Godzilla vs. Biollante Criterion 4K/Blu-ray

[lhb412]

Thought this deserved it's own thread, as a somewhat monumental new release. This is the second 4K Godzilla release from Criterion in four months, but since Godzilla '54 was a direct update of previous release this one feels like a bigger deal!

Release date March 18
https://www.criterion.com/films/33023-godzilla-vs-biollante?srsltid=AfmBOoo1aVgtnqh1notNd8suwaAUb2agaA-bSdqEb0tfqRjBwIUfLNH1

[quote]
- New 4K digital restoration, with 5.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- New audio commentary featuring film historian Samm Deighan, host of the podcast Eros + Massacre and coeditor of the book Revolution in 35mm
- Making-of program from 1993 featuring director Kazuki Omori and special-effects director Koichi Kawakita, among others
- Short documentary from 1993 about the Biollante and Super X2 vehicle concepts
- Deleted special effects
- TV spots and trailers
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by science-fiction and horror film expert Jim Cirronella
- New cover by Eric Powell
[/quote]

...and I've finally gotten a 4K player! This follows a lifelong pattern of behavior on my part of updating formats as a direct response to Godzilla.

[Benjamin Haines]

Yeah, this is a big deal, This is Criterion's first standalone release of a Godzilla movie that isn't the original. They're not waiting until they can release a full Heisei box set, nor are they sticking to chronological order. It makes sense that Biollante would be their first Heisei release, since it's one that Sony doesn't own and it's the only one that Toho has already released on 4K disc in Japan.

[Kailem]

Their release of Biollante in 4K making it clear that they're not going to wait for Toho to remaster all the Heisei films before putting them all out in a box set kinda makes me wish Toho would actually release some of the other movies on disc that they've done 4K restorations of like Rodan, Matango etc., so Criterion could finally release them over here too instead of just seemingly sitting on them indefinitely for streaming only.

[lhb412]

My Diabolik order of Biollante 4K is prepping for shipment (these specialty stores often break street date!).

[Kailem]

It's kinda crazy that this is almost here. Feels like it only just got announced!

I ordered mine from Amazon, so no chance of it getting here before street date. But I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how it compares to my current Biollante Blu-ray!

[lhb412]

Got mine! Can't wait to dig in...

There's a suprise within the packaging that I don't think was advertised. If you want to be suprised, avoid reviews and whatnot!

[Kailem]

I've not had it spoiled but I've got an idea of what it could be, and if it turns out to be what I'm thinking then that's pretty cool.

[lhb412]

Well, was a day late in actually digging in because I spent most of yesterday hunkering down for severe weather that never showed! Anyway...

Unsurprisingly, this is a substantial upgrade over what we had before. Even if you don't have 4K and just watch the Blu-ray (the 4k edition has both discs) you're talking far greater detail, better color, and if any artificial de-noising has been done (Japan is a bit notorious for this) it's been lightly applied, retaining a filmic look with visible grain. It hasn't been scrubbed into looking artificially shiny and new if that's what worries you. It still looks 1989, you know? I had fun spotting the tiny details that were invisible before; specks of dirt on the lens, beads of water, dripping monster slime...

Haven't gone through all the extras yet. Only listened to a bit of Samm's commentary; sounds good, she's a pro. Haven't read the essay. As for the extras licensed from Toho we have two featurettes that were included in the previous North American release, and two new-to-us inclusions. The first is a 7 minute reel of unused effects shots in HD (but unrestored) that only overlaps a bit with the deleted shots featured in the behind the scenes doc. The second is a complete collection of teasers, trailers, and TV spots that really suprised me (watch 'em to find out why!).

Funny thing, even though the hour-ling making of special and the concept design featurette are standard def, shot-on-video affairs even they are substantially better looking than their Echo Bridge presentations! They were both blurrier and noisier on the old disc.

I hope this is the standard for further Criterion releases. Presentation of the film, mix of new and licensed extras, great original art, and a suprise in the packaging that really made me smile when I saw it. If only every entry in the series gets this much respect!

[Benjamin Haines]

^ Thanks for that overview. I'm glad that the "deleted special effects" is indeed that 7-minute reel from Toho's Biollante 4K disc. Toho's disc includes five featurettes that aren't on Criterion's release but I think that reel of raw effects footage is the most important inclusion. There are similar reels of alternate & unused effects footage on Toho's 4K releases of MvsG, GT3HM, MZ and DAM so this bodes well for them being included on any potential standalone releases from Criterion!

Can you confirm that Criterion's Biollante release includes all 13 of the promos from Toho's 4K disc? This is what Toho's disc includes:

- "Godzilla 2" teaser (0:13)
- Early teaser featuring stock footage from the original film (0:33)
- Standard teaser (0:44)
- Longer teaser (1:05)
- "Godzilla's Trajectory" teaser featuring footage from several prior Godzilla movie trailers (2:36)
- Main theatrical trailer (2:04)
- English-dubbed export trailer (2:04)
- Textless version of the English-dubbed export trailer (2:04)
- Five TV spots (0:18 each)

[lhb412]

^ Don't have the disc playing in front of me, but if memory serves those are all the ones I watched this morning!

[Benjamin Haines]

^ Excellent, thanks!

[Dai]

I was on the fence about this release because the movie isn't one of my favourites and I didn't feel there was anything wrong with the earlier BD, but this sounds like a solid upgrade. I'm a sucker for a good audio commentary too, so I'll probably buy it.

[Kailem]

I got mine yesterday, and while I've not yet had a chance to watch it, the surprise inclusion in the packaging is indeed awesome! Not what I was expecting it to be, but that's good because what's actually there is better!