English Versions in Most Need of a Restoration/DVD Release

[Rockzilla]

^And I don't mean to spite you in any way, but this is why we're in a negative area in regards to restoring or even releasing some of these English versions. Only like two people care, and that includes me. Whether the dubs are good or not doesn't matter to me, it's unfair that all of the Japanese versions of both the good and bad films are treated like royalty (sans KKvsG) while the better part of both the best and the worst English versions either barely exist on home video in incomplete versions (like GODZILLA VS. THE THING), exist without their respective credits intact, exist as reconstructed approximations or are completely unavailable, some not even on the black market. And it is no less than complete insanity how nothing can ever meet Toho's approval.

Hey you can count me in on that two people that care, unless you had someone specific in mind then that makes three of us!

Honestly I prefer dub over sub provided that the dub is not completely horrendous of coarse. I love all of the old Aip dubs and hope that they will be truly restored.

[Malchik]

The American cuts/dubs of these films do exist. Sadly, the companies behind region 1 disks just don't want to invest into searching or renting these film prints. I can see their point, seeing these are special interest film.

My new pen pal who sent me YONGARY in Korean along with the complete cast and crew list in order to help me restore the Korean version of that film gives me a salt crystal-sized amount of hope that some collectors are actually nice and willing to cooperate, a Honda-esque message that doesn't get through to hoarders.

That's reassuring. Sadly, most collectors won't lend/rent out their prints. The reason being, if the film is available to the public through home video, that renders their film prints less desirable. This same situation came about when dealing with game prototype hoarders. If they allowed their games to be copied to the internet for the fans, their disks no longer have profit value.

I heard rumor that when MGM was releasing their region 1 Yongary disk, they were told the negative had been lost.

[The Dark Uniter]

You know, these English versions are hopeless. If the companies can't do anything about them, it's insane to think the fans can. The best we're ever going to get for some of these are VHS-sourced fandubs (THE MYSTERIANS, SEA MONSTER and SON OF GODZILLA's US versions) or nothing at all (VARAN and KING KONG VS. GODZILLA's international versions). I wish I was as naive and approving as the majority of the fandom is in regards to these poor English versions' preservation statuses so that I could be at peace about this mess.

I like the older dubs myself. Granted I watch the Japanese versions the most but some of the dubs for the most part are very good and should get the royal treatment like their Japanese counterparts. Good luck on restoring Yongary, that's probably going to be hell since the Korean version is only 40 minutes, I believe.

[Tamura]

Reportedly AIP was sent EVERYTHING, including the internegative, original Korean audio, music and effects track, etc. by Keuk Dong, YONGARY's production company. The Korean audio mix is thought to have been thrown away at some point. So, all that is known to exist of it and its respective credits is a 48-minute fragment. The short running time seems to be on account of hundreds of splices from beginning to end. I was expecting it to be because of missing reels, so it could have been worse and more inconsistent than I imagined. There is more dialogue intact then I predicted, though it's still going to be a bitch to sync up and I have nothing with which to fill the spliced out dialogue.

[Rockzilla]

Bump

So I was thinking about Madman's releases of Invasion of Astro Monster and Godzilla vs. Megalon. Astro Monster doesn't include an English version at all and Megalon includes an oddly reconstructed cinemashares version. Did Toho not provide Madman Entertainment with proper International prints? Or are those prints somewhat hard to find? I'm thinking maybe Madman Entertainment just goofed up like Classic Media and Media Blasters.

[Tamura]

Toho has int'l prints of both MEGALON and MONSTER ZERO that have screened many times before. It makes absolutely no sense that Madman didn't bother utilizing these prints, unless Toho instructed them not to use them.

[Ethan]

There was no point in reconstructing the CS version of Megalon if you're weren't going to include the opening credits.

[Goji]

There was no point in reconstructing the CS version of Megalon if you're weren't going to include the opening credits.

Exactly. It was completely pointless.

[Bigdog]

Maybe the credits were in a rough shape that would not match the quality of the rest of the video?

It's probably because I'm not a completist, but if the CS version is mostly restored, why worry about 2-3 minutes of film that are not really essential for anything when the whole rest of the film is reconstructed and there?

You people are really picky for not having much . It's like they always say, beggars cannot be choosers. At least there was a legit release of quality for Megalon and not the many and numerous crappy knockoffs that exist in the US. It's like you're never satisfied.

If i was TOHO I wouldn't listen to you either because after awhile , it gets very annoying of doing fan service and then getting hammered for being a business (It's not a charity) that wants to make money. Wait until the upcoming releases that will flood the market when the hype for Legendary's Godzilla gets high and demand for Godzilla gets back to what it was before 1998. And hell, if the film's successful both ways, you'll get more chances for quality releases for you picky eaters.

