Get Ready...This is For Real!

Booyah! This is the best Pacific Rim trailer yet! Apparently, it's not testing well with mainstream audiences, who see it as a "Transformers rip-off." I feel very sad for anyone whose pulse doesn't race in anticipation of witnessing giant robots battling giant monsters on the big screen. Poor devils.

Godzilla Vs. Biollante!

Next week, Echo Bridge entertainment will be releasing one of the two remaining Godzilla films not yet available in the U.S. on DVD and Blu-ray: 1989's Godzilla Vs Biollante.

I've already preordered my Blu-ray copy, and I'm hopeful that Echo Bridge put in a little extra effort on this title, seeing as they generally specialize in cheap, no-frills "budget" releases aimed at the K-Mart and Wal-Mart consumer. Little things like audio-visual quality and presenting movies in their correct aspect ratios tend to be unimportant to them - at least, based on some of the EB titles I've seen.

Still, they've done okay jobs on some of the other films they've licensed from Miramax, and the advance word on this disc is fairly encouraging. It's supposed to be in the correct 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and includes the original Japanese audio (my preference) as well as the English dub. There's supposed to be multiple subtitle options and even a couple bonus features. I'm hopeful, and eager to add this one to my kaiju eiga library.

Now if only someone would manage to clear the U.S. video rights to Godzilla 1984/1985 - preferably both the original Japanese cut and the American edit released by New World in '85 with Raymond Burr reprising his role from the American version of the first Godzilla film in 1954.

Go Go Gorgo

One of my favorite monster movies is Eugène Lourié's, Gorgo. The third of Lourié's triptych of giant monster flicks (following The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and The Giant Behemoth), 1961's Gorgo is a terrific entertainment, with good performances, a solid script. and excellent "suitmation" (man-in-suit) creature effects and miniatures.

The film tells of an English salvage vessel crew that captures a thirty-foot tall reptilian creature off the coast of Ireland. They dub the beastie "Gorgo" and haul it to London and put it on display. Unfortunately, despite his primeval proportions, Gorgo's just a baby, and it's much, much larger mother of a monster is coming to retrieve her purloined offspring... and all the King's forces are no match for her maternal fury.

I watched the film again a couple weeks ago on the DVD released by VCI Entertainment back in 2005, and while the movie held up to my fond memories of it, the audio-visual quality was atrocious. Colors were faded and blurry, contrast was terrible, and there was a fair amount of wear and tear evident on the source print. To add insult to injury, the 1.78:1 widescreen transfer wasn't anamorphically enhanced for 16x9 displays. Fortunately, I've heard rumors that VCI will be remastering the title in HD from new, much-improved source materials for a new release sometime in 2013. I really hope that's true.

Not only was Gorgo a movie star, but Charlton Comics published an ongoing tie-in comic that chronicled the juvenile lizards further adventures. Several of these stories were drawn by the legendary comics creator Steve Ditko. IDW Publishing has announced a special hardcover collection of these tales, to be released in February, 2013.

Here's their solicitation copy:

The genius artist Steve Ditko is a towering monster of awesomeness, and so is the character he chronicled... GORGO! If you love Godzilla - and who doesn't - you'll love Gorgo, who ravages London, New York City, and HOLLYWOOD! Gorgo goes head to head with the British Navy, atomic bombs, Communists, and aliens from the planet Corpus III! This is the complete Ditko Gorgo, 200-pages of comics, including six pulse-pounding covers all drawn during the height of Ditko's prowess concurrent with his Spider-man and Dr. Strange creative explosions. Scripts are by the fan-favorite writer Joe Gill. Introduction by Eisner award winner Craig Yoe with fascinating insight into the comics and the monster movie that inspired them. Every page is lovingly restored and the book is a large format hardcover to showcase the monstrous Ditko art.

 I'm almost certainly going to want to get this book, even though I only remember Ditko drawing a couple of the Gorgo comic books. I didn't think there would be enough material to fill 200 pages...

In any case, it looks like 2013 might be Gorgo's big year.

