From Godzilla 1985, for the first time, G-fans see Big G's POV shot hearing him growling, then stomping his way through a fog bank, he sees one of Japan's nuclear power plants up ahead and moving towards it. At the power plant, a security guard comes to see what was stomping but he's startled seeing a huge green taloned foot stomps down before him cracking open the pavement. He's suddenly terrified looking up at who's standing in front of him, looking further up, it's Godzilla bearing down at the guard, he screams his iconic roar at him. Now for the first time, a U.S. release of Return of Godzilla by Kraken Release with Godzilla 1984 is a kaiju 90s treat for for G-fans. I hope Kraken will include the end credits for Return than Classic Media's fade to white editing. Looking forward to this. With a rehash version of Godzilla 54 in Resurgence coming soon, I already have SH Monsterarts Spit Fire Godzilla 2014 figure added to my Big G collection. My Godzilla has no bounds.Love the director's cut from Return of Godzilla! What a difference it is from scenes that were re-editted and cut to Godzilla 1984 with Raymond Burr reprising one is famous roles as news reporter Martin next to Perry Mason. It's understandable nowadays why Gojira and Return were re-editted due to the politics of WMDs with Raymond's inserted scenes when they are also there as an English interpretation and story extension of the films.The visual quality is so much better than before! We finally see Big G green as ever with those big close up head shots. Return was made on a big budget $6.25 million. Director Koji Hashimoto wanted the film to be as believable as possible to King Kong's first remake as well as reminding Japanese society about the dangers of nuclear weapons with art of disaster scenes, a large scale Godzilla foot stomping down and a 1/40th scale replicated set of Tokyo for Godzilla's increased height and sized up to high rise buildings.
From Godzilla 1985, for the first time, G-fans see Big G's POV shot hearing him growling, then stomping his way through a fog bank, he sees one of Japan's nuclear power plants up ahead and moving towards it. At the power plant, a security guard comes to see what was stomping but he's startled seeing a huge green taloned foot stomps down before him cracking open the pavement. He's suddenly terrified looking up at who's standing in front of him, looking further up, it's Godzilla bearing down at the guard, he screams his iconic roar at him. Now for the first time, a U.S. release of Return of Godzilla by Kraken Release with Godzilla 1984 is a kaiju 90s treat for for G-fans. I hope Kraken will include the end credits for Return than Classic Media's fade to white editing. Looking forward to this. With a rehash version of Godzilla 54 in Resurgence coming soon, I already have SH Monsterarts Spit Fire Godzilla 2014 figure added to my Big G collection. My Godzilla has no bounds.Love the director's cut from Return of Godzilla! What a difference it is from scenes that were re-editted and cut to Godzilla 1984 with Raymond Burr reprising one is famous roles as news reporter Martin next to Perry Mason. It's understandable nowadays why Gojira and Return were re-editted due to the politics of WMDs with Raymond's inserted scenes when they are also there as an English interpretation and story extension of the films.The visual quality is so much better than before! We finally see Big G green as ever with those big close up head shots. Return was made on a big budget $6.25 million. Director Koji Hashimoto wanted the film to be as believable as possible to King Kong's first remake as well as reminding Japanese society about the dangers of nuclear weapons with art of disaster scenes, a large scale Godzilla foot stomping down and a 1/40th scale replicated set of Tokyo for Godzilla's increased height and sized up to high rise buildings.
Item arrived in good condition and on the day that was predicted. This is a terrible movie. It is so bad that I loved it.
Item arrived in good condition and on the day that was predicted. This is a terrible movie. It is so bad that I loved it.
Oh Lord this is the best
Oh Lord this is the best
This is a fantastic Godzilla movie! Rotten Tomatoes doesn’t know what they’re talking about! GET THIS!!!
This is a fantastic Godzilla movie! Rotten Tomatoes doesn’t know what they’re talking about! GET THIS!!!
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.
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.
