by Tyler E. Martin » Wed Jun 20, 2007 8:26 pm
Picked these up last week. Definitely digging the video/audio presentation on both. I couldn't possibly ask for better. I love the slideshows and bio featurettes as well. These are some fantastic discs.
Kalat's commentary for "Ghidorah" is excellent in content, even though I don't agree with him on everything (I will never, ever understand how any adult could prefer the American version to the original), but he does make some valid points and I especially loved the wealth of info he had to share about Shinichi Sekizawa. My only big issue is his delivery. The man sounds like an insane radio commentator yammering about politics.
The big letdown for me, I will have to say, is the commentary track on "Astro-Monster." I am certain that there are more interesting and more pertinent things to talk about than the lowdown on a face on the far right to whom my attention would never have been drawn had Mr. Galbraith not pointed the man out. There were some great bits here and there, like the stuff about Nick Adams and Yoshio Tsuchiya, but the bulk of the track is extraordinarily bland.
Again, that's not to say I don't love these DVDs. I am mightily thankful for the work put forth by the folks at Classic Media. Until recently, I never would have dreamt of Godzilla getting such great treatment in the United States. Whatever beef I may have with the commentaries is more than made up for in the rest of the content. I got the discs to see the movies as they were originally intended, and I'll be doggoned if they didn't do one better in giving great presentations of the U.S. versions as well, and some fantastic bonus material to boot. :rockon: Can't wait for the other releases on the way!