[Gojira-Fan]

Maybe the credits were in a rough shape that would not match the quality of the rest of the video?

There is no reason to "recreate" a Cinema Shares version, because all it is is just an edited version of the international version. Cinema Shares didn't bother to make a new dub for Godzilla vs. Megalon and just edited the international version that was made available to them by Toho. By "recreating" a Cinema Shares version, Madman was essentially just editing the international version.

[Rockzilla]

Toho has int'l prints of both MEGALON and MONSTER ZERO that have screened many times before. It makes absolutely no sense that Madman didn't bother utilizing these prints, unless Toho instructed them not to use them.

That is what I thought. Madman either goofed up, or for some stupid reason Toho didn't want them to use those prints.

[Tamura]

You people are really picky for not having much . It's like they always say, beggars cannot be choosers. At least there was a legit release of quality for Megalon and not the many and numerous crappy knockoffs that exist in the US. It's like you're never satisfied.

If i was TOHO I wouldn't listen to you either because after awhile , it gets very annoying of doing fan service and then getting hammered for being a business (It's not a charity) that wants to make money. Wait until the upcoming releases that will flood the market when the hype for Legendary's Godzilla gets high and demand for Godzilla gets back to what it was before 1998. And hell, if the film's successful both ways, you'll get more chances for quality releases for you picky eaters.

Well, too skreeonk bad. I'm putting myself in touch with any company releasing these films in North America from now on. I've proved to be a huge help to one company already. Try and stop me.

[Bigdog]

You people are really picky for not having much . It's like they always say, beggars cannot be choosers. At least there was a legit release of quality for Megalon and not the many and numerous crappy knockoffs that exist in the US. It's like you're never satisfied.

If i was TOHO I wouldn't listen to you either because after awhile , it gets very annoying of doing fan service and then getting hammered for being a business (It's not a charity) that wants to make money. Wait until the upcoming releases that will flood the market when the hype for Legendary's Godzilla gets high and demand for Godzilla gets back to what it was before 1998. And hell, if the film's successful both ways, you'll get more chances for quality releases for you picky eaters.

Well, too skreeonk bad. I'm putting myself in touch with any company releasing these films in North America from now on. I've proved to be a huge help to one company already. Try and stop me.

I won't because even I want an R2-like release for the Godzilla series and an English version of the Mysterians to watch for curiosity's sake , though I'm not exactly picky in what form it will come in . Just make sure you know that it needs to be seen that it'll make a good profit, which will be easy to convince since they're making that film to exploit the hype.

[Legion1979]

You people are really picky for not having much . It's like they always say, beggars cannot be choosers. At least there was a legit release of quality for Megalon and not the many and numerous crappy knockoffs that exist in the US. It's like you're never satisfied.

If i was TOHO I wouldn't listen to you either because after awhile , it gets very annoying of doing fan service and then getting hammered for being a business (It's not a charity) that wants to make money. Wait until the upcoming releases that will flood the market when the hype for Legendary's Godzilla gets high and demand for Godzilla gets back to what it was before 1998. And hell, if the film's successful both ways, you'll get more chances for quality releases for you picky eaters.

I've learned that it doesn't matter how good a new kaiju DVD is. There's always going to be that one guy who runs around screaming that it could have been better.

[Ethan]

I'm pretty sure that nobody (in their right mind) would complain about a release that has both the Japanese and US versions of a film in great quality and complete. I for one have no complaints about the Icons of Sci-Fi DVD.

[Gojira-Fan]

I'm pretty sure that nobody (in their right mind) would complain about a release that has both the Japanese and US versions of a film in great quality and complete. I for one have no complaints about the Icons of Sci-Fi DVD.

Except the Japanese version of Battle in Outer Space has dubitles.

[Ethan]

I've seen most of these film a fifillion times, I don't really mind the subtitles issue. Besides you're not missing any crucial plot point like in GMK.

[o.supreme]

Greetings,

I'm just bumping this topic as I have compiled my own list of films I am trying to preserve on DVD. Of course none of these have been licensed, they are just for my own personal collection, not intended to be copied or sold. I believe many fans would want to preserve these as well, but again fans dont always have the same preferrences. Mine are mostly obtaining original english dubs, and title cards/title credits. I'm not really well versed in aspect ratios and internaitonal credits etc... but I know many fans are. Also I know that "reconstructions" bother a lot of fans, but as long as any true content isn't missing, it dosen't bother me much, but I respect the fans that are aware enough to know the differences as I generally dont. Below is my dream list, about 50% is completed thus far I'm hoping in the next couple of weeks to obtain the equipment I need to transfer these films since I have pretty much all of them on VHS:

