Original Godzilla crashes onto Criterion Blu-ray in January

By Eric Walkuski

Posted 15 years ago

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

GODZILLA – the 1954 version, not the Roland Emmerich abomination – is getting a polished new release come January. Yes, the King of all Monsters shall wash up on our shores in a brand spankin’ new Criterion Blu-ray on JANUARY 24, 2012. Cue Godzilla’s raspy roar!

Naturally, this being Criterion, GODZILLA will be utterly jam-packed with special features, including:

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– A new 1080p digital transfer, uncompressed mono soundtracks

– Audio commentary by David Kalat (A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series)

– New high-definition digital restoration of Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Terry Morse’s 1956 reworking of the original, starring Raymond Burr, as well as audio commentary for Godzilla, King of the Monsters by David Kalat

– New interviews with actor Akira Takarada (Hideto Ogata), Godzilla performer Haruo Nakajima, and effects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai, and legendary Godzilla score composer Akira Ifukube

– Featurette detailing Godzilla’s photographic effects

– New interview with Japanese-film critic Tadao Sato

– The Unluckiest Dragon, an illustrated audio essay featuring historian Greg Pflugfelder describing the tragic fate of the fishing vessel Daigo fukuryu maru, a real-life event that inspired Godzilla

– Theatrical trailers

– A booklet featuring an essay by critic J. Hoberman.

Pretty flippin’ sweet, wouldn’t you agree? The Blu-ray isn’t available for pre-order just yet, but we’ll alert you when that changes; this would be the perfect movie is to spend some of that Christmas money on. (You know you’re just getting an Amazon gift card this year. Again…)

Source: High Def Digest

About the Author

Eric Walkuski

Film Critic

10,340 Articles Published

Favorite Movies: Jaws, Star Wars Trilogy, Aliens, Citizen Kane, The Third Man, Dawn read more of the Dead ('78), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre ('74), Fargo, Miller's Crossing, Reservoir Dogs, The Manchurian Candidate ('62), Taxi Driver, Back to the Future, Stand by Me, Shaun of the Dead, Boogie Nights, La Dolce Vita, 12 Angry Men, The Birds, Touch of Evil

Likes: Film, Beer (who the hell DOESN'T around here?!), writing, NY Mets, read more The Jets, Girls who love film AND beer (at the same time), Jazz, Deadwood, The Wire, The Office, The Twilight Zone, Cormac McCarthy, Graham Greene, Stephen King, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Scorsese, Spielberg, Halloween season, Marvel movies, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Ash vs Evil Dead, Game of Thrones, Edgar Allen Poe, Mother Nature

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