*Fantasy Discussion ONLY* what-if Showa Era Toho Sci-Fi Set

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o.supreme
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*Fantasy Discussion ONLY* what-if Showa Era Toho Sci-Fi Set

Post by o.supreme »

Greetings All,

With the announcement of Criterion's Showa era Godzilla set, some fans are wondering about all the non-Godzilla Toho films. It appears Criterion already has Rodan and WotG, (as they are on Starz streaming service) could they be acquiring others as well? If so, what would you like to see? I've put together a list of 20 films I personally would like to see in a set. Of course some of these are quite problematic for various reasons and are not likely. Also, if 20 is too many, I've speculated *if* I had to trim 5, which would they be, could these sets be maybe 2 sets of 10? There's all sorts of variables. Some are obviously Kaiju films. Others are more sci-fi/horror themed. What are your thoughts?

Half Human 1955
Rodan 1956
The Mysterians 1957
Varan 1958
The H-Man 1958
The Three Treasures 1959
Battle in Outer Space 1959
The Human Vapor 1960
Mothra 1961
The Last War 1961
Gorath 1962
Matango 1963
Atragon 1963
Dogora 1964
Frankenstien vs Baragon/ Frankenstein Conquers The World 1965
War of the Gargantuas 1966
King Kong Escapes 1967
Latitude Zero 1969
Space Amoeba 1970
Prophecies of Nostradamus/Last Days of Planet Earth 1974
Last edited by o.supreme on Sat Aug 24, 2019 7:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: *Fantasy Discussion ONLY* what-if Showa Era Toho Sci-Fi Set

Post by omgitsgodzilla »

I doubt they're buying the others, but I wouldn't mind an Eclipse set of some of the OOP ones Media Blasters released in the past, if they're still doing those. A Blu-ray set would be even better, and pretty feasible given that a lot of those films have probably reverted to Toho, but I'm not sure I see it happening.
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Re: *Fantasy Discussion ONLY* what-if Showa Era Toho Sci-Fi Set

Post by UltramanGoji »

I'd really only be interested in an R1 release of the Japanese version of King Kong Escapes and everything Tokyo Shock didn't get to like Gorath, Three Treasures, or Telegian. I probably wouldn't buy a new Eclipse set of older stuff I already have, especially when Eclipse sets are a little less "prestigious" than normal Criterion releases.
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Re: *Fantasy Discussion ONLY* what-if Showa Era Toho Sci-Fi Set

Post by mikelcho »

There's two Toho films that you forgot to put in:

*The Invisible Man (1954)
*Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965).

Other than that, the list is perfect, although there are three minor changes that need to be made:

*It's The H-Man and IIRC, it was released in Japan in 1958 before Varan was
*It's The Secret of the Telegian, its year of release in Japan was 1960 and it comes before The Human Vapor
*The actual English-language title used in Japan for the last film is Prophecies of Nostradamus.
Last edited by mikelcho on Wed Aug 28, 2019 1:05 pm, edited 5 times in total.

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Re: *Fantasy Discussion ONLY* what-if Showa Era Toho Sci-Fi Set

Post by o.supreme »

Thank You. FCTW was an glaring omission, I apologize, and have corrected it. I tried to limit the list to 20 films, but of course you can make it whatever you want. I've corrected my other typos and will return the favor and give you the chance to correct your release date of The Secret of the Telegian, unless it predates nearly every other movie in existence by roughly 850 years ;)
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Re: *Fantasy Discussion ONLY* what-if Showa Era Toho Sci-Fi Set

Post by mikelcho »

o.supreme wrote:Thank You. FCTW was an glaring omission, I apologize, and have corrected it. I tried to limit the list to 20 films, but of course you can make it whatever you want. I've corrected my other typos and will return the favor and give you the chance to correct your release date of The Secret of the Telegian, unless it predates nearly every other movie in existence by roughly 850 years ;)
Corrected! Oops, must've typed the wrong key and didn't know it...silly me! Thanks for pointing that out! I don't know how that got past me here.

Now it can be changed. If you please, sir...

Also, check above for a goof that I just noticed...
Last edited by mikelcho on Sat Aug 24, 2019 10:10 pm, edited 5 times in total.

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Re: *Fantasy Discussion ONLY* what-if Showa Era Toho Sci-Fi Set

Post by mikelcho »

One more thing: you still forgot The Invisible Man.

If your idea became reality, this could be that film's premiere in the U.S., since it never got done before. That would make it an even 22 films instead of an odd 21.
Last edited by mikelcho on Mon Oct 21, 2019 6:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: *Fantasy Discussion ONLY* what-if Showa Era Toho Sci-Fi Set

Post by tbeasley »

Basically a follow-up to Criterion's Godzilla set with Toho's other kaiju and sci-fi films, perhaps with special emphasis on the Honda-Tsuburaya collaborations. If they had to pair it down to a core selection of films (around 15 or so like the Godzilla set) I definitely feel those golden age films should be represented.

The main site has genre listings for Godzilla, kaiju, sci-fi, etc. that come in handy when assessing this. Basically as many genre films Criterion could fit in a set would make me happy, even if it weren't all inclusive.

https://www.tohokingdom.com/genre_movie ... stings.htm

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Re: *Fantasy Discussion ONLY* what-if Showa Era Toho Sci-Fi Set

Post by Godzamera »

It would look nice next to my Godzilla box.
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Re: *Fantasy Discussion ONLY* what-if Showa Era Toho Sci-Fi Set

Post by The Octopus »

Was The Three Treasures ever released in the West? Is there a dubbed/English credits version of it avaliable?
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Re: *Fantasy Discussion ONLY* what-if Showa Era Toho Sci-Fi Set

Post by Terasawa »

Shhh! The Octopus wrote:Was The Three Treasures ever released in the West? Is there a dubbed/English credits version of it avaliable?
1. Yes.
2. A dubbed version (presumably with English credits) exists but isn’t presently available.

I talked more about it here.
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Re: *Fantasy Discussion ONLY* what-if Showa Era Toho Sci-Fi Set

Post by GojiraXDAN »

Really hope Criterion releases the remaining titles they have either in a box set or separately. Really itching for a Blu-ray War of the Gargantuas since the classic media DVD doesn't look too great on an HDTV. And Mysterians would be great. Sucks waiting but I bet it will be a box set if and when it does get released. Re-watched the Media Blasters DVDs of Atragon and Mysterians and they look pretty great for DVD but I would still love those on Blu-Ray.
Last edited by GojiraXDAN on Wed Sep 25, 2019 8:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: *Fantasy Discussion ONLY* what-if Showa Era Toho Sci-Fi Set

Post by Godzamera »

If this does happen, I hope Prophecies of Nostradamus, Varan, and Half Human are included.
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Re: *Fantasy Discussion ONLY* what-if Showa Era Toho Sci-Fi Set

Post by Tamura »

I don’t see why there is any great desire for such a box when we already know Toho only allows US companies to release disks with absolutely no unique content whatsoever. You don’t have to be well connected to find any of the content appearing in the Criterion Godzilla box or any of the Kraken releases, it’s all been out in the wild for years, unless you count stuff like subtitles or something. If you think PoN or Half Human will ever be seen in some official capacity in North America ever again, keep dreaming. Well, this is a fantasy discussion, after all...
Last edited by Tamura on Fri Sep 27, 2019 3:12 am, edited 4 times in total.
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