by Shokara » Tue Sep 23, 2014 2:22 am
Although MFS-3 already gave a review for Toho's recent King Kong vs. Godzilla BD, I just got my hands on this and numerous other releases over the weekend, and I intend to give my two cents on it. Alright, it's not exactly the actual BD. It's an English subtitled BD-R bootleg, so take this review somewhat with a grain of salt. Before I go into details I'll say that this release is not without its flaws, some of which MFS-3 previously mentioned. Despite that being said, saying this BD is an improvement over Toho's previous DVD would be a gross understatement. I'll be going into details about the picture quality and film print source, the available audio options, and the bonus features.
What most are likely wondering first thing is the picture quality as opposed to the DVD. If I remember correctly, someone on here told me the reason that the original Japanese theatrical cut of the movie had to be recreated was because Toho removed numerous scenes in order to shorten the movie down for the annual Champion Festival movie fest for kids. Apparently they used substandard elements, possibly from video and laserdisc sources, resulting in the DVD we're familiar with including all its murky colors, soft, pixalated images, and glaringly obvious dissolves where the various sources were spliced back together. There was even some brief footage near the end of the movie which was lost, a quick shot of some soldiers stumbling back from a cliff during the earthquake after Kong and Godzilla fell into the ocean after trashing Atami Castle. That shot was replaced with a repeat shot of a tree falling down the cliff. This brief but lost shot, which could be seen in the American version, has thankfully been restored on this BD.
Toho has mostly provided us with a whole new film source for this BD. Unfortunately, as MSF-3 said before, some of the theatrical release footage that was spliced back into the movie is still the soft and pixalated elements we remember, upscaled to HD with no real improvement to their quality. I'll go into specific detail which scenes these are a little later. What I can say is that is that these moments are relatively few and are all within the first fourteen minutes of the movie. It seems that the film source Toho used is a fairly decent print of the shortened Champion Festival version which is available to view in its entirety among the bonus features. Before I comment on the new print from the Champion Festival version I must say that Universal's print for their BD of the American version is still the superior. None the less, the quality from this new Champion Festival print is staggering compared to what we saw from Toho's DVD.
A departure from Toho's usual soft transfers without a great amount of detail, this new transfer from the Champion Festival print is crisp with loads of sharp detail and a nice amount of fine film grain. Another thing that's different from the usual Toho transfers is this print is a little on the dark side especially during night scenes. Some of the darker scenes are the giant octopus, Kong's subsequent intro on Faro Island, and Godzilla attacking the train. You will still make out mostly everything, but it is darker than what most of us are used to. The film also has an overall brownish/yellowish tint which is perhaps due to the aging of the print? Its contrast also seems to be a little high, but this in no way detracted from my viewing experience. Unfortunately I'm unable to provide screenshots to go with this review since I don't have the means to make screen captures from a BD. Below is a list of all of the still existing sub-standard theatrical release footage that was reinserted to the film.
00:01:39 to 00:02:19 - The intro to Wonderful World Series.
00:02:51 to 00:03:03 - Mr. Tako chewing out his employees.
00:03:31 to 00:04:17 - Tako gets chewed out by his boss over the phone and Wonderful World Series segues to the submarine Seahawk.
00:06:56 to 00:07:01 - Although this is in HD, the frame rate is choppy. Dr. Makino first talking to Tako, Sakurai, and Furue about the Faro berries.
00:08:56 to 00:09:18 - When Sakurai arrives at his apartment and realizes Fumiko isn't at home.
00:11:41 - One second of substandard footage at the very beginning of the scene where the Seahawk collides with the iceberg.
00:12:12 to 00:12:16 - Very beginning of Pacific Pharmaceuticals' gala sendoff for the Faro expedition.
00:12:53 to 00:13:36 - Fumiko and Tamiye talking to Sakurai and Furue at the Pacific Pharmaceuticals party.
00:13:52 to 00:13:57 - Tako chews Obashi out for not inviting the press to the expedition sendoff.
For the audio options we have Monoraul PCM, a 4.0 channel DTS-HD Master Audio track, the 2001 5.1 channel remix in DTS-HD Master Audio, a music only 4.0 channel DTS-HD Master Audio track, and an audio commentary. Unfortunately I don't know who did the commentary. It wasn't English subtitled, and I don't speak Japanese. Now on to the extras. All of the trailers that were previously available have returned with the exception of the black and white TV spot. Most are the same standard definition videos from before, but the main theatrical trailer, and the trailer for the Champion Festival version are both in HD. As I mentioned earlier, the whole shortened down Champion Festival version is included. There's a twenty minute interview with monster suit builder Eizo Kaimai whom reminisces about his work on King Kong vs. Godzilla and numerous other Toho special effects movies. There's also a sixteen minute video tour of Atami Castle and the surrounding area as seen today in comparison to its miniature appearance in the movie. As mentioned by MSF-3, there's a brief video montage of a 1994 Godzilla exhibit that features movie props and a large King Kong vs. Godzilla poster display. Also included is audio from a short vinyl record apparently made to promote the movie. Then there's a video gallery of several of the newspaper headlines featured in the film. Finally, there's an image gallery of what is apparently the film pressbook.
Despite the flaws in the picture quality I'm really glad I picked this up. It's not a complete restoration, but the vast majority of the original Japanese theatrical version looks far better than it ever has in years. This is also so far Toho's sharpest and most detailed HD transfer for a Godzilla title. I don't know how the other new BD releases look as I haven't gotten around to them yet. Anyone that's fed up with the front to end foggy, pixalated transfer from Toho's DVD needs to see this BD. For now it's the closest we'll get to a definitive restoration.