Weekend Double Feature: GIANT Excitement! GIANT Terror!

I love double feature posters...

Happy Gojira Dance Party!

King Of The Monsters!

I must admit, that I'm eagerly looking forward to picking up the Criterion Blu-ray release of Gojira/Godzilla (1954) later this week. (Dig that awesome Bill Sienkiewicz cover art!) The advance reviews of this new high-definition, fully-restored and remastered edition of the original Godzilla movie are positively (and radioactively, no doubt) glowing!

By all reports, the image quality of the new Blu-ray is vastly superior to the version that Classic Media released on DVD back in 2006 (and later, on Blu-ray). That edition was the first time that the original Japanese version of the film received an authorized U.S. video release, and I was glad to have it. But, although I figured it was the best we were going to get, considering the age of the movie, it wasn't the greatest looking disc. This new Criterion edition supposedly benefits from an extensive digital restoration... and I can't wait to see it!

It's supposed to go on sale on Tuesday.

Toho-ho-ho

DESTROY ALL MONSTERS!!!!

My copy of Media Blasters' new Blu-ray edition of the 1968 Toho kaiju klassic, Destroy All Monsters, showed up in the mail today! It's a great package, far superior in every way to the DVD that came out from ADV Films back in 2000.

Not only is the HD widescreen transfer significantly better-looking, it also includes, in addition to the awful, "International" English dub, both the original Japanese language track (my preferred way of enjoying these films) and the far superior English dub prepared by American-International/Titra Productions for the original U.S. theatrical release. It seems to have been taken from an old tape source, and there's a little distortion here and there, but it's very welcome. Another cool bonus is the 7-minute Castle Films Super-8 "condensed" version of Destroy All Monsters!

Look for a full review at DVD Late Show in a few days. This new edition is also available on standard DVD.

Godzilla's A Pepper.

Well, we may not be seeing Godzilla 1985 on DVD any time soon, but thanks to someone over on YouTube, the commercials that the Big G starred in for Dr. Pepper around the time of that film's American release are once again available to fans of the prehistoric pitchman/beast.

That's right – years before throwing down with Charles Barkley for Nike, 'Zilla shilled for soft drinks.

Apparently Dr. Pepper had already made arrangements to use Godzilla in their ads when New World Pictures, who had acquired the Big G's 1984 "comeback" film from Toho, contacted the Pepper people about cross promoting their (heavily edited) version of the movie with the soft drink campaign. This is why, in various scenes of Godzilla 1985, a Dr. Pepper vending machine is prominently placed in the hallway of the "Pentagon." Reportedly, the guys at New World really pushed returning star Raymond Burr (reprising his role of "Steve Martin" from the 1956 Godzilla King of the Monsters) to drink a Pepper onscreen, but iron-willed Ironside flat-out refused. (Another character is seen sipping the beverage instead.)

Two commercials were made: the one above, and another one - a sequel, actually - posted below, with a cutesy female monster with a bow on her head and ray-beam eyes, whose love is won by the Big Guy with the help of a giant Diet Dr. Pepper...

I like the ad above a lot better. Aside from the unfortunately under-detailed Godzilla suit, I love the B&W photography and the humor of the spot. Enjoy.

 

More Proof that TV Used to be Better

Godzilla Endorses...

I just realized that I haven't posted a Godzilla video on this blog since July, 2007. That needs to be corrected. Here's two of the prehistoric pitchmonster's greatest hits:



And, my favorite:



Are you going to call him a sell-out?

15 Favorite DVD Releases of 2007

2007 was a great year for DVD collectors, despite the rise of competing high-priced, high-definition formats and the inevitable proclamations of the imminent death of the regular DVD disc. As a reviewer, I've been fortunate to get a look at a lot of 2007's releases, even though my column was rather irregular and I wasn't able to quite cover everything I received.

Here are fifteen of my favorite 2007 releases. In every case, these are films I like a lot, and they were especially well-served by their DVD releases.

