Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

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godzilla98rules
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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by godzilla98rules »

I got my copy today and have already watched it. Here's my small review:

Video:

In my opinion, the quality was actually pretty good, better than my downloaded version of this film. There were a few sequences where the quality drops when Godzilla is in the background, but other than that, I'm okay with this. The subtitles aren't as bad as I thought they would be. Most of the time they are underneath the Japanese text so they're readable.

Audio:

Here's where I'm disappointed in this Blu-Ray. The speaking sounds okay, but every time Godzilla roared I was cringing because of the mono sounding effect it had. His roars are very flat. They really should have had it going through all the speakers. As for the international version, I don't find it terrible, but most of the voices sound robotic. Oh, and "Godziller" is still being used......



Special Features:

The main trailer is nice and the Kraken trailers were very ridiculous and silly. They reminded me of all the B Sci-Fi movie trailers I grew up watching.

Overall:

I happy with this Blu-Ray, but I would probably say that it all goes down to personal opinion.
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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by Chrispy_G »

I never expected this film to get 'amazing treatment'....as I've said, I'm happy enough to have the film, in any form, on Blu Ray in an official, legal capacity at all.

It's a perfectly fine presentation. Not great, not bad or terrible...perfectly acceptable. Not perfectly ideal...but unfortunately I take what I can get with Godzilla.

Maybe one day some crazy millionaire will fund a 'spare no expense, no interest in turning a profit' home market release of EVERY Godzilla film, all with 4K restorations...with multiple versions and audio options...and every film will be treated with the reverence of being a historical gem...

But until that day, having these films on legal disc in a presentable capacity is all I can honestly expect.

I haven't seen this film in ANY version in probably a decade...so it was a very entertaining re-watch of the film, especially since the 1985 version is the one I was familiar with.
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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by Servanov »

I'm quite disappointed in my local stores. Walmart, KMart, and even F.Y.E. don't have it. When Kraken released the Showa films they were out about a week early than the release date. Not, only that, when I walked into F.Y.E. to check if they had The Return of Godzilla, in the very front of the store they had a Blu-Ray for Stephen King's "It" miniseries. That's not supposed to come out for another month!

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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

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godzilla98rules wrote: Oh, and "Godziller" is still being used......
"Still"? It was recorded in 1984.
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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by GODZILLA2877 »

My copy should arrive in about 3-5 days from Amazon. I'm so EXCITED!!! :lol:

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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by omgitsgodzilla »

Goji wrote:
godzilla98rules wrote: Oh, and "Godziller" is still being used......
"Still"? It was recorded in 1984.
I was thinking that myself, but I thought maybe I misunderstood what they were saying.

Honestly, what surprises me the most about the dub is how lifeless the delivery is. The 1970s export dubs had a bit of energy to them and were kind of entertaining in their own right; this one's just sort of dull.
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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by Space Hunter M »

omgitsgodzilla wrote:The 1970s export dubs had a bit of energy to them and were kind of entertaining in their own right; this one's just sort of dull.
I like it for how awkwardly worded and strangely enunciated it is. It's exactly like the Super Space Fortress Macross dub done the same year.

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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by UltramanGoji »

My local F.Y.E. had one DVD copy available. No Blu-Rays to be seen. I'll give it one more shot before going the online route.
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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by Hellblaze »

I checked my Walmart this week haven't seen it on the shelf yet gonna try later today hopefully :)
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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by Godzillian »

So with this release in the history books I wonder what Kraken will do next. They said a while back they had more plans for kaiju related content for later this year.
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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by UltramanGoji »

Godzillian wrote:So with this release in the history books I wonder what Kraken will do next. They said a while back they had more plans for kaiju related content for later this year.
Get started on Son of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 74 for one thing. That's what absolutely needs to be done right now before anything else.
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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by Chrispy_G »

UltramanGoji wrote:Get started on Son of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 74 for one thing. That's what absolutely needs to be done right now before anything else.
Amen. I have the Sony DVDs of both of those films from back way back when they first came out. It is unfortunate that they are out of print and hard to find for many nowadays.

I'd love to see them get Blu Ray releases.

