilla, King of the Monsters! at the start of the movie, following the Toho logo card (inserted in at Toho Co. Ltd.'s insistance). Also, the ending credits and Jewell Enterprises card have also been restored to the movie.

Both movies had their monaural soundtracks digitally restored. They've never sounded better!

My grade: A+.

Criterion's "Godzilla" Reviewed

In a few weeks from now (January 24, to be exact), Criterion's Blu-ray edtion of Godzilla (1954) will be available.

Blu-ray.com has posted a review of the Criterion edition. In their review, they wrote:

Criterion's presentation of this classic Japanese film is leaps and bounds ahead of Classic Media's presentation (see review here). Not only are detail and clarity dramatically improved, but there are entire sequences where it literally feels as if a filter of some sort has been removed - the effect is most obvious during the nighttime sequences, even though Criterion's high-definition transfer is notably darker than the one used by Screen Media (compare screenshots #5 and 7 with screenshots #1 and 3 from our review of Classic Media's Blu-ray release).

Since I recently joined the ranks of Blu-ray player owners, I'll be picking up this item.

To read the full review, go here.

L.A. Times "Gojira" Article

The Los Angeles Times has posted an article (I'd hardly call it a review) on the release of Gojira (the Classic Media one) on Blu-ray.

Essentially, the article is a bunch of blah, blah, blah on the movie. Then they finally get to the disc itself in the last paragraph with:

Because those featurettes have been available previously, the biggest advantage in the Blu-ray edition may be the hi-res sound. From Gojira’s signature metallic roar to the ultra-low-register notes of the contrabass clarinet used in the musical theme that anticipates each of his destructive appearances, the audio track is all the more visceral through a good home sound system.

Even 55 years down the road, there’s still nothing quite like the roar of Gojira.

If you have nothing better to do and want to read the full article, go here.

ADV Sale and "Destroy All Monsters"

Above, the poster for A.I.P.'s "Destroy All Monsters."

Since the report of ADV Film's sale, some have speculated that Sony, Media Blasters or Classic Media can acquire the video rights to Destroy All Monsters (1969).

According to the press release announcing the sale:

Through an asset purchase agreement, AEsir Holdings, LLC ("Aesir") acquired a subordinated interest in selected programming from ADV's film library together with other intellectual property subject to all liens and security interests of the Company's senior secured lender. The transaction requires Aesir to assume specific obligations and scheduled liabilities of the Company under legacy license agreements associated with the acquired programming.

Concurrently, the Company concluded an asset purchase agreement with SXION 23, LLC, doing business as "Section23 Films," a home video distribution company, under which it assumes account servicing and distribution operations in connection with the library acquired by Aesir, subject to all liens and security interest of the Company's senior secured lender.

Assuming that Destroy All Monsters is included in the asset purchase, the company buying the assets would then have the rights to the movie. According to kaiju expert August Ragone, the contract between ADV Films and Toho Co., Ltd. for Destroy All Monsters is still valid for several more years.

Presently, the only way another company can release Destroy All Monsters would be for them to buy the rights from the new owner of the former ADV Films' assets. Or, the present license expires and the rights revert back to Toho and they put it on the market. Seems pretty straightforward. But that only applies to the version ADV Films released.

Some are hoping that Destroy All Monsters with the original A.I.P. (American International Pictures) dub can be released on DVD. It currently circulates here & there on the bootleg market. The version ADV Films released was Toho's "international" version, with a much-inferior dub. It appears that this may never happen unless the current owner of the A.I.P. dub (whoever that may be) grants (i.e., sells) a license to do so.

But what if Toho Co., Ltd. doesn't want the A.I.P. version released and insists that only the "international" version can be released? Then we'd be stuck with no realistic recourse.

So if you are anxiously awaiting for a company to release Destroy All Monsters in the original A.I.P. dub, it is doubtful it will ever happen. But it would be a nice surprise to see it happen.