Godzilla vs. the Thing - Red Menace HD Reconstruction AVAILABLE NOW

[omgitsgodzilla]

The Godzilla vs. the Thing reconstruction is available now!

The 1080p HD reconstruction of Godzilla vs. the Thing is completed and available to download! Send a private message for details.

Notes on this release:

• The Toho transfer has had its contrast and saturation boosted somewhat to alleviate its flat appearance. The Simitar DVD has had its brightness and contrast adjusted and its saturation drastically boosted in order to compensate for its even worse color palette. Contiguously-employed DVD sources have been color-corrected to match the enhanced Simitar transfer as closely as possible, while the Siren DVD's credits have been matched as closely as possible to the colors of the Toho transfer.
• The opening credits are from the 16mm-sourced Siren PAL DVD, the English newspaper headlines are from the Simitar letterbox DVD, and the ending AIP title is from the Classic Media DVD.
• The Frontier Missile sequence is mainly taken from the Simitar letterbox DVD, with one missing shot and a missing portion of the next shot sourced from, respectively, the German Marketing-Film DVD and the Classic Media DVD, the latter of which results in a brief bit of footage appearing in pillarboxed 1.78:1 as opposed to the original film's 2.35:1.
• The Siren DVD was the main audio sync reference used in this project, with the Classic Media DVD used to sync audio that the former has out of sync for most of reel 2.
• The reconstruction audio is primarily taken from the Simitar DVD, with gaps and splices filled in using the Siren and Classic Media DVDs.
• The beginning of the film features a brief "overture," consisting of the music that plays where the Japanese title card would be, before the AIP credits begin. This was a feature of the original theatrical release that has not been replicated on any home video release.

Original post:

After many delays, I'm finally getting to work on this! Basically I've got a number of sources: The HD Japanese video, the Simitar DVD, the Classic Media DVD, and the Siren PAL DVD. The first step is going to be syncing the Japanese footage to the Simitar version, which will be the basis for this edit, then finding and incorporating the best sources for the opening/ending titles and the complete Frontier Missile sequence. I'll also be comparing the audio quality of all three DVD sources I've got to see which one I should use the audio from.

[GodzillaBurgh]

Oh man, I can't wait to see what the final product be! And if you're looking for pinpoint accuracy, I've made a comparison of the opening credits from the 1998 Simitar and 2006/7 Classic Media DVDs almost a year ago. Listen carefully, the audio is offsync in the 2006/7 DVD by Classic Media.

[Servanov]

Excited to see this! Going to be the first thing I watch when it's out!

[Mr_Goji_and_Watch]

Good luck.

[omgitsgodzilla]

Glad to hear people are looking forward to it; I've certainly kept you all waiting long enough!

Oh man, I can't wait to see what the final product be! And if you're looking for pinpoint accuracy, I've made a comparison of the opening credits from the 1998 Simitar and 2006/7 Classic Media DVDs almost a year ago. Listen carefully, the audio is offsync in the 2006/7 DVD by Classic Media.

I actually remembered you sent me that when I was deciding what source to sync to! I'm using the Simitar DVD as my main reference, but I'm taking discrepancies between different transfers into account as much as I can in order to create the most complete version possible from what's available.

[GodzillaBurgh]

Then there comes the most obvious question: the Frontier Missile attack scene. Will you be using the Simitar DVD or don't Toho have a higher quality print as a deleted scene in any of the Japanese Blu-rays?

[morgoth]

Really looking forward to this one!

[omgitsgodzilla]

Sadly the Frontier Missile sequence is only available in scope on the Simitar DVD. However, it is missing a few small pieces, which will be filled in from other sources.

Also, Space Hunter M's come through again with a great deal of useful information on the various sources available! Apparently the CM and Siren discs are actually better for sync purposes than the Simitar DVD, which has a great deal of little bits missing, including a few entire lines at the end of reel 1. I've gone back over what I've already done using the Siren disc (for some reason Vegas doesn't like my rip of the CM disc and sometimes only plays every other frame), and am just about to start on reel 3.

[GodzillaBurgh]

Interesting. I thought the Classic Media discs are known to be cropped and apparently were edited on Final Cut Pro, with a lot of errors. Such as using the "Toho Scope" logo instead of the Walter Reade logo in GHIDRAH, of cropping the opening credits of MONSTER ZERO, the entirety of both TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA and GODZILLA VS. THE THING to 16:9 HDTV, and adding cross-dissolves to GOJIRA.

