1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

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movielocke
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1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#276 Post by movielocke » Tue Oct 22, 2019 2:32 am

Big Ben wrote:
movielocke wrote:
Mon Oct 21, 2019 3:37 pm
Wow, Godzilla vs Gigan is incredibly terrible on its own (lack of merits) but also terrible even relative to the other films in the series, at one point, they put two Barbie dolls in a medium shot in one of the fake buildings being destroyed as though that were the same as human extras. Glad TCM aired it, because I was quite curious about the films not on the channel.
May I ask how many Godzilla films have you seen? This is pretty standard and well, if you're not going to buy into the low budget aloofness (And I mean no offense in this statement) you best save your money. I wonder sometimes how much of Godzilla's success was because of genuine interest and how much was driven by it simply existing as a know money making quantity (Ex: Endless Slasher sequels) that people would simply go out to because it was a way to spend an afternoon. Don't get me wrong I love this type of stuff but I would be incredibly dishonest if I were to try and argue that all Godzilla films were quality films.
FrauBlucher wrote:
Mon Oct 21, 2019 5:24 pm
The Godzilla movies that came out in the 70s were pretty awful.
Godzilla vs Megalon for instance was shot in three weeks and I think it really shows.

Image
Between my Blu-ray of the first one, the channel and now TCM, I’ve seen all of them except King Kong vs Godzilla, which local library has, so I’ll probably catch it soon. They vary a ton in quality, but I was fully on board with the profoundly demented qualities of Hedorah (for example) but merely rolled my eyes at Megalon’s low budget ineptitudes.

But Gigan stuck out like a sore thumb as the worst film—However my dislike of Gigan could well be watching it after the mechagodzilla films, whereas megalon was on the heels of the cheesy “home alone” Godzilla movie, so at least it was return to form and not fifty percent recycled footage (and Gigan certainly recycles a lot of the Ghidorah footage as well, gotta reuse that hilarious lightning to the crotch shot!)


Orlac
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#277 Post by Orlac » Tue Oct 22, 2019 7:15 am

Megalon was my first Godzilla film, and it helped going in that I was aware it had a bad rep.

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barryconvex
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#278 Post by barryconvex » Thu Oct 24, 2019 12:12 am

FrauBlucher wrote:
Mon Oct 21, 2019 5:24 pm
The Godzilla movies that came out in the 70s were pretty awful.
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (The Smog Monster) from 1971 is probably the best sequel in the whole series and the only film after the original that actually aspires to be something more than camp. I don't care what anybody says, a woman wearing a skin tight white bodysuit with a giant clam emblazoned on the crotch counts as high art any day of the week.

ComradeMisato
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#279 Post by ComradeMisato » Thu Oct 24, 2019 5:09 pm

barryconvex wrote:
Thu Oct 24, 2019 12:12 am
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (The Smog Monster) from 1971 is probably the best sequel in the whole series and the only film after the original that actually aspires to be something more than camp.
Hedorah is great and underappreciated but the rest of this sentence is an aggressively cold and bad take

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barryconvex
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#280 Post by barryconvex » Fri Oct 25, 2019 3:44 am

That was meant to be taken facetiously. I wasn't trying to be demeaning. I was trying to sarcastically call attention to how offensive such an outfit is. I could've articulated that better and I apologize to you and anyone else who may have taken offense.

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DarkImbecile
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#281 Post by DarkImbecile » Fri Oct 25, 2019 11:32 am

I don't think he's referring to your (perfectly acceptable) comments on the outfit, just disagreeing that the other sequels aren't aspiring to more than camp.

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TheRanchHand
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#282 Post by TheRanchHand » Sat Oct 26, 2019 12:42 am

Is everyone waiting on the B&N sale to pick it up? I have had it bought in my Amazon cart for a couple months hoping to maybe catch a freak price drop like they did with Bergman but so far just hovering around $160. I'm in no rush to get it this week so may wait til November and save around $50. Just was wondering if there is a retailer offering a more reduced price (DD seems about $10 less).

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barryconvex
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#283 Post by barryconvex » Sat Oct 26, 2019 1:26 am

DarkImbecile wrote:
Fri Oct 25, 2019 11:32 am
I don't think he's referring to your (perfectly acceptable) comments on the outfit, just disagreeing that the other sequels aren't aspiring to more than camp.
Yeah, I thought that comment seemed a little on the PC side but I wanted to take the high road. For the record the 70s sequels hold a special place for me-the Mechagodzilla films in particular. By this time the series knew its place and had carved out a nice pocket for itself and part of the appeal was the camp factor.

