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

[lhb412]

^^ "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" was indeed included amid the special features of their Godzilla '54 release, so there is a precedent for including them that way.

I'm hopeful, but if it is a subtitle only set I will find it quite dispiriting. These movies are in terrible need of restoration, and the Japanese version of King Kong vs. Godzilla has never been available outside of Japaan, so its inclusion would be monumental... but then you have the history of the English language versions and Western fandom in general essentially being erased, not to mention making the films less accessible for younger viewers. Most importantly, there's the extra footage in the American version of Mothra vs. Godzilla and the retention of Nick Adams original, essential vocal performance in Monster Zero. Those would be huge losses. The movies that have English speaking lead actors are certainly the ones where the preservation of the English language versions are the most essential. Barring the addition of some monumental special features (Zone Fighter episodes, dozens of hours of Japanese docs and interviews translated for the first tine) the end result would feel like a 'one hand gives, the other takes away' scenario where we're losing as much as we're gaining, all adding up to zero, you know?

[jellydonut25]

[lhb412]

^ I already have all the Classic Media releases, but if this rumor turns out to be true I'll be on the lookout for another copy of that box set just so I'll have a backup copy of several of those movies!

[KaijuMilitia]

What is sad is that children aren’t going to come across the showa era films easily. It seems like Godzilla 2014 and GKOTM 2019 have to do the job in making new fans. Those two movies will likely be the most common ones to watch.

[Benjamin Haines]

[H-Man]

[lhb412]

^ All of the Godzilla films plus the two other kaiju flicks Janus has (King Kong vs. Godzilla is absent, but that hopefully doesn't preclude it from the home video release because Universal would likely retain TV and streaming rights) will be ran this October on Turner Classic Movies. Each October they have a 'Monster of the Month' and this year Godzilla is it. They'll also show the original Mothra, which is of course from Sony.

[H-Man]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

[Benjamin Haines]

[Gwangi]

[H-Man]

[Gojira69]

[Joseph Goodman]

A user on Criterionforum.org spotted a CDUniverse page for the this set, showing the number of discs as 8:

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

[Dr Kain]

[SeaHawk]

[Gojira69]

If all works out with the Showa Box set, I hope Criterion gets inspired to do a proper Heisei Box set in 2020 including the US version of ROG.

[jellydonut25]

[Henry88]

[Gojira69]

[KaijuMilitia]

On Roku there’s a streaming service called “channel 62” which has the US version of ROG.

[Benjamin Haines]

[Dr Kain]

Sigh, another day and nothing.

[XvGojira]