IN GOJIRA WE TRUST
THE 1954 UNCUT JAPANESE CLASSIC IS FINALLY ON
DVD
WIN A TRIP TO TOKYO AND MORE GOJIRA GOODNESS!
It's almost a safe bet that everyone has seen Godzilla
in action in some way shape or form, but few have seen the 1954
Japanese Gojira in its uncut glory. In America, the
retiled Godzilla was released with 20 minutes was cut out and
scenes featuring Raymond Burr were hastily shot and edited in.
While the English dub version has its detractors, it's still a fun
movie as well, and the folks at Classic Media wisely include both the
original and revamped version in this really nice 2 disc set.
Amazon has it bargain priced at $16.49 and it's quite a good
value for the dollar. The packaging resembles a glossy high
quality hardcover book, and it comes with a 16 page book that
discusses the making of the film that's pretty damn informative.
The film is a lot more sad with a
feeling of dread than any other Godzilla film. Made just a
decade after the Hiroshima blasts, the atomic age symbolism is thick.
It's one of the only Godzilla movies in which you really aren't
cheering for the monster at all, and every bit of mayhem and
destruction seems tragic. The work with miniature sets is
amazingly well done for the time, and when you consider the tight
budget and that the film was shot in just under a year, it's a
tremendous accomplishment.
The extras on the discs are great and
are clearly a labor of love for all involved. My favorite piece
is a slideshow featurette about the making of the suit. The
photo and anecdotes that illustrate the trial and error that went in
to crafting the big rubber monstrosity are fascinating and hilarious.
For example, the first prototype costume ended up being so heavy and
stiff that the actor couldn't even move inside of it. While a
second more flexible version was made, it still weighed nearly 200
pounds and could only be worn for just minutes at a time, with cups
of sweat drained from it regularly. One of the photos shows the
poor Godzilla actor collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.
My only nitpick about the set is that
the print doesn't appear to have been restored very well. While
Godzilla attacks Tokyo at night, there's a ton of white sparkly bits
of damage all about. And the sound seems uneven and off balance
at times as well. But again, this isn't a deluxe edition, and
to even see this on American DVD at all for under $20 makes it
forgivable to me. It's just a shame to see the nice care and
attention given to the cleaned up 1933 King Kong film that was
part of Godzilla's inspiration wasn't shared here.
GOJIRA PHOTO GALLERY
CLICK THE THUMBNAIL TO VIEW THE LARGER VERSION
CLASSIC MEDIA LAUNCHES “RETURN TO THE
KING OF THE MONSTERS ™ HOMETOWN” SWEEPSTAKES TODAY
TO CELEBRATE THE RELEASE OF “GOJIRA” ON DVD
One Grand Prize Winner Will Receive
an 8-Day, 7-Night Trip For 2 to Tokyo, Japan
New
York, NY – August 16, 2006 –
Godzilla wants to show you his
hometown! To celebrate the US
release of GOJIRA, the original 1954, uncut Japanese Godzilla movie,
Classic Media kicks off the
Return to the
King of the Monsters™
Hometown Sweepstakes.
Starting today, Godzilla fans can log onto
www.godzillaondvd.com to
enter to win one of more than 250
monstrous prizes.
One grand prize-winner will receive an 8-day/7-night vacation to
Tokyo, Japan for two, including travel and first-class
accommodations. Classic Media will also give away one SONY PSP ™ per
day for the duration of the sweepstakes, running from August 16 –
September 16, 2006. Additional prizes include 50 “Gojira/Godzilla:
King of the Monsters” DVD sets and 200 limited-edition Gojira DVD
movie posters.
For “Return to the King of the
Monsters ™ Hometown” sweepstakes details, rules and regulations –
please log onto
www.godzillaondvd.com. This promotion is produced by T.E.A.M.
Group, Florham Park, N.J.
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