Any word on a DVD release date?

This is the original 1954 Japanese version, uncut and without the Raymond Burr scenes that were filmed for the American version

There is no word on it yet as far as I know but there is some speculation that Criterion may be able to put out an edition sometime in the future because of their ties to Rialto. A quick search in the movie forum should get you going in the right direction. I hope it all pans out as I'd love to have a good R1 release of this classic.

There's been an R2 version on DVD for quite some time. Unfortunately, like all the R2 discs, there are no English Subs. Have'nt heard anything about an R1 release though. With Goji's 50th birthday coming up, there's hope that maybe we'll see one more sooner than later.

Oh...and Welcome to the forum!

Just saw it a couple of months ago on the big screen, it looked beautiful!

Rialto's contract with Toho was for US theatrical release only, but nontheless, rumours are out there. OTOH, Sony/Columbia seems to have the US rights tied up for most of the Godzilla films, so who knows what they might do (a Criterion release sublicenced through Columbia and Toho would be nice). But so far, nothing concrete has been announced by anyone.

I was able to catch it too in theatres a few months ago, it was great! I hope it gets a good DVD release soon.

Just curious - other than the additional Burr scenes and the obvious addition of dubbing, are there any other significant differences between the original Japanese version and the American version (any scenes removed, etc.)?

It has 40 mins or so that was not in the american Burr version.

From what I can remember, all the mentions of H-bomb and the cause of it creating Godzilla was not in the American version. Also the Oxygen Destroyer was not there either.

Apparently the ending: the original had an ominous warning that someday, somewhere another H-bomb will explode and waken another monster- it’s inevitable. Thus, the strong message of being anti-nuclear war. Whereas, the American version is the army fought off and defeated this horrible monster. The same theme as most 1950’s monster movies- the victors of the Cold War metaphor.

There's also about 15 minutes of G vs. the Japanese Defense Force (?) which was EXCELLENT footage. I have no clue as to why the American editors would cut it down so drastically (in the US version, it's less than 5 minutes). Also, several mentions of the "inconveniences" of having had an A-bomb go off in your country a decade before were deleted. When viewed, it makes the storyline much more fulfilling.

[Naw, I'm not a Godzilla fan or anything...]

Both are in Godzilla King of the Monsters.

Ahhh, see what do I know?

The word is that negotiations are going on now between Toho, Rialto and Classic Media for 2005 DVD.

Is there any news? I still haven't heard about a release date for the DVD.

Still no word... i hope it gets loads of extras. I was able to check it out in theatres for its short stint and it was pretty cool.

If you can go region free, R4 (Australia) has a 2 disc set featuring both 1954's Gojira & 1956's Godzilla: King of the Monsters. It was put out by Eastern Eye (www.easterneye.com.au) cinema and is a pretty nice presentation of each film. English subs are presented for Gojira. I picked it up for about $30 last year and am very happy with it.

I bought the R4 DVD too and it is quite nice.

Literally a week after I watched it I found it it was playing it in a theater in Salt Lake City and since I was going there that weekend I saw it on the big screen too!

Where can I buy the subtitled version? Went to the Eastern Eye link above, but couldn't find it.

Go to the Search bar at the top of the EasternEye page and type in "Godzilla". It's the very first disc that pops up.

I see several lists that show this was due from Classic Media with new widescreen transfers sometime this month . . . is there *any* word at all about this?

Appreciated,
Tim

Aw Shucks, I thought there was some news. Thanks for the bump.

There will be no widescreen release of this movie BECAUSE....(drumroll please.....) it was not filmed in widescreen! Just standard TV dimension size (4:3, I believe, or something like that). Many films back then were shot in that ratio.

yep, 1st toho widescreen g flick, King Kong vs. G
due to all that war and bombing stuff japan was a little behind the times in cinematic style

Over two years later, finally, a date:

Gojira - September 5



Product Description
This package contains:

* Godzilla (1954 Japanese Edition-english subtitles)
* King of the Monsters (1956 U.S. Release Edtion-english v/o dub)

Featuring:
* Hi Definition Source Masters
* Audio commentaries
* Original trailers
* Photo still gallery

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...-5149406?n=130

Yep, I'm all over that - looks great and long overdue . . .