[heiseigodzilla425]

Interesting. I thought the Classic Media discs are known to be cropped and apparently were edited on Final Cut Pro, with a lot of errors. Such as using the "Toho Scope" logo instead of the Walter Reade logo in GHIDRAH, of cropping the opening credits of MONSTER ZERO, the entirety of both TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA and GODZILLA VS. THE THING to 16:9 HDTV, and adding cross-dissolves to GOJIRA.

I believe that the US version of Ghidorah was entirely reconstructed from Japanese visuals, which would explain the Toho logo, as I don't believe that Classic Media had access to scope materials for the US version.

Terror of Mechagodzilla's US version is almost entirely in scope, but the US-exclusive intro sequence is presented in 16x9, which is itself cropped on the top and bottom from a 4:3 TV print.

[omgitsgodzilla]

The transfer of Godzilla vs. the Thing's US version on the CM disc is just the Monsters HD version; they didn't start substituting Japanese video until Ghidorah and Astro-Monster. The US visuals in Monster Zero, Godzilla's Revenge and Terror of Mechagodzilla are from Monsters HD transfers as well, if I'm not mistaken.

[GodzillaBurgh]

Oh yeah, I completely forgot about the MonstersHD prints. Thanks!

[GodzillaFanatic2001]

For the opening credits, what source are you using for the music timing, one with the full opening score, like the Scimitar DVD, or the one with the shortened score like the CM DVD?

[omgitsgodzilla]

I'm using the Siren DVD (time-stretched from 25fps to 23.976fps) as my main sync reference. I'll probably be using it for the opening credits as well; it's the highest resolution source available, if framed a little tightly, and it stretches back out to scope nicely. (The Siren DVD is made from a 4:3 pan-and-scan 16mm print, which squeezes the opening credits instead of cropping them like the rest of the movie.)

Also, as of last night, I've finished syncing the HD Japanese footage! Next is dealing with the various unique US visuals, such as newspaper headlines, the Frontier Missile sequence, and the end title. After that it's on to the soundtrack, which'll involve assembling the most complete copy possible from the various sources, patching splices and so on, and reinstating the short "overture" from the theatrical version - actually just the beginning of the score played over black, which is cut out of all home video copies of the US version.

[Zarm]

Any consideration (and perhaps this already exists and I don't know; I am new to this section of the site) of- for those of us that prefer the subtitled Japanese- creating a version of the Japenese cut with the Frontier Missile Sequence added in, after you're finished? (I know it would be made as an afterthought, if anything...)

[GodzillaBurgh]

I'm using the Siren DVD (time-stretched from 25fps to 23.976fps) as my main sync reference. I'll probably be using it for the opening credits as well; it's the highest resolution source available, if framed a little tightly, and it stretches back out to scope nicely. (The Siren DVD is made from a 4:3 pan-and-scan 16mm print, which squeezes the opening credits instead of cropping them like the rest of the movie.)

Also, as of last night, I've finished syncing the HD Japanese footage! Next is dealing with the various unique US visuals, such as newspaper headlines, the Frontier Missile sequence, and the end title. After that it's on to the soundtrack, which'll involve assembling the most complete copy possible from the various sources, patching splices and so on, and reinstating the short "overture" from the theatrical version - actually just the beginning of the score played over black, which is cut out of all home video copies of the US version.

There's an "overture" not seen on home video? Even a big fan of this movie like me, I never knew about that.

[omgitsgodzilla]

It's just the beginning of the Japanese score, played over a black screen. The music that plays over the Toho Scope Logo and Japanese title card.

Added in 1 hour 43 minutes 36 seconds:
Here's my reconstruction of the bit from the Frontier Missile sequence that's missing from the Simitar DVD, reinstated using the Siren and Classic Media DVDs:



The missing part is actually available in full scope via the German DVD; however the only version I can find online is such low quality I decided against using it - whether the problem is the DVD or the upload itself, I don't know, but it's even worse than the Simitar DVD by quite a bit.

[GodzillaBurgh]

You mean Godzilla un die Urweltraupen, the German DVD from Marketing-Film?
Here's the link to Amazon --> https://www.amazon.de/Godzilla-die-Urwe ... B0002V2E74

I hope this will help. Maybe ask SpaceHunterM, I bet he has lots of high-quality sources of MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA in various languages.

[omgitsgodzilla]

Ehh; he's said that version's got some ghosting or something in it anyway. In any case, he didn't use it for his own reconstruction of the Frontier Missile sequence, and I more or less trust his judgment on it. The Simitar DVD already looks pretty bad; I'm not going to revert to an even lower-quality source if I don't absolutely have to.

EDIT: Looks like I misremembered which sources he used, but I think I'll be sticking with my version nonetheless.

[ultrase7en]

As with all of your previous recons, I can't wait to check this one out!