Adam Tyner

Not sure if this is the same one you had in mind, but Bandai Visual released the individual volumes of Freedom -- barely over 20 minutes, minus credits, per volume! -- on HD DVD in the U.S. for $39.99 each. They never even released the final volume on HD DVD, so if you wanted to see the finale, you had to buy the Blu-ray boxed set of the entire collection. If you started on HD DVD and finished on Blu-ray, the MSRP would be $379.92 for about two hours of material, minus credits. Yeeeeeikes.

Deadman31

http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2...ays-from-sony/

wahlers

So the double feature discs are going to be 2-discs, huh?

Probably could have fit 2 features on one disc, but all the same, if they use the space, I guess we'll benefit from it.

Plus if people want to modify copies of the individual DVD sleeves they could put each disc in its own blu-ray case to keep the Godzilla library in chronological order...

milo bloom

Damn straight...

I'll be buying all of them now, and somehow figuring out how to print custom covers (in all my years of collecting, I've never gotten a printer to make anything that didn't look like a flea market bootleg).

islandclaws

Ditto. I hope someone makes some kick-ass customs for these. I'm definitely ditching the double-feature cases ASAP.

hanshotfirst1138

You're welcome. It's nice when someone benefits from my head full of useless knowledge. I wish I could utilize it in some financially beneficial way ,

Expensive, I can tell you that. Beyond that, I don't know. Apparently though, the hyper-accelerated culture has some odd effects on people. It's damn sure unfriendly even to those of us wiling to plunki down for those prices because of the aforementioned English subtitles, I can tell you that.

Good Lord, I hadn't heard about that. No, I was referring to Galaxy Angel Rune. Needless to say, as far as I understand, this did not end well for Bandai Visual, and this was at the height of anime market in the US too. Why they though this was good idea or if they just knew nothing about the American market, I do not know. Then again, I wanted to buy Wings of Honneamise and wound up not doing it because it came out as the then-novel combo pack, and I had no interest in HD, so Bandai were really pushing their products where they wanted to at that point. Then again, compared to the platinum Gundam, it seems like a bargin.

If it's authored well.

They could. I'm more concerned about the content than the packaging.

Yeah, you are right, most Japanese studios are pretty crazy about US releases. Though I get the feeling it's an overall cultural difference to some extent-I remember the first time I thought about buying a Japanese import DVD, and I just about had a heart attack. How anyone there affords anything is beyond me. Bandai tried Japanese pricing for one of their American releases a number of years back. It did not go well. Having said that, I might be willing to pay the exorbitant prices for some Japanese releases if they would actually put English subtitles on some of the damn things. Why they don't, I don't know, I guess the potential market is just too small.

Apparently, part of the holdup as regarded Battle Royale wasn't the controversy, but the fact that Toei wanted a huge Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-style release for it, and didn't simply want to go straight to video. The concept of a niche property is evidently not one which sits well with them. How true that is, I have no idea, but that's what I've heard. Like I said, then they wonder why fansubs and bootlegs are so numerous.

Jory

Bare bones releases of movies I've already got on DVD. No thanks.

All I really want are these:

- The Return of Godzilla, aka Godzilla 1985, with both the Japanese and American cuts. This movie never even got a Region 1 DVD release, let alone a Blu-ray.

- Destroy All Monsters, which got a terrible non-anamorphic DVD and then a Blu-ray that was recalled about five minutes after being released because Toho threw a legal fit over the features.

- The original Japanese cut of King Kong vs. Godzilla. The American cut as a bonus would be nice but not necessary.

islandclaws

Toho is waiting for a presumably long-dead contract to officially expire before selling off home video rights for '85. Based on the rumors this seems to be coming up shortly, I'm guessing it was a 30-year deal that ends next year.

hanshotfirst1138

I'd assume Toho owns the rights to all of those old AIP and American dubs?

manicsounds

Nope. MGM owns the AIP catolog.

hanshotfirst1138

I thought the actually copies of them didn't reside with them, but Toho had the legal rights to them? I think they're the ones who dictate whether or not the dubs can be on the release like the Classic Media ones.

Deadman31

I always thought the AIP dubs had been lost over time. Does someone actually own the rights to them?

Adam Tyner

Unless something's in the public domain, someone, somewhere has the rights to it.

Figuring out who, working out a deal, finding usable elements, dealing with the edits...there's some time, effort, and money involved for sure.

hanshotfirst1138

I believe Toho owns the rights, but don't technically have access to the materials, which presumably reside with MGM?

Jory

Amazon Best Sellers in Foreign Films:

1. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah / Godzilla vs. Megaguirus [Blu-ray]
2. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II / Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla [Blu-ray]
3. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah / Godzilla vs. Mothra [Blu-ray]
5. Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. / Godzilla: Final Wars [Blu-ray]
10. Space Battleship Yamato [Blu-ray/DVD Combo]
11. Godzilla vs. Hedorah [Blu-ray]
12. Godzilla vs. Gigan [Blu-ray]
13. Gamera - Ultimate Collection Volume 2 [Blu-ray]
14. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep [Blu-ray]
15. Gamera - Ultimate Collection Volume 1 [Blu-ray]
18. Gamera Trilogy (1995-1999) [Blu-ray]
19. Godzilla (1954) [Criterion Blu-ray]

JordanGLC

Link?

Jory

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers...tv/2959131011/

It keeps fluctuating. Right now, Blue Is the Warmest Color and The Hidden Fortress are the top sellers.

Deadman31

heads up for all who havent purchased G vs. Biollante yet. Just read this on tohokingdom

Echo Bridge has discontinued production on their Biollante release, so I would pick it up now while you still have the chance

Matthew Chmiel

I feel like I might've made a similar comment four days ago...

My copy from Amazon actually arrived this afternoon. Amazon shows it's out of stock now, but there are some third-party retailers affiliated with Amazon still selling it.

milo bloom

I've learned my lesson, stuff like this I start grabbing as soon as I see it. I started grabbing every MST3K set as soon as it came out because of the rights issues that Rhino had.

Ringmaster

There's a couple of days left, but Sci-fi Japan has a giveaway for all the Sony Godzilla Double features on Blu Ray!

http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2...ets-from-sony/

Solid Snake

Seems like Toho does it again with the material they give to us.

Dvdtalk review:
www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/64126/godzilla-vs-mechagodzilla-ii-godzilla-vs-spacegodzilla-set/

And more dubtitles. *sigh*

Jory

Yep. Read the review yesterday. I'll stick with my DVDs.

islandclaws

Disappointing, but not unexpected and as a big G fan I'll keep my preorders in place.

milo bloom

I guess I'm going to just get the Ghidorah/Mothra double feature since I never picked up the pan and scan double feature DVD. I've got DVDs of all the others.