1. FROM BEYOND. After a very long wait, while various rights issues were worked out, MGM finally unleashed Stuart Gordon's gooey follow-up to Re-Animator in an unrated, digitally restored – and, most importantly – properly framed widescreen edition. Beautiful hi-def transfer, uncut content, and solid extra features.

2. THE MONSTER SQUAD. Repeat pretty much everything I said about From Beyond. Another awesome release of a long-anticipated and beloved flick.

3. TWIN PEAKS: THE GOLD BOX COLLECTION. David Lynch and Mark Frost's influential, mindbending and tragically short-lived surreal soap opera finally receives a damn-near definitive home video treatment, with every episode completely remastered. The set also includes the rare, original Pilot Film and European Theatrical/Home Video feature version of same, tons of comprehensive behind-the-scenes material, original TV promos and commercials, a featurette with Lynch, and much, much more. One of the best TV-on-DVD sets ever.

4. WITCHFINDER GENERAL. For years I've been wanting to see this acclaimed Vincent Price film, originally released in the U.S. as The Conqueror Worm. It's reputation – and that of its young, tragic director, Michael Reeves – was so great, that I was certain I was missing out on something truly special. As it turned out, I was. While maybe not quite as wonderful as I'd come to expect, it was still a fine period horror flick, with an extraordinarily nuanced and effective performance by Price. MGM's "Midnite Movie" release of this title sports a beautiful transfer, the original music and U.K. cut.

5. THE ICONS OF HORROR COLLECTION: SAM KATZMAN. Who would have thunk that Columbia would release a box set of low-budget B-movies produced by one of Hollywood's most notoriously cheap producers – and put his name on the box? Not only does it contain gorgeous transfers of The Giant Claw, Creature With the Atom Brain, Zombies of Mora Tau and The Werewolf, but the set also includes a chapter of the Katzman-produced Mysterious Island serial, a Mr. Magoo cartoon, a comedy short, and tons of vintage Columbia sci-fi trailers!

6. THE SERGIO LEONE ANTHOLOGY. Remastered, restored versions of A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, and Duck, You Sucker! Okay, I already had the special edition of TGTB&TU, but the restored Fistful and More were revelations. Eastwood and Van Cleef never looked so good. And I'd never seen Leone's Duck, You Sucker!, with James Coburn and Rod Stieger, before. Each movie is also loaded with informative extras.

7. FLASH GORDON: SAVIOUR OF THE UNIVERSE EDITION. 'Nuff said.

8. PAYBACK: STRAIGHT UP. Brian Helgeland's "Director's Cut" of the Mel Gibson -compromised Richard Stark adaptation is a definite improvement over the already pretty good theatrical version. This cut is much grittier, with a completely different musical score and third act, and it possesses a real 70's crime flick vibe. The behind-the-scenes documentary is a a real revelation and effectively illustrates how screwed up and second-guessing Hollywood studios have become.

9. INVASION OF ASTRO MONSTER. Better known as Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero, this was but one of several awesome, widescreen, restored kaiju releases in 2007. Godzilla, Rodan and Nick Adams battle the mighty King Ghidorah and evil aliens from Planet X in what's probably my favorite Godzilla film. A gorgeous transfer of the Toho classic, both English and Japanese versions, and a handful of solid extras. So much fun.

10. JASON OF STAR COMMAND. This 70's Filmation release from BCI was a childhood favorite and it was awesome to see this satisfyingly silly space opera (with its stellar special effects!) again on DVD, complete with a retrospective documentary, interviews with stars Craig Littler and Sid Haig, and other bonus features.

11. THE MARIO BAVA COLLECTION. I'm including Volumes One and Two in this, as both sets came out this year, and include new, improved versions of pretty much all the most important titles in the legendary maestro's filmography: Black Sunday, Black Sabbath (Three Faces of Fear), The Girl Who Knew Too Much, Knives of the Avenger, Kill, Baby...Kill!, Lisa And the devil/House of Exorcism, Bay of Blood, Baron Blood, Kidnapped, Roy Colt & Winchester Jack, 5 Dolls for an August Moon and Four Times That Night. Not every film is particularly great, but Mario Bava's distinctive visual sense and directorial style is evident in virtually every frame. Good, cleaned-up transfers, some fine commentaries on the most important films by Tim Lucas, and nicely packaged. Oh, I would have liked better it if they'd been able to include the U.S. versions of Sunday and Sabbath, but overall, it's an awesome collection.

