Article: 7
Date: 5/18/08
Year: 1967

Son of Godzilla (1967)  Company: VIP Video Club (1978)  Country: France  Category: Clam Shell  Supplemental Inclusion: French Poster, French Lobby Card Released by Rex International Distribution in French theaters on March 1st, 1978 under the title La Planète Des Monstres (The Planet of the Monsters), this early VHS appeared the same year. The poster features King Ghidorah along with the Moonlight SY-3 (both of which are absent from this film). In fact, 90% of the trailer at the time consisted of footage from Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965). The film is also erroneously credited to Ishiro Honda instead of Jun Fukuda. The rear cover boasts a running time of 120 minutes, while the actual length clocks in at almost 38 minutes shorter. Despite all the errors, the French dubbing is excellent.

Son of Godzilla (1967)  Company: Video Treasures - CST Entertainment - Video Cassette Sales, Inc. (1987)  Country: United States  Category: Slip Cover This 1987 CST Entertainment VHS release has nice, yet somewhat generic boxart. The cover features the title at the top and original artwork of Minilla breathing atomic fire in the foreground with Godzilla in the background doing the same. Unlike some other VHS releases, the film description on the back is entirely accurate. Also on the back is a single picture of Minilla from the front of the box. The sides of the box each feature the same concept: a picture of Minilla from the front at the top with the title running down the rest of the way. As bland as this release might seem, it makes a fine addition to any G-Fan's collection.

Son of Godzilla (1967)  Company: Anchor Bay Entertainment, Inc. (1997)  Country: United States  Category: Slip Cover Licensed from American distributor Golden Books Family Entertainment and released in 1997, Anchor Bay's trademark tradition of using stills from The Return of Godzilla (1984) was still alive and kicking for this release. The front features a superimposed 1984-style Godzilla on a Tokyo backdrop, while a composite of Godzilla and his son Minilla decorate the foreground. As with many VHS releases from this period, Godzilla is featured with a vivid greenish hue. His son manages to maintain the truer-to-life charcoal grey tone (likely to show contrast). As for blurb mistakes, this package only features one inarguable inaccuracy: "an army of giant spiders" which would seem to indicate multiple Kumonga's. Naturally (perhaps only by legal obligation), the text ends with a standard-issue one-liner: "Where's Mrs. Godzilla when you really need her?"

Son of Godzilla (1967) and Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)  Company: PolyGram Video Ltd. (1992)  Country: United Kingdom  Category: Clam Shell This is quite possibly the most unlikely of pairings PolyGram could have chosen. Son of Godzilla (1967) makes its video debut in the UK, while Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) is released under its international title 12 years after appearing under its UK title. Both films are the international versions presented in widescreen (the aspect ratios of which are untrue to the original theatrical releases). Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) contains no cuts, and all the violence is included. This may account for the video being given a "15" rating by the UK censors. To put that into context for non-UK residents, the 1989 Batman received a "12" rating... so this film was considered pretty violent. Son of Godzilla (1967) is given a "U" rating, meaning "universal" (suitable for all). The cover uses some photos faithful to the films, and the back cover plot write ups are concise and quite accurate (with the exception of the Mafune misspelling: "Malfune").