Coupon for the Classic Media 2-Disc DVD Set
Source: Classic Media
Official site: Godzilla on DVD

Click on the above image for a printable version of the GOJIRA coupon. © 1954 Toho Co., Ltd./2006 Classic Media

DVD Packaging. © 1964 Toho Co., Ltd./2006 Classic Media

Photos from the Classic Media DVD
Source: Classic Media
Official site: Godzilla on DVD

Classic Media’s MOTHRA VS GODZILLA retails for $14.98 and is available exclusively from the GodzillaOnDVD.com online store. Take a sneak peak at the packaging and contents here on SciFi Japan.

DVD Packaging. © 1955 Toho Co., Ltd./2006 Classic Media

Photos from the Classic Media DVD
Source: Classic Media
Official site: Godzilla on DVD

Classic Media’s GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN retails for $14.98 and is available exclusively from the GodzillaOnDVD.com online store. Take a sneak peak at the packaging and contents here on SciFi Japan.

Author: Sean Kotz

Godzilla attacks the Diet Building, one of the major symbols of Japanese
community, in the original GOJIRA. ©1954 Toho Co., Ltd.

This year, for the first time, American audiences have a chance to see the original Japanese version of GOJIRA on a truly large scale thanks to Classic Media’s new double DVD set. Better yet, with GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS right beside the original, there is good reason to believe many non-Japanese, or gaijin, are making comparisons in their living rooms all across the USA. As has been said numerous times by many writers that while Terry Morse’s GODZILLA is an entertaining B-movie at most, Honda’s GOJIRA is a brilliant anti-war and nuclear protest film of substance. But, the power and resonance of the film for Japanese audiences extend beyond the nuclear metaphor and evocative images of Tokyo in flames. Honda’s original film also visually and thematically stresses a concept at the core of Japanese society called “wa”, or harmony of the group, that the outsider’s eye is unlikely to catch.
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Godzilla battles Angilas in GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN, one of two classic Godzilla films coming to DVD next month. © 1955 Toho Co., Ltd.

Source: Classic Media
Official site: Godzilla on DVD

Classic Media has delayed their upcoming release of GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN and MOTHRA VS GODZILLA, but fans can still get the DVDs with free shipping on November 7.

Confused? If so, please see Classic Media’s press release for further details.

© 2005 “Yokai Daisenso” Film Partners

A look at the incredible fantasy adventure YOKAI DAISENSO from Takashi Miike and Kadokawa Pictures
Author: Keith Aiken
Source: Media Blasters, Inc., Horizon Entertainment Ltd

Cover art for THE GREAT YOKAI WAR Double-Disc
Special Edition. Photo courtesy of Media Blasters.
© 2005 “Yokai Daisenso” Film Partners

The mythical adventure THE GREAT YOKAI WAR (Yokai Daisenso, 2005) was a box office hit in Japan, an official selection for international film festivals in Venice, Toronto, Athens, Chicago, Sitges, and Brussels, and recently completed a limited theatrical run in the United States to glowing reviews from Variety and The New York Times.

Now that THE GREAT YOKAI WAR is available on DVD from Media Blasters, SciFi Japan takes a detailed look at one of the best fantasy films in many years. For information about the cast and crew, profiles for 40 different characters from the movie, a review of the new DVD , and photos and art from Kadokawa Pictures, Media Blasters, and Horizon Entertainment, please go here.

Nobuo Nakagawa’s HELL on DVD from the Criterion Collection
Author: Keith Aiken
Source: Criterion Collection

The classic Shintoho horror film JIGOKU is now available on DVD in
America. © 1960 Kokusai Hoei

“Shocking, outrageous, and poetic, JIGOKU (HELL, a.k.a. THE SINNERS OF HELL) is the most innovative creation from Nobuo Nakagawa, the father of the Japanese horror film. After a young theology student flees a hit-and-run accident, he is plagued by both his own guilt-ridden conscience and a mysterious, diabolical doppelganger. But all possible escape routes lead straight to hell— literally. In the gloriously gory final third of the film, Nakagawa offers up his vision of the underworld in a tour de force of torture and degradation. A striking departure from traditional Japanese ghost stories, JIGOKU, with its truly eye-popping (and -gouging) imagery, created aftershocks that are still reverberating in contemporary world horror cinema.” – from Criterion publicity materials

The award-winning Criterion Collection continues their tradition of top-quality DVDs with JIGOKU, the 1960 Japanese horror classic. The film has never before been available on home video in North America.
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Media Blasters will be bringing FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD and LATITUDE ZERO to DVD early next year. © 1965/69 Toho Co., Ltd.

Media Blasters announces more Toho DVDs
Author: Keith Aiken
Source: Media Blasters, Inc.

