Is there a HD reconstruction of Rodan (1956) out there?

[morgoth]

I've been looking around for a HD version of this for a few years now. One site said there was one but when I clicked on the link it was a dead link. Anyone know if one exists?

[Mr_Goji_and_Watch]

AFAIK Not of the American version. Best option you have for any version of Rodan in HD is the HDTV-airing/Blu-Ray version.

[omgitsgodzilla]

There is one out there; shoot me a message and I'll point you to where you can find it.

[G-MAN]

Wish there was a hd reconstruction that was full hd like omgitsgodzilla and a few others have done lately. I saw a reconstruction of sorts that was cool in theory but it's using an hd source an hd fan reconstruction. Plus it was made to be the cropped version. Really hope someone does it since I believe most of the exclusive American scenes are just footage of bomb tests that I'm sure can be found elsewhere in hd

[Toby21]

Wish there was a hd reconstruction that was full hd like omgitsgodzilla and a few others have done lately. I saw a reconstruction of sorts that was cool in theory but it's using an hd source an hd fan reconstruction. Plus it was made to be the cropped version. Really hope someone does it since I believe most of the exclusive American scenes are just footage of bomb tests that I'm sure can be found elsewhere in hd

I did an HD reconstruction of Rodan about a year ago. I did all the Showa Godzilla movies and Rodan and Mothra. Unfortunately Rodan is a bit problematic. As you may be aware, there are scenes from a Japanese version that the editors back in the 50s had access to that do not currently exist in the released Japanese version. It has been hypothesized that they were given a workprint of the Japanese footage to edit the American film from. At a rough guess, there are about 15-20 different shots like this in the American version that do NOT exist in the released Japanese version.

The stock footage added is spread all over the movie, too. The majority is, of course, at the beginning, but there are some other shots mixed in throughout the movie. All told, there is about four and a half minutes of stock footage that would need to be sourced.

The final problem with completing an HD reconstruction was locating all the modified footage. This is footage that does exist in the HD Japanese version, but for the US version some shots were flipped horizontally, some shots were zoomed, some are held on a freeze-frame, and some even have the film reversed (i.e. the film runs backwards!). While these shots are there, sometimes tracking them down takes a bit of time.

I have seen the widescreen reconstruction you mention. It used as its basis the Monsters HD broadcast I believe, which was zoomed to widescreen. The contrast and compression was much better than any of the US DVD releases though, but the cropped images made it hard to use as part of the overall reconstruction. For the most part, my recon dropped back to the US DVD version for stock and unique Japanese footage. Until I find another source (ideally a 16 or 35 mm film print) it is still miles better than watching the other versions I've seen.

Toby

[MikeSTZillak]

MustafaDaisenso did one.