FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD this June

Latest News on the 2-Disc DVD Set from Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock

Author: Keith Aiken
Source: Media Blasters, Inc.
Special Thanks to Shinichi Wakasa and Keizo Murase


Just approved by Toho; the cover art for the
FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD DVD. Photo
courtesy of Media Blasters. © 1965 Toho Co., Ltd.


In the two years since Media Blasters began releasing DVDs of classic Toho films, the title they have received the most requests for has been FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD (Furankenshutain tai Chite Kaiju Baragon, 1965). Media Blasters took notice and quickly snapped up US rights to the film when they became available from Toho. On June 26, the company’s ‘Tokyo Shock’ label will release FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD on Region 1 DVD. This will be the first time the movie has been released on home video in North America.

American actor Nick Adams (REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, MONSTER ZERO) plays James Bowen, a doctor caring for radiation victims in Hiroshima. Bowen and his assistant Sueko (Kumi Mizuno) find an orphaned boy (Koji Furuhata) who soon begins to grow into a giant Frankenstein Monster. The authorities blame Frankenstein for attacks on small villages and mountain resorts until the true culprit– the giant burrowing dinosaur Baragon– reveals itself for a battle to the death between the two monsters.

Toho co-produced FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD with Henry Saperstein’s company United Productions of America, and the American and Japanese versions of the film were edited somewhat differently with different shots used for a few scenes. In addition, Saperstein originally planned to release the film as “Frankenstein vs the Giant Devilfish”. He had Toho shoot a second ending in which Frankenstein battles a giant octopus (called ‘Odako’ in Japan), but the Devilfish sequence was never used for either version of the film.

To accommodate the variant editions of the movie, the Tokyo Shock DVD will be a 2-Disc set with both the American version FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD and the Japanese version FRANKENSTEIN VS BARAGON (hence the two titles displayed on the packaging art). Despite earlier reports that the American version of the film would be a cropped 1.78:1 transfer from the satellite channel Monsters HD, Media Blasters has now revealed that both FRANKENSTEIN VS BARAGON and FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD will be in the correct 2.35:1 theatrical aspect ratio. The US version is the theatrical cut as originally released by American International Pictures (not the later UPA TV edit), and features the classic English dubbing by Titra Sound as well as Nick Adams’ own voice.

Today Media Blasters confirmed that the alternate “Frankenstein vs the Giant Devilfish” ending will also be included as a seamless branching option with the Japanese cut of the film. Other special features are being ported over from Toho’s Region 2 DVD. Additional extras (which may include some materials from the US release) are still being compiled and will be announced at a later date.

DVD Specs:
Japanese Version FRANKENSTEIN VS BARAGON in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
5.1 and Mono Japanese Audio Tracks
English Subtitles
US Version FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
5.1 and Mono English Audio Tracks

Special Features:
“Frankenstein vs the Giant Devilfish” Alternate Ending
Special Announcement (40 second Japanese promo spot)
Japanese Theatrical Trailer (2 min.)
Extra Footage/Deleted Scenes (approx 5 min.)
Photo Gallery
Audio Commentary by Special Effects Cameraman Sadamasa Arikawa

* Packaging will be identical to Classic Media’s recent DVDs of GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN and MOTHRA VS GODZILLA.

* Previous Classic Media DVD releases were distributed by Sony BMG, a division of Sony Entertainment that is separate from Sony Pictures. Sony BMG has shut down the DVD division to focus on its core music business, so the upcoming Godzilla DVDs will be distributed by Genius Products.

* In addition to the two Godzilla films, Classic Media will release GODZILLA:THE ORIGINAL ANIMATED SERIES VOLUME 3 this summer. The DVD will include Episodes 9-12 of the 1978 Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon show.

FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD: Final DVD Specs!

3 Complete Versions of the Film on a 2-Disc DVD Set from Media Blasters

Author: Keith Aiken
Source: Media Blasters, Inc.
Special Thanks to Richard York

Media Blasters has completed work on their highly anticipated DVD of FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD and revealed the final specs for the June 26 release. Today, Media Blasters’ publicist Richard York announced, “We crammed this two-disc special edition of FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD with three complete versions of the film and other assorted goodies — it’s practically pregnant with entertainment!”

One big change from earlier reports is that the Japanese version will not have a seamless branching option for the alternate “Frankenstein vs the Giant Devilfish” ending. Richard York explained, “The branching option can be quite troublesome. While we would have been able to make it work, some players just aren’t quick enough to make it truly seamless and we didn’t want to upset anyone if their transition wasn’t smooth enough. So the DVD author concluded that it would be better just to put two entire features on one disc. The US version is on another disc, so there’ll be three complete versions of the film in this set.”

Disc One has the English language version FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD. This is the US theatrical cut as originally released by American International Pictures in 1966 (not the later UPA TV edit), and features the classic English dubbing by Titra Sound as well as Nick Adams’ own voice. The lions’ share of extra features is also on this disc and includes two Japanese trailers, deleted scenes, and a massive photo gallery with pics provided by Ed Godziszewski (editor of Japanese Giants and contributor to Classic Media’s Godzilla DVDs).

Disc Two includes the 1965 Japanese theatrical release FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON (Furankenshutain tai Chite Kaiju Baragon) plus the entire “Frankenstein vs the Giant Devilfish” version (now billed by Toho as the FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON “International Version”). Both edits are identical except for the endings; the ending for FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON is identical to the US version while “Frankenstein vs the Giant Devilfish” closes with a battle between Frankenstein and the giant octopus Odako. “Frankenstein vs the Giant Devilfish” also features an audio commentary by Sadamasa Arikawa, Director of Special Effects Photography for FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD and many of Toho’s tokusatsu films of the 1950s and 60s. Arikawa also directed the special effects for movies like DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (Kaiju Soshingeki, 1968) and SPACE AMOEBA (Gezora-Ganime-Kameba: Kessen! Nankai-no Daikaiju, aka YOG: MONSTER FROM SPACE, 1970).

Disc 1

FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD: 1966 US theatrical version (84:47)
2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
English Mono / English 5.1

EXTRAS:
Special Announcement (40 second Japanese promo spot)
Japanese Theatrical Trailer (2 minutes)
“Frankenstein vs the Giant Devilfish” ending
Deleted Scenes (approx 5 minutes)
Photo Gallery (approx 150 images)

Disc 2
FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON: 1965 Japanese Theatrical Version (89:53)
2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Japanese Mono / Japanese 5.1 / English Subtitles

FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON: “Frankenstein vs the Giant Devilfish” Version (93:04)
2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Japanese Mono / Japanese 5.1 / English Subtitles
Audio Commentary with Sadamasa Arikawa (Director of Special Effects Photography) with English Subtitles
Trailers for ATRAGON, DOGORA, MYSTERIANS, MATANGO