Pluto TV's 24/7 Godzilla channel!

[Benjamin Haines]

As originally reported by ComicBook.com, the free ad-supported streaming television service Pluto TV is adding a Godzilla channel to its extensive catalog of 24/7 channels!

https://comicbook.com/anime/news/godzilla-channel-pluto-tv-24-hours-exclusive-movies/

Launching July 1, the listed titles include all of the Showa Series except King Kong vs. Godzilla (naturally), all of the Heisei Series, all of the Millennium Series, as well as the 1998 TriStar movie and, surprisingly, its animated spinoff Godzilla: The Series! The only non-Godzilla titles listed are the original Mothra and the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy. The only Godzilla titles that aren't listed are KKvsG, the 1978-1979 Hanna-Barbera animated series and everything post-2004 — no MonsterVerse films, Shin Godzilla, anime film trilogy or Singular Point.

Interestingly, the seven Heisei Godzilla movies are the only ones listed in bold parentheses as "Pluto TV Exclusive" in that article. That makes me wonder which other streaming platforms are currently streaming the Millennium films or Godzilla: The Series or any of the Mothra films for those to not also be listed as Pluto TV exclusives. All I know is that the Showa Godzilla movies have been streaming on Max and TokuSHOUTsu for a while now.

It doesn't specify whether these will be subtitled or dubbed, aside from listing Godzilla (1954) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1956) as separate titles. It lists "The Return of Godzilla / Godzilla 1985" as one title with a slash in between, along with just "All Monsters Attack (Godzilla's Revenge)" and "Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster)" listed with their US version titles in parentheses. I'm inclined to think that all of the Japanese movies on that list besides G:KotM'56 will be the subtitled Japanese versions but maybe some English dubs or other US versions will turn up on this channel. I'm sure that the Showa Godzilla movies will have the same Criterion subtitles as Max and TokuSHOUTsu but I'm really interested in comparing the Heisei and Millennium subtitles to those on the DVD/BRD releases.


Kailem, Dai, it looks like Pluto TV is available in the UK but with fewer channels than in the US. Hopefully the Godzilla channel will be included on the UK service!

[lhb412]

This is great news for the accessibility of the films! The 'free with ads' streamers are becoming very popular (and are bound to grow as they're the rare streamers actually making a profit!), and this'll be the modern equivalent of catching the films on MonsterVision or Creature Feature or whatnot... only moreso because it's all Godzilla (and Mothra) all the time, baby!

The MST3K and Tokushoutsu channels are already my go to background noise.

[Benjamin Haines]

It has launched! https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/channels/6452c8cee1979c0008608e27/

Not only is the Godzilla channel now airing on Pluto TV, all of the listed titles can also be searched and streamed individually on Pluto TV's website.

First and foremost, as of the time I'm posting this, Pluto TV does not have The Return of Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Biollante, the first Rebirth of Mothra movie, TriStar's 1998 Godzilla film, or the animated Godzilla: The Series, contrary to what was reported.

All of the Showa Godzilla movies open with the Janus Films logo and have the same transfers and English subtitles as Criterion's blu-ray discs, just like what's already streaming on TokuSHOUTsu and Max. No surprises there. Aside from the 1956 G:KotM, which is listed as its own title, all of them are the subtitled Japanese versions, no English dubs or US versions.

Pluto TV also has Rodan and War of the Gargantuas even though those weren't among the reported titles. They're the same as what's on TokuSHOUTsu and Max: the Japanese version of Rodan with English subtitles, the international English dub of WOTG with the main title subtitled as "WAR OF GARGANTUAS" and both movies open with the Janus Films logo.

Mothra is the US version, opening with the Columbia logo. The transfer looks like the same restoration that Sony released on DVD and Mill Creek later released on BRD.

The Heisei Godzilla movies, the Rebirth of Mothra sequels and the Millennium Godzilla flicks are all identical transfers to what Sony released on BRD. Same opening logos, same onscreen text, same English subtitles, same credits — same everything, with a few notable exceptions in certain instances.

Unlike Sony's BRDs, all of the 1991-2004 Godzilla movies have the Sony Pictures Television logo at the very end. That indicates that Pluto TV licensed the rights to all of those films from Sony, including Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah and Godzilla vs. Mothra. Apparently Sony still retains the TV and streaming rights to those two movies, even though their home video rights seemingly expired after 2019 and every Sony DVD or BRD release containing either of those films has been unavailable from retailers ever since.

Both the original Mothra and Rebirth of Mothra 2 also have the Sony Pictures Television logo at the very end. Rebirth of Mothra 3, however, does not, perhaps because it's the only one of these movies that already has a "Released by TriStar, a Sony Pictures Entertainment Company" logo at the very end on Sony's BRD and it still has that logo here.

