Released simultaneously as Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., Tristar's release of Jun Fukuda's Son of Godzilla is another solid release in the company's roster. The video presentation, despite a minor flaw, is great, while the audio presentation is superb; unfortunately, those looking for any extras beyond a brief collection of trailers will be disappointed, but this is pretty standard for most of Tristar's Godzilla DVDs.

Video:
Son of Godzilla's video presentation is, more or less, amazing. The colors on this DVD are really its only fault in this regard. Granted, they are very vibrant here though. There is a great distinction seen in the film, as even the range of coloring on the monsters, like Kamacuras and Kumonga, is now very easy to spot. However, the colors themselves are slightly off, with the magenta level being a little too high. This gives the film a slight purple tint throughout, about on par if not slightly worse than what's seen on the company's Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. release. Beyond this minor error, though, the disc's video presentation is superb, especially considering the age of the film. Unlike Tristar's October releases, the brightness level here is just right, with every scene in the film being very easy to spot details during. As for the amount of digital inconsistencies, they are kept to a minimum here, with the film looking incredibly sharp and without a sign of shimmering throughout the entire film. In regards to the noise levels, this appears to have been greatly reduced, far less noticeable when compared to the print Tristar used for the Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. release, believe it or not.

As for the print used in the transfer, Tristar got the International version of the film, although, once again, the old Toho logo was replaced by the new English one done for the Millennium series. As for the quality of the print, it's nothing short of fantastic. There are some scratches present, a couple of faintly seen lines do appear on screen during the film, while (as with other Showa entities) any scenes that involve superimposition do contain some more noticeable wear. Overall, for a film this age, the print is in excellent condition. As a final spot of good news, the film's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is maintained on this DVD and is Anamorphic for widescreen TVs.

Audio:
There are two audio tracks found on this DVD: the film's original Japanese audio track, and Toho's International English dubbed track for the film. Both tracks are presented here in mono, and while some of the dialogue does get drowned out a little by the film's sound effects, it's the film's original audio format so considering the source material it's handled well here. The Japanese audio track here is complimented by English, removable, subtitles that, unlike the recent Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. release, correspond to the Japanese dialogue in the film. The subtitles are a loose interpretation of the actual lines sometimes, and there is a slight delay in when the subtitles appear on screen vs. when the actor speaks the lines, but overall I guess one can just be thankful that they didn't opt to simply subtitle the dubbed track.

Extras:
As expected, the extras here are nothing to write home about. All that appears on this disc is the same assortment of extras found on Tristar's Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. release, save the exclusion of Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid. This marks the fifth Tristar DVD to contain the Japanese teaser trailer for Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., which is really starting to make one wish the company would opt to get another Toho film's original trailer to stick on these releases. Also included on this disc is a "Godzilla Compilation Trailer", which is simply a two minute advertisement for the other Godzilla titles available from Tristar, minus the Heisei series ones, while footage from Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. plays. Sadly, this "Compilation Trailer" plays automatically when one sticks the Son of Godzilla DVD into a player, meaning one will have to skip past it every time in order to get to the disc's main menu.

Overview:
Bottom line is that Son of Godzilla has rarely looked or sounded better than on Tristar's release here. However, the lack of any significant extras is disappointing, but after Tristar's Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. I'm personally willing to sacrifice bonus features if it means more care is placed into the video and audio presentation as it is here. If your a fan of Godzilla, or monster films in general, Son of Godzilla is an excellent addition into one's collection.

This disc is also featured in the DVD box set(s): Godzilla DVD Collection (3 pack)