Kraken Releasing to put RETURN OF GODZILLA on Blu-Ray

[klen7]

[Geno]

Wasn't the original movie in 2.0 stereo?

[lhb412]

Amazon now has the final cover art (back, front, and disc) as well as some stills... buy a Bio still accidentally got on there!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FZ8I7R4/re ... UTF8&psc=1

[Dr Kain]

[lhb412]

[KaiserGhidorah]

Gotta love how they take subtle jabs at the American version on their back coverart. If they had ACTUALLY acquired it, they wouldn't have been so quick to pick it apart which is infuriating to me considering that's the version of the film I prefer. Still, I will do my part and pick it up on release (already preordered). Again, I'm thankful for the Monsters HD version of G85 as if it wasn't for that, I'd be stuck with a VHS forever.

[lhb412]

^At least they're making it abundantly clear that that version isn't included - as well as doing a little ballyhoo for their own release. I can understand the reasons behind it.

[Dr Kain]

I think that is the point. Besides, they're not wrong, the US cut is inferior.

[william newell]

[KaiserGhidorah]

[jellydonut25]

I prefer the US cut myself. It's much more lively and moves at a better pace. You do lose one shot that is a really cool visual, but you also lose all the worst effects as well.

US cut, all the way.

[Dr Kain]

[Geno]

Says you. I like both versions, it's such a shame that the 1985 version isn't being preserved.

[jellydonut25]

[KaiserGhidorah]

[Benjamin Haines]

I think the blurb on the back cover is fair in its description of the US version. New World Pictures did cut over 20 minutes of footage, insert additional scenes, change key plot points, and add more humor. That is what happened. They wanted to "Americanize" the movie for 1985 American audiences and they did just that.

Kraken is right to trumpet the previously unavailable nature of what they're releasing here. Back in 2004-2007, it was a big deal when Sony and Classic Media started releasing the uncut Japanese versions of Godzilla movies on DVD in North America. For decades they had only been available on these shores with English dubbing, often edited, and in the VHS era usually only in pan-and-scan. That hasn't been the case for most Godzilla movies in the US for quite a while now but The Return of Godzilla is one of the few remaining holdouts. Up until this time, it's only been available on VHS in its edited, dubbed, pan-and-scan form.

I wish the US version could have been included on this upcoming release and I sympathize with those who prefer that cut. Maybe it will happen one day but right now Kraken is releasing what it can. The Return of Godzilla is finally coming to DVD and bluray in North America in its native language, uncut and widescreen, and that is significant. It'll even include the international English dub! Aside from the international dub of Godzilla 2000, I'd call that the rarest English-dubbed version of any Godzilla movie until now.

[Destroysall]

I loved the 1985 version and prefer it over the original. Shame that it didn't (or couldn't) make the cut.

[Kailem]

Having never seen the US G85 cut of the film I can't really mourn its lack of inclusion here since it holds no nostalgic value for me. It'd be nice if every one of these DVD/Blu-ray releases included every cut of the film, but in this case it just sounds like the rights are such a potentially tangled mess that it really wouldn't be possible, or at least feasible, to include it either way. It sucks for those who wanted it, but at least it sounds like they tried.

Frankly I'm just glad we're finally getting a real, actual western release of the film at all (with original Japanese and international versions to boot!). That's really not something I ever honestly expected would happen.

I'm rather weary about potentially importing the Blu-ray though since it seems like there are some conflicting reports as to whether or not the previous Kraken Godzilla Blu-rays could be made to work on Region B (UK) players. Does anyone here have any experience with that? If not I can always bite the bullet and import it on DVD since one way or another I need to own it in some form, but obviously the Blu-ray would be preferable.

[Dai]

[Kailem]

Thanks, that's disappointing to hear.

Normally I wouldn't even have bothered asking, since as you say most of them so far have been region-locked, it was just that I saw a comment in the region info section for the Ebirah Blu-ray that says "After the label announcement and the copyright warning, the blu-ray says that the material contained is not available in this region. However, by selecting titles on your remote control, you can acess the main feature as well as the trailer. Audio options and subtitles are selectable as well", which made me wonder if that might be the case with all of them, or just that one and/or under specific circumstances.

Being able to import multi-region monster movie DVDs was what pushed me to get a multi-region DVD player back in the day, so at least there'd be a certain degree of some symmetry there if that ends up being the reason I eventually get a multi-region Blu-ray player too.

[Dai]

[The Top Crusader]

[Kailem]

[snowfall]

Got it 1 month early

https://www.reddit.com/r/GODZILLA/comme ... et_the_us/

[H-Man]

It's been reported by someone else who received theirs early that Godzilla's eerie scream has been replaced at the end of the English dub. This isn't a surprise, as they'd be reworking this audio track, but it's still a disappointment.

Edit: I know the Godzilla scream is usually associated with New World's Godzilla 1985, but it originated at Toho with either a monaural mix of the Japanese version or the original international version. . .