DVD Title
Destroy All Monsters!
International Title
DVD Length
Original Length
89 Minutes
89 Minutes
Company
Year of Manufacture
ADV Films
1999
Language
Subtitles
English
English
Region
Number of Discs
1
1
Aspect Ratio
Sound
2.35:1
2.0 Mono
Extras
.
None
Captures
Review
One of the most infamous Toho DVDs on the region 1 market, as ADV's first attempt at bringing Toho's films to DVD would be a shaky one, although ADV has never really been known for quality releases in the first place. Released in 1998, ADV's Destroy All Monsters! is severally lacking in a number of areas, including a poor video presentation, a single audio track (the horrendous International English dubbing), and literally no extras to speak of.

 Video:
Star Rating

The video presentation found on this disc is rather poor, with the only really positive thing to be said is that it maintains the film's original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. It would appear that two prints were used for the transfer to DVD: one an international print used for scenes, like the opening credits, that would have displayed Japanese text which is replaced with English, and the other a well restored Japanese print. The end result is English title sequences which contain numerous scratches, with the rest of the movie containing only a minor number of scratches. Changing between the two prints, during the course of the movie, isn't very noticeable, with the exception of the ending sequence when the colors change from overly blue to overly yellow as the International print is used for text in this scene. The Japanese print used isn't flawless, though, and contains an annoying problem during most scene changes in the film where a white bar appears at the bottom of the image (seen here); it's a minor distraction, but one that remains consistent during the entire movie.

Like the prints used for the transfer, the colors are a mixed bag here as well: the film does contain vibrant colors, most noticeable in the yellow and red outfits of the Moonbase personal, but the coloring is off here, and appears far more blue than it should. Edge Enhancement, and other digital inconsistencies added during the transfer to DVD, are distracting as well. The film appears rather blurry, although pixilation isn't bad on this release. Shimmering, a distortion of fine details which give off a ban of multiple colors, are very noticeable on this release, with the most obvious occurrence being the spikes on Anguirus' shell when he is seen at a distance.


 Audio:
Star Rating

The audio presentation on this release is, like everything else about this DVD, lacking. The DVD contains a English 2.0 mono track of the, horrendous, International dubbing. In general, the audio quality is good, ignoring the limitations of the mono format, although it does gets scratchy around the 73 minute mark when King Ghidorah first appears.


 Extras:

As previously mentioned, this disc contains no extras; in fact, it still remains the most bare bones release of a Toho DVD on region 1. This means no chapters, no menus, nothing; a video track with a English dub track, and no subtitles, is all that one will find on this DVD.


 Overview:
Star Rating
Bottom line, the video quality is passable, which for some will probably be enough with the its $15 price tag. If one doesn't have the soundtrack, though, it would be suggested to forego this release and get the DVD and Soundtrack double pack, released as Destroy All Monsters - 50th Anniversary Special Edition. However, due to the added digital inconsistencies, ADV's VHS release of the film actually has a better video presentation then their DVD release.
-Anthony Romeros