Sunday, October 16, 2011

The Criterion Collection edition of Godzilla

Godzilla Criterion DVDHere's info from Criterion's website about their upcoming DVD and Blu-ray of Godzilla (1954). Coming to stores January 24, 2012.

SYNOPSIS: Godzilla is the roaring granddaddy of all monster movies. It’s also a remarkably humane and melancholy drama made in Japan at a time when the country was still reeling from nuclear attack and H-bomb testing. Its rampaging radioactive beast, the poignant embodiment of an entire population’s fears, became a beloved international icon of destruction, spawning more than twenty sequels. This first thrilling, tactile spectacle continues to be a cult phenomenon; here, we present the original, 1954 Japanese version, along with Godzilla, King of the Monsters, the 1956 American reworking starring Raymond Burr.

Disc Features

  • New high-definition digital restoration (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
  • Audio commentary by David Kalat (A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series)
  • New high-definition digital restoration of Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Terry Morse’s 1956 reworking of the original, starring Raymond Burr
  • Audio commentary for Godzilla, King of the Monsters by Kalat
  • New interviews with actor Akira Takarada (Hideto Ogata), Godzilla performer Haruo Nakajima, and effects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai
  • Interview with legendary Godzilla score composer Akira Ifukube
  • Featurette detailing Godzilla’s photographic effects
  • New interview with Japanese-film critic Tadao Sato
  • The Unluckiest Dragon, an illustrated audio essay featuring historian Greg Pflugfelder describing the tragic fate of the fishing vessel Daigo fukuryu maru, a real-life event that inspired Godzilla
  • Theatrical trailers
  • New and improved English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic J. Hoberman
Related links:
Godzilla Vs Megalon on DVD and Blu-ray
Mystery Science Theater 3000 vs. Giant Monsters
Available for Pre-Order: DESTROY ALL MONSTERS
Giant Monster Movies: Godzilla
Giant Monster Movies: Mothra
Giant Monster Movies: Rodan
Giant Monster Movies: King Ghidorah

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This blog is for fans of classic giant monsters and monster-fighters from the movies, TV, and comics -- including King Kong, Godzilla, Gamera, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, Dogora, Johnny Sokko and Giant Robot, Ultraman, Fin Fang Foom, Titano, The Host, and more. We also salute the classic genre and special effects films of Toho Studios Universal Studios, Hammer Films, not to mention the Frankenstein Monster, Count Dracula, the Wolf Man, the Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, giant robots, sci-fi, manga, and anime.