Year/ Film Title/ Reason for DVD Preservation
1955/ Godzilla Raids Again/ 1959 WB "Gigantis the Fire Monster" Title Card never released on DVD
1955/ Half Human/ 1957 DCA English Dub/Edit never released on DVD
1957/ The Mysterians/ 1959 RKO English Dub never released on DVD
1958/ Varan/ 1962 Crown Int. English Dub/Edit never released on DVD
1960/ Human Vapor/ 1964 Brenco Pic. English Dub never released on DVD
1961/ The Last War/ 1964 Brenco Pic. English Dub never released on DVD
1962/ Gorath/ 1966 Brenco Pic. English Dub never released on DVD
1963/ Atragon/ 1965 AIP English Dub & Credit Sequence never released on DVD
1963/ Matango/ 1965 AIP "Attack of the Mushroom People" Title and Credit Sequence never released on DVD
1964/ Dogora/ 1966 AIP "Dagora the Space Monster" Title and Credit Sequence never released on DVD
1966/ Ebirah/ 1968 Walter Reade Org. "G vs The Sea Monster" English Dub & Title Card never released on DVD
1967/ Son of Godzilla/ 1969 Walter Reade Org. English Dub & Title Card never released on DVD
1968/ Destroy All Monsters/ 1969 AIP English Dub & Credit Sequence never released on DVD* (included solely as BD extra on MB Blu-Ray dosen't count IMHO)
1970/ Space Amoeba/ 1971 AIP English Dub "Yog: Monster From Space"& Credit Sequence never released on DVD
1971/ G vs Hedorah/ 1972 AIP English Dub "G vs. The Smog Monster"& Title Card never released on DVD
1972/ G vs Gigan/ 1977 CS Logo &"Godzilla on Monster Island" Title Card never released on DVD
1973/ G vs Megalon/ 1976 CS Logo never released on DVD
1974/ G vs. MG/ 1977 CS Logo & "Godzilla vs. The Cosmic Monster" Title Card never released on DVD
1974/ Proph of Nos/ 1979 "Last Days of Planet Earth" English Dub/Edit never released on DVD
1984/ Return of G/ 1985 New World "Godzilla 1985" English Dub/Edit never released on DVD
1989/ G vs Biollante/ 1992 HBO/Miramax English Dub never released on DVD
1998/ ROM 3/ 2003 Tristar English Dub never released on DVD

I know fans such as Tamura had a much more extensive list earlier on in this thread. What I was wondering however, if there are any films you personally feel are missing from this list and are in need of DVD preservation, I would like to know what they are, and why you feel so. Also if any clips on Youtube could be linked sighting examples this would be appreciated. I love seeing things on Youtube I've never seen before, or perhaps haven't seen in a long time and had forgotten about.

[Goji]

Hey supreme. I think I can help out too.

You're list is really comprehensive, but there are even more versions/credits that need preserving, with most being international versions. I'll list some more.

The Last War-An international version has been said to exist, that is much different from the U.S. version. Both this, and the U.S. Brenco version need preserving.

Gorath-The Brenco version is in need of saving, as does the international version. There is an international trailer for the film on Toho's R2, but it is unknown whether or not this version has ever seen release anywhere.

The Human Vapor-Brenco's version is in dire need of a preservation.

Atragon-Toho's international version under the "ATOROGON" title (which oddly enough, Toho re-used in Godzilla:Unleashed for the Nintendo Wii) has never been released in the states. Both that, and the AIP version under the ATRAGON title, need preserving.

Matango-Same case as is with ATOROGON and ATRAGON.

Dogora-Same case as the above two. It is unknown if an international version even exists, or if it has ever been released.

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep-While the Sony DVD does technically use this version, the original Ebirah title sequence was replaced with a generic looking "Godzilla vs.The Sea Monster one. The credits were also re-done, though they are very faithful to the original international credits. The "End" card is also completely different on the Sony DVD. The Walter Reade release would probably have to be reconstructed.

Son of Godzilla-Same case with Ebirah, though the title sequence is extremely faithful to the international title sequence, and is only slightly smaller. As is the case with the Walter Reade version of Sea Monster, a reconstruction would likely have to be made.

Destroy All Monsters-Since MB didn't do the job themselves, both the AIP and international versions still need restorations. The AIP version would be impossible to restore without 16/35mm elements in decent shape (since the AIP credits seen on the MB release are in terrible shape), but the Blu-ray release provides all that's need to restore the international vesrion. The international credits are in HD, and look damn good, actually.

Space Amoeba-International version is MIA. It is unknown if it has ever seen release. The AIP version under the "Yog" title (as you previously mentioned) is also in need of saving. Like many of these original U.S. versions, it only ever had a pan and scan VHS release, which makes a preservation/reconstruction, tricky.

