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

[Alpha OTS]

Thank you, Benjamin.

So as far as blurays with english dubs go we still need: G Raids Again, GvMothra, Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster, and All Monsters Attack. Do international dubs not exist for these? Are the english dubs of these on the Classic Media sets AIPs? Again, never really thought I'd be asking about english dubs and I used to skip over those types of posts in the past. Weird how my interest in this has changed.

I don't know what possessed me to watch All Monsters Attack last night out of all the other things I could have watched in the set, but I think that was the first time I had ever watched the Japanese version and I had a lot of trouble with the Minilla segments because his voice just didn't sound right. I'm guessing that was the suit actor's voice?

[Shokara]

[H-Man]

There are 15 Showa Godzilla films, but altogether there are 19 total different English language versions. Bold text denotes versions/audio that is in this collection. I've also noted the most recent release of each version the others:

Godzilla/ Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) - Released by Embassy Pictures and TransWorld. Dubbed in Hollywood.
Gigantis, the Fire Monster (1959) - Released by Warner Bros. Dubbed at Ryder Sound in Hollywood. (Classic Media DVD)
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) - Released by Universal-International. Dubbed at Ryder Sound.
Godzilla vs the Thing (1964) - Released by American International (AIP). Dubbed at Titra Sound, New York. (Classic Media DVD)
Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster (1965) - Released by Walter Reade Organization/Continental. Dubbed by Joe Bellucci (Bellucci Productions), New York. (Classic Media DVD)
Monster Zero (1970) - Released by Maron Films. Dubbed at Glen Glenn Sound in Hollywood (in 1966). *
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep - International version. Dubbed by Frontier Enterprises, Tokyo. (Kraken Blu-ray)
Godzilla versus the Sea Monster (1968) - Released by Walter Reade Organization (TV). Dubbed at Titan Productions (formerly Titra Sound), New York. (Goodtimes VHS)
Son of Godzilla - International version. Dubbed by Frontier Enterprises, Tokyo.
" " (1969) - Released by Walter Reade Organization (TV). Dubbed at Titan Productions, New York. (Anchor Bay VHS)
Destroy All Monsters - International version. Dubbed by Frontier Enterprises, Tokyo.
" " (1969) - Released by AIP. Dubbed at Titan Productions, New York. (Media Blasters DVD/Blu-ray, 2011 pressing only)
Godzilla's Revenge (1971) - Released by Maron Films. Dubbed at Ryder Sound. (Classic Media DVD)
Godzilla vs. Hedorah - International version. Dubbed in Hong Kong. (Kraken Blu-ray)
Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1972) - Released by AIP. Dubbed at Titan Productions, New York. (Orion/Image VHS and Laserdisc)

The four films from Godzilla vs. Gigan through Terror of Mechagodzilla each had international versions dubbed in Hong Kong. None of these were re-dubbed for American release; U.S. releases used these dubbed versions but were often heavily edited. The English versions of Megalon and both Mechagodzillas are in this collection. The most recent release of Gigan with the English dubbed version was the 2014 Kraken DVD/Blu-ray.

*Toho/Criterion has designated the Monster Zero dub as an "international version" but it was actually dubbed in Hollywood for the film's eventual U.S. release. The version available in the recent set is the same dubbed audio American fans have heard for decades, with Nick Adams' voice and Marvin Miller as Fuji and a bunch of other minor characters.

[Dr Kain]

I thought Monster Zero ran like 2 minutes shorter than Astro-Monster? Or is it just the opening credits that is different?

[H-Man]

[Alpha OTS]

Thank you Shokara and H-man for those detailed replies. They were very helpful.

[Benjamin Haines]

I've watched Criterion's Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster and it is marvelous. This was the movie that previously looked the roughest on both the Toho and Classic Media DVDs, with washed-out colors and significant print damage compared to other Showa entries. It needed a visual upgrade badly and now it's finally here on BRD with rich colors, strong contrast and revelatory detail. It isn't perfect, as there are some shots that are less detailed than others, but this is hands-down the best that Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster has ever looked on home media.

