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The Return of Godzilla or Godzilla 1984 is one hour and forty – four minutes long and was released in theaters on December 15th, 1984. The main story is Daikoku Island erupts and don’t you just know it to your amazement a new Godzilla appears. As usual the monster heads to Japan for some quick nourishment and its traditional rampage of what ever city it is near. This Godzilla is meaner looking then the past Godzilla of years gone by. At least with the old version you could bring that one home to the folks and maybe go out on a dinner date. Also, this is the first Godzilla movie in nine years. The last Godzilla movie was the Terror of Mechagodzilla which was released in March 15, 1975. The special effects of this movie are great for the era of that time. Finally, this is the first Godzilla movie since the original back in 1954, that the big guy does not do battle with another monster. The Return of Godzilla or Godzilla 1984 gets an AAAA++++.DVD ExtrasA. Play MovieB. Languagesa. Englishb. Japanese with English SubtitlesC. Scene SelectionsD. Theatrical Promo 2 minutesE. Also Available from Kraken Releasinga. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep 2 minutesb. Godzilla vs. Gigan 2 minutesc. Godzilla vs. Hedora 2 minutes
I was very very excited to receive this disc. Godzilla 1985 was the first Godzilla movie I ever saw, I was about 6 years old at the time and it blew me away. Now some 32 years later I finally get to see the original Non Raymond Burr added, non english dubbed, unedited, and non story altered Japanese original. Most of the movie is unchanged but its really obvious where the story was changed to make it more palatable to American audiences in the mid 80s. And the movie is so much better with the original dialog and english subtitles. While modern Kaiju movies are great with their abundance of CGI there is always something great about a guy in a suit stomping on models and fighting with toys. Practical effects are always going to have a realism that CGI will never match. Although there are a few shots of a giant robot godzilla foot that were kinda laughable and its pretty obvious why those were never tried before, never tried again, and edited from the US release.The video and audio quality are really good for an old Godzilla movie. I'm thoroughly impressed with this disc. The ONLY thing I would like is for one day the American Godzilla 1985 to be available to watch as well just because it was my first movie. But if I had to choose between the two, I'd take this one any day.
The Return of Godzilla brings the King of the Monsters back to being an allegory for nuclear warfare during the continuation of the cold war between the United States and Russia. With updated special effects for its time, it is an enjoyable film and I recommend it along with the reedited version, Godzilla 1985.
It's Return of Godzilla in its original form.
I'll be upfront, the five stars is a bit biased, but I think it's an "earned biased." Can that be a thing? We're making it a thing. Anyways, dear god how long did we Americans have to wait? No I'm serious, this was the only Godzilla movie to never see an official DVD release in America. This movie was practically released everywhere else but the U.S. Which if you are like me was heart breaking. Godzilla 1984 (Return of Godzilla) was the first Godzilla movie I've seen before getting into the franchise leaving the second movie being the infamous 1998 that everyone hates, but after that I couldn't get enough and started renting Godzilla movies as much as possible. But it was all thanks to the '84 film that I'm at all into the series. So after all these years, was it worth the wait to get the Blu-Ray release? Truth being it would be more worth it if we got this YEARS ago, but technically speaking, yes it was worth the wait with some minor disappointment. Don't worry this movie doesn't disappoint, I'll explain what I mean.Now assuming if you're like me where you state that this movie too was your first movie of the franchise, more than likely you remember the 1985 American Edit that starred Raymond Burr. I can tell you for a fact that this isn't that version, but it does still contain an English Dub as well as the original Japanese cut with subs. With that being said, you'll not only relive moments in this movie, but you'll get some new experiences as well. However with that said you won't see or hear any of the Raymond Burr moments, which even a hardcore G-Fan would say is slightly disappointing. More specifically never getting to hear the amazing ending speech Burr gives regarding Godzilla. The 85 edit might of had a lot of useless shots that were in no way needed for the movie, but even in an uncut / unaltered movie like this, the speech was not only powerful but fitting.So I confirm that this won't be the exact same as you witnessed before, does that mean that you should skip it? No because as I said that you not only relive moments, you get some new experiences. Also we waited years for this movie and would probably be a sin to any Godzilla fan to not get it. Anyways, some of the moments you'll experience include more of the chemistry between the reporter and the lead female. You also get more of the discussion between using Nukes on Godzilla between America, Russia, and Japan. In short a lot of the unedited stuff is stuff you probably won't care for in a Godzilla movie, but is better than seeing a random shots of American actors discussing if they should help Japan only for Raymond Burr's character to say "No." Which reminds me, some of the edits that were made on Godzilla made him seem a bit of a jerk, well more of an aggressive killing machine I should say. Like when the scientist was testing his machine to lure Godzilla which works only for Godzilla to charge at the building. . . At least that's what happened in the edit. Here Godzilla arrives at the building more on his own, Godzilla never attacks the building holding the main characters. The edit version gave me some nightmares when I was a kid with that scene and in this version, I mean I still remember getting frighten but the impact is not as strong. But when you first see Godzilla, don't matter which version, that always sends chills down my spine.We waited forever for this movie, and it may not be the edit that we all witnessed years ago but it's still the same movie that got many of us in the franchise. I love this movie even if it doesn't have Raymond Burr in it. If you're a Godzilla fan and have yet to see this movie, get this movie whenever you can. Unless this movie falls into a familiar fate as Son of Godzilla or Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla in which case I hope does not happen. I'll feel bad if this movie ends up reaching the +$100 price range.