Whenever people tire of a “Thing”, the winds of change often blow back strongly in the opposite direction. It seems that after the Showa-Era of Godzilla movies, followed by a long break, the public was ready to see Godzilla return to his more serious, enemy of mankind, roots. So, what we have here is a far more serious, and arguably, better produced Godzilla movie.Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on your perspective. I prefer the more lighthearted films of the Showa-Era where the producers took chances and had some fun with the Godzilla character. I like watching Godzilla strike funny poses or trip and clumsily fall into a building. That’s good “rubber suit” entertainment!Still, seeing a sillier Godzilla who talks, or fights pollution was more than many fans could stomach – especially after the more “realistic” 1954 film. But regardless of whether fans prefer a serious or more lighthearted Godzilla, the Japanese version of Godzilla 84 is a solid movie. The cast is likable, the acting is very good and Godzilla is at his most menacing.The Blu RayAs with all the Kraken Godzilla releases, the picture quality is very good. Godzilla 1984, the movie doesn’t look all that HD, but the transfer is more than watchable, especially considering how long ago the movie was made. While, for me, the movie doesn’t have the “Fun Factor” of Toho movies like Gigan, Hedorah, Mothra or Ghidorah, I’m still happy with my purchase and would recommend this Blu Ray to other Godzilla fans.
Whenever people tire of a “Thing”, the winds of change often blow back strongly in the opposite direction. It seems that after the Showa-Era of Godzilla movies, followed by a long break, the public was ready to see Godzilla return to his more serious, enemy of mankind, roots. So, what we have here is a far more serious, and arguably, better produced Godzilla movie.Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on your perspective. I prefer the more lighthearted films of the Showa-Era where the producers took chances and had some fun with the Godzilla character. I like watching Godzilla strike funny poses or trip and clumsily fall into a building. That’s good “rubber suit” entertainment!Still, seeing a sillier Godzilla who talks, or fights pollution was more than many fans could stomach – especially after the more “realistic” 1954 film. But regardless of whether fans prefer a serious or more lighthearted Godzilla, the Japanese version of Godzilla 84 is a solid movie. The cast is likable, the acting is very good and Godzilla is at his most menacing.The Blu RayAs with all the Kraken Godzilla releases, the picture quality is very good. Godzilla 1984, the movie doesn’t look all that HD, but the transfer is more than watchable, especially considering how long ago the movie was made. While, for me, the movie doesn’t have the “Fun Factor” of Toho movies like Gigan, Hedorah, Mothra or Ghidorah, I’m still happy with my purchase and would recommend this Blu Ray to other Godzilla fans.
I remember the 1985 version with Raymond Burr's contributions, but never saw this original version. First of all, I don't understand some of the negative reviews about the movie only in Japanese with subtitles. The English and Japanese versions are both on this disc... Just check in the menu settings. IMO I would watch the Japanese version first as you get more of the dramatic version of the dialogue with the subtitles. I went back and forth on some scenes and the English dubbing clearly wanted the dialogue to match the actors mouth movements and not what they were actually saying. Some dialogue doesn't even match anything the actors really said in Japanese, making the dialogue sound "Godzilla Movie Cheesey". I did find it strange that the movie started out with "splatter" boat scenes and then went old school kid movie after that, but that's what was happening in the 80's. About the soundtrack... they clearly spent the remaster money on the "Godzilla Tramples The City" scenes... I thought my subwoofer wasn't working until the first Godzilla and the nuclear plant scene. The outdoor scenes look great but the darker scenes had some grain. The dialogue is clear and upfront. For the so-called Japanese Godzilla reboots, I would recommend this movie (Japanese version) and Godzilla 2000.
I remember the 1985 version with Raymond Burr's contributions, but never saw this original version. First of all, I don't understand some of the negative reviews about the movie only in Japanese with subtitles. The English and Japanese versions are both on this disc... Just check in the menu settings. IMO I would watch the Japanese version first as you get more of the dramatic version of the dialogue with the subtitles. I went back and forth on some scenes and the English dubbing clearly wanted the dialogue to match the actors mouth movements and not what they were actually saying. Some dialogue doesn't even match anything the actors really said in Japanese, making the dialogue sound "Godzilla Movie Cheesey". I did find it strange that the movie started out with "splatter" boat scenes and then went old school kid movie after that, but that's what was happening in the 80's. About the soundtrack... they clearly spent the remaster money on the "Godzilla Tramples The City" scenes... I thought my subwoofer wasn't working until the first Godzilla and the nuclear plant scene. The outdoor scenes look great but the darker scenes had some grain. The dialogue is clear and upfront. For the so-called Japanese Godzilla reboots, I would recommend this movie (Japanese version) and Godzilla 2000.
