Best Sources Available Today for English Language Godzilla Films

For the discussion of Toho DVDs, Blu-Rays, CDs, streaming services, VHS, and other formats where Toho films and soundtracks can be found.
mikelcho
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Re: Best Sources Available Today for English Language Godzilla Films

Post by mikelcho »

mikelcho wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2020 6:42 pm
Tamura wrote:
Great Hierophant wrote:However, not everyone has access to fan restorations or wants to take legal liberties...
Two Toho films are only available through unofficial means. Is that an argument for not pursuing copies of Prophecies of Nostradamus or Half Human as a secondary option to the unofficial copies?
Tamura, you seem to know a lot about things such as this, so I'd like to ask you a question.

I'm considering getting gray market DVDs of Half Human and Gorath from a company called scifistation.com. Both of them are Japanese subtitled version/American dubbed version combinations and are each $25.75 with free shipping.

My question is: have you ever had any dealings with this company; if you have, what is your opinion of them and do you think this is worth pursuing just to get these two films?

And I'd like the mods to know, just so we're clear here, that I'm not endorsing the website here; I'm just asking for an honest opinion before I commit to getting a couple of films off of it.
Tamura, you still haven't answered my question. Can you please do so soon? I always appreciate an honest opinion. You'll also notice I changed the info.
Last edited by mikelcho on Tue Nov 10, 2020 8:48 am, edited 1 time in total.

Zakkary123
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Re: Best Sources Available Today for English Language Godzilla Films

Post by Zakkary123 »

Thanks for posting this, really great source for new fans. Am I right in assuming that the majority of these reconstructions are aiming to improve video quality and restore opening sequences etc., not changing much about the film/dub themselves? I'm just getting into the franchise from the Monsterverse movies and trying to understand exactly what I should be tracking down to watch. Hoping to start at the beginning but I don't really watch anything subtitled since I rarely watch a movie without doing anything at the same time...

If anyone has any sources for the editions listed I'd greatly appreciate it. I seem to be too new to directly message anyone!

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o.supreme
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Re: Best Sources Available Today for English Language Godzilla Films

Post by o.supreme »

Godzilla vs. Gigan - Kraken Blu-ray, Sony DVD
There is no high quality version of the Cinema Shares theatrical version available, but the dub is the same on the Kraken Blu-ray and Sony DVD and they have English titles.
Just wanted to reiterate, for confirmation purposes (since someone else asked about the CS version), by "High quality" , do you mean beyond VHS? If so, that is fair. But I do happen to have this VHS tape:
Image

Which would be arguably better than any TV broadcast.
Last edited by o.supreme on Mon Apr 12, 2021 2:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
To all you dub preservationists, my friends, you have my eternal thanks 8-) . Never stop what you do, you are amazing!

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Purzel2205
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Re: Best Sources Available Today for English Language Godzilla Films

Post by Purzel2205 »

Zakkary123 wrote: Wed Apr 07, 2021 11:46 pm Thanks for posting this, really great source for new fans. Am I right in assuming that the majority of these reconstructions are aiming to improve video quality and restore opening sequences etc., not changing much about the film/dub themselves? I'm just getting into the franchise from the Monsterverse movies and trying to understand exactly what I should be tracking down to watch. Hoping to start at the beginning but I don't really watch anything subtitled since I rarely watch a movie without doing anything at the same time...

If anyone has any sources for the editions listed I'd greatly appreciate it. I seem to be too new to directly message anyone!
It's correct that the reconstructions aim to only reconstruct the original ways the English dubs were presented without changing anything else. The Red Menace reconstructions are freely available in the web but I think you can only get stuff like the G-MAN and goji1986 reconstructions by directly messaging the guys, so you'll have to either wait till you're no longer classified as a new user or you can ask an admin to manually do that I guess.

The commercially released DVDs and Blu-rays should be easy to find, many of them even have shopping links on the main site when you go to one of the movies entries.
Did you ever hear the tragedy of Gigantis, the fire monster? I thought not. It's not a story the Toho studios would tell you...

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Godzilla21
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Re: Best Sources Available Today for English Language Godzilla Films

Post by Godzilla21 »

Alright boys need some help. I recently acquired the four Sony 50th anniversary releases DVDs (Sea Monster, SOG, Hedorah, Mechagodzilla). If I already have the following is there any reason to keep the Sonys?

Sea Monster- I have the Kraken release and the Criterion set

SOG- I have the Criterion

Hedorah- I have the Kraken and the Criterion set

Mechagodzilla- I have the Criterion set
SpaceG92 wrote:
<=25% joke. >=75% topic. Even then - that's pushing it.

Legion1979
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Re: Best Sources Available Today for English Language Godzilla Films

Post by Legion1979 »

Keep the Sony discs of Son of Godzilla and MG. They use different (some would say better) masters than what Criterion was given by Toho. The masters used on the Sony DVDs of Sea Monster and Hedorah are the same ones Kraken used, so you don't need to keep them if don't want to.