I'd also love for Classic Media Via Dreaworks Via Universal to give us high quality Blu Ray releases of the 8 films they have the rights to....basically give us great updates/Blu Ray versions of their DVD releases. Dual versions of films, audio commentaries, bonus features, etc.
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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by Bigdog »

Chrispy_G wrote:
UltramanGoji wrote:Get started on Son of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 74 for one thing. That's what absolutely needs to be done right now before anything else.
Amen. I have the Sony DVDs of both of those films from back way back when they first came out. It is unfortunate that they are out of print and hard to find for many nowadays.

I'd love to see them get Blu Ray releases.

I'd also love for Classic Media Via Dreaworks Via Universal to give us high quality Blu Ray releases of the 8 films they have the rights to....basically give us great updates/Blu Ray versions of their DVD releases. Dual versions of films, audio commentaries, bonus features, etc.
And hopefully, King Kong vs. Godzilla, for Universal with them. It would be neat to see it be released.

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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by UltramanGoji »

Not possible, considering the rights issue with the Japanese version is possibly even more convoluted than Godzilla 1985.
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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by omgitsgodzilla »

How so? I know Universal has the US rights literally forever, but surely they could sub-license it to somebody.
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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by g2vd »

UltramanGoji wrote:Not possible, considering the rights issue with the Japanese version is possibly even more convoluted than Godzilla 1985.
Actually it's completely uncomplicated it's just Universal just doesn't want to spend the money.

As we all know Universal owns the distribution rights for GVKK for North America so they can actually release both versions at any time. the problem is the only prints they have are of the John Beck American Cut and they don't have a single copy or material of the Japanese cut, so in order to be able to release it they have to purchase a Print from Toho and than they have to go through the regular blah, blah re-master stuff and that.

And Universal doesn't see a profit in that after all the time and money it would take to release it, so right now they're perfectly happy just reissuing the American version until the shattering of the world.
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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by Chrispy_G »

I thought it was a bit more complicated in terms of the nature of the original deal on the film, that Universal could only release the US version in North America and Toho could only release the Japanese version. Meaning that Toho couldn't release the US version in Japan, and Uni couldn't release the original version here.

I may be incorrect, but what I read seemed to have that kind of implication. Meaning that some kind of new deal would need to be figured out for Uni to release a dual version.

Maybe things are more complicated, but I can't imagine that Uni getting the rights to release the original version alongside their version would be more difficult than any distributor getting US rights to any Godzilla film, in essence it is more or less the same kind of deal, as far as I can tell.
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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by heiseigodzilla425 »

Toho doesn't license an individual version of a film to a distributor. Once a distributor get the rights to distribute a film, they have access to any version of that film - but its up to the distributor to clear any rights issues with any of the other versions (royalties, etc).

When John Beck sold King Kong vs. Godzilla to Universal, he only gave them a copy of the English version. If he had also given them a copy of the Japanese version, then we may not be having this discussion today. But right now, it seems like Universal hasn't had any interest in the Japanese version.

I don't think that Toho would have much issue with Universal purchasing a print of the Japanese version. Using Sony/Columbia as an example, Columbia restored their three films (Mothra, H-Man, and Battle In Outer Space) several years ago, and worked with Toho to use frames from the Japanese versions to aid in the restoration of the American versions. They were then able to release all of those movies in a set with both versions of each movie.

Universal may not see enough potential sales interest to justify purchasing a copy of the Japanese version. Or, it could be that they weren't happy with the condition of the Japanese version and didn't want to handle a restoration themselves - I'd be interested to see if Universal tries to get a copy of Toho's 4K restoration.

If fans are interested, now is the time to speak up and reach out to Universal. It may be too late for them to get something out in time for when Kong: Skull Island releases next year, but I'm sure that they could get something together in time for Godzilla vs. Kong.

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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by omgitsgodzilla »

It's also probably worth mentioning again that Shout! Factory sub-licenses a lot of films from Universal. Universal themselves are unlikely to see any benefit to releasing the Japanese version, since whatever money that would bring in would be pretty negligible overall. Shout! stands to benefit more significantly from the sales of a release like that, being a smaller company that deals in niche and obscure films. Contacting them is probably a good idea as well.
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Re: Return of Godzilla to be released on Blu-Ray/DVD on Sept 13th

Post by Great Hierophant »

After 2058, absent any further extensions to copyright, there will no longer be an issue of who owns the rights to release King Kong vs. Godzilla : http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/201 ... -will.html

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