12. MICHAEL SHAYNE MYSTERIES. Four snappy B-movie mysteries – Michael Shayne: Private Detective, The Man Who Wouldn't Die, Sleepers West and Blue, White and Perfect – starring Lloyd Nolan as Brett Halliday's wisecracking Irish-American private eye, assembled into one sharp boxed set by Fox. The bonus features aren't quite as good as the ones on the Charlie Chan and Mister Moto discs, but the package artwork – new paintings by the great Robert McGinnis – more than compensates for any deficiencies. Gorgeous transfers, too.

13. RATATOUILLE. Another instant classic from Pixar and Brad Bird. The DVD isn't as loaded with extras as usual – expect a "Collector's Edition" to come along soon – but the movie is both gorgeous to behold and deeply involving. Who would have figured a movie about a gourmet rat could be so wonderfully written, designed and executed?

14. DOCTOR WHO – THE COMPLETE SECOND/THIRD SERIES. Series 2 was released at the beginning of the year, and I just picked up Series 3. Despite all the crappy reimaginings and remakes of old TV shows, this Who – and the new Battlestar Galactica – are the best arguments for continuing to mine TV's past for new entertainment. While I enjoyed the first series with Chris Eccelston, David Tennant's take on The Doctor is more to my tastes, and the show really found its footing once he took over. Sharp, funny and emotionally moving writing, great performances and delightful special effects have breathed new life into the U.K.'s most venerable sci-fi franchise... and the DVDs are "bloody brilliant," too.

15. FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD. Finally, one of the most fondly remembered kaiju classics from Toho Studios comes to U.S. DVD courtesy of Media Blasters – in three different versions! There's the Japanese language version, the U.S. dubbed version, and the "International" version, complete with the legendary – and never before seen in U.S. – "Devilfish" climax, in which the mutated, giant Frankenstein's monster inexplicably battles a landbound giant octopus that appears out of nowhere during the climactic forest fire! All three versions look pristine, and there are a handful of cool extras.

These aren't necessarily the best DVD releases of '07, but they're the ones I'm most enthusiastic about. A couple that almost made the cut include Warners' Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland Collection, The Evil Dead Ultimate Edition (and would have, if the extras were just a little better) from Starz Entertainment, and MGM's Return of the Living Dead Collector's Edition. I only wish I'd been able to afford the complete Get Smart and Man From U.N.C.L.E. TV series sets and the new Blade Runner: Final Cut collector's set.

Giant Monsters Attack!

I recently stumbled across a great new blog, Giant Monsters Attack!

Blogger "Mysterious Pants" covers everything from giant creature features both vintage and new (Godzilla, The Host, D-War, J.J. Abrams' upcoming, as-yet-untitled film), videogames, and even comic books (including a review of the new – and treasured – Devil Dinosaur Omnibus from Marvel). Whoever this "Mysterious Pants" guy is, he really knows his stuff and his enthusiasm is contagious.

I love these specialized pop culture blog sites, and GMA! is a lot of fun.

Check it out!

Godzilla films still M.I.A.

I was exchanging some e-mails with my pal Tony Isabella, and was giving him the rundown on the current state of Godzilla on DVD. With the forthcoming special editions of ALL MONSTERS ATTACK (a/k/a GODZILLA'S REVENGE) and THE TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA by Classic Media, all but three of the Toho Godzilla series will be legally available on Region 1 DVD.

The exceptions? GODZILLA 1985, GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE, and everybody's favorite:



GODZILLA VS. MEGALON!

Hey, I'd been looking for an excuse to run another Godzilla vid for a while, and how can you not love this trailer, with its seemingly-endless shots of Big G's head cutting through the surf, multiple re-uses of Megalon firing ray blasts from his mega-cockroach forehead, and Jet Jaguar being called "Robotman?"

