For years, Criterion has made a name for itself as one of the best distributors of quality films on Blu-ray and DVD. Every Criterion film has been carefully chosen, with each receiving the absolute best available audio and picture, as well as a slew of extra features. So, just knowing that Criterion is tackling the entire early “Godzilla” film collection is enough to guarantee that kaiju film fans are going to be lining up around the block (or just sitting with their internet-device of choice) to order the forthcoming “Godzilla: The Shōwa Era-Films, 1954-1975.”
Not only is it amazing that the company has chosen to cover 15 separate films for its upcoming collection, but the release marks the highly-anticipated Criterion #1000. It means a lot for the distributor to choose the genre-defining franchise as the landmark release, and of course, Criterion isn’t holding back.
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This being a Criterion release, you know that it’s going to be packed full of special features. And over the course of the eight separate Blu-rays, there are plenty of extras that will keep any kaiju fan happy for quite some time:
• High-definition digital transfers of all fifteen Godzilla films made between 1954 and 1975, released together for the first time, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks
• High-definition digital transfer of Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956), the U.S.-release version of Godzilla
• Japanese-release version of King Kong vs. Godzilla from 1962
• Audio commentaries from 2011 on Godzilla and Godzilla, King of the Monsters featuring film historian David Kalat
• International English-language dub tracks for Invasion of Astro-Monster, Son of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla vs. Megalon, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, and Terror of Mechagodzilla
• Directors Guild of Japan interview with director Ishiro Honda, conducted by director Yoshimitsu Banno in 1990
• Programs detailing the creation of Godzilla’s special effects and unused effects sequences from Toho releases including Destroy All Monsters
• New interview with filmmaker Alex Cox about his admiration for the Showa-era Godzilla films
• New and archival interviews with cast and crew members, including actors Bin Furuya, Tsugutoshi Komada, Haruo Nakajima, and Akira Takarada; composer Akira Ifukube; and effects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai
• Interview with critic Tadao Sato from 2011
• Illustrated audio essay from 2011 about the real-life tragedy that inspired Godzilla
• New English subtitle translations
• Trailers
• PLUS: A lavishly illustrated deluxe hardcover book featuring an essay by cinema historian Steve Ryfle, notes on the films by cinema historian Ed Godziszewski, and new illustrations by Arthur Adams, Sophie Campbell, Becky Cloonan, Jorge Coelho, Geof Darrow, Simon Gane, Robert Goodin, Benjamin Marra, Monarobot, Takashi Okazaki, Angela Rizza, Yuko Shimizu, Bill Sienkiewicz, Katsuya Terada, Ronald Wimberly, and Chris Wisnia
“Godzilla: The Shōwa Era-Films, 1954-1975” will be available for pre-order on October 1 and will be released on October 29. If you weren’t sold already, you can watch the trailer for the release below: