Criterion streaming Godzilla films + Criterion Showa Box Set

[omgitsgodzilla]

I'll have to check my copy when I get home. It's taken from the Toho Blu-ray and would include the Champion Festival version.

[Terasawa]

Apparently at least some of those scenes are still intact (without repeated frames) in the Toho Matsuri Laserdisc box set released in the '90s. I'd be curious to know how it's handled on Blu-Ray because I think Toho just did a basic standard def recreation of the Matsuri edits using their HD transfers of the full length versions.

Additionally, one of the "stutter frame" sequences in Son of Godzilla --Godzilla tossing a rock at Spiega-- could in the worst case scenario be fixed using stock footage in Godzilla's Revenge.

It's been so long since I tried to match the WRS Sea Monster audio to an anamorphic source but as I recall there's a shot on the cliff face before our heroes find the cave entrance in which a Yoshimura line isn't dubbed, probably because the character was off screen in the 16mm reduction.

[omgitsgodzilla]

I think the versions on the Blu-rays are HD, but I could be remembering wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if that was what they did, except for the unique title cards in some cases.

[goji1986]

It's been so long since I tried to match the WRS Sea Monster audio to an anamorphic source but as I recall there's a shot on the cliff face before our heroes find the cave entrance in which a Yoshimura line isn't dubbed, probably because the character was off screen in the 16mm reduction.

I did an HD restoration of the WRS Sea Monster using the Kraken bluray as a source (PM me if you want a copy). Indeed, the "offscreen" dubbed line in the dance hall and the missing line on the cliff comes across as wonky and weird and if I recall there are two instances of freeze frames -- one where the heroes first see the Red Bamboo ship from the cliff and another when they are trying to break into the RB HQ. I simply time remapped those specific shots so they're only a tad bit slower but it's not noticeable overall.

I recreated the titles in After Effects, tracing the letters and then matching their animation frame by frame (the only effect I couldn't replicate 100% was the blurry fade in on "Sea Monster").

Personally I wanted to preserve the HD experience, and zooming in on the characters in the dance hall and the cliff would have resulted in a blurry shot that wouldn't have fit overall. Maybe, someday, if there's ever a 4K version made available it would be possible to semi-recreate the shot in widescreen but for now that's what we have to work with.

However, I could see the value in making a pillarboxed version that preserved the dub's original framing, too!

[omgitsgodzilla]

One bit worth checking (I'd do it myself only I'm at work): Do the offscreen lines in this scene fit the lip movements?

[Terasawa]

One bit worth checking (I'd do it myself only I'm at work): Do the offscreen lines in this scene fit the lip movements?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUXzT51d010

Nope. It's actually pretty close (like they could listen to the timing of the original audio) but they don't line up the way Titan lip sync usually did.

[omgitsgodzilla]

Interesting. I probably was thinking of SoG then.

[Joseph Goodman]

black splices at US edit points on certain copies.

This prompted me to pull out Godzilla vs The Thing again (do I really need an excuse to do so?), and yep, you can see these black splices on the edits AIP made, most notably at the snipped verses of "Sacred Spring". They're there on both the Simitar and Classic Media discs.

Added in 1 day 2 hours 49 minutes 12 seconds:
Looks like the Nihon Eiga broadcast of the Champion Festival version of Monster Zero is another fresh remaster:

(caps lifted from @mochiroh)

Toho Blu-Ray:

Nihon Eiga:

Toho Blu-Ray:

Nihon Eiga:


Interesting how the color in this new transfer looks a lot like the overall color balance of the Simitar DVD...

[UltramanGoji]

Am I just seeing things or does the Nihon Eiga transfer look a little softer? I think I see it most in Glenn's face but Godzilla looks pretty good.

[Joseph Goodman]

It was just a real pixelated cap; you'll get that with broadcast captures. I've read Nihon Eiga also downsamples their resolution to 1440x1080, so if this same master was encoded to Blu-Ray, it could look even better.

[Godzilla 1986]

Just a quick question: I'm looking to upgrade my Godzilla collection to blu ray, and with Criterion having the rights to all these Showa films, would it be more smart to wait until an actual home video release, assuming they are still planning on doing so? Or pick up what's already out there?

[Godzilla21]

Just a quick question: I'm looking to upgrade my Godzilla collection to blu ray, and with Criterion having the rights to all these Showa films, would it be more smart to wait until an actual home video release, assuming they are still planning on doing so? Or pick up what's already out there?

