Kraken Releasing to put RETURN OF GODZILLA on Blu-Ray

[canofhumdingers]

It offers somethig none of us have. A legal, factory pressed, North American disc of the highest quality copy of this film available on home video with subtitles and the international dub. I own the official toho bluray as well as "alternative" options of the Japanese version with subs and the U.S. cut and I'm still excited about this release. It may be the same video master as my Japanese bluray, but I'm pumped to finally have an official copy of that that actually has subs. And I've never heard the international dub so that'll be neat to own.

I know if you're resourceful you might already have an HD copy with subs and the international dub, but it's still a big deal to finally get it officially. And, if you still appreciate physical media like I do, a factory pressed disc is also a really nice thing to have available finally.

[Dr Kain]

[H-Man]

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

[canofhumdingers]

No, it was an R3 DVD from Hong Kong. Bluray regions use letters instead of numbers.

I never bought that R3 disc b/c, iirc, it was pretty lousy quality and was non-anamorphic letterboxed.

[Benjamin Haines]

Nine times out of ten, resourceful Godzilla aficionados are already going to own all of the contents of a new DVD/bluray release and then some. That's just the reality of fans seeking things out for themselves. A great many Godzilla fans aren't like that, though. Many casual fans don't buy discs from other countries or seek out avenues to find what's unavailable. They just buy the official American releases. Plenty of people on this message board have owned the uncut version of The Return of Godzilla with English subtitles for a while now but there are a lot of fans today for whom it is the lost Godzilla movie, the only one missing from their shelves. Kraken Releasing is providing something really special here for most North American Godzilla fans.

[Gojira69]

[lhb412]

We're a week away from the release! I'm excited.

We'll all (hopefully) be seeing a new Godzilla film in a month, but this is practically a new film for me and many fans who never got around to acquiring the original Japanese version. Like many of us I grew up loving Godzilla 1985, but the last few times I watched it the additional American scenes really ruined it for me with their useless grinding everything to a halt and annoying comic relief guy (a few great lines from Burr notwithstanding). I'm really interesting in seeing how the film plays without them, and while I understand the reason for cutting the more iffy special effects (from what I've seen from snippets on Youtube) I'm excited to see those, too!

[Kailem]

I'll hold off on importing it for the meantime just on the (very) off-chance that the Blu-ray is playable on a Region B player, but regardless I'm looking forward to finally watching this again. It was one of the films that first got me into Godzilla as a child, so I'm looking forward to reveling in the nostalgia overload that's a big part of re-watching movies with a big childhood connection like this one has.

[Goji 84]

[Dr Kain]

[klen7]

[Dr Kain]

[canofhumdingers]

So, not really that out of context then...

[lhb412]

Tomorrow guys!

My package with The Return of Godzilla (along with the new Universal and Hammer monster sets coming out) should be waiting for me when I get home from work tomorrow. If it doesn't arrive on time I will slip into my deepest state of depression yet.*



*

[canofhumdingers]

I'm eager to get this, but with my birthday in October and Christmas two months later I generally don't buy much for myself this time of year. I'll hold out at least til my bday. But I am eager to finally watch a decent subbed copy and even more eager to see(hear) the international dub. I've had the Japanese bluray for years, but when I've wanted to actually sit down and watch the movie all the way through I've been relying on an old, pretty crap quality "alternative" disc I've had for ages that has subs.

[Dr Kain]

[Alpha OTS]

[lhb412]

Just watched it! Transfer is pretty similar to Biollante's, maybe a little better.

[Alpha OTS]

[lhb412]

Toho gonna Toho!

It's far better than I've ever seen it before, anyway. There were several effects shots that made more sense visually to me watching this that were previously a bit obscure to me because of pan-n-scanning and the fuzziness of VHS.

[DannyBeane]

My blu ray did not get delivered today :/

[DannyBeane]

Just got my copy today and have finished watching it. It was nice watching the international version with out the American scenes. I still want a copy of the American version for nostalgias sake. The print was pretty serviceable for a 30+ year old film. The translations over Japanese text got old real fast.

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

I did the same thing today Danny and I agree the print was good there where a few scenes that looked pretty grainy but for the most part it was great. The dubb wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and yes they could have easily done the translations below the Japanese text not on top of it.