1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

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Brianruns10
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#126 Post by Brianruns10 » Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:13 pm

Forget spine 1000, an even greater milestone has been achieved: Godzilla vs Megalon is now the first film to get both the Criterion AND MST3K treatment. We've now achieved peak pop culture.

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Yaanu
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#127 Post by Yaanu » Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:18 pm

Brianruns10 wrote:
Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:13 pm
Forget spine 1000, an even greater milestone has been achieved: Godzilla vs Megalon is now the first film to get both the Criterion AND MST3K treatment. We've now achieved peak pop culture.
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep was also given the MST3K treatment, though it was its television edit that was used for the episode.

Dr. Mabuse
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#128 Post by Dr. Mabuse » Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:26 pm

Fantastic news.

My only gripe would be the lack of any new involvement by David Kalat.

At least we still get the two commentary from the previous release

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bearcuborg
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#129 Post by bearcuborg » Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:40 pm

No Matthew Broderick, no thanks.

I’ve haven’t seen any of these originals since I was a kid, and I don’t know if I’ll ever see them again, but the artwork is damn attractive.

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EddieLarkin
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#130 Post by EddieLarkin » Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:42 pm

Dr. Mabuse wrote:
Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:26 pm
Fantastic news.

My only gripe would be the lack of any new involvement by David Kalat.

At least we still get the two commentary from the previous release
They're not even carrying over his commentary from the Classic Media release of Ghidorah, which is particularly disappointing.

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swo17
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#131 Post by swo17 » Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:50 pm

Disc breakdown:

Godzilla (1954) (+David Kalat commentary)
+ Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956) (+David Kalat commentary)

Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) (U.S. cut)
+ Japanese cut

Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) (+English dub)

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)
Son of Godzilla (1967) (+English dub)
Destroy All Monsters (1968) (+English dub)

All Monsters Attack (1969)
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)

Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) (+English dub)

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) (+English dub)
Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) (+English dub)

Supplements disc

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movielocke
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#132 Post by movielocke » Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:56 pm

No dvd version. Blu only

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J Wilson
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#133 Post by J Wilson » Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:58 pm

It looks like the unique English-language cuts of the films on the Classic Media discs aren't included either. So I guess hang on to those if you have them.

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HitchcockLang
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#134 Post by HitchcockLang » Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:09 pm

Also, the three Kraken releases include English dubs and none of those films have dubs here. Also if you managed to grab the first editions of Tokyo Shock’s Destroy All Monsters or Megalon, those include supplements and multiple English dubs. This set certainly doesn’t replace much but it’s gorgeous and nice to have all the Shōwa films in HD and together in a single set.

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bad future
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#135 Post by bad future » Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:20 pm

I was holding out hope that Mothra and Rodan would be included as supplements.. I wonder if Criterion might release those as standalone(s)

Coolest surprise here for me is the great lineup of comic artists.. Adams, Darrow, Cloonan, Campbell... I see Sienkiewicz(!) advertised, but apparently just for the inside and not any of the covers, unless I missed one.

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EddieLarkin
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#136 Post by EddieLarkin » Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:23 pm

I wonder why the US version of King Kong vs Godzilla is being given precedent. As far as I know the quality of the Japanese version released on Blu-ray in Japan is about as good as the other releases. Perhaps it was a stipulation from Universal.

It's too bad we're not getting Rodan, since Mothra is available from Mill Creek, and both of them serve as origin films for the characters before they make their appearance in the Godzilla films. Hopefully Criterion plan an individual release, or a follow up box set at some point, with a few more non-Godzilla kaiju-eiga.

ComradeMisato
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#137 Post by ComradeMisato » Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:26 pm

bad future wrote:
Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:20 pm
I was holding out hope that Mothra and Rodan would be included as supplements.. I wonder if Criterion might release those as standalone(s)

Coolest surprise here for me is the great lineup of comic artists.. Adams, Darrow, Cloonan, Campbell... I see Sienkiewicz(!) advertised, but apparently just for the inside and not any of the covers, unless I missed one.
If none of these merited standalone treatment, I doubt any of the non-Godzilla offerings will.

That said, it's nice to see someone else appreciating the artwork. There's so much complaining about it over at Toho Kingdom.

Otastu
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#138 Post by Otastu » Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:38 pm

What are the chances of this being region free like the Bergman set?

