DVD REVIEW: GOJIRA NO GYAKYUSHU
DVD REVIEW: CLASSIC MEDIA [ 2006 ] 82' / 78'
DVD REVIEW: AVG. BITRATE: 5.54 / 5.72 Mb/sec
WTFFILM RATING:

It's generally well known that I was severely disappointed with CM's handling of the original GOJIRA (a full review of that disc will be up here shortly). The transfer was from what I now believe to be sources edited by Toho itself (they seem to be behind the new fades that were added to the film for this release) and is cropped, artificially boosted as far as contrast is concerned, and interlaced. The extras for the release, while interesting enough, weren't enough to keep me on board when all of the issues with the film presentation itself were taken into consideration. With these issues in mind, I was quite hesitant to pick up their recent release (Nov. 2006 online and in stores in April, 2007) of GOJIRA NO GYAKYUSHU - under the Toho authorized title of GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN. I was filled with animosity when I began to open the packaging and first popped the DVD into my old and faithful Sony DVD player.

What I ended up finding was a pleasant surprise.

THE FEATURE PRESENTATION:

GOJIRA NO GYAKYUSHU is a new progressive transfer (a welcome improvement in and of itself from the GOJIRA release) - not a carry over from the R2 that Toho released some years ago. The results are, frankly, quite fantastic when the two are compared. Not only do the contrast levels look considerably more natural in CM's transfer of the film, but the image also shows slightly more detail (see comparison images below). CM's transfer is cropped ever so slightly along the bottom of the image, but is not cropped along the top, left, and right as Toho's transfer is. There is damage to the print, but it is identical, as best I can tell, to that present in Toho's print. All told, CM's mastering of the source materials is superior to Toho's own in this case. The monophonic audio is serviceable and on par with the track present on Toho's R2 DVD of the title - there is some background hiss as well as the occasionally pop, but none of this is overly distracting and, given the state of sound recording at the time the film was made, it certainly doesn't bother me in the least. I noticed no instances of compression errors during the uncut version of the film.

For more screen captures from the uncut version of the film as presented on this disc, check out the film review of this title.

My only gripe with the presentation of the Japanese cut of the film is the subtitles. The translation is accurate enough in regards to content, but little care seems to have been taken in polishing the subtitles for English viewers. Indeed, the tense of some sections seems to be off (present instead of past, etc.) and the wording of many of them (most obviously in the meeting of the government, scientists, and pilots towards the beginning) is awkward at best. They fail aesthetically as well - the font used is quite narrow and the lack of an appreciable border makes them difficult to read at times on a standard television set. Improvement could certainly have been made in this department, especially since the same issues are present in CM's release of GOJIRA. Had the subtitles been improved, this would be a five star feature presentation in regards to the Japanese cut of the film.

The transfer for GIGANTIS THE FIRE MONSTER (under the Toho approved title of GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN - this is exactly the same version I grew up watching on television, though Video Treasures released the film to VHS with the GIGANTIS title card intact) appears to be new as well. The print itself is in generally fine condition, though there are plenty of instances of minor print damage (speckles, etc.) throughout - particularly and understandably during the stock footage portions of the film. The bizarre thing in this films case is that, even with this minor damage present, this version of the film is aesthetically superior to the Japanese version at times (see comparison images below), though the image never reaches the same sharpness as that of the Japanese version. This is most notable during the climactic assault on Gojira at the end. The overall image appears to be cropped on all sides in comparison to the Japanese version. It's obvious that no efforts have been made to restore this version of the film, and that's fine by me. The print itself does seem to have been taken pretty good care of, and the presentation of it here is more than serviceable. Some compression issues are present with this cut of the film (most noticeably a bit of rainbowing), but they aren't overly distracting.

Upon its initial release in November, this title had an interlacing error during the Japanese cut of the film (just over an hour in) that resulted in jerky playback, amongst other issues, for its duration. I'm happy to say that I saw absolutely no signs of this problem in my copy of this release. It's obvious that CM fixed the issue prior to releasing the title nationwide.

