Toho's Godzilla 4K Restoration Project

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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by G-Matt »

heiseigodzilla425 wrote:
Cookson wrote:How is that DVD box that cheap? Holy crap.
Someone can correct me, but I think they are releasing each disc individually, each one priced at ~$20, or ~$10 during some promotional period.

It looks like Godzilla (1954) is available for preorder on amazon.co.jp.

Here's another link that shows some other amazon listings.
It looks like it's going to be one of those magazine/DVD combos that they've done in Japan before.
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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by Chrispy_G »

I have a question. I'm curious...how much do you guys think these 4K restorations cost? We know for sure that Toho has already done the original film, and King Kong vs Godzilla. From what I understood, the channel that was doing the special showings of these films in 4K included other Godzilla films as well....but then sources say only 1 minute from each film was restored as a 'test'.

But I have to imagine that if they've restored 2 films they would see value/interest in restoring them all.

How much do you think this costs them? I'm sure variables impact that cost. Older, worse looking films need more work...shorter films have less material to restore, etc.

I'm just speaking hypothetically. I have no idea how costly this process is. Would the restorations of Godzilla and King Kong vs Godzilla cost what? $1 Million apiece? Millions? Tens of millions each?
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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by heiseigodzilla425 »

According to http://www.film-foundation.org/faq:
The complexity and cost of a restoration varies widely according to the condition of the film, its length, and the unique technical specifications of the film. Generally, the cost of a black and white feature film with sound ranges from $50,000-$250,000. For a color feature with sound, the costs can range from $80,000-$450,000 to restore using traditional photochemical process, to several hundred thousand dollars for a 2K or 4K digital restoration. In both instances, whether photochemical or digital, new film elements are created and archived to serve as the long term preservation masters.
Pure speculation follows:
There are 31 Godzilla films, 29 of which are ~10-60 years old and in vastly varying condition. Given that an SD restoration can cost up to $450,000, and a 4K master could cost more, lets just say that a 4K restoration for Godzilla would cost $500,000 on average (which I'm sure is a low estimate, but it makes the math easier in this example). To restore 29 films up to a 4K resolution (which, at the very least, would involve finding prints, repairing them, scanning them, digital cleanup, and color correction) could cost $14.5 million.

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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by omgitsgodzilla »

I'd think, given a project of that magnitude, there'd be a little room for haggling. Seeing as you're guaranteeing the restorers 31 films' worth of work, you could probably negotiate a much lower price per movie.
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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by Chrispy_G »

Wow...not to downplay the cost...but that actually doesn't seem like much in the grand scheme of things. Even if you high-ball the numbers, it sounds like it could be done for all of the films for $30M max.

Of course, when talking about Toho spending that money vs a huge Hollywood mega-studio spending that money...it is a different conversation.

But it doesn't seem prohibitively costly.
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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by Kaijunator »

I really want to see what the lightning striking Godzilla's fins scene from GXMG looks like in 4K. Man, I need a 4K TV and player now. I might just buy the entire set. I want to see the Japanese versions of KKVG and G2KM. I'm glad other Toho films are included, especially the Mothra trilogy.
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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

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"Glad other Toho films are included" in what though? No Toho sci-fi films outside of the Godzilla series are receiving 4K restorations (yet), and the two that exist (G'54 and KKvG) don't have home video releases announced yet. The situation is the same as it was when this thread was started six months ago.
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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by Great Hierophant »

I saw the good work they did for KKvG, a film that sorely needed a full restoration. But the materials for Japanese Godzilla are a tad soft and murky, especially during the effects scenes. I'm not sure how much more they can tease out of those elements.

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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

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Goji wrote:"Glad other Toho films are included" in what though? No Toho sci-fi films outside of the Godzilla are receiving 4K restorations (yet), and the two that exist (G'54 and KKvG) don't have home video releases announced yet. The situation is the same as it was when this thread was started six months ago.
The list on page 4 said films like Atragon and Varan would be included.
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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by goji1986 »

Kaijunator wrote:
Goji wrote:"Glad other Toho films are included" in what though? No Toho sci-fi films outside of the Godzilla are receiving 4K restorations (yet), and the two that exist (G'54 and KKvG) don't have home video releases announced yet. The situation is the same as it was when this thread was started six months ago.
The list on page 4 said films like Atragon and Varan would be included.
That's for a DVD box set. Scroll up a bit higher and you'll see a video and/or print announcement.
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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by Blue Three »

Kaijunator wrote:The list on page 4 said films like Atragon and Varan would be included.
That list is just the content of those "Collectors' Box" (what a misleading title) magazines and unrelated to which movies are getting restored.

