KING KONG DELUXE EXTENDED EDITION DVD cover art.
Photo courtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
© 2005 Universal Studios.

More Dinosaurs, More Kong in a Spectacular New 3-Disc Set
Author: Keith Aiken
Source: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Official Site: King Kong Movie

In 1969, a young New Zealander named Peter Jackson saw the original KING KONG for the first time, an event that set the course of his life. “No film has captivated my imagination more than KING KONG,” Jackson said. “I’m making movies today because I saw this film when I was 9 years old. It has been my sustained dream to reinterpret this classic for a new age.” Twenty seven years later, Jackson was approached by Universal with an offer to remake KING KONG. The filmmaker leapt at the chance to realize his life’s dream, and immediately put his production team to work on the story and concept designs for a new KING KONG. The project was cancelled, then restarted, and eventually made it to theaters on December 14, 2005.

After grossing nearly $700 million worldwide, Peter Jackson’s KING KONG has been revised and expanded in a new 3-Disc DELUXE EXTENDED EDITION DVD set that includes a wealth of new, informative, and entertaining extra features. For a review of the set and an overview of King Kong Region 1 DVDs, please go here.

And check out the KING KONG PRODUCTION NOTES from Universal Studios for dozens of photos and a detailed look at the making of the film.

© 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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Rare Toho publicity material from 1954/55 featuring Toshiro
Mifune as the samurai Kikuchiyo. © 1954 Toho Co., Ltd.

Could this be the best presentation of the best movie ever made?
Author: Richard Pusateri
Official Site: Criterion Collection

While SEVEN SAMURAI is not sci fi, it is from Japan and linked to GODZILLA. Both colossal movies were produced by Toho Co Ltd. and must have been in some stages of pre-production nearly simultaneously. They shared many crew and cast members, like Takeshi Shimura who starred in both films. SEVEN SAMURAI’s director Akira Kurosawa and Ishiro Honda, GODZILLA’s director, were colleagues and close friends. Although Godzilla might be the most famous Japanese movie star, SEVEN SAMURAI is widely accepted as the most internationally famous and critically acclaimed Japanese film.

…I think this Criterion Collection release of SEVEN SAMURAI is as good as movies get, and a lot of people agree with me. You need this set. It is indispensable.

The complete review, DVD specs, and an exclusive look at rare Toho English language sales material for SEVEN SAMURAI can be found here.

Classic Media’s latest DVD pairs the original Japanese GOJIRA with the US cut
GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS. © 1954, 1956 Toho Co., Ltd.

Classic Media Releases the Original GODZILLA in a Deluxe Edition on DVD
Author: John “Dutch” DeSentis
Source: Classic Media
Official site: Godzilla on DVD
Special Thanks to Aaron Cooper and James Ballard

September 5th, 2006 is a date that should forever be important to Godzilla fans as the day that the original, unaltered, post-war masterpiece GOJIRA was finally and officially released on DVD in North America. After years of hoping and clamoring, fans finally get their wish and much to our satisfaction the film is given an incredibly packaged and dignified release.

For more of this review, links to recent GODZILLA news coverage, and a list of colleges holding free screenings of Classic Media’s GOJIRA, please go here.

Author: Robert Saint John
Source: Kadokawa Entertainment
DVD Region 2 (Japan)
Release date: April 21, 2006
Price: 1575 Yen (approx $13.50 US)
Official Japanese Site: Gamera.jp

Papa Gamera gets all fired up when dealing with a flock of Gyaos. © 2006
Chiisaki Yusha-tachi Gamera/Kadokawa Pictures, Inc.

In the wake of the popularity of “Making of” DVDs such as 2001’s THE MATRIX REVISITED and promotional items such as 2004’s GODZILLA BATTLE HISTORY, the Japanese market for such releases seems to have taken off in the past year.

Kadokawa Entertainment released the DVD GAMERA THE BRAVE: THE DAY TOTO BECAME GAMERA (Chiisaki Yusha Tachi: Gamera – Toto Ga Gamera Ni Natta Hi) on April 21, a week in advance of the release of the film. The disc features glimpses both forward and back at 40 years of the giant monster, but is primarily focused on GAMERA THE BRAVE. The DVD is a Region 2 NTSC disc, 4:3 aspect ratio, with no subtitles, and comes in a standard Amaray case with no significant inserts.
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The American Godzilla Is Featured On Three New DVDs
Author: Keith Aiken

Cover art for the three new Godzilla DVDs that will be hitting store shelves this Tuesday. Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Ent.
Godzilla © 1998 Toho Co., Ltd. GODZILLA: MONSTER EDITION © 1998 TriStar Pictures, Inc. GODZILLA: THE SERIES © 1998 Adelaide Productions, Inc.

On Tuesday, March 28, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment releases a new Special Edition DVD for their 1998 film GODZILLA and two more volumes of the popular animated program GODZILLA: THE SERIES. SciFi Japan presents an early review, and a look at the cartoon episodes included on the DVDs.
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And be sure to check back here next week for the ultimate guide to GODZILLA: THE SERIES… a detailed report covering the production of the show, complete with descriptions of all 40 episodes and more than 100 images of Godzilla, the main characters, all of the monsters, merchandising, publicity materials, and production art.

Author: Aaron Cooper

The British Film Institute has asserted itself in the United Kingdom as a force to be reckoned with in terms of film preservation and appreciation, much like Criterion or the American Film Institute. Now with the BFI Video imprint, Japanese science fiction and fantasy fans can appreciate two classic films on DVD with lots of special edition bells and whistles.
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GODZILLA

The original version of the 1954 GODZILLA (Gojira) finally gets the DVD treatment it deserves for an English speaking audience from the British Film Institute on Region 2 PAL DVD.

This forum will not be used for a story synopsis of this fine film. Chances are if you are visiting this site, you are a fan of such films and have already seen this one in some form. If not, then you really need to and you may as well make this edition the one as it just might possibly be the new standard by which to judge the film’s presentation. The British Film Institute acknowledges the import of this film in Japanese film history and has released this DVD accordingly in special edition box style packaging with nice artwork reprinting the UK re-release poster art by illustrator and fashion designer Phil Ashcroft.

The film print used for the transfer is the cleanest seen to date. Presented in its correct aspect ratio of 1:33:1, the black, white and grey shades are sharp in this digital transfer with minimal scratches and imperfections, looking even better then the Rialto print many US theatergoers saw in 2004. The sound is in a crisp Japanese language Dolby Digital 2.0 mix.

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THE MYSTERIANS

When alien invaders in colored capes and helmeted voice translators come to Earth looking for a spot of land and a few women to procreate with, it doesn’t sit well with the citizens of Japan. It comes to arms when they realize they keep getting attacked by the invader’s giant burrowing robot and forceful attitude! Thus, the story in a nutshell for THE MYSTERIANS (Chikyu Boeigun, 1957), another first for Toho Studios that the British Film Institute acknowledges with a decent DVD release.

THE MYSTERIANS was Toho’s first widescreen color science fiction film in their fantastic Tohoscope process that began a foray into a whole new genre. They had dabbled with science fantasy in GODZILLA (Gojira, 1954) and RODAN (Sora no Daikaiju Radon, 1956), now they were set to launch an onslaught of such films over the following two decades. The film is slightly weaker in some aspects then subsequent films such as BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE (Uchu Daisenso, 1959), GORATH (Yosei Gorasu, 1961) or the giant monster boom of the 1960’s in which the Toho formula becomes more finely honed; yet all the elements of what makes Toho films a notch above B-movie fare are presented here.