Producer of spruced-up, decked-out DVD editions of famous and cult films, Criterion has a new Godzilla set out in January. Details:
Godzilla is the roaring granddaddy of all monster movies. It’s
also a remarkably humane and melancholy drama made in Japan at a time
when the country was still reeling from nuclear attack and H-bomb
testing. Its rampaging radioactive beast, the poignant embodiment of an
entire population’s fears, became a beloved international icon of
destruction, spawning more than twenty sequels. This first thrilling,
tactile spectacle continues to be a cult phenomenon; here, we present
the original, 1954 Japanese version, along with
Godzilla, King of the Monsters, the 1956 American reworking starring Raymond Burr.
Features:
- New high-definition digital restoration (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Audio commentary by David Kalat (A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series)
- New high-definition digital restoration of Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Terry Morse’s 1956 reworking of the original, starring Raymond Burr
- Audio commentary for Godzilla, King of the Monsters by Kalat
- New interviews with actor Akira Takarada (Hideto Ogata), Godzilla
performer Haruo Nakajima, and effects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo
Kaimai
- Interview with legendary Godzilla score composer Akira Ifukube
- Featurette detailing Godzilla’s photographic effects
- New interview with Japanese-film critic Tadao Sato
- The Unluckiest Dragon, an illustrated audio essay featuring historian Greg Pflugfelder describing the tragic fate of the fishing vessel Daigo fukuryu maru, a real-life event that inspired Godzilla
- Theatrical trailers
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic J. Hoberman