THE EXTRAS:

The original theatrical trailer for GOJIRA NO GYAKYUSHU is lost, so its absence here is no surprise - there is no trailer present on the R2 release of this title either. There is a re-release trailer for the film kicking around that advertises both GOJIRA NO GYAKYUSHU and SORA NO DAIKAIJU RADON, but its absence here isn't a make or break deal. Whether or not a trailer for the GIGANTIS cut of the film exists is beyond me - I've never seen one and it, if it exists, was also not included. What is included is a very brief poster gallery, which is a far cry from the hundreds upon hundreds of images Toho included on its final laserdisc and R2 DVD release of the title. Whether the decision not to include that comprehensive gallery of images was Toho's or CM's, it is regrettable. Also of note is the lack of a soundtrack only audio option in the Japanese cut on CM's release. While this tends to be an ostensibly Japanese release technique (dating back to the days of laserdiscs - many of Toho, Daiei, and Toei's laserdiscs contained some, if not all, of the soundtrack cues from the films presented) it's omission here is still regrettable.

The brief documentary THE ART OF SUIT ACTING is included and, while the presentation of information is rather dry, is both informative and mildly entertaining. There are a number of wonderful stills from various Toho films represented in the documentary. Also available is a commentary track for the GIGANTIS cut of the film. While primarily by Steve Ryfle, he takes care to include Ed Godzizsewski, Bob Burns, and others throughout. This is, by far, the best extra present on the DVD and it makes the GIGANTIS cut of the film considerably easier to bare than it would otherwise be. The previous two extras are serviceable but not overly satisfying and only add up to half star in this rating - the enjoyable and informative commentary by Steve Ryfle (et al) is what earns the extras section of this disc its other two and a half stars here. This could easily have been a five star section had one of the extras present on the Japanese disc made its way here. I hope CM can improve upon this for their later releases, but I have my doubts.

THE OVERALL PRESENTATION:

GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN comes in a thin (but surprisingly sturdy) digi-pack style case with a metallic base color that features the Japanese poster art for the film on the front cover as well as several images and a brief description of the contents on the back. On the interior front cover is a large picture of a snarling Anguirus - below it are special thanks to those who contributed to the DVD. A clear plastic hub dominates the inside back cover with CM's new GODZILLA logo running vertically from bottom to top behind. The packaging itself is attractive - more so than that of the initial GOJIRA release, in my opinion, though I'm sure others mileage will vary. The disc art has a red color scheme and is attractively designed without being overdone. It is also an improvement over the GOJIRA release. Holding everything together is a band detailing what's on the disc (exactly like what was on the GOJIRA release and similar to the Obi's present on Japanese CD/LD/DVD releases).

The disc begins with a fantastically new FBI warning (most DVD's I've come across, even from major studios, use cruddy looking images that obviously haven't been upgraded since the earliest heyday of VHS) that probably won't excite others as much as it did myself, as well as the obligatory company logos (CM, Toho, Genius Productions). This leads to a menu that allows you to select either the English or Japanese versions of the film. Selecting either of these options leads you to the same well designed intro video (a promotional image of Gojira and Anguirus moves across the screen as the Japanese title for the film scrolls up the screen). The menus are well designed and their options very easy to access, though I wish more of the images used to make them had been included as a gallery. The main theme composed by Masaru Sato plays in the background of the main menus for both versions of the film. Overall presentation of this title is an improvement over the previous release from CM, and I sincerely hope that the future Toho releases from them continue this trend.

THE VERDICT:

As I mentioned earlier, I was filled with animosity towards this release prior to purchasing due to the issues surrounding CM's Gojira release. What I received was a very pleasant surprise. While the Toho R2 of this release is superior in terms of supplemental material, the low retail price ($19.99, though I picked up my copy for $14.88 at a local retail store) in comparison to the Toho R2 release really make this a no brainer for stateside enthusiasts. The print on display is fantastic, the GIGANTIS cut present, and the price is definitely right. Considering CM is releasing a boxed set of all of their Gojira releases at some indeterminable point this year, you may want to wait on purchasing. Regardless of what you decide, I have no problem recommending this release of the film - even over the overpriced Toho R2.