Tuesday’s coverage of Media Blasters’ upcoming DVDs revealed that the company was planning to release more Toho titles in the new year. Today, Media Blasters officially announced that the Ishiro Honda/Eiji Tsuburaya collaborations FRANKENSTEIN VS BARAGON (Furankenshutain tai Chite Kaiju Baragon, US title FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD, 1965) and LATITUDE ZERO (Ido Zero Daisakusen, 1969) will be coming to Region 1 DVD in 2007 from the ‘Tokyo Shock’ label. This will be the first US DVD release for both films.
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Rika (Megumi Okina) in danger in JU-ON, one of the Japanese horror hits profiled
in TERROR FROM TOKYO. Photo courtesy of Lions Gate Entertainment.
© 2003 Kadokawa Shoten Co., Ltd.

Source: Independent Film Channel
Special Thanks to Loren Portillo

This month the Independent Film Channel is running TERROR FROM TOKYO, a new documentary about Japanese horror films. The half hour special focuses on producer Takashige Ichise (RING, JU-ON, DARK WATER, INFECTION, THE GRUDGE) and includes interviews with author Hiroshi Takahashi (the Ring series), director Takashi Shimizu (JU-ON, THE GRUDGE), and many more Japanese and American horror filmmakers.
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Keita Amemiya’s ZEIRAM SPECIAL EDITION is
just one of several titles coming from Media
Blasters in 2006-2007. Photo courtesy of
Media Blasters. © 1991 Gaga/Crowd Inc.

Upcoming 2006 Titles from the ‘Tokyo Shock’ Label… and Early News on What to Expect in 2007
Author: Keith Aiken
Source: Media Blasters, Inc.

Media Blasters has provided details for their Tokyo Shock DVDs for November 2006 through January 2007, plus early news for several films coming to DVD in the new year.

For information, cover art, DVD specs, or promotional art on such titles as Keita Amemiya’s ZEIRAM Special Edition, Tsui Hark’s horror comedy WE’RE GOING TO EAT YOU, NEZULLA THE RAT MONSTER, Takashi Miike’s FAMILY 2, the disturbing THE MAN-EATER, the suspense anthology ZOO, ICHI THE KILLER Special Edition, the controversial sex film FLOWER AND SNAKE 2, ZEBRAMAN, the horror anthology TALES OF TERROR FROM TOKYO VOLUME 3, DEVILMAN, Miike’s BODYGUARD KIBA 2: APOCALYPSE OF CARNAGE, TRAITOR’S RHAPSODY- GUN CRAZY, Ryuhei Kitamura’s ULTIMATE VERSUS, ZATOICHI VOL 6, and MASKED RIDER THE FIRST please go here.

Tsuburaya Productions Takes on Chaiyo in China!
Author: Bob Johnson

Original Thai Poster for SIX ULTRA BROTHERS VS. THE MONSTER ARMY.
© 1974 Tsuburaya Productions Co., Ltd.

In the on-going litigation between Tsuburaya Productions of Japan and Chaiyo Productions of Thailand, a new lawsuit has been filed in Chinese court. This is the latest court case involving the companies’ dispute over rights to ULTRA Q, ULTRAMAN, ULTRA SEVEN, RETURN OF ULTRAMAN, ULTRAMAN ACE, ULTRAMAN TARO and JUMBORG ACE. Also included are the two films, SIX ULTRA BROTHERS VS. THE MONSTER ARMY and JUMBORG ACE AND GIANT.
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Ryuhei Kitamura’s AZUMI comes to DVD in a special
2-disc collector’s edition from AsiaVision Films. Photo
courtesy of Urban Vision Entertainment. ©2003 “Azumi”
Production Committee

Source: AsiaVision

In 19th century war-torn feudal Japan, a master samurai takes on the task of raising ten orphans and training them to be assassins. Their single-minded mission: do the bloody work of the state by silencing troublesome warlords. After a decade of inconceivably harsh training and discipline, Azumi and her comrades face the task of assassinating the powerful warlords Nagamasa Asano and Kiyomasa Kato. But burdened with the cruel assignment that means killing friends and enemies alike, Azumi begins to question her faith in her master and her devotion to her country. Still, Azumi remains determined to single-handedly complete her bloodbath mission.

On November 21, director Ryuhei Kitamura’s (VERSUS, GODZILLA: FINAL WARS) popular AZUMI will be released on DVD for the first time in America. Distributor AsiaVision Films has issued a press release and sales sheet providing details on this two-disc special edition.

This month on Turner Classic Movies: Shochiku’s THE X FROM OUTER SPACE and GOKE, BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL, plus Toho’s KWAIDAN. © 1967-68 Shochiku Co., Ltd., © 1965 Toho Co., Ltd.

Turner Class Movies Plays THE X FROM OUTER SPACE, GOKE BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL, and KWAIDAN
Author: Keith Aiken
Source: Turner Classic Movies, Criterion Collection

With Halloween just around the corner, the Turner Classic Movies channel has packed their October schedule with such horror and science fiction greats as PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925), FREAKS (1932), KING KONG (1933), THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951), DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951), THE HAUNTING (1963), NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968), and INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978). Of special note are three rarely seen Japanese classics from the 1960s— two of which are currently unavailable on home video in the United States— which will all be shown uncut, in Japanese with English subtitles, and in widescreen.
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