[Benjamin Haines]

I finally watched the 1954 film on BRD for the first time. I still didn't have an HDTV back in 2012 so I got Criterion's Godzilla on DVD when it was released. I never got around to double-dipping for the BRD but now I've got it in this set. It's great to see Criterion's restoration work for the original film in HD.

I also watched Criterion's Godzilla vs. Gigan and it looks really good. It's nice to have it on BRD with all of the Japanese onscreen graphics and without dubtitles. Criterion's subtitles make it clear that the cockroach aliens are projecting images of the deceased people whose identities they've stolen, which explains why the chairman's human form disappears in flashes at the end. That would also seem to explain why their shadows reveal their cockroach shapes, although it also raises the question of how Tomoko was able to grab Kubota by the collar without grabbing a fistful of roach exoskeleton.

Afterward I put in Kraken's Gigan BRD to compare the picture quality. In terms of color and contrast they look very similar. The Sony transfer on Kraken's disc is darker and slightly cropped, with a lot more visible grain, a bit more print damage and a color palette that leans more blue. Both transfers look great and both discs are worth owning.

[Dr Kain]

[Benjamin Haines]

With November over and their Criterion sale at an end, 's price for the Criterion Godzilla set is back up to $209.10.

is still offering it for $112.49 at the moment. The set actually stayed among Amazon's top 100 bestsellers throughout the month of November until the Thanksgiving sales began.

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

I was really hoping I'd get this today for my Birthday but it looks like I have to wait until Christmas, I know I'm getting it because I accidently saw it.

Oh well I have Ultraseven coming in a few weeks so that'll keep me busy until Christmas.

[Benjamin Haines]

I've watched Criterion's BRD of Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster. (That's one movie I'm always going to know by its American title!) Compared to the Kraken BRD of the Sony transfer, the colors aren't nearly as saturated but they're definitely still vibrant and the movie is beautiful to look at. The Kraken BRD has more visible detail and grain but it also has more print damage and it's cropped on all four sides of the screen. Criterion's BRD is the first time I've ever seen the movie without the top of Mothra's head being cropped off in the wide shots of the Infant Islanders dancing.

These new English subtitles are a real treat. I've always had a feeling that there was something lost in translation about the scene on the boat when Ryota refuses to turn it around. Ichino and Nita both chime in and then it cuts to a close-up reaction shot of Yoshimura looking sheepish and not knowing what to say. It's clear from the way the scene plays that Yoshimura has been outed as not knowing how to sail the boat even though he told the rest of them he was the boat's owner but the translated dialogue never seemed to fit.

In the Titra dub, Ichino says "Why don't we turn it around?" and then Nita says "Yes, we'll do anything to help" to which Yoshimura is dubbed demurring "Well..." and Ryota says "Don't let them touch the boat. They wouldn't know how to handle it."

The international dub isn't any clearer about why Yoshimura reacts that way to what Ichino and Nita said, and this dub was the basis for the subtitles on the Sony and Kraken discs. Ichino says "Maybe we can do it" and then Nita says "We'll do anything to help." Yoshimura is dubbed saying "Well, I, uh..." and Ryota says "This guy, he doesn't know anything about boats." Even the old downloadable subtitles on TokyoMonsters.com followed this phrasing.

At last, Criterion's new English subtitle translation makes the scene clear. Ichino says "Maybe we can do it" and then Nita says "Just show us how." And just like that, Yoshimura's reaction and Ryota deducing "This guy knows nothing about boats" both make sense!

I also watched Mothra vs. Godzilla and it is a big improvement over the Classic Media DVD, with better colors, stronger black levels and less print damage. It does still have the same soft, filmic texture that it's always had but this is better than it's ever looked before. The quality subtitles really enhance this flick.

I've had the set for six weeks now and there are still six movies that I haven't watched yet! Whenever I have the free time I mostly keep opting to rewatch King Kong vs. Godzilla in either cut.

[lhb412]

^ I'm really looking forward to seeing these films with these new subtitles. Just catching a few scenes when TCM aired these films in October was eye-opening.

I read this set's already sold 40,000 units, which is apparently really good. Hope it encourages more releases (and, hey, I wouldn't mind an Eclipse set of some non-genre Honda films).

