Godzilla KOTM... from the Criterion Collection!?!?!

[XvGojira]

[Benjamin Haines]

[XvGojira]

Good god. OH well. Such a shame that the US cut will probably never see the light of day again.

[Jinzo Ningen]

If the extraneous cuts of music from the other flick are the keystone holding back the release, then why not just strip these from the film and either re-insert the original score sections... or have no music at all for those spots? (This of course begs the question: just how much of Chris young's Def-Con4 music was cannibalized for G'85??) The elimination of the DC4 bits would pull at least one of the irons out of the fire. Or maybe not?

Ugh. This mess is perhaps even worse than the knotted ball of red tape that was roadblocking a Spider-Man movie way back in the day.

[jellydonut25]

[lhb412]

^ Add to that the fact that the majority of folks would be happy just with the Japanese cut and additional (if inferior) Toho-commissioned English dub. The incentive to jump through the hoops to get G1985 is slim no matter how you slice it.

[O.Supreme]

I'm definitely glad to have Kraken releasings original RoG with the Toho English dub included, but G1985 will always be my favorite version of that film. I'm glad I have at least one copy of it on VHS, and several other less than ideal sourced media formats, but until it is made legal, *it is , what it is....*

It's just hard to believe, a film that was in U.S. theaters only 34 years ago (when compared to the 100 year plus film industry), and copies made available on VHS as little as 22 years ago, *may* disappear forever (only from a legal point of view of course, we know fans would never let that happen in general) . On top of that, I'm not sure when the now defunct Monsters HD channel last aired Godzilla 1985, but it could not have been that long ago.

[H-Man]

I think Toho gets very anxious about potential lawsuits when faced with allowing a distributor to use a version of their film(s) originally produced and released in the U.S. I believe August Ragone has basically said as much before, claiming that Toho actively avoids stuff like AIP's DAM/Smog Monster in favor of their own export versions, since they don't have to negotiate royalties to the performers on the latter. Apparently the key personnel on stuff like KOTM and the films in the UPA/Classic Media were paid off long ago so Toho has no qualms with allowing those versions to be heard. (It may also be out of necessity since export versions don't exist for any of those films except Terror of Mechagodzilla, the dubbed version of which was used by Saperstein and Bob Conn for their respective U.S. releases of the film.)

But if that's the case, one wonders how long that anxiety will continue. Usually only one or two Americans were ever credited on most of these films and most of the uncredited personnel are dead or long in the tooth, so there are seemingly very few performers (or estates acting on their behalf) that would even seek royalties for these films. Do you imagine Bernard Grant's grandchildren (if he has any) are even aware he voiced several characters in these films? Are they operating some estate that would even be entitled to any money for the continued use of Grant's voice? My point is that it seems like, if this is the case, it's extremely cautious.

[Dr Kain]

Honestly, I couldn't care less about the 85 cut. The only reason I'll ever watch that cut again is to review it. As such, unless it came as a bonus feature or something with a superior HD release of the Japanese original, I would not be able to justify spending money on it.

[Benjamin Haines]

[H-Man]

Nice to see that Ed G. quote, thanks Ben. Likewise, I have a hard time believing any virtually anonymous actor or actress that dubbed Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster may be holding up that dubbed version's release, but the royalties issue is simply the one I've seen offered as an explanation for years.

If it's simply a matter of the scope of the project and gathering the appropriate materials then hopefully Criterion can get us all the absent English versions.

[canofhumdingers]

Tonight the theater manager at the Houston Alamo Drafthouse's "Destroy All Drafthouses" double feature had some interesting tidbits. He said they were only able to book Destroy All Monsters thanks to the recent Janus/Criterion acquisition of a large portion of the Godzilla library. Apparently theatrical rights were part of the deal! Which led him to divulge that he's trying to set up an ongoing monthly kaiju film event!

He also said that they have a box set of all their Godzilla films coming out this fall. No idea how accurate that info really is but it's something we've not heard yet!

[GFan]

Super exciting! I'd love to see more theatrical screenings happen.

[lhb412]

This is very cool news. Honestly, I'm excited for any new Godzilla movies in the theater, but I'm almost as excited for a Criterion box set!

It'll be cool if Criterion could get together with Fathom Events the same way Turner Classic Movies does and beam some movies into wide release for those limited event screenings which are so prevalent these days.

[Benjamin Haines]

Fall 2019 makes sense for a Criterion box set. It'll presumably be just a few months after Godzilla: King of the Monsters hits home media, in time to entice Christmas shoppers who are looking for the new movie. If Criterion managed to sublicense King Kong vs. Godzilla from Universal for inclusion, they might also give that one an individual release around the time Godzilla vs. Kong opens in theaters.

[jellydonut25]

[canofhumdingers]

Oh I agree, hence the “I have no idea how accurate this is”. But it was the first rumor I’d heard that actually projected a timeframe. And everybody loves a good rumor!

[lhb412]

I hope they take whatever time they need to make the best possible release.

[Joseph Goodman]

The Secret Movie Club, based in Los Angeles, is showing several Godzilla films over the next few months, among them GIGAN and HEDORAH. They are crediting these screenings to Janus Films, which lends credence to rumors that Criterion has acquired those Kraken titles.

[canofhumdingers]

Excellent! Man, if they do a full Showa box set I’ll be so ecstatic! Even moreso if it includes the likes of Rodan, WOTG, or any other Toho sfx/kaiju films!

[lhb412]

A little while back, I think it was on the bluray.com forums, there was some talk of Criterion putting the feelers out to hire a bunch of comic book artists for a project with the insinuation that it was to do art for the various Godzilla films, much like how each of the Zatoichi movies in their set received unique art from different artists.

Anyone, by chance oh, here's something similar?

[Joseph Goodman]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

If Criterion does get Hedorah which its looking like they will or already have it, I really hope they include the Smog Monster dub as well. Same with Son of Godzilla and Godzilla vs The Sea Monster. Those are the dubs I grew up with as a kid and I'd love to hear them again with out having to track down a VCR and a VHS copy of those films.

[UltramanGoji]

God, I can't wait to see the original Japanese title cards on this hypothetical box set. I hate the English-titles on all the Sony and Kraken titles. Ruins the immersion if I'm watching it in Japanese with subtitles.

[lhb412]