You know though, as goofy as Megalon is, in the Godzilla videogames, he's a real badass....

Cousin of Godzilla

Here's a weird one. As far as I can tell, this is a commercial for a Thai gasoline company starring Godzilla's nerdy, "horny" cousin...

... gotta love the braces.

Godzilla PSA

Haven't posted a Godzilla video in a couple weeks, so here's the Big G starring in a heartwarming public service announcement with the Pillsbury Doughboy. I mean, Minya.

From When I liked TV...

Between trips to the doctor's office and emergency room, and working on a couple of big writing projects, I haven't had time to write much for this blog.

So, here's another Godzilla video....

Godzilla's a... Pepper?

Well, we may not be seeing Godzilla 1985 on DVD any time soon, but thanks to someone over on YouTube, the commercials that the Big G starred in for Dr. Pepper around the time of that film's American release are once again available to fans of the prehistoric pitchman/beast.

That's right – years before throwing down with Charles Barkley for Nike, 'Zilla shilled for soft drinks.

Apparently Dr. Pepper had already made arrangements to use Godzilla in their ads when New World Pictures, who had acquired the Big G's 1984 "comeback" film from Toho, contacted the Pepper people about cross promoting their (heavily edited) version of the movie with the soft drink campaign. This is why, in various scenes of Godzilla 1985, a Dr. Pepper vending machine is prominently placed in the hallway of the "Pentagon." Reportedly, the guys at New World really pushed returning star Raymond Burr (reprising his role of "Steve Martin" from the 1956 Godzilla King of the Monsters) to drink a Pepper onscreen, but iron-willed Ironside flat-out refused. (Another character is seen sipping the beverage instead.)

Two commercials were made: the one below, and another one with a cutesy female monster with a bow on her head and ray-beam eyes, whose love is won by the Big Guy with the help of a giant Diet Dr. Pepper.

I like the ad below a lot better. Aside from the unfortunately under-detailed Godzilla suit, I love the B&W photography and the humor of the spot. Enjoy.

Go, go Godzilla

Driving to Free Comic Book Day at Casablanca Comics in Portland, Maine last Spring, I told Brandi that there was only one trade that had come out this year that I really needed to pick up (of course, I couldn't afford more than one!), and fortunately they had a copy in stock – Marvel's ESSENTIAL GODZILLA.

What a great book! From the days when the Marvel Universe was a wild and wooly place, fun, and anything could happen! (Am I the only one who misses those days?)

Heavily restricted by Toho Studios in regards to what they could do with the character, Doug Moench and editor Archie Goodwin slightly revamped the big G's origin (although not dramatically) and had the saurian supreme emerge from the North Pacific to take an American tour, pursued by Dum-Dum Dugan and S.H.I.E.LD. As Godzilla crossed the continent he ran into the Champions in San Francisco, battled the evil Dr. Demonicus and his monsters, fought a giant robot and giant Bigfoot in the Grand Canyon, was harassed by cowboys, trashed Las Vegas, beat up a trio of alien monsters, was shrunk by Henry Pym's shrinking gas, tossed back to the time of Devil Dinosaur (via Doc Doom's time machine), battled the FF and the Avengers... and then disappeared into the Atlantic, never to rear his scaly head in MU again.

Herb Trimpe did a great job on the art, with Tom Sutton turning in a nice two-parter, as well. Kinda surprised, considering that with Moench and Trimpe were the creative team, that Godzilla never ran into the Hulk, but maybe if Marvel had sprung for another year's license, they would have gotten around to it.

A lot of G-Fans complain about the book, annoyed with Trimpe's rendition of the character and Marvel's decision to make him green, but the tone of the series is actually very close to the films that Toho was making in the Seventies. And reading these now (I have a few issues in my collection, but not a complete run), its clear that Moench was having a grand time... and his fun was contagious!

A big "thank you" to Marvel for dusting these off, paying the license fee, and making them available again!