Region Coding: R1
Year film was released: 1954 (Japanese Release)
Year DVD was released: 2006 (US Release)
Chapter Stops: 28 (Gojira), 9 (Godzilla: King of the Monsters)
Review by Spencer Levitt
Video Quality: *****/*****
Most people think this is a very poor quality print, but they don't know that this is actually the best print currently available on the planet. After fifty two years, it should be expected for the print to be have a lot of speckles, grains, hairs, and other things. But the image is incredibly sharp, and very vivid. The damages do not control the movie. But, the US print used for the 2002 Classic Media had much less wear and tear compared to this print- but that still doesn't mean much. Bottom line, there is no better print out there. BFI's and Toho's aren't even as good as the quality for this disc.
Audio Quality: ****/*****
For Gojira, Classic Media has provided the Japanese 2.0 mono audio track with bright yellow English subtitles. The Japanese dialogue is absolutely perfect- nothing hisses or pops, which is good. The English dialogue has occasional hisses and pops, but nothing big. The subtitles for the Japanese version are a little too thin, though, and may be hard to read at times for some. The Audio quality basically is perfectly fine, and actually quite close to perfection.
Special Features: *****/*****
All I can say is�wow. This is the absolute best you�ll get for an R1 release of a kaiju film. First off are incredibly informative audio commentaries for both versions of the Japanese masterpiece. They are informative, and often very humorous. Next up are the original theatrical trailers for both films. Both are in a little worse condition than the films themselves. The Japanese trailer is completely normal, but the English version is amazingly sped up and does not use the original footage used for the version�s theatrical trailer. Next up are is the Godzilla: Story Development featurette. This gives a large does of information about how the story for Godzilla was made. It is extremely detailed and carries a large amount of extremely interesting information and a very rare collection of photos. Next up is the Making of the Godzilla Suit featurette, which gave so much information that I already didn�t know some of it. Like the Story Development featurette, it is extremely detailed, very interesting, and has a large collection of rare photos. And last but not least is a 16 page booklet on how the original Gojira was made. Once again, incredibly detailed, very interesting, and amazingly informative. I recommend checking out all of the amazing special features- they are a great treat for an American G-Fan, especially seeing how it is rare to get more than just trailers for special features in our kaiju DVDs.
Overall: *****/*****
Words cannot describe how awesome this disc is. Classic Media has certainly wowed me with the effort put into this disc- the video quality is amazing, and everything else is even better, especially for an R1 disc, and even more especially after Classic Media�s previous kaiju DVD releases. I recommend to any G-Fan, young or old, picking this disc up. It is a must have for any American fan. Without this disc, not only is your collection isn�t complete, but your life isn�t complete. Buy this DVD. It�s amazing. All of the effort and quality put into this disc� its amazing for a Godzilla disc. So, once again: Bravo, Classic Media! Bravo! The best video quality, the best special features, and grand audio- what do you have to loose?