Released simultaneously as Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Tristar's release of Jun Fukuda's Ebirah, Horror of the Deep ranks as one of the company's best efforts, and a real contender for the greatest region 1 Godzilla DVD. The video presentation here is nothing short of amazing, while the audio presentation is great, given the source material. Unfortunately, the extras here are nearly nonexistent, which is disappointing, but to be expected from Tristar.

Video:
Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster sports an outstanding video presentation for the film, one of the best for a Godzilla DVD. The colors on this release are flawless, with both a vibrant array present and no discoloring, whiuch was a problem with their Son of Godzilla disc. The brightness level on this DVD is also handled well. Granted, some scenes do look a little dark, but more often then not the brightness level appears to be done well. In regards to digital inconsistencies, they are nearly unnoticeable. Overall, the movie looks very sharp, with hardly any signs of artifacting and no visible shimmering.

As for the print used in the transfer, one can't call it anything but a new version done for this release. The Toho logo has been replaced by the new English one from the Millennium series, while the title has been changed to "Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster." The opening credits have also been redone, placed in English against the same background that the Japanese credits would be shown. In regards to the quality of the print used, it's in great shape. There are some scratches present, but this is generally unnoticeable with one sole exception that happens around the 83 minute mark, it can be seen here. The amount of grain found on the print, as with their Son of Godzilla release, appears to have been greatly reduced, and is hardly noticeable for a good portion of the movie. The DVD also presents the film in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, or widescreen/Toho Scope, and is Anamorphic for widescreen TVs.

Audio:
Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster comes with two audio tracks, one is the film's original Japanese presentation while the other is Toho's International English dubbed presentation. Both tracks are presented in mono, keeping true to the movie's original audio format, and sound great given the limitations of the mono format. No pops, crackles, or any other audio distortion is heard on the disc. However, the English dubbed track is, to be blunt, horrible. One of the worst to come out of Toho. The inclusion of the Japanese audio track does make this easy to overlook, though, and the addition of the dubbed track is welcome, even if most may choose to ignore it.

The Japanese audio track is also complimented here by English subtitles. Sadly, and this is nothing new for a Tristar discs, the translations are loose. To put it more precisely, the subtitles are often derived straight for the disc's dubbed track, although this isn't always the case as it was with Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.. Thankfully, the International dubbed track is fairly close to the actual dialogue in the film anyway, so this shouldn't pose as much of a problem as it has with discs in the past.

Extras:
If one owns any of the past five Tristar Godzilla releases, then there is nothing worth mentioning here. Just the same old collection of trailers, save for the inclusion of the UK film Mirror Mask. The same Japanese teaser trailer for Godzilla: Tokyo SOS is present. It wasn't much to write home about in the first place, but the fact that it appears on five Godzilla DVDs makes its inclusion here feel almost tiresome. Unfortunately, the "Godzilla Compilation Trailer", Steamboy and Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid trailers play automatically when the disc is inserted into a player, so they will have to be skipped in order to access the main menu.

Overview:
Bottom line, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster is an excellent release from Tristar. Granted, there are no extras for the DVD to boast about, but the presentation of the film itself is done so well it's hard to not suggest this title to fans of the King of the Monsters.