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jindianajonz
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#139 Post by jindianajonz » Thu Jul 25, 2019 3:49 pm

Otastu wrote:
Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:38 pm
What are the chances of this being region free like the Bergman set?
Between 0.00 and 1.00

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zedz
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#140 Post by zedz » Thu Jul 25, 2019 3:51 pm

bad future wrote:
Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:20 pm
I was holding out hope that Mothra and Rodan would be included as supplements.. I wonder if Criterion might release those as standalone(s)

Coolest surprise here for me is the great lineup of comic artists.. Adams, Darrow, Cloonan, Campbell... I see Sienkiewicz(!) advertised, but apparently just for the inside and not any of the covers, unless I missed one.
He did the cover for the existing Godzilla release, so presumably they're reusing all or some of that artwork.

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#141 Post by Orlac » Thu Jul 25, 2019 3:54 pm

Interesting...no dub track for Ebirah, but they have the one for Astro Monster which is a weird anomaly as it only synced with the Japanese cut due to it leaving it bits in Japanese!

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The Fanciful Norwegian
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#142 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Thu Jul 25, 2019 3:58 pm

Otastu wrote:
Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:38 pm
What are the chances of this being region free like the Bergman set?
I think this could happen if it gets a UK release, which is a possibility since it doesn't seem like any of these films have current UK editions (except King Kong vs. Godzilla, which has a Universal release that's presumably identical to their U.S. disc). Arrow's release of the Bloodthirsty Trilogy is region-free, probably because they licensed it for both the U.S. and the UK and I doubt Toho cares about region C one way or the other.

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HitchcockLang
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#143 Post by HitchcockLang » Thu Jul 25, 2019 4:36 pm

Criterion site updated to reflect that the Japanese King Kong vs Godzilla will be HD.

Orlac
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#144 Post by Orlac » Thu Jul 25, 2019 4:48 pm

I used to have the JP BD of KKvG. It was mostly intact, but little bits here and there were still of laserdisc vintage. The HD material had a lot of black crush. This was before they did a new HD master from the original 35mm materials.

Otastu
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#145 Post by Otastu » Thu Jul 25, 2019 5:06 pm

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote:
Thu Jul 25, 2019 3:58 pm
Otastu wrote:
Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:38 pm
What are the chances of this being region free like the Bergman set?
I think this could happen if it gets a UK release, which is a possibility since it doesn't seem like any of these films have current UK editions (except King Kong vs. Godzilla, which has a Universal release that's presumably identical to their U.S. disc). Arrow's release of the Bloodthirsty Trilogy is region-free, probably because they licensed it for both the U.S. and the UK and I doubt Toho cares about region C one way or the other.
Plus the Mill Creek Mothra release is region free, so looking good from the Toho side but I'm unsure as to why they actually made the Bergman set region free but hopefully the same motivation applies for this release

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denti alligator
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#146 Post by denti alligator » Thu Jul 25, 2019 6:25 pm

My son said it's clear that it had to be spine thousand because Godzilla has a thousand spines--so he says--visible in that first shot in the trailer over which they advertise the spine number.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#147 Post by FrauBlucher » Thu Jul 25, 2019 6:52 pm

I'm curious, what is the difference between the Japanese and American versions of King Kong vs Godzilla? You can use the spoiler for those that don't want to know.

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Big Ben
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#148 Post by Big Ben » Thu Jul 25, 2019 7:07 pm

FrauBlucher wrote:
Thu Jul 25, 2019 6:52 pm
I'm curious, what is the difference between the Japanese and American versions of King Kong vs Godzilla? You can use the spoiler for those that don't want to know.
A detailed synopsis can be seen here under the "US release" section.

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#149 Post by Orlac » Thu Jul 25, 2019 7:26 pm

The US release of KKVG is truly awful...it turns a light hearted parody into a lumbering mess. I'm amazed Universal let it go out in that state, but then they probably paid peanuts for it (the inserts are cheap as anything) and made millions, so what do I know?

Michael Keith did not go on to the heights of Raymond Burr...

Calvin
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:12 am

Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975

#150 Post by Calvin » Thu Jul 25, 2019 7:32 pm

I'll still be getting this, because I doubt we'll ever get something similar (and better) in the future but this does feel like a Toho-compromised release. Toho have been working on 4K restorations of their Godzilla films, and I know the original and vs. King Kong are already in the can but it looks like all the titles here will be from the same masters as previous Blu-Ray releases. The lack of some dubs/Americanised versions bothers me less because I would watch the Japanese cuts by default, but nevertheless if they were included on previous Classic Media / Kraken releases then they really should have been included in a showcase release like this one.
Last edited by Calvin on Thu Jul 25, 2019 8:05 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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