Rodan / War of the Gargantuas 09/09/08

[X-human]

DVD Drive-In, on the scene reporting:

On September 9, Classic Media will unleash their long-awaited releases of RODAN and THE WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS as a two-disc double feature set. Here are the specs for each title that we have so far –

RODAN:
Languages: Japanese/English
Subtitles: English
English Version (72 mins.)
Japanese Version (82 mins.).

THE WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS:
Languages: Japanese/English
Subtitles: English
Japanese Version (88 mins.)
English Version (92 mins.)

Special Features: "Bringing Godzilla Down To Size" Documentary (60 mins.).

Sweet, I've wanted to see the Frankenstein sequel for quite some time now.

[rxfiend]

Awesome set! I can't wait to check this out.

[maybrick]

Thanks! I've been looking for info on future Classic Media releases since buying the Godzilla Collection and couldn't find Jack on their website. I think I'll hold off for a year or so just in case they try to fuck over the fans again like they did with the Godzillas.

[Roo]

I can’t wait. I was getting a little worried about the Gargantuas release; I hadn't heard anything new in a while. Both movies are great and I'll snatch them up when released.

[rxfiend]

Maybrick, I doubt CM has anything else up their sleeves, and considering this set will be sold under $20 at stores, there really isn't a reason to pass this up.

[satans-sadists]

I've been wanting a legit War of the Gargantuas for a long time. A few years ago I bought a bootleg and it's a poor substitute, plus it's just not right hearing Russ Tamblyn speaking in Japanese. Thanks for passing along the great news!

[X-human]

Originally Posted by rxfiend

Awesome set! I can't wait to check this out.

They were always upfront about the boxset the entire time though, they haven't mentioned anything about these as part of a future boxset.

[maybrick]

Originally Posted by rxfiend

Maybrick, I doubt CM has anything else up their sleeves, and considering this set will be sold under $20 at stores, there really isn't a reason to pass this up.

I can. They haven't released Mothra yet, have they?

[Jeremy]

And they probably won't be releasing MOTHRA, either.

Classic Media owns the American distribution rights in perpetuity for all the Toho titles they've released. This is because producer Henry G. Saperstein, whose UPA company handled the distribution of these titles in America, had a unique business relationship with Toho that allowed him to hang onto the rights (films like GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER, which did not go through Saperstein, have since reverted back to Toho).

MOTHRA was never a Saperstein title and it seems that the North American rights are with Sony at the moment.

[maybrick]

All I meant is that there may be other Toho titles that Classic Media own which they'll sooner rather than later collect together in a boxset. Mothra was just off the top of my head. I'm not really waiting for them to release it.

[Mattapooh]

The only disappointment with this is the lack of commentaries, but assuming the transfers are as good as the last batch of Godzilla flicks, I'm fine.

I've only seen both flicks on VHS, so I'm really stoked about grabbing these.

[KR~!]

I believe that this is the 1st time that the great War of the Gargantuas will be release on DVD in the us.

[rxfiend]

Originally Posted by maybrick

All I meant is that there may be other Toho titles that Classic Media own which they'll sooner rather than later collect together in a boxset. Mothra was just off the top of my head. I'm not really waiting for them to release it.

CM only has these films and the G films they released. Any other titles which were part of the UPA deal were reverted back to TOHO. I think Media Blasters already released some of those movies. So this release is their last of Toho films unless they pick some up in the future, which is highly unlikely. I get my info from the Monster Zero board and one of the people who post there, has helped CM directly. They make no mention of any other future releases.

And Mothra is owned by Sony, as is Mothra 3 (Heisei film) and other Toho showa era films (can't think of their names off hand). I suspect we'll never see those on DVD though.

[KR~!]

we may never seen a good release of Destroy all Monsters as well, as the dreaded Adv Films owns that gems and they seem happy to release that nasty less than vhs quality dvd over and over again.

[maybrick]

Yeah it'd be nice to have a better Destroy all Monsters. At the moment though I'm more concerned about Megalon as it's the only film from the original Godzilla series that has yet to surface on DVD (at least in R1).