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colinr0380
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#284 Post by colinr0380 » Sun Oct 27, 2019 6:09 pm

I have only just remembered on running across it again that the late lamented Super Best Friends channel did a discussion video on the classic Godzilla posters! (NSFW: Language) They get thrown a bit by some of the stylisation of the Czech posters!

Orlac
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#285 Post by Orlac » Mon Oct 28, 2019 9:12 am

My set just arrived from Diabolik. The packaging is horrendous - took me 10min to get the discs out, leaving me with rather sore fingers!

Orlac
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#286 Post by Orlac » Tue Oct 29, 2019 3:35 am

Took a look at some of the transfers.

No image or sound complaints with INVASION OF THE ASTRO MONSTERS, EBIRAH and TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA

I'm pleased to report the sound levels are now correct for the Japanese mono track of EBIRAH, which was not the case on the Tristar and Kraken releases, with the dialogue being drowned out by the music.

MEGALON - On the Criterion, as with the Media Blasters release of Megalon, but not the older Toho DVD, this bizzare cropping happens - Godzilla vs. Megalon - "Dirty Harry" Stand Off Comparison - YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssGb8Hf6_tw

KING KONG VS. GODZILLA (Japanese version) - Sadly, besides being the 2008 transfer (mostly film but a tiny portion is from the old, old video master), the only audio track is the badly mixed 4.0 one from the old Toho DVD. There are times when dialogue and sound effects are badly muted or missing althogether. Andrew Hughes' line "Gojira!" in the sub (which was post-dubbed, I believe) is totally gone. The Toho BD had a decent mono track which didn't have these issues.

I think the sound issues with KKvG are worth notifying Criterion about, because let's say they get the rights to the new 4k master in a few years, they should use the better sounding audio track.
Last edited by Orlac on Tue Oct 29, 2019 3:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

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HitchcockLang
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#287 Post by HitchcockLang » Wed Oct 30, 2019 7:56 am

Orlac wrote:
Mon Oct 28, 2019 9:12 am
My set just arrived from Diabolik. The packaging is horrendous - took me 10min to get the discs out, leaving me with rather sore fingers!
Interesting. I found the discs came out easily, particularly thanks to the notches over the holes in the center of the discs. I found it to be a major improvement over the Bergman box with which I do struggle for several minutes to get a disc out. When I noted this months ago though, I seemed to be the only one having that much trouble so I am definitely not discounting your issue with the Godzilla set, but rather I am beginning to think all of these boxes are not created equal.

ComradeMisato
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#288 Post by ComradeMisato » Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:11 am

HitchcockLang wrote:
Wed Oct 30, 2019 7:56 am
Orlac wrote:
Mon Oct 28, 2019 9:12 am
My set just arrived from Diabolik. The packaging is horrendous - took me 10min to get the discs out, leaving me with rather sore fingers!
Interesting. I found the discs came out easily, particularly thanks to the notches over the holes in the center of the discs. I found it to be a major improvement over the Bergman box with which I do struggle for several minutes to get a disc out. When I noted this months ago though, I seemed to be the only one having that much trouble so I am definitely not discounting your issue with the Godzilla set, but rather I am beginning to think all of these boxes are not created equal.
The sleeves aren't ideal, but they're not too difficult to get the discs out, especially with that smooth inner surface. The easiest thing is to get your thumbnail under the outside edge, then pull it out using another finger in the center.

At least it's not one of those smaller book-format sets like the Battle Royale collection or the Mad Men complete series. Those are awful.

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tenia
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#289 Post by tenia » Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:12 am

I too found the disc easy to take out on the copy I saw.

ComradeMisato
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#290 Post by ComradeMisato » Thu Oct 31, 2019 10:46 am

So I decided to make a video about the set and the runtime got a little out of hand

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TheRanchHand
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#291 Post by TheRanchHand » Fri Nov 01, 2019 10:38 pm

Well, Amazon matched B&N so if you prefer their service, now is the time. I ordered mine last night from Barnes so may get it a few days later but happy to get the 50% off...

