Released almost three and a half months after Tokyo Shock's own offering on Region 1, Toho's Region 2 DVD for Dogora turns out to be vastly superior to the R1 DVD in almost every aspect. Featuring superior video, additional audio options and a great behind the scenes featurette which focuses on the special effects for the monster, this is quite simply the best version of Dogora on the DVD format. If only Media Blasters had waited a little longer for Toho's DVD to come out first, so they could release it themselves 6 months later, because the difference in quality between the two versions is really night and day.

This region 2 DVD features an outstanding video presentation for Dogora, as the print used here is in excellent condition overall. The first thing one notices when watching this DVD is that the color is much more natural looking compared with the R1 print. An example of this difference can be seen here, as the coloring for the R1 print is simply too rich looking and unnatural in my opinion, while this same scene on the R2 DVD sports a more normal looking color. The next thing that is noticeable is that this DVD features the film totally uncropped and in glorious widescreen. In fact, until I bought this R2 DVD, I had no idea that Tokyo Shock's print was cropped at all, but when comparing this scene from the R1 DVD with the same scene from this R2 DVD, it becomes painfully obvious that the print obtained by Media Blasters wasn't the gem we all originally thought it was!

Dogora is presented in it's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is Anamorphic for widescreen TVs. I should probably mention that Dogora is also slightly windowboxed as well, but when watching on a regular TV the left and right sides fill the entire screen as there is only a black border on the top and bottom.

The audio tracks are all excellent. First is the original 1.0 channel mono soundtrack which sounds very good and nostalgic (no complaints whatsoever with it), while the second option is a 5.1 channel remix which was specially prepared for this release in 2005. I was quite honestly very impressed with the 5.1 channel audio as it is noticeably louder than the mono track, but is also very clear and really opens up the sound tremendously. I suspect this is the best Dogora has ever sounded since its original theatrical run. Of the two, I would probably recommend the 5.1 audio, but you can't go wrong with the original mono track either…both are great!

Since this is a region 2 release from Toho, there are no English subtitles of course, but this DVD does come equipped with Japanese subtitles if one wants to check them out.

While there is not a great amount of extras here, what is included is a treat. First up is an audio commentary track, in Japanese, with Yosuke Natsuki, who played the lead in the movie and was also featured in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster that same year. Next is the film's original Japanese trailer which is in excellent condition, especially compared with the same trailer that is included on the R1 DVD. When one compares the two trailers, as seen here with the Region 1 and here with the Region 2, it's easy to see that the coloring on the R1 trailer is slightly off, while the print itself is cropped on all four sides as well! The audio for the R1 trailer is also a bit muffled compared with the rather crisp and clear audio track for the R2 trailer.

The star attraction here, though, is a very interesting 26 minute interview with Teruyoshi Nakano and Keizo Murase. It's a fascinating feature that also includes rare production art and a few minutes of rarely seen video from 1964 of Dogora itself being filmed. For instance, here is a screen shot taken from a crew member's 8mm movie camera, while here is a shot of some rare Dogora test footage in a water tank. This feature even briefly touches on some of the recent merchandise too, as it first shows some toys from the Godzilla franchise, and then shows this ad of a Marmit Dogora. The final extra is a photo gallery which features 20 b&w stills of Ishiro Honda giving direction to his actors and while it's a nice gallery, unfortunately, the pictures are very small. This DVD also comes with a booklet as well, which includes some behind the scenes photos and all the original poster art for the movie.

In hindsight, it is a shame that Media Blasters jumped the gun by releasing Dogora on their own before Toho's R2 DVD came out. I own the R1 DVD as well and once I saw the startling difference in quality between the two versions, I knew right away my purchase of this R2 DVD was justified. While it won't be cheap (Y4500 + shipping from Japan and no English subtitles), if you want to see Dogora with the best video and audio around, and also get a chance to see some vintage 1964 behind the scenes video of the monster itself, this region 2 DVD is recommended over the Tokyo Shock release.