Godzilla vs. Hedorah- Minus the pesky copyright info, and omitting the on screen text for Ken's haiku, Sony's DVD did a fine job of recreating the international version of HEDORAH, for the most part. All that really needs saving now is the AIP SMOG MONSTER version. The best source outside of 16/35mm is the LaserDisc release.

Godzilla vs. Gigan-Regarding the international version, it's really complicated (Tamura or I will update the English Versions Guide soon enough). The Cinema Shares release of GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND is definitely in need of sainvg/preservation. This version has never seen release on VHS in the U.S. Most fan-circulated copies are taped off of TV, and generally look awful.

Godzilla vs. Megalon-This is a tricky one..some claim (same as with all of the Cinema Shares releases) that MEGALON was first released uncut theatrically, and then later, was cut for re-releases, as well as for TV airings. It is possible, that using Toho's uncut international version, and an HD version of the CS logo, that an approximation of the original CS release could be made. As for the international version, it has never been released on home video, though a restoration may be possible if we ever get that special edition release of MEGALON ,which was to include the CS logo and credits, as well as the international credits all in HD. If the BD release of MEGALON never happens, it won't be possible to restore either version without 35mm elements.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla-Sony's release of the international version is very well done, like HEDORAH. The original Cinema Shares version of COSMIC MONSTER is definitely in need of saving, as is the even more rare BIONIC MONSTER version (which may not even exist anymore, if there are any surviving prints, I don't think it's something anyone in the fandom knows about). 35mm elements would have to be used, since COSMIC MONSTER has never been released on home video outside of faded, pan and scan releases.

Prophecies of Nostradamus- The U.S. "Last Days" cut deserves to be preserved, at the very least (as awful as it may be) utilizing the lone LaserDisc release. The international version would have to be recreated, using a high quality transfer of the film, and that will most likely never happen.

Terror of Mechagodzilla-Tamura has restored the credits of this version, so all that would need to be done is add these credits to a nice looking transfer of the film. A U.S. release is highly unlikely until somebody else gets the rights to the films that Classic Media has, and even then, it's a stretch.

Return of Godzilla-Preserving this version is very difficult, since it has only been released on PAL VHS (In both England and Finland). It will be impossible to restore without 35mm elements, or a really high quality BD release. The U.S. version (GODZILLA 9185 could probably be recreated using a version of the Monsters HD airing in 1080p, but even then, it would require more work to make it match the theatrical/home video versions.

Godzilla vs. Biollante-the HBO releases contain the uncut international versions..but because it was never released on anything after the LaserDisc format, a restoration is almost impossible until an HD version is available, or if 35mm elements could be utilized.

Rebirth of Mothra III-This was available for playback in HD on crackle.com, for a long time, but has since disappeared. It may never seen a home video release, so the best option would be for someone to somehow record the online streaming version (if that's even possible) in an effort to preserve the international version.

A few of these titles will be impossible to restore, without 16/35mm elements. Those included are The three Brenco titles (The Last War, Gorath, and The Human Vapor), The two Walter Reade releases of the Island Godzilla films, and the AIP releases of "Yog Monster From Space", "Attack of the Mushroom People", Atragon, "Dagora the Space Monster", and Destroy All Monsters. Except for Atragon, all of them have at least gotten VHS releases, so they can at least be preserved via DVD-R copies.

[o.supreme]

Thanks Goji,

Your passion and attention to detail are truly appreciated. My concern comes when we as fans start to speculate on what truly "exists" and what may or may not. I wish some fans had access to Toho representatives who know exactly what film elements truly exist and what do not with respect especially to International Versions.

According to this site, a Toho International English dub of The Three Treasures was released in 1960 (cut from 182 minutes down to 112). I have asked a few of the most knowledgeable Toho film fans that I know about this version-and they all basically said the same thing- that it did have limited release in 1960, but none of them have ever seen it personally, or know of anyone who did see it, or know if Toho even still has it. Other International English dubs such as King Kong vs. Godzilla, Return of Godzilla, or Godzilla 2000: Millennium are also questionable. I know some "previews" exist, but it would be nice to know if the actual film still exists assuming all elements were not destroyed. Also if anyone can confirm any of the information I have been unable to thus far, insights are truly appreciated. This is why I limited my list to what I had. Also I think a more fair term for what I am doing is simply preservation rather than restoration. I fully admit I dont have the knowledge or equipment to do some of the fine restorations that some fans (such as Tamura- you are awesome!) have done. I just want them off of VHS and on to a best possible quality media file and/or DVD which is for the time being the best way to preserve the films.

Also everythingI have been reading about the changes MB made in order to release Frankenstein Conquers the Word is a bit disconcerting. I probably only saw this film in its unadjusted English format in the early 1980's on local TV, and have no recollection of how it originally was. Since then the multiple airings on TBS and TNT in the 1990's was all I had seen until the DVD release in 2007.