I would personally hang tight until Criterion comes out with news about the set. But thats just me.

[omgitsgodzilla]

Only a couple of these are out on Blu-ray here; I'm not sure what the prices are like these days. If you can find them cheap enough that you wouldn't mind potentially replacing them in a few months, go for it.

[UltramanGoji]

Just a quick question: I'm looking to upgrade my Godzilla collection to blu ray, and with Criterion having the rights to all these Showa films, would it be more smart to wait until an actual home video release, assuming they are still planning on doing so? Or pick up what's already out there?

The only Showa Blu-Rays out in America now are G54 (from Criterion), KKVG (English cut only), Ebirah, DAM (out of print), Smog Monster, Megalon (also out of print), & Gigan. Criterion has the rights to DAM and Megalon, but not the others.

It's up to you if you want to wait and see if Criterion will grab the other titles to do a full set but it's not particularly likely. I'd say just wait it out because the other releases aren't particularly expensive and likely won't get too high until then.

[Tamura]

black splices at US edit points on certain copies.

This prompted me to pull out Godzilla vs The Thing again (do I really need an excuse to do so?), and yep, you can see these black splices on the edits AIP made, most notably at the snipped verses of "Sacred Spring". They're there on both the Simitar and Classic Media discs.

I'll have to check that scene again... when I last inspected the different copies of The Thing I thought I saw white (negative) splices elsewhere, which had me assuming AIP cut the film on a dupe negative. The film master used on the Simitar DVD is definitely an IP, though... there is a pretty obvious black gate hair throughout the film. Monster Zero and Godzilla's Revenge definitely have IP splices, though.

[goji1986]

Looks like we gotta wait another month...Criterion's latest round of upcoming releases are Godzilla-less.

[Godzilla 1986]

Just a quick question: I'm looking to upgrade my Godzilla collection to blu ray, and with Criterion having the rights to all these Showa films, would it be more smart to wait until an actual home video release, assuming they are still planning on doing so? Or pick up what's already out there?

The only Showa Blu-Rays out in America now are G54 (from Criterion), KKVG (English cut only), Ebirah, DAM (out of print), Smog Monster, Megalon (also out of print), & Gigan. Criterion has the rights to DAM and Megalon, but not the others.

It's up to you if you want to wait and see if Criterion will grab the other titles to do a full set but it's not particularly likely. I'd say just wait it out because the other releases aren't particularly expensive and likely won't get too high until then.

Yeah, looks to be about the only solution, to grab what's already available or just be patient. I'm guessing around May is when they would make any kind of announcement, to ride the hype of KOTM. There's a nice two-pack of Megalon and DAM on Amazon for about $33, a nice deal for both.

[Joseph Goodman]

Mods: Feel free to split this digression to its own thread

The film master used on the Simitar DVD is definitely an IP, though... there is a pretty obvious black gate hair throughout the film

I've thought that might be the case; the bad color on most of the Simitar master (it suddenly improves at about the 52:00 mark) may be related to the orange masking layer of the IP not being compensated for in telecine? There are other odd, very specific color differences in the two transfers of this same element:








If it was a positive running through the telecine, though, wouldn't this tear be white? It's not on whatever the MonstersHD transfer was done from:

80's transfer:

A few years later in the Simitar master:

[Tamura]

I really have to review those two transfers and the Monsters HD copy again... my last comparison was over a year ago. I also now remember that the gate hair seemed to appear only during one or a few reels. I also had a similar thought about orange masks... the newspaper insert is totally orange in the '80s UPA master.

Yeah, it's a digression, but I think it's an important one because understanding these confusing, muddy, old transfers gives us a better idea of the film material that's out there for this group of films that all had their camera negatives cut in the '70s, and who knows, maybe Criterion is reading this thread...

[Joseph Goodman]

I really have to review those two transfers and the Monsters HD copy again... my last comparison was over a year ago. I also now remember that the gate hair seemed to appear only during one or a few reels. I also had a similar thought about orange masks... the newspaper insert is totally orange in the '80s UPA master.

That hair shows up at about 34:00, and disappears at 41:26 or so, which just so happens to be a reel change:

Yeah, it's a digression, but I think it's an important one because understanding these confusing, muddy, old transfers gives us a better idea of the film material that's out there for this group of films that all had their camera negatives cut in the '70s, and who knows, maybe Criterion is reading this thread...

One hopes those UPA film elements are still in the possession of whoever has those titles, and is in usable shape.