Came quick and in good condition. Works perfect and will look good in my collection
This is a fantastic Godzilla movie! Rotten Tomatoes doesn’t know what they’re talking about! GET THIS!!!
So in 1984, Return of Godzilla hit the stage. It is a very good film for its time. It struggled with many themes some that carried over into the recent Godzilla movie, Shin Gojira.One of those themes being, the americans wanting to launch a nuke at Godzilla which would also hit all of Tokyo. Obviously, if you have seen any of the others after it you could guess what happened.Now in the Americanized Version (more like Cold War Version), many of the scenes were changed with scenes of Raymond Burr.Now the one biggest change they made was when one of the Russian went back to the carrier, he actually was trying to stop the nuke countdown. Just as he was, Godzilla attacked. He still tried to reach for the controls to stop the nuke but the explosion of the ship killed him... That is what happened in the original 1984 movie.Now Americans with their pettiness back then, they edited it to turn "Russian trying to stop the nuke and dies" into "Russian launches nuke and dies".The reason for that edit was "Conservatives Leanings" and because they wanted to paint Russia in bad light and US in a good light.Thankfully I would hope we are past those days of pettiness.Now this version released by Kraken Releasing.It is the Japanese Version with Subtitles. Toho and Kraken Releasing had a hard time getting the distribution rights to the Japanese Version alone. And its almost impossible to figure out if they can actually sell the Americanized version here.Now this dvd does have an English track, it it isn't exactly amazing but thats because the english dub track was made for countries that didn't get Americanized Version but instead got the Japanese Uncut.The movie is worth the money though.It retackles themes showning Gojira, regarding Nuclear Weapons and such. But it also allows Godzilla to have his own flick. Today he only has 3 flicks where its him vs Humans. (Thats of course if you don't count the terrible American take of godzilla known as Godzilla 1998.)Back then, he only had one film where it was hin vs Humans. Until this movie was released.I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes Kaiju movies and never got to see the original Japanese movie, Godzilla 1984.
I'm just overjoyed that we here in the west can finally get this movie on Blu-Ray. It's been held up in legalities and rights issues for decades. I think the last US release was VHS. Even better, we actually get both the Japanese version (very good) and the somewhat changed American version (unintentionally hilarious in all the wrong ways.)The Return of Godzilla/Godzilla 1985 was the first reset of the Godzilla movies. After a decade of no new movies it was a direct sequel to the original 1954 Gojira, and ignored all of the "Showa" era movies. It returned Godzilla to being a dark destructive force of nature, instead of the goofy children's hero he had become. The movie also has some great Cold War themes and plots. Well the Japanese one does. The American one is more Dr. Strangelove by way of a Dr. Pepper commercial (so wish I was joking.) The effects work was outstanding for the time and holds up extremely well. While far from the best of the "Heisei" era Godzilla films, it was a decent start.If you do get this, I strongly recomend the original Japanese version. The American rework seems custom designed for MST3K.
Arrived when expected and it was true to the picture in the advertisement. Enjoyed the trilogy as I've seen all of the movies.
Wanted a funny film for a friend who has cancer. Laughter is the best medicine
Love this movie series. It arrived actually a day earlier than expected