Godzilla 1984 came out (in Japan) roughly a decade after the last Godzilla movie to have been released before it, "Terror of Mechagodzilla" from 1975. This movie is what is known nowadays as a "soft reboot." They imply that at least a couple of the previous Godzilla movies have happened, but it is unclear how many, and the reference to not having seen Godzilla in "30 years" early in the film implies that, in this film's past, only the first 2 or 3 have occurred. Most experts will tell you only the original Godzilla is in this new film's continuity, but Godzilla is shown escaping from an island, where he had been buried "30 years ago" -- and this is the ending of Godzilla Raids Again, not the first movie. At any rate, it doesn't really matter, because as long as you understand that Godzilla is a giant destructive monster powered by radioactivity, and that he has trashed Japan before with his monster powers, it's all you need to know for this film.In terms of the movie itself, it is pretty good. Compared to the 15 movies of the prior period (the 'Showa' period), this one ranks up there with some of the better ones. The directing is strong and clearly takes inspiration from the Godzilla installments by Ishiro Honda. The music is also reminiscent of the Honda films rather than the Fukuda movies, which had livelier (and often rather ridiculous-sounding) scores. Here, as in the Honda Godzillas, the music is dramatic and haunting. The Godzilla suit has been updated, mostly for the good, although some of the articulations of the puppet head, in close-up, look a little fake. Overall the suit is, I would say, a substantial upgrade. The story is interesting and the characters are decent. The acting is nothing to write home about but then, it generally isn't in Godzilla movies, excepting the original. If you like Godzilla this is well worth a watch. It is a fine reboot, and does justice to the character and the franchise, and is a reasonable setup for future Godzilla movies, many of which have gone on to become classics in their own right, such as Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.In terms of the blu-ray, you can choose either Japanese language with English subtitles (which is the version I have watched), or English dub. The subtitled version is good, although a few times the subtitles go by too fast to read. I never had to pause and go back though -- it only happened a few times and it was easy enough to tell what was going on despite missing a line or two. Sometimes, however, the subtitles are written over the Japanese kanji characters (such as when characters are speaking Russian), and this makes the English impossible to read. The print is a good quality and looked excellent on my 49" XHD TV, despite this being a Blu-ray and not XHD disk. Sound quality is excellent. Overall this is a high quality transfer to disk.
Godzilla 1984 came out (in Japan) roughly a decade after the last Godzilla movie to have been released before it, "Terror of Mechagodzilla" from 1975. This movie is what is known nowadays as a "soft reboot." They imply that at least a couple of the previous Godzilla movies have happened, but it is unclear how many, and the reference to not having seen Godzilla in "30 years" early in the film implies that, in this film's past, only the first 2 or 3 have occurred. Most experts will tell you only the original Godzilla is in this new film's continuity, but Godzilla is shown escaping from an island, where he had been buried "30 years ago" -- and this is the ending of Godzilla Raids Again, not the first movie. At any rate, it doesn't really matter, because as long as you understand that Godzilla is a giant destructive monster powered by radioactivity, and that he has trashed Japan before with his monster powers, it's all you need to know for this film.In terms of the movie itself, it is pretty good. Compared to the 15 movies of the prior period (the 'Showa' period), this one ranks up there with some of the better ones. The directing is strong and clearly takes inspiration from the Godzilla installments by Ishiro Honda. The music is also reminiscent of the Honda films rather than the Fukuda movies, which had livelier (and often rather ridiculous-sounding) scores. Here, as in the Honda Godzillas, the music is dramatic and haunting. The Godzilla suit has been updated, mostly for the good, although some of the articulations of the puppet head, in close-up, look a little fake. Overall the suit is, I would say, a substantial upgrade. The story is interesting and the characters are decent. The acting is nothing to write home about but then, it generally isn't in Godzilla movies, excepting the original. If you like Godzilla this is well worth a watch. It is a fine reboot, and does justice to the character and the franchise, and is a reasonable setup for future Godzilla movies, many of which have gone on to become classics in their own right, such as Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.In terms of the blu-ray, you can choose either Japanese language with English subtitles (which is the version I have watched), or English dub. The subtitled version is good, although a few times the subtitles go by too fast to read. I never had to pause and go back though -- it only happened a few times and it was easy enough to tell what was going on despite missing a line or two. Sometimes, however, the subtitles are written over the Japanese kanji characters (such as when characters are speaking Russian), and this makes the English impossible to read. The print is a good quality and looked excellent on my 49" XHD TV, despite this being a Blu-ray and not XHD disk. Sound quality is excellent. Overall this is a high quality transfer to disk.
