Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #157953 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-02-23
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Box set, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 538 minutes

Amazon.com
"Godzilla," for those who don't know, is actually the Anglicized version of "Gojira," the original name for that man in the rubber monster suit that breathes fire, stomps on toy housing developments, and melts all the model tanks that Tokyo can throw in its way. "Gojira" itself (the word) is a coinage from the words "gorilla" and "kujira," the Japanese word for "whale," making Godzilla one whale of a gorilla. From 1954, when Godzilla, King of the Monsters first appeared, to Terror of Mechagodzilla, the 20th-anniversary film of 1974, there were 15 of these unforgettable fantasies of cornice-crushing building busters. The first 10, and the 20th-anniversary film, were all directed by Inoshiro Honda, the original and best of the Godzilla directors, who in his later years worked in one capacity or another on Akira Kurosawa's last five films (Kurosawa delivered the eulogy at Honda's funeral). Here we have five of the best of Honda's rampaging reptile flicks collected together, three of them with your choice of cropped-screen or the glory that is Tohoscope, the last with no choice but cropped, and the first with that cut-screen option or the correctly letterboxed 1.66:1 aspect ratio. All discs have your choice of Dolby Digital Mono (or Stereo) or Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. And there's a nifty 25-minute documentary on monster movies to be found only on the first disc, Godzilla, King of the Monsters. --Jim Gay

Customer Reviews

So much Godzilla.... I think I might explode!
This pack features some of the greatest Godzilla movies of all time (exluding "King Kong vs. Godzilla" and "Godzilla vs. Megalon" which they should have put in). "Godzilla: King of the Monster" (1956) is the first and one of the best of all the series! Stark black and white makes it the scariest of all the films! "Godzilla vs. Mothra" (1964) is a great addition in here, seeing how it's the first movie where Godzilla and Mothra meet! "Godzilla vs. Monster Zero" (1965) is one of the best Ghidorah movies of the series. This film features 3 monsters including Godzilla , Rodan, and of course the title character... Ghidorah (called Monster Zero in this film). "Godzilla's Revenge" (1969) is cool to me because Toho stole alot of scenes from all the other Godzilla films and stuck them in here. So, I can watch all the best fight scenes without having to change movies. This one features Godzilla's son, Minya. Last, but defenetly not least... "Terror of Mechagodzilla" (1975), which is the sequal to the 1974 "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla" where Godzilla's mechanical double rears his ugly head once more, and he's got a new side kick... Titanosaurus! Get these films, you wont be dissapointed. The sound quality is great, the movies are all in the SP mode, all the films are digitally remastered, using the original negatives of the film, and all the film's scenes are complete with no missing footage. (which can't be said for alot of other Godzilla films that are being released by other video distributers... oh I don't know... mabey "Goodtimes Homevideo", who will release almost any peice of edited, low quality, SLP, Godzilla junk they can lay their hands on... sorry, I had to say that once).

Well worth the low price
I was initially afraid to pick up this set because it was released by a cheapie-looking company I'd never heard of. My fears were misplaced. All of the discs except for "mechagodzilla" are taken from pristine prints and look fantastic. Especially when you have only seen the muddy old production prints on local TV. For those who are sick to death of the mis-labeling of Dolby Digital on many cheap discs..these are TRUE Dolby 5.1 and considering the old mono sources, the re-mix guys did a superb job. The menues are neat, and although they are not chocked full of extras..these discs are well worth the low price. Geez, when you think about it, you only end up paying a few more dollars than the horrible VHS versions. A bargain.

3 1/2 stars...a good package that could have been great.
I have to agree with two of my fellow reviewers, but for completely opposite reasons! The positive: for the money, a 5-DVD set of Godzilla movies is indeed a bargain, particularly when the only stinker in the bunch is "Godzilla's Revenge" (a disc which should find its way straight into the trash bin). The four remaining movies are easily worth the price of the package.

The negative: NO SUBTITLE OPTION! In my humble opinion (an opinion based on 20-odd years of appreciation for Japanese pop culture), the omission of subtitles...or indeed, original Japanese versions of the movies, which could have easily been fitted onto the discs...is pretty near inexcusable. Why even bother to put these movies onto DVD when there are few or no special extras thrown into the package? Just throwing the movie onto a new medium just for the sake of exploiting old material just doesn't sit well with this particular reviewer. If you're just starting to get into the world of Godzilla and his rubbery friends, this is a good package to pick up. Too bad that it offers nothing really new for those already into Japanese monster movies.