[Dr Kain]

I would love it if this set selling well got Criterion to do a Heisei/Millennium Era Godzilla box set (not to mention it would be nice have all of those movies with consistent subtitles) along with a Showa Kaiju set that included King Kong Escapes, Rodan, War of the Gargantuas, The Mysterians, War in Space, Battle in Outer Space, Space Amoeba, The H-Man, Secret of the Telegian, Frankenstein vs Baragon, Atragon, The Human Vapor, Latitude Zero, Varan, Mantango, Mothra, Dogora vs Goliath, and Gorath. Not to mention how cool it would be if they kept it in the same book style they did with Godzilla as it would make the Godzilla set not stand out on its own.

[Rody]

^I'm still skeptical about Criterion ever bothering to touch the Heisei/Millennium films, but maybe someone at Sony might notice and take action on something new.
Hopefully, the success DOES convince both Toho and Criterion to do more more tokusatsu work together; honestly, if we could just get a select few films like Rodan and War of the Gargantuas (both of which we already know Criterion has the license for) not only released, but even (collaboratively?) remastered, I'd be happy.

[canofhumdingers]

@BenHaines

I can’t say I agree that the example you give of the new subs is all that revelatory. Yes, it’s clearer and perhaps more accurate (without speaking Japanese I can’t really say for sure about the latter). However, even with the old subs or dubs considering what they say, what they DON’T say, and their hesitant reactions I never found it difficult to understand that these guys had no clue how to operate the boat and never found it confusing that Ryota came to the same obvious conclusion.

But even so, I am interested to check out the new translations soon. And I’ve been holding off rewatching my MechGodzilla DVDs for like a year now in anticipation of this set...

[Dr Kain]

[Benjamin Haines]

[canofhumdingers]

Ah I see. I don’t have the scene memorized so I didn’t remember the exact sequence of events. Cool.

[lhb412]

[Gwangi]

Truth be told, even during the Criterion sale, it was still too expensive for me, however, positive things happened at work and I was able to purchase this set in November before the sale ended!

As for time to view everything, that is another story. What I’ve seen so far, the best parts of this set are not the movies, but rather the special features. In my half-century and almost two years of existence, I believe this was the first time ever, that I heard Ishiro Honda talk! Prior to that, I had never heard him speak or what he even sounded like! Yes, Kurosawa many times, but never Honda. Honda-san was featured prominently in the “Ran” blu-ray, in the “Making of” featurette, but I don’t recall if he ever talked.

The other feature that I loved was the “Toho Unused Special Effects Complete Collection”, which was fascinating! And yes, the rumors were indeed true, with Godzilla having a spar with Manda in “Destroy All Monsters”.

As far as the movies, I am glad to finally have the Mechagodzilla features on blu-ray (and dubbed), though I would have preferred the UPA intro for “Terror”. It is good to have a clean copy of “Godzilla vs. Megalon”. As was pointed out earlier, there is no fluttering in this disk, unlike the Media Blasters version. As for “King Kong vs. Godzilla” Japanese version, it is good that they included it, but surprised at the rather poor quality of this copy.

I am not going to mince words, as I still think this was a half-ass attempt on Toho’s part. As I stated before, they are not some Mom and Pop shop struggling to stay afloat, but rather one of the more significant companies in Japan. In my 25 years in dealing with large companies, believe me, these guys can get anything they want! The problem here is effort or lack thereof. With the way this current regime operates, I for one, do not wish to see any more releases from this group. “Rodan” and “War of the Gargantuas” are probably going to be next, but all we will see are subtitled versions and perhaps the international dub of “WotG”. I will most likely skip that and just buy another copy of the Classic Media disk, just to have a backup.

Is it good that they released this set? Bottom line, yes. However, as far as the movies themselves go, these are not the versions I grew up watching. Thankfully, there are still the fan restorations!

[O.Supreme]

The item is still on sale at Amazon & Walmart. I'll wait until February until I get my tax return. If it sells out by then, so be it, as you said, I have the versions I enjoy. Purchasing this was only to get a legit version of the Japanese KK v G. FYE is my backup if Criterion is unavailable in 2 months.

[Dr Kain]

[Gwangi]

[Dr Kain]

Aside from my normal dubbing complaints, my biggest issue with the Rodan dub is removing the train station scene. That's like the best scene of the film.