Calvin
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#292 Post by Calvin » Sat Nov 02, 2019 12:47 pm

The set has been confirmed Region A locked, so anyone else from the UK that might be tempted to import as the cheaper option ... no dice.

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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#293 Post by swo17 » Sat Nov 02, 2019 2:41 pm

TheRanchHand wrote:
Fri Nov 01, 2019 10:38 pm
Well, Amazon matched B&N so if you prefer their service, now is the time. I ordered mine last night from Barnes so may get it a few days later but happy to get the 50% off...
Amazon has a coupon for an extra $2.50 off

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headacheboy
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#294 Post by headacheboy » Sat Nov 02, 2019 4:29 pm

I picked this up at Barnes today for 50% off (and having a membership card gets an additional $11.25 knocked off for a grand total of $101.25) and I've been going through the discs seeing what bonus features are available. I didn't realize that the bulk of the bonus features are found on Disc 8. The biggest surprise on that Supplements disc was finding the Japanese version of King Kong Vs Godzilla. I hadn't read anywhere that that was making an appearance as a bonus feature.

(And by the way, I've never had that 10% off work when I use their mail-order. The only way it ever seems to work is by going in and physically buying something.)

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Zorn
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#295 Post by Zorn » Sun Nov 03, 2019 2:42 pm

Orlac wrote:
Mon Oct 21, 2019 6:29 pm
movielocke wrote:
Mon Oct 21, 2019 3:37 pm
Wow, Godzilla vs Gigan is incredibly terrible on its own (lack of merits) but also terrible even relative to the other films in the series, at one point, they put two Barbie dolls in a medium shot in one of the fake buildings being destroyed as though that were the same as human extras. Glad TCM aired it, because I was quite curious about the films not on the channel.
I think the dolls are meant to be statues or mannequins. The films were noticeably avoiding human extras deaths by that point - the brutal Godzilla vs Hedorah excepted.
This is correct. As poor as the Gigan film can be with the budget, they never stooped that low to disguise Barbie-esque dolls as humans where it's so blatantly obvious. The dolls are meant to represent mannequins in the store front.

The only other exception to Hedorah and the avoidance of human extras deaths might actually be Terror of Mechagodzilla with the two teenagers sneaking away from the evacuation group to look at Titanosaurus only to possibly be stomped to death by the object of their curiosity. It's not explicit and can be interpreted either way.

Orlac
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#296 Post by Orlac » Mon Nov 04, 2019 3:20 am

Megalon is rather brutal with the Seatopian agents - but they're bad guys so it's alright then.

Often the "everyone has evacuated" line is to avoid implying people are getting killed, or to save money.

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Zorn
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#297 Post by Zorn » Mon Nov 04, 2019 6:50 pm

Orlac wrote:
Mon Nov 04, 2019 3:20 am
Megalon is rather brutal with the Seatopian agents - but they're bad guys so it's alright then.

Often the "everyone has evacuated" line is to avoid implying people are getting killed, or to save money.
Their deaths ended up getting cut in later US releases. The boulder falling on one of them was apparently too much for people as was part of the scene where they kidnap the kid. I remember my old VHS copy would have the sound of the removed bit of the kidnapped scene continue just a bit into the next scene. It was odd. They also removed a scene with the two truck drivers where you can see the nude woman poster quite clearly behind them.

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barryconvex
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#298 Post by barryconvex » Tue Nov 05, 2019 12:51 am

tenia wrote:
Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:12 am
I too found the disc easy to take out on the copy I saw.
I had no problems removing the discs, my bigger problem is the size of the book. It's too tall for any shelf I own by a couple inches. I have no idea where I'm supposed to keep this.

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tenia
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#299 Post by tenia » Tue Nov 05, 2019 3:25 am

It's absolutely hugely over-sized. I can't see keeping one in my video shelves, the only suitable place for it would be along my French "comic books".

dmarvin
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Re: 1000 Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975

#300 Post by dmarvin » Mon Nov 25, 2019 11:41 am

CF3 Podcast is giving away a copy of this via random drawing on December 16th. The only requirement to enter is to message CF3 with proof (screenshot) that you've subscribed to the podcast on your podcast app of choice. Pretty easy but just 'difficult' enough a task to ensure that the entry pool will be on the smaller side (and odds of winning pretty decent): https://www.facebook.com/CF3pod/posts/2512627825661275

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