DAM and MEGALON News from Media Blasters

[kpa]

Media Blasters (and to lesser extent, Toho) have kept some of the SciFi Japan crew in the loop during their negotiations for DESTROY ALL MONSTERS and GODZILLA VS MEGALON. We were asked not to say anything until the contracts were done so it's been interesting (to say the least) to sit back and watch very simple business deals become such an online rumor-fest over the past few months.

We finally got the all-clear, and Media Blasters agreed to a Q&A that should cover most of the topics fans have been asking about.

Enjoy!

http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2011 ... d-blu-ray/

[tymon]

Excellent, thanks for this. I'll probably get both the DVDs and Blu Rays of both.

[TokyoVigilante]

I'm pretty excited for the inevitable "renascence" and re-appreciation these films always seem to get that coincides with a high quality release. "Godzilla vs. Megalon; the unsung classic!"

It's nice to hear that they're working on all the little extra stuff like the AIP dub, separate versions of the film, and using the R2 extras of Tohos DVDs. I'd also love another commentary track from the Classic Media crew.

It'll be what kind of extras that Media Blaster's gets that will determine if I replace my Madman copy of GODZILLA VS MEGALON. But they've never dropped the ball in that regard.

[Gawdziller]

Well this clears up a lot of the chaos and confusion of the other Megalon DVD topic. Thanks for the info, Keith!

The final question about G85 was one that I was wondering, and the answer is a bummer. But hopefully they'll look into it when these releases are done and maybe Toho will give them the approving nod again!

[Gojira-Fan]

This is great news! Tokyo Shock always puts out quality releases, and it's nice to him them speak about the issue in an outlet other than Facebook.

I've been looking at SciFi Japan a lot ever since I heard about DAM/Megalon being licensed by Media Blasters, especially since they announced it on their FB page. Glad to finally see an article on this!

[Goji]

I

It'll be what kind of extras that Media Blaster's gets that will determine if I replace my Madman copy of GODZILLA VS MEGALON. But they've never dropped the ball in that regard.

While it may not be a deal breaker for ya, they will most definitely include the uncut English dub track from the international version of MEGALON. It was unfortunately absent from the Madman disk, which I'm guessing is the reason they decided to basically recreate the Cinema Shares version, since they didn't have the uncut audio available.

[DaikaijuSokogeki!]

Ooh, I hope MB keeps the October 25th release date for Destroy All Monsters. I will so buy that in November at MB's booth (if they have one like they have in the past) at Nekocon.

[The Dark Uniter]

Awesome confirmation. I'm looking forward to October 25th.

[Tamura]

We will have access to 35mm materials as well as Toho’s HD broadcast masters. We have access to the restorations and plan to release the films complete with some interesting extras. We will strive to produce the best Blu-rays we can.

F*ck yeah. I hope this means they listened to me!

[Legion1979]

Notice how often they state that they need Toho's approval before they use anything.

The next time someone is about to complain about the materials used for a US release of a Toho film try to remember that.

[Tamura]

I'm just concerned about the presentation, or lack thereof, of the international credits from their easy-to-find prints, which Toho has never barred any company from putting on a DVD or VHS. The only times that Toho international dubs have been put out without their credits were when companies like MB or Discotek simply ported the R2's and put subtitles and a dub on them.

I like that they're interested in putting extras having to do with the films' US theatrical and TV releases. Maybe we'll finally see the John Belushi bumpers!

[JVM]

Great news, I'll probably pick up both if I can.

[Crimson_Raptor]

This is great news! And right after a Godzilla vs Megalon bootleg went for $43.00 on ebay last night, lol!

I'll probably get both the DVDs and Blu Rays of both.

The problem is that Blu-Ray quality does not translate into better quality than DVD when it comes to films that were not shot for Blu-Ray.

I understand that they have to put to some version out on Blu-Ray so they won't lose out on additional revenue but that's the reason why Media Blasters says Blu-Ray's growth is slow in this respect due to the low amount of new movies currently being filmed for a Blu-Ray distributing.

[gvamp]

This is great news! And right after a Godzilla vs Megalon bootleg went for $43.00 on ebay last night, lol!

I'll probably get both the DVDs and Blu Rays of both.

The problem is that Blu-Ray quality does not translate into better quality than DVD when it comes to films that were not shot for Blu-Ray.

I understand that they have to put to some version out on Blu-Ray so they won't lose out on additional revenue but that's the reason why Media Blasters says Blu-Ray's growth is slow in this respect due to the low amount of new movies currently being filmed for a Blu-Ray distributing.

35mm which I believe these films where shot on hold higher detail than DVD and BD so BD is the closest we'll get to getting on par with 35mm for now.

[Tamura]

The problem is that Blu-Ray quality does not translate into better quality than DVD when it comes to films that were not shot for Blu-Ray.

What the hell are you talking about? I don't understand how beliefs like this are able to proliferate.

[Monsterzero 1965]

The problem is that Blu-Ray quality does not translate into better quality than DVD when it comes to films that were not shot for Blu-Ray.

That's just wrong. 35mm film can be scanned at 2K and 4K resolution which has a higher resolution than Blu-ray.

[Showa Gyaos]

I'll be looking for a release date.

[RyanClark]

Concerning the topic of the International prints of the films goes, here's my opinion. I've noticed in a lot of cases, Media Blasters likes to use the original Japanese versions, but with dubs. I can't verify how much they do this for anime, but it's a lot more often with them than with a lot of other companies. I'm guessing maybe they want to feature them completely unaltered, as they were in Japan; and in the case of the Toho films, they may not understand some fans, particularly completists, want these previously existing English title/credits screens. I say email them and make this obvious that we want them. It would be awesome to see the original AIP DAM opening and credits, but that depends on if anyone has an actual print of it. Now, concerning the International credits, I would like to see both those and the Japanese credits featured using the multi-angle capability. Funimation used to do this with some of their anime titles, which I thought was brilliant (not sure why they stopped!). But for God's sake, I hope they have the uncut English dub of Megalon, not some attempt to remake the Cinema Shares version like Madman did.

I'm also thrilled to see they want to get the Japanese extras. That may mean commentaries, Japanese 8mm featurettes, and I believe Megalon has a Teruyoshi Nakano interview nearly an hour long. Plus, if you care about the 5.1 audio remixes, I'm hoping those will be there as well.

[omgitsgodzilla]

"We did inquire into [Return of Godzilla] in the past, and may try again in the near future"? I LOVE YOU, MEDIA BLASTERS!

[Tamura]

Ryan, I already sent MB a nice, specific letter about the credits.