This review is for the Blu-Ray edition of 'The Return of Godzilla' released by Kraken Releasing in 2016This movie is also called 'Godzilla 1984'. The 'Godzilla 1985' edition is not shown on this release.This movie was made in 1984 on the 30th anniversary of the original Godzilla movie. Previously there had been 15 Godzilla movies, the last of which had been filmed in 1975. That era was knows as the 'Showa' era. The new era that begins with this movie and has a total of 7 movies which ended in 1995 is called the 'Hesei' era.This movie assumes that all 14 of the Godzilla sequels from the 'Showa' era did not take place. This is an alternate universe in which only the first movie happened.This movie was release in theaters in the United States in 1985. More on this below.BLU-RAY: The picture is not that great. Honestly some of the standard edition DVD's from the Toho Master Collection have better picture quality than this movie. I'm not saying it's terrible. There aren't any spots, rips or tears or anything like that. The colors just aren't that vibrant and the picture is soft throughout.HOW WAS THE DUBBING?:The international dubbing for Toho movies is almost never good. This movie is no exception. The Soviet ambassador sounds just awful. Many of the other's sound terrible also. The leads aren't too bad, but that's to say that they are average.EXTRA'S: You get some previews from other movies by Kraken Releasing and you get the trailer for this movie. That's it for extra's.WHAT ABOUT THE SUBTITLES?You don't get subtitles which annoys me especially in a movie like this. With these movies that are originally in the Japanese language, the subtitles are usually different than what is being spoken. The reason for this is that when being dubbed, the voice actors try to use words that match the movements of the actor's mouth's. So they aren't always giving you a direct translation.*****LOTS OF SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT*****PLOT/SUMMARY: At the open of the movie we see what is footage of a volcano and/or earthquake that ultimately is waking up Godzilla.Soon afterward, a reporter, Goro is out sailing and he comes across a deserted fishing ship. He finds one survivor, Hiroshi, on board along with a giant sea louse which together they kill.Goro writes a story but is forced to keep it secret. He then visits Professor Hayashida who parents were killed in Godzilla's appearance in 1954. Coincidentally, Hiroshi's sister, Naoko is working for the professor. She does not know that Hiroshi is still alive. Hiroshi is a witness to Godzilla and the government doesn't want to start a panic so they are suppressing the truth. Goro tells Naoko the truth and she rushes to the hospital to be with her brother.Shortly thereafter, a Soviet submarine is sunk by Godzilla. The Soviet's blame the United States for the sinking. Both sides prepare for nuclear war. The Japanese Prime Minister intervenes and lets the world know that it was Godzilla that sank the submarine. Both the Soviet's and the Americans want to use a nuclear bomb to stop Godzilla. The Japanese Prime Minister refuses to allow this. The Soviet's end up accidentally launching a missile and the Americans shoot it down before it can do any damage.Godzilla ends up attacking a nuclear power plant. He uses the reactor to feed off of. When a flock of birds takes off, Godzilla becomes distracted and follows them. Professor Hayashida believes that Godzilla instinctively follows the homing signal given off by the birds. He believes that they can use that to their advantage to trick Godzilla into following the signal to a volcano and then detonating an explosive device at the volcano and trap Godzilla in it.Meanwhile, the Japanese self defense force has revealed it's latest weapon, the Super X. Godzilla attacks Tokyo and the JSDF can't stop him. The Super X fires cadmium shells into Godzilla's mouth. This slows down his heart enough to render him unconscious. Unfortunately, a storm caused by the exploding missile's causes an electrical storm that revives Godzilla. Godzilla battles Super X and destroys it. Godzilla follows the homing signal toward the volcano that Professor Hayashida has made.PRODUCTION: As stated about this is the first movie from the 'Hesei' era which lasted from 1984 to 1995.After the 'Hesei' era ended, Toho handed off Godzilla to the Americans and every fan of Godzilla knows how that turned out. It lasted one movie and they took Godzilla back. Toho released 'Godzilla 2000' in 1999.-Toho used a life sized foot for Godzilla in some of the scenes. Most of these scenes were deleted in the American release, Godzilla 1985. I think they should have left those scenes in but I can understand why they didn't. The foot doesn't look very good in most of the scenes.-The 'Godzilla 1985' version barely made $4,000,000 in it's U.S. release but it was ultimately enough for a minor profit for the distributor, Roger Corman's New World.-The giant sea louses were and idea left over from a ...
