Criterion Collection

[Daniel]

Amazon UK has the Godzilla set for pre-order. I believe this marks the first time the films have ever been available in the UK. Pretty cool of Criterion.

If Barnes & Noble don't include it in their annual sale (I very much doubt, but you never know!) not a bad alternative.

[Daniel]

New trailer for the Godzilla set:



That is all kinds of awesome!

[Ben]

Over there! To the right, and down a little bit...

[Dan]

The closet picks for John Waters just for the great quotes.

[Daniel]

Unboxing of the Godzilla set:



I'm content not owning it. For the reasons I've already posted and the overall size. Still would love to see the Kong Vs. for comparison reasons.

[Ben]

Ooh...a good few discs in...a lot of oversized filler packaging...!?

It might be lost on me, but I’d have much preferred some serious artwork like behind the scenes photos, original posters, illustrative headshots, Japanese logos vs US titles, etc, rather than compressed text for each film and big mondo-style cartoon pages. Very, er, underwhelming...?

[Ben]

Review from someone who seems to have seen a copy:

Well here it is, and I have to admit to feeling sadly underwhelmed. Here's the lowdown:

Good:
- All Showa era films together in one set
- Inclusion of Japanese version of King Kong vs Godzilla
- (SOME) English dubs (see BAD below)
- New Ishiro Honda conversation feature

Bad:
- Missing many beloved English dubs (most annoyingly: Ebirah, Gigan, Mothra, and Ghidorah)
- No re-mastered picture
- Japanese King Kong vs Godzilla is poor quality
- Expensive
- Light on extras (especially if you have the original Godzilla release)

Ugly:
- Not a fan of the art.

DISCS:

DISC 1: 1954 original Godzilla and the 1956 Godzilla, King of the Monsters plus extras
DISC 2: Godzilla Raids Again and U.S VERSION of King Kong vs. Godzilla.
DISC 3: Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster and Invasion of the Astro Monster.
DISC 4: Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, Son of Godzilla and Destroy All Monsters
DISC 5: All Monster Attack and Godzilla vs. Hedorah.
DISC 6: Godzilla vs. Gigan and Godzilla vs. Megalon.
DISC 7: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and Terror of Mechagodzilla.
DISC 8: Japanese version of King Kong vs. Godzilla. Note this has with non-removable English subs for the Japanese dialogue and burned-in Japanese subtitles (laserdisc right side style) for the English dialogue. The English track is also partially out-of-sync on my disc.

TRANSFERS:

All films transferred in 1080p but seemingly without any film-level restoration with plenty of light scratches and marks still present. Some transfers appeared a tad soft too, (Ebirah especially) but general detailing and blacks are improved over previous Blu-rays and lets be honest, it's vintage Godzilla. Given the source and the prints, etc you weren't ever going to realistically get anything incredible by modern standards. However, given the work that Criterion have done with Zatoichi, and Lone Wolf etc, I have to say I was disappointed. Also with three films on a disk, I’m sort of left questioning whether they could have maxed things out more.

Sound is linear PCM mono in the original Japanese with a few films having English DUBs (in standard lossy Dolby). These are:

-King Kong vs. Godzilla (the US version in a LPCM mono track)
-Destroy All Monsters
-Invasion of the Astro Monsters
-Son of Godzilla
-Godzilla vs. Megalon
-Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
-Terror of Mechagodzilla

The Criterion 1954 original included in this set has identical extras as the 2012 individual release and is the only one with any real extras. There are however some unique features on Disc 8 (along with the Japanese King Kong vs Godzilla including a 58-minute long 1990 interview filmed for the Directors Guild of Japan featuring Ishiro Honda and Yoshimitsu Barino which is terrific. There's also a smaller array of 10 minute features. It also contains trailers for all films in the set except the Japanese original Gojira. Finally, you have the deluxe hardcover book with essays, notes and new illustrations which whilst great, is not really essential.

So overall, I'm disappointed. Is the quality improved over Blu-Ray/DVD releases? Yes and no. Many of the BRs out there from various regions are comparable (if not arguably better) than what we have here, and whilst these are enough of a step up from DVD, I genuinely do not see or hear £100 worth of difference here. But the real deal breaker for me, is the lack of English dubs. This is not just because these were the versions I grew up with and came to love, but also because I’d love to watch all of these classics with my kids and won’t be able to until such time as they can read subs, or speak fluent Japanese. From what I hear a lot of the decisions about content here were out of Criterion’s hands (probably the hefty price tag too), so this really is as good you’re going to get.

I’m still a sucker for this stuff, but looks like I might wait to read an authoritative review at Blu-ray or Beaver sites before I go ahead and splash the cash anyway!

[Daniel]

Heh, the review sounds a lot like me. I wonder about this:

Japanese version of King Kong vs. Godzilla. Note this has with non-removable English subs for the Japanese dialogue and burned-in Japanese subtitles (laserdisc right side style) for the English dialogue

If true, that sounds pretty awful.

[Randall]

Disappointing perhaps, but not terribly surprising. Toho has never been all that forthcoming with providing and approving materials for the vintage Godzilla films. So, yeah, I'll take what I can get, after all these years. Criterion has been working on a Big G set since the LaserDisc days (over 20 years in the making!), and we're not going to see any better, obviously. At least its the Showa-era films, they're in HD (though not necessarily restored), and it's a good package overall--- just far from perfect. It's also not the packaging I would have gone with, but it's not a deal-breaker. Also, I have some of the other English dubs on DVD if I really want to hear them, so those DVDs shall stay in my collection probably forever. (Those Classic Media Godzilla DVDs were really good!) My personal preference is generally to stick with Japanese tracks most of the time anyhow.

Non-removable English subs on KKvG is no big deal (not like I don't want the subs on!), and they're can't be much English dialog to make for the Japanese subs, so I don't really care. I'm just ecstatic that I can finally see the true version of the film at last.

Here's the Beav, with Gary's review:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film7/blu-ray_ ... lu-ray.htm

There's no way that I'll be skipping this once the B&N sale begins.

[Ben]

Yes, well of course we’re going to buy it!

[Daniel]

The subtly, I swear!

Actually, now that I've read that review the subtitles aren't as bad as I was imagining. Still doesn't sway me, but cool for those getting it.

[Randall]

The sale is ON NOW!!!!!!!

[EricJ]

The sale is ON NOW!!!!!!!

The B&N sale, that is: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd-cr ... s/34116464

After months of worrying over $220 MSRP, and $169 Amazon, just snagged it for $112 +tax, with no shipping, as I'm picking up in store.
(Even though our B&N...no longer has a Blu/DVD section, after converting it to a boardgames/Funko cult-collectible section. )

[Randall]

Just ordered the Big G for me and Ben!

[droosan]

(Even though our B&N...no longer has a Blu/DVD section, after converting it to a boardgames/Funko cult-collectible section. )

The Barnes & Noble in Burbank has never had a DVD section (it's crammed into a smaller retail space than most B&Ns). They do manage to fit a 'boardgames & collectibles' section in there, though.

There's a larger B&N in Glendale (a few miles southeast of Burbank) which does carry DVDs, at least.

for now.