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Terasawa
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Re: Best Sources Available Today for English Language Godzilla Films

Post by Terasawa »

You might also consider hanging onto SoG and MG because the English audio on the TriStar DVDs is higher fidelity (though overall a less accurate presentation) than the same dubs on the Criterion set.

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Godzilla21
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Re: Best Sources Available Today for English Language Godzilla Films

Post by Godzilla21 »

Legion1979 wrote: Mon May 31, 2021 3:55 am Keep the Sony discs of Son of Godzilla and MG. They use different (some would say better) masters than what Criterion was given by Toho. The masters used on the Sony DVDs of Sea Monster and Hedorah are the same ones Kraken used, so you don't need to keep them if don't want to.
Wow never thought I'd see you again Legion. Thanks for the advice. I'll sell SM and Hedorah and keep the other two. I've been trying to eliminate some clutter so this helps.

Added in 21 seconds:
Terasawa wrote: Mon May 31, 2021 7:34 am You might also consider hanging onto SoG and MG because the English audio on the TriStar DVDs is higher fidelity (though overall a less accurate presentation) than the same dubs on the Criterion set.

Thanks. I'll hold onto those two.
SpaceG92 wrote:
<=25% joke. >=75% topic. Even then - that's pushing it.

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Major sssspielberg!
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Re: Best Sources Available Today for English Language Godzilla Films

Post by Major sssspielberg! »

Terasawa wrote: Mon May 31, 2021 7:34 am You might also consider hanging onto SoG and MG because the English audio on the TriStar DVDs is higher fidelity (though overall a less accurate presentation) than the same dubs on the Criterion set.

When you say "a less accurate presentation" that's regarding the dub? Like... The timing?
Kaltes-Herzeleid wrote: Thu Jan 06, 2022 9:44 am I love Final Wars. I praise Final Wars. Simple as.

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Terasawa
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Re: Best Sources Available Today for English Language Godzilla Films

Post by Terasawa »

Major sssspielberg! wrote: Mon May 31, 2021 4:27 pm When you say "a less accurate presentation" that's regarding the dub? Like... The timing?
Using the TriStar release of GvMG: the original soundtrack mix (dubbed audio, music, sound effects) was augmented with higher fidelity music and sound effects tracks, apparently to improve the overall quality of the dubbed track. At that point, you technically no longer have the original soundtrack mix, even if the differences are mostly imperceptible, thus, a "less accurate presentation" compared to the Criterion audio.

A strange quirk of most of the '70s Godzilla dubs is that, apparently because of the way the dubbing loops were originally edited, some of the sound effects skip or repeat at certain soundtrack edit points. This is hard to explain without a video illustrating the point, and I'm not sure of any such video online. But, if you can, take a look at Fake Godzilla's stroll through Japan just prior to Anguirus' attack -- compare the dubbed audio of the TriStar disc against either the Criterion version or any prior release (Anchor Bay/Starmaker, even any release of Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster) and you'll hear that the TriStar mix no longer has the repeated footfall sound effects native to the original dubbed soundtrack.

Additionally, there are a few minor bits of dubbed audio that aren't in the TriStar mix of GvMG, probably because of the way the soundtrack was re-edited. SHM details them here. Godzilla vs. Hedorah and Godzilla vs. Gigan also had minor dubbed loops replaced with the original Japanese audio, although neither of those films had any real dialogue deleted like GvMG.

And as for the timing of the dialogue, that, too, was actually adjusted somewhat for the TriStar mixes, although it's usually not that noticeable. IIRC, it was really evident at times in Godzilla vs. Gigan, but probably not any of the other films. And I can't really comment on the two '60s films because the only copies I have of their original dubbed mixes are insufficient for a proper comparison with the TriStar discs -- however, the Japanese soundtracks of those two films on their TriStar releases are also different than their original mixes (the difference in these being that TriStar was able to use the split elements for the Japanese dialogue). I suspect the Japanese soundtracks of the '70s films are likewise touched up, but I haven't really bothered to look into those.
寺沢. He/him/his, etc.

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Major sssspielberg!
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Re: Best Sources Available Today for English Language Godzilla Films

Post by Major sssspielberg! »

↑boy, that's crazy. Thanks for a succinct explanation!
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o.supreme
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Re: Best Sources Available Today for English Language Godzilla Films

Post by o.supreme »

I see there hasn't been a post for a while, but I was wondering, is there a high quality fan reconstruction of Yog Monster from space?
To all you dub preservationists, my friends, you have my eternal thanks 8-) . Never stop what you do, you are amazing!

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Toby21
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Re: Best Sources Available Today for English Language Godzilla Films

Post by Toby21 »

o.supreme wrote: Sat Nov 25, 2023 5:47 pm I see there hasn't been a post for a while, but I was wondering, is there a high quality fan reconstruction of Yog Monster from space?
There's a post in the Fan Art, Music & Movies thread, but I have more detail on my Twitter page:
https://twitter.com/G_Aikosha/status/15 ... 1386678272

DM me here or on Twitter if you're interested in checking it out.
#PreserveTheDubs

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