News Article: Press Release for Godzilla 1954 from Criterion

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Date:	01/04/2012
Author:	(Press Release)
Source:	-

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Ishiro Honda's Godzilla is the roaring granddaddy of all monster movies. It's also a remarkably humane and melancholy drama made in Japan at a time when the country was still reeling from nuclear attack and H-bomb testing. Its rampaging radioactive beast, the poignant embodiment of an entire population’s fears, became a beloved international icon of destruction, spawning more than twenty sequels and spinoffs. This first thrilling, tactile spectacle continues to be a cult phenomenon; here, we present the original, 1954 Japanese version, along with Godzilla: King of the Monsters!, the 1956 American reworking starring Raymond Burr (Rear Window).
 
1954 • 96 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In Japanese with English subtitles • 1.37:1 aspect ratio

SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES 
• New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
• Audio commentary by David Kalat (A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series)
• New high-definition digital restoration of Godzilla: King of the Monsters!, Terry Morse’s 1956 reworking of the original, starring Raymond Burr
• Audio commentary for Godzilla: King of the Monsters! by Kalat
• New interviews with actor Akira Takarada (Hideto Ogata), Godzilla performer Haruo Nakajima, and effects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai
• Interview with legendary Godzilla score composer Akira Ifukube
• Featurette detailing Godzilla’s photographic effects
• New interview with Japanese-film critic Tadao Sato
• The Unluckiest Dragon, an illustrated audio essay featuring historian Greg Pflugfelder describing the tragic fate of the fishing vessel Daigo fukuryu maru, a real-life event that inspired Godzilla
• Theatrical trailers
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic J. Hoberman
 
 TITLE: Godzilla (BLU-RAY EDITION)                                     
CAT. NO: CC2098BD
UPC: 7-15515-08941-8
ISBN: 978-1-60465-510-0
SRP: $39.95                                                                        
PREBOOK: 12/27/11
STREET: 1/24/12
 
TITLE: Godzilla (2-DVD EDITION)                                     
CAT. NO: CC2099D
UPC: 7-15515-08951-7
ISBN: 978-1-60465-511-7
SRP: $29.95                                                                        
PREBOOK: 12/27/11
STREET: 1/24/12