All of the Heisei Godzilla films, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, Tokyo SOS and Final Wars have Japanese audio with English subtitles. Conversely, Godzilla 2000 is just Sony's US version, and both GMK and Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla have Toho's international English dub tracks without subtitles. In other words, all eight of the Godzilla movies that Sony released on BRD on May 6, 2014 are presented on Pluto TV with Japanese audio and the same English subtitles, while all three of the Godzilla movies that Sony released on BRD on September 9, 2014 are presented on Pluto TV only with the English audio options from those discs. On the other hand, Rebirth of Mothra 2 and 3 are both presented on Pluto TV with Japanese audio and English subtitles, even though Sony released that trilogy to BRD on September 9, 2014.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah has one difference that I've found in the English subtitles on Pluto TV compared to Sony's BRD. In the office scene after Terasawa finds the old newspaper article about the nuclear submarine that sank in the Bering Sea, as he's walking out and Chiaki asks him what he's working on, he replies, "It's for The Birth of Godzilla, of course." On Sony's BRD, the subtitle for that line has "The Birth of Godzilla" italicized, as it's the title of Terasawa's book, but on Pluto TV, that entire line is italicized.

Godzilla vs. Mothra has two significant differences from Sony's BRD. Whereas the Sony disc has the main title subtitled as "Godzilla® and Mothra®: The Battle for Earth", the main title on Pluto TV is subtitled as "Godzilla vs. Mothra", just Toho's official English title without those ® symbols. Additionally, while Sony's BRD has the movie end with a truncated credits sequence followed by another two minutes of a silent black screen, the version on Pluto TV continues playing the rest of the music from the uncut end credits during that black screen.


Godzilla (1954) - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/62c5f584a0f14a00072dd51e
Godzilla Raids Again - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/618187c01be642001a2d7cec
Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956) - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/61818612436116001a0bcbcf
Rodan - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/618187bd1be642001a2d7c55
Mothra - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/5bd1efdbcd6410e58e743904
Mothra vs. Godzilla - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/61818608436116001a0bc9d7
Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/618187c51be642001a2d7dbb
Monster Zero - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/6181860c436116001a0bcaaa
War of the Gargantuas - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/618185fc436116001a0bc8a7
Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/6181862d436116001a0bd13d
Son of Godzilla - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/61818601436116001a0bc97e
Destroy All Monsters - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/61818632436116001a0bd210
All Monsters Attack - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/61818635436116001a0bd2ab
Godzilla vs. Hedorah - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/6181861c436116001a0bcd6c
Godzilla vs. Gigan - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/61818620436116001a0bcea9
Godzilla vs. Megalon - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/61818615436116001a0bcc9a
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/61818619436116001a0bccd1
Terror of Mechagodzilla - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/618187b81be642001a2d7bba
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/5b36cba9ad1b6cc65215962d
Godzilla vs. Mothra - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/5b5f49ac1db958537a1ecb86
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1993) - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/649df23be548810013d93ea2
Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/649e6154e135660013713e19
Godzilla vs. Destroyer - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/649dc974ab3edd0013887059
Rebirth of Mothra 2 - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/649e69c4e548810013dc57d0
Rebirth of Mothra 3 - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/649f2909a1659900136bb090
Godzilla 2000 - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/5b36cb4bad1b6cc652158b39
Godzilla vs. Megaguirus - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/649df7ddab3edd0013894eba
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/5b36cb58ad1b6cc652158d99
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/5b3c3b83db5ec1fc60dcd5ac
Godzilla: Tokyo SOS - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/5b36cbaaad1b6cc65215966b
Godzilla: Final Wars - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/movies/5b36cb59ad1b6cc652158dd3

[Kailem]

"Kailem, Dai, it looks like Pluto TV is available in the UK but with fewer channels than in the US. Hopefully the Godzilla channel will be included on the UK service!"

Alas it looks like it's only available on the US version. Nothing comes up when searching for "Godzilla" on the UK one, and the direct links to the US channel revert to some CSI show that seems to make up 100% of what's shown on this one for some reason.

I'm not gonna lie, even though I already own most of the stuff on there, it'd be cool to just check in on a live channel that's halfway through a movie every now and then, like back in the good old days. On demand is cool and everything, but there's something to be said for just picking up a movie halfway through (at least if it's one you've already seen).

[Benjamin Haines]

^ Damn, tough break.


Here's another difference between what's on Pluto TV and what Sony released on blu-ray disc: GMK is cropped to a 16x9 aspect ratio for some inexplicable reason. It's the only one of these movies that's cropped, and it's one of the few that's only available dubbed in English. That poor movie just can't catch a break with how it's presented to English-speaking audiences.

In fact, of all the 1991-2004 Godzilla movies, GMK is the only one that isn't the same transfer that Sony released on BRD back in 2014. I just did side-by-side comparisons and the version of GMK on Pluto TV is actually the transfer that Sony released on DVD way back in 2004, with the more natural colors and the very unnatural edge enhancement. That still doesn't explain why it's cropped to 16x9 on Pluto TV, as Sony's DVD wasn't cropped like that.

[lhb412]

It's dope as hell that I can just put on a running Godzilla marathon in the background as I do some involved task like washing then slicing all these apples I picked then canning apple pie filling (which is what I'm doing now. Ghidorah TTHM is on!).

[Benjamin Haines]

Last night, Pluto TV commemorated Godzilla Day by premiering the 1998 TriStar movie, followed immediately by Final Wars.