Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

What is it with these small companies that release these movies on Blu-ray that they find they have to be critical of former releases?

I don't have much hope for this release. Ideally they'll have the uncut export version (about six minutes longer than the Japanese cut) but I'm betting it will be the same old ~84 minute Japanese version with English audio haphazardly edited to fit the shorter version of the film.

YESSSS!!!!!!

*sees its being released by Media Blasters*

Wait, what? How are...? Oh, heck, who cares?!

Gappa on BD!! YEEEESSSSSS!!!

AWESOME!!! I absolutely adore GAPPA and have long been hoping it'd make it's way to Blu-ray.

Media Blasters hasn't released anything in years. The Last I saw, they had one anime title supposedly in production under a sub-label called *Kitty Media* that had been in hiatus for years....I doubt this is actually going to come out, but if it does, I'm happy for those that are looking forward to it. Ever since I rediscovered my MB DVD from 2000, and saw it was just the film *Monster from a Prehistoric Planet* with a video Generated GAPPA title card, that took the wind out of my sails (don't get me wrong, I enjoy MFAPP, but I was hoping to see something a little different) I doubt that we will ever actually see a media release with a true GAPPA title sequence.

It's be hilarious, yet said, yet also predictable if it's the exact same release from 20 years ago just *upscaled* for BRD . Maybe they had a 20 year license, and just wanted to get something out there to retain it longer.

MB released the last Shintaro Katsu Zatoichi film (the 1989 one) on Blu-ray... I think near the end of 2018. That's the last release of theirs I've been aware of.

I might get this if the price is ever low enough. I haven't watched Gappa since I was in high school and I remember it being a very boring knockoff of Gorgo and King Kong vs. Godzilla. I still have a cheap DVD release of the pan-&-scan Monster From a Prehistoric Planet cut and I haven't had any desire to watch it again or seek out a better version.

I'm just surprised that Media Blasters is not only still in business but actually planning to release a new kaiju product through their Tokyo Shock label. They might even meet their February 25 street date! It looks like they still haven't updated their website since early 2018.

I hope this doesn't mean they're still sitting on the rights to The Mysterians, Matango, et al., though, because I'm really hoping a distributor like Arrow, Mill Creek or Shout!Factory will go for those.

Hasn't Media Blasters been putting out a steady stream of Hentai? As for this release I'll wait for reviews before picking it up if its a decent transfer and has decent amount of special features I'll go for it but if its just an upscale of their old DVD release it'll be a easy pass for me. I'm not the biggest fan of Gappa or Guilala for that matter.

Hrmm...There are some bootleggers who don't even try (paper sleeves, blank labels etc...), and some who are very crafty trying to match official details and packaging down to the smallest degree. About 2 years ago, I was at the CA State Fair, there was a guy who had a booth set up with a TON of OOP dvd's of many movies, TV shows, anime etc... One of the dead giveaways though was his *Official* Song of the South DVD. Another give away is that most pirates have a harder shrink wrap on their items than the typical *softer* shrink wrap you get from online/B&M retailers.

The only official non DVD's I've ever encountered were WB's MOD (Manufacture-On-Demand) items. A few years back, I got what appeared to be an official copy of Yellow Submarine on DVD. It works fine, but it is clearly a DVDR, got it on Amazon as well. Unfortunately even official channels (not 3rd party) are sometimes duped by convincing counterfeits as well. My rule of thumb is, if the price is too good to be true, it probably is.

Even a lackluster transfer would be a significant upgrade on their DVD from 20 years ago. I just popped it in, and it looks more like an old VHS than a DVD!

That transfer was done for video and Laserdisc.

Now if someone would only recognize the sheer genius that would be Gappa vs. Guilala!!!

I remember seeing this on T.V. back in the 70's and it literally defined the word "murky"(as did the Ken Films Super 8 release). The original Media Blasters/Tokyo shock DVD was a marked improvement, but still had issues. Then I picked up the official Nikkatsu R2 release. Once again, better than what had come before, but still lacking in picture quality and both dub and subtitles. The best I've ever seen this film look was when "Monsters HD" aired it. What a beautiful print! So much detail I'd never noticed before, such as Mama Gappa bringing a giant octopus for junior. So I'm hoping that this release will be at least close to that. Hopefully....