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DVD Title |
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
II |
International Title |
Godzilla
vs. Mechagodzilla II |
DVD Length |
Original Length |
106 Minutes |
108 Minutes |
Company |
Year of Manufacture |
Tristar |
2005 |
Language |
Subtitles |
Japanese, English |
English |
Region |
Number of Discs |
1 |
1 |
Aspect Ratio |
Sound |
1.85:1 (Anamorphic) |
2.0 Stereo |
Extras |
.
|
Menus (English) |
.
|
Chapters (12) |
.
|
Trailers: Godzilla:
Tokyo S.O.S. (Teaser), Mirror Mask,
Steamboy (US), Anacondas: The Hunt for
the Blood Orchid,
Godzilla Compilation DVD Trailer |
|
|
Captures |
|
Review |
Released simultaneously as Godzilla
vs. The Sea Monster, Tristar's DVD of
the 1993 film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
II is, sadly, far below par the company's
other discs released since 2003. Tristar really
dropped the ball on this one, to the point where
I wouldn't be surprised if this film was readied
for DVD back in 2000 and Tristar simply stuck
a note on it stating "save for later"
and then quickly added a Japanese audio track
when the time came. Every aspect of this DVD
feels rushed, from a lackluster video and audio
presentation to Tristar's "trademark"
lack of any significant extras. |
Tristar, to put it bluntly, got lazy for
this release. Granted, the colors on this
release are generally vibrant and no discoloring
is blatantly noticeable, but that's really
one of the few positive marks about this release.
The brightness here is too low, although not
as bad as Godzilla
vs. Gigan, with some details during
the night scenes being very hard to distinguish.
Surprisingly, this disc also suffers from
some digital inconsistencies in the form of
artifacting, with pixilation being noticeable,
and edge enhancement, with halos being noticeable
around fine details.
As for the print used in the transfer, it's
the same version Tristar released on VHS in
1999. This means that the English title appears
in parentheses below the Japanese title during
the film, which is notably better than what
Toho does on their International prints for
the Millennium films, while the credits at
the end have been cut almost entirely, which
accounts for the difference in playing time
compared to the Japanese version. As for the
quality of the print used, damage like scratches is non-existent. However, noise levels are an issue as the amount of film grain present is quite
noticeable. The grain, coupled with the added
pixilation from the artifacting, accounts
for a rather unattractive presentation during
some of the more lighted scenes, as seen here.
Thankfully, the film is presented in its original
aspect ratio of 1.85:1, or widescreen, and
is Anamorphic for widescreen TVs.
|
It's unfortunate that Tristar's lack of effort
in this release extends to the audio presentation
as well. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
is presented here with two audio tracks: one
the original Japanese audio presentation and
the other Toho's International English dubbed
presentation. Both tracks are presented here
in stereo, but sadly there is a huge difference
in quality among the two. The Japanese audio
track, which is the one most will probably
be interested in, is handled very poorly.
The levels are all over the place, with some
sound effects, which should be rather quite,
no drowning out the other audio in the scene.
It's a very disjointing presentation, especially
for those who have seen the film before and
have a general idea of what it should sound
like. To sum this problem up, it almost sounds
like someone quickly converted a 5.1 surround
presentation to a 2.0 stereo format, but no
care was taken as to which of the channels
should be the loudest and quietist. This problem
doesn't end here, though, as some sound effects
have a noticeable echo to them. This problem
is most obvious at the 97 minute mark, where
Godzilla's roar clearly starts and then starts
again mid-roar.
As for the English dubbed track, beyond being
horrible, fares better than the Japanese track.
The audio levels are done much better here,
although the audio distinction sounds a little
weak for a stereo presentation. The problematic
"echo effect" is also present here
as well, but not nearly as often and in different
locations, surprisingly. For example, Godzilla's
roar at the 97 minute mark sounds fine on
this audio track, while some different sound
effects during the first Godzilla vs. Rodan
battle seem off.
The disc includes English subtitles to compliment
its audio presentation, but sadly the subtitles
correspond to the infamous dubbing for the
film and not the Japanese audio track. This
problem should be noticeable to even English
only speakers, as some lines that are spoken
in English in the Japanese version were dubbed
differently and, as a result, feature different
subtitles. Thankfully, Rodan is subtitled
as "Rodan", as opposed to "Radon"
as spoken in the English dubbed track.
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The extra content here is simply the same,
exact, trailers found on the Godzilla
vs. The Sea Monster DVD. Furthermore,
the only notable trailer included is the short
teaser trailer for Godzilla:
Tokyo S.O.S., which has made its way
onto five Godzilla DVDs already. Sadly, the
"Godzilla Compilation Trailer", Anacondas:
The Hunt for the Blood and Steamboy
trailers play automatically when the disc is
inserted into a player, so one will have to
skip past them, or suffer through them, in order
to arrive at the main menu. |
Bottom line, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
II compares better with the DVDs Tristar
released five years ago, such as the Rebirth
of Mothra/Rebirth of Mothra II disc,
as opposed to any of their recent efforts. My
advice is to save this disc for last, after
picking up the other Tristar titles, if one
is collecting all the Godzilla movies on DVD,
or perhaps skip it altogether if one already
owns an acceptable version of the film. |
-Anthony Romeros
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Buy
this DVD |
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