This review is for the Blu-Ray edition of 'The Return of Godzilla' released by Kraken Releasing in 2016This movie is also called 'Godzilla 1984'. The 'Godzilla 1985' edition is not shown on this release.This movie was made in 1984 on the 30th anniversary of the original Godzilla movie. Previously there had been 15 Godzilla movies, the last of which had been filmed in 1975. That era was knows as the 'Showa' era. The new era that begins with this movie and has a total of 7 movies which ended in 1995 is called the 'Hesei' era.This movie assumes that all 14 of the Godzilla sequels from the 'Showa' era did not take place. This is an alternate universe in which only the first movie happened.This movie was release in theaters in the United States in 1985. More on this below.BLU-RAY: The picture is not that great. Honestly some of the standard edition DVD's from the Toho Master Collection have better picture quality than this movie. I'm not saying it's terrible. There aren't any spots, rips or tears or anything like that. The colors just aren't that vibrant and the picture is soft throughout.HOW WAS THE DUBBING?:The international dubbing for Toho movies is almost never good. This movie is no exception. The Soviet ambassador sounds just awful. Many of the other's sound terrible also. The leads aren't too bad, but that's to say that they are average.EXTRA'S: You get some previews from other movies by Kraken Releasing and you get the trailer for this movie. That's it for extra's.WHAT ABOUT THE SUBTITLES?You don't get subtitles which annoys me especially in a movie like this. With these movies that are originally in the Japanese language, the subtitles are usually different than what is being spoken. The reason for this is that when being dubbed, the voice actors try to use words that match the movements of the actor's mouth's. So they aren't always giving you a direct translation.*****LOTS OF SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT*****PLOT/SUMMARY: At the open of the movie we see what is footage of a volcano and/or earthquake that ultimately is waking up Godzilla.Soon afterward, a reporter, Goro is out sailing and he comes across a deserted fishing ship. He finds one survivor, Hiroshi, on board along with a giant sea louse which together they kill.Goro writes a story but is forced to keep it secret. He then visits Professor Hayashida who parents were killed in Godzilla's appearance in 1954. Coincidentally, Hiroshi's sister, Naoko is working for the professor. She does not know that Hiroshi is still alive. Hiroshi is a witness to Godzilla and the government doesn't want to start a panic so they are suppressing the truth. Goro tells Naoko the truth and she rushes to the hospital to be with her brother.Shortly thereafter, a Soviet submarine is sunk by Godzilla. The Soviet's blame the United States for the sinking. Both sides prepare for nuclear war. The Japanese Prime Minister intervenes and lets the world know that it was Godzilla that sank the submarine. Both the Soviet's and the Americans want to use a nuclear bomb to stop Godzilla. The Japanese Prime Minister refuses to allow this. The Soviet's end up accidentally launching a missile and the Americans shoot it down before it can do any damage.Godzilla ends up attacking a nuclear power plant. He uses the reactor to feed off of. When a flock of birds takes off, Godzilla becomes distracted and follows them. Professor Hayashida believes that Godzilla instinctively follows the homing signal given off by the birds. He believes that they can use that to their advantage to trick Godzilla into following the signal to a volcano and then detonating an explosive device at the volcano and trap Godzilla in it.Meanwhile, the Japanese self defense force has revealed it's latest weapon, the Super X. Godzilla attacks Tokyo and the JSDF can't stop him. The Super X fires cadmium shells into Godzilla's mouth. This slows down his heart enough to render him unconscious. Unfortunately, a storm caused by the exploding missile's causes an electrical storm that revives Godzilla. Godzilla battles Super X and destroys it. Godzilla follows the homing signal toward the volcano that Professor Hayashida has made.PRODUCTION: As stated about this is the first movie from the 'Hesei' era which lasted from 1984 to 1995.After the 'Hesei' era ended, Toho handed off Godzilla to the Americans and every fan of Godzilla knows how that turned out. It lasted one movie and they took Godzilla back. Toho released 'Godzilla 2000' in 1999.-Toho used a life sized foot for Godzilla in some of the scenes. Most of these scenes were deleted in the American release, Godzilla 1985. I think they should have left those scenes in but I can understand why they didn't. The foot doesn't look very good in most of the scenes.-The 'Godzilla 1985' version barely made $4,000,000 in it's U.S. release but it was ultimately enough for a minor profit for the distributor, Roger Corman's New World.-The giant sea louses were and idea left over from a ...
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