That whole series is more or less the same as the "Toho Tokusatsu Eiga DVD Collection" thing that Deagostini put out over 65 issues (bi-weekly) some years ago. An okay purchase if you don't mind spending money/buying these films again and again, but don't expect any newly restored footage. The reason they're doing this again now is that DVDs hardly sell anymore on their own and are cheap enough to produce to give as an extra in a magazine. Then again 1850 yen a pop isn't even that cheap.

Seriously though... 4k restorations of Atragon or Varan? Heh. I can't say I see that happening too soon. Similar to how Bond was first released on BluRay, they'll most likely put out a select few Godzilla movies first to test the waters before they move on to more obscure titles.

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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by Kaijunator »

goji1986 wrote:
Kaijunator wrote:
Goji wrote:"Glad other Toho films are included" in what though? No Toho sci-fi films outside of the Godzilla are receiving 4K restorations (yet), and the two that exist (G'54 and KKvG) don't have home video releases announced yet. The situation is the same as it was when this thread was started six months ago.
The list on page 4 said films like Atragon and Varan would be included.
That's for a DVD box set. Scroll up a bit higher and you'll see a video and/or print announcement.
Haven't watched the video yet, I'll do it this weekend, but is the price really that cheap?
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Godzilla bursts from the ground, killing the 3 pilots. Godzilla will then battle his newest opponent...
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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by Blue Three »

It's not a box set at all, really. It's a magazine+DVD publication that's released every other week (since July last year). Each issue is 1850 yen, with the initial one being 890. It's planned to run for 51 issues. Inside the magazine you got facsimile prints of posters, pamphlets, lobby cards and all that. Not sure why they're calling it a "box" though. Maybe they're planning to give some box as a present to those who've bought all volumes.

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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by Chrispy_G »

It'd be a real treat if the 4K restoration of ALL of the films was announced/planned/revealed to finish/be presented for the 65 year anniversary of the original film in 2019.

After that, we would just need a miracle to get every film in 4K here in the states.

It would be really cool if Toho started to take more of a vested interest in the distribution rights of these films overseas. But I just sort of have a thing for uniformity.
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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by GodzillaBurgh »

I would REALLY kill for a copy of KING KONG VS. GODZILLA in 4K.
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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by Servanov »

I would personally love to see a movie like Destoroyah or Biollante in 4K from the original negative. The thing I think a lot of people don't realize is how much even a minimal film restoration in 4K costs. A 4K restoration of a film usually costs anywhere from $80,000 - $450,000. That's also just to restore the film. A restoration studio also has to buy the rights to a film before they scan a single frame, legally. I believe the restoration of Spartacus in 1991 cost about a million dollars, and that was in the 90's. A group like TeamNegativeOne does amazing work restoring the Star Wars films in 4K at a surprisingly low cost in terms of restoration (although they obviously don't pay for the rights). To put the nail in the coffin, the demand for HD versions of the Godzilla films on Home Video is relatively low in America, and surprisingly even lower in Japan. In Japan, there is actually a very low demand for films on home video in general, which is the reason for the high prices of the Japanese Godzilla Blu-Rays. In the end, if there is not a high enough demand, a studio is certainly not going to put in the money for it. The George Stevens epic "The Greatest Story Ever Told" has this bad. The film was shot in Ultra Panavision 70mm, but due to the low demand, the Blu-Ray is sourced from a 35mm dupe print. It's really a shame that a group or a person like TeamNegativeOne does not exist for the Godzilla fan community.

At G-Fest, I bought a keychain with a 35mm frame from Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II, and scanned it with my film scanner, and this is really the closest we can really ever get.
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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by Mr_Goji_and_Watch »

Damn, that looks pretty good. It's a real shame the Blu-Rays are so mediocre.
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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

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Mr_Goji_and_Watch wrote:Damn, that looks pretty good. It's a real shame the Blu-Rays are so mediocre.
Sure is, I compared the two and this theatrical print was much sharper than the Blu-Ray version. Strangely, the Blu-Ray for the most part is subpar and looks like it was from a multiple generation source, but then there's just a few minutes that are juts extremely sharp for some reason. The Sony masters are far better in my opinion than the Toho masters.

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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by goji1986 »

https://www.facebook.com/august.ragone/ ... 5446818185

Mothra vs. Godzilla just got the 4k treatment!

From August Ragone:
The "Nippon Eiga Senmon Channel" on Japanese satellite cable just ran the classic 1964 kaiju spectacle and viewers are commenting on how fantastic it looks (considering Toho Video's previous Blu-ray release), prompting master artist Yuji Kaida to exclaim that these shots "look like color stills!"

Pictures taken from an iPhone of a TV screen are included in the full post, and while it's impossible to fully analyze, right away you can see the difference!
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Re: Godzilla Films getting 4K Restoration (Toho)

Post by Mr_Goji_and_Watch »

Looks pretty good, I hope this time around somebody who recorded it is actually willing to share it.
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