Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

@kpa:

> You're welcome el-braazo, and thank you for all the info you've
> provided about the German version of RODAN. I know a bit concerning
> the British Toho releases but readily admit my knowledge about the
> other European versions could fit in a thimble, so your painstaking
> research is much appreciated.

Thanks again! I am doing one last comparison, this time about the music. So far I have heard the first 40 minutes and it seems like the new music was already built in, however, sometimes the timing was not yet as precise as in the final version.

@Xenorama:

> do you think PAL to DVD makes it shorter? the uncut version of ONE
> MILLION YEARS BC runs 100 minutes and the UK DVD runs 96 mins- same
> movie exactly, just that 25 fps thing.

If a film is transferred exactly frame by frame to PAL, it plays a little bit faster (thus shorter), because real film runs with 24 fps and PAL with 25 fps. However, not all PAL DVDs use a frame by frame transfer: It is possible to maintain the original speed of the film by doubling one frame per second, so that there are not 24, but 25 frames for the PAL playback.

@Baradagi:

> I'm going to have to order this now to add to my collection
> since I already have the extremely odd Chinese version called
> Bloodthirsty Hawk. [...] This is the dvd, correct?

Yes! I am sure you'll find it quite interesting.

> You've got me interested in the European cuts to these films
> again el-brazo! Since I can easily get a hold of the Greek vhs
> creleases of the films, maybe I should start collecting those
> and report any strange findings?

Regarding RODAN, I think, that the Greek VHS release could be very interesting, because the question is: Was this rough draft (I think I should call the German version RAWDONE from now on) sold only to RKO Germany or was it also -- or possibly even generally -- sold to other countries as well? I assume that THE BLOODTHIRSTY HAWK is based on the Japanese version, since it's an Asian release, but as far as I know, King Brothers obtained the rights not only for the US, but possibly for all European countries as well.

@August:

> According to a very well-researched article in Japanese Giants
> in the early 1980s, it was related that the King Brothers were
> given the entire work print for RADON; so there are scenes and
> shots that are in the US version that are not in the Japanese
> version -- the H-Bomb prologue in the US version was created
> soley for the King Brothers version.

I would very much like to read this article, because I have not found anything which seemed to be part of a longer work print. I have to admit that I can state this only with a lot of caution, because I did not really concentrate on this, but so far it seems to me that at least all of the striking American additions consist of either stock-footage from (I hope I am using the right words now) "generic film libraries" or material from the theatrical Japanese version which was shuffled, re-cut, mirrored, played backward etc. The H-Bomb prologue, the Wake Island scenes, several short scenes of jets fighters etc. just look like the kind of documentary military material which can also be seen in other movies. But it is, of course, possible that I simply missed those scenes.

[quote="Baradagi"]... unused shot of buildings on fire in the original Gojira trailer?

Yes, I recall seeing footage not in the Japanese movie.
That reminds me of the shot of the airborne Pan Am Boeing 377 unique to GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS. The same aircraft is seen on the runway in the Japanese GODZILLA but not in GKOTM. That leads me to believe that the American producers of GKOTM were also given, like with RODAN, a "work print" or more elements than what ended up in the Japanese version.

Also the elements Toho gave the King Bros. for RODAN must have been on A and B master rolls in order for them to have done the dissolve to the pilot's bloody helmet that is not in the Japanese version.