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

[lhb412]

Svengoolie aired the UPA version of Gargantuas the other night, meaning that version is still available for licensing! Makes me hopeful about the future.

[Kailem]

I'm surprised Criterion/Janus haven't snatched it up yet, given that they've had the rights to the Japanese version for over five years now. I'm still holding out hope that we might one day get that Ishiro Honda box set from them, and it'd certainly be nice to have both versions of WotG in it if we ever did.

[lhb412]

^ I believe both Gargantuas and Godzilla KOTM (which aired a few weeks ago) are distributed to US television by Janus, and that must be where Svengoolie is acquiring these now?

[Benjamin Haines]

It's great that the US version of War of the Gargantuas aired on television recently, although I'm not sure if that indicates anything with regard to what version Toho might authorize to be included on a future home media release. For the past few years, Shout Factory TV and HBO Max have had the Showa Godzilla films (sans KKvsG) available to stream with all of the same transfers, subtitles and English audio options as what's available on Criterion's box set, plus the Japanese version of Rodan and the international dubbed version of Gargantuas, all opening with the Janus Films logo. However, since at least 2021, the streaming service Tubi has had the English-dubbed US versions of the original Godzilla, Godzilla Raids Again, Rodan, Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster and Terror of Mechagodzilla. All of them are the same transfers that Classic Media released on DVD from 2006 to 2008, all without the Janus Films logo and all ending with the Classic Media logo.

https://tubitv.com/movies/287497/godzilla-king-of-the-monsters?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/287498/godzilla-raids-again?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/287501/rodan?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/287458/ghidorah-the-three-headed-monster?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/288674/terror-of-mechagodzilla?start=true


At the same time, Tubi has had the same versions as Shout Factory TV and HBO Max for Mothra vs. Godzilla, Gargantuas, Ebirah, Son of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters and All Monsters Attack, all of the same Criterion transfers and subtitles, all opening with the Janus Films logo, with Gargantuas likewise being the international dubbed version.

https://tubitv.com/movies/620068/mothra-vs-godzilla?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/620071/the-war-of-the-gargantuas?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/620065/ebirah-horror-of-the-deep?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/620070/son-of-godzilla?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/620067/destroy-all-monsters?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/620061/all-monsters-attack?start=true


No matter what any of this means, here's hoping that War of the Gargantuas can get a blu-ray disc release one day with all three versions included.

[lhb412]

^ I had no idea different versions were out there streaming!

[Benjamin Haines]

^ Not for Gargantuas, though! The only version on any streaming service right now is the international dubbed version. Even the subtitled Japanese cut isn't available to stream anywhere, unlike Rodan and the Showa Godzilla films. The US cut of Gargantuas airing on Svengoolie this year is a new development.

Considering how the US versions of those four Godzilla movies and Rodan that are streaming on Tubi are all identical to what Classic Media released on DVD, I wonder if that's just a matter of Tubi already having those old digital files in their repertoire and putting them up to stream without any real consideration or oversight.