The Return of Godzilla | aka Godzilla 1984 | Blu-ray (Kraken)
Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray for Koji Hashimoto’s The Return of Godzilla (aka Godzilla 1984). The film was also released in the U.S. as Godzilla 1985, which was heavily edited and spliced with different footage for the American market. Please note that this release will be the original, uncut version of The Return of Godzilla.
The Return of Godzilla (read our review) stars Keiju Kobayashi (Sanjuro), Ken Tankaka (20th Century Boys: Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End), Yasuo Sawaguchi (Spirited Away), Shin Takuma (The 8-Tomb Village) and Yosuke Natsuki (Shogun).
Order The Return of Godzilla from Amazon.com today!
Must have! This was the only Godzilla film without a DVD release in the US until now. I bought a region-free Chinese DVD a few years back, but will happily upgrade and snag the Blu-ray. Shame it doesn’t feature the Godzilla 1985 cut of the film. But this is the cut to see, no doubt. Less product placement, fewer stupid attempts at comedy, more restored footage, and no Russians trying to destroy the world. (In the Japanese cut, a Russian commander dies as he fails to prevent a nuclear launch. The US edit has the Russian dying just after he presses the button to start the launch. Damn silly.) The Godzilla 1985 cut is tied up in a tangle of rights issues. Kraken/Section 23 says they tried to acquire the rights but it didn’t work out. A future release for G1985 should be considered very unlikely at this point. But anyway, for kaiju fans like myself, this release is reason for celebration indeed.
OH MY JESUS…
It would be a good idea for Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett to do an official RiffTrax commentary for the international English-dubbed version of “The Return of Godzilla” even though the late Raymond Burr isn’t in it.