After plenty of speculation and buildup over the past few days, the wait is over. We’re not talking about a long-awaited release date or first footage for an anticipated movie, but rather which film would have the distinction of gracing Criterion’s so-called spine No. 1000. The answer? The kaiju king.
The Criterion Collection – the curators of classic taste for contemporary movie-watchers – announced on Thursday that the OG Godzilla himself is getting the preservation treatment this fall. His earliest adventures as a walking cautionary tale for amassing nuclear power being collected for the first time ever in a box set of Showa-era films.
The announcement came with a trailer for the massive box set, which will be released Oct. 29 with a vibrant pop-art look that manages to capture the king of monsters’ pop-culture footprint perfectly. Criterion is pulling out all the stops for the milestone product, amassing all 15 (!!!) Godzilla films released from 1954 to 1975 on Blu-Ray, including the first film, 1963’s “King Kong vs. Godzilla,” 1964’s “Mothra vs. Godzilla” and 1968’s “Destroy All Monsters.”
The sheer volume of films included with the gorgeously illustrated hardcover book is an impressive addition to the Criterion library, but it wouldn’t be a Criterion addition without some enticing supplemental material. Included in this one, according to Criterion, are prior interviews with director Ishiro Honda, a program on the films’ visual effects and an “illustrated audio essay from 2011 about the real-life tragedy that inspired ‘Godzilla.”
Suffice to say: We’re impressed, even by Criterion standards. The price is an expectedly hefty one at nearly $180. But we’d say that’s a small price to pay for what is essentially a cinematic syllabus for a core piece of Japanese movie history. Least of all one that Western filmmakers have diluted the substance of over the past two decades with its own interpretations of the atomic breath-spewing reptile.
The big guy used to be about more than blockbuster spectacle, and Criterion is now paying perfect homage to, as it appropriately states, the “technical wizardry, fantastical storytelling and indomitable international appeal” that made him an icon.
The box set is available for pre-order now. Watch the “Look Inside Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975” video below.