Product Details

• Actors: Ken Tanaka, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Yosuke Natsuki, Keiju Kobayashi, Shin Takuma
• Format: Color, EP, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese, Russian
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• VHS Release Date: September 10, 1997
• Run Time: 87 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302722713
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #176,257 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the original Godzilla film, the lizard king returned to the big screen after a decade of inactivity for this 16th Godzilla feature. Originally released in Japan in 1984 as The Return of Godzilla, this modern sequel sweeps away decades of sequels and even recaptures the awe and grandeur of the original film, while adding modern technology and increased military firepower. But let's not get too carried away: this is ultimately a classic Japanese monster movie, and the best moments are the Big G's rampages through Tokyo, knocking over buildings and crushing cars and trains underfoot. It's still a guy in a suit stomping through lovingly detailed miniatures, and by American standards it'll always have that delightfully cheesy camp element, but this painstakingly crafted affair is one of the easier such efforts to take seriously. And fear not, you can't keep Godzilla down for long: he returns in Godzilla vs. Biollante. American distributor New World Pictures dubbed and trimmed the Japanese version while adding new American scenes featuring Raymond Burr, who reprises his role as reporter Steven Martin from the original Godzilla. The videotape also features Marv Newland's goofy animated short spoof Bambi Meets Godzilla. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GREAT, July 26, 2000

By 

Bradford Fritz (Long Island, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Godzilla 1985 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

One of the best Godzilla films ever was made in 1985. Ten years transpired after the last Godzila film, "Terror of Mechagodzilla", which pitted Godzilla quite unfairly against one of his most hated foes, Mechagodzilla, and a gigantic dinosaur creature, Titanosaurus, which joined forces with Mechagodzilla and his alien creators. I, myself, am a tremendous G-Fan, and when I saw this movie at the end I started to cry. Since no Blockbuster Video stores or Suncoast Video stores in my area had "Godzilla vs. Biollante" in stock (or even heard of it), I didn't know there was a whole new series after this film. I was a little kid, and had seen every Godzilla movie there was---from the original 1957 movie to the 1975 movie. I loved each and every one of them, and my family had also grown an interest in Godzilla and kaiju (Japanese giant monster). Well, Godzilla basically returns, because this film strangely takes place after the original, in which Godzilla is allegdly destroyed by Dr. Seragawa and his Oxygen Destroyer machine. However, he returns, and after killing sailors on a ship out at sea, the Japanese press and public at large find out about his existence and immediately evacuate and panic. Public chaos erupts, and the Japanese military force combined with the goverment and the United Nations joins together to create an aerial foe for Godzilla--a ship called Super-X. Godzilla comes ashore after destroying the Japanese Air Force's jets at sea, then destroying the bayside squad of the army. A professor who's parents perished at the hands of Godzilla uses a special device to lure Godzilla to a volcano across the sea, after Godzilla lays wreck to most of Tokyo and kills a drunken man who is one of the main protagonists in the film, along with a woman who almost lost her brother to Godzilla if it wasn't for her new "boyfriend" who befriended the professor. Altogether they cheaply lure poor Godzilla to the volcano and he falls in upon dentonation of lots of dynamite placed around the volcano. Godzilla falls in the volcano, and melancholy music plays.....and Raymond Burr, as Steve Martin from the original Godzilla, tells viewers the "moral of the story". This was a great film, I just think it could've had a better story than Godzilla being reawakened after being attacked by Super-X in downtown Tokyo, and then woken up by a Russian nuclear missile that was stopped and caused lightning to re-energize the 328-foot tall King of all Monsters.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GODZILLA FANS UNITE - BRING 1985 TO DVD!, October 28, 2008

By 

MADMAN3000 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Godzilla 1985 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST GODZILLA MOVIES EVER MADE! WHY HAS THIS ONE BEEN LONG OVERLOOKED FOR DVD RELEASE? GET ON THE STICK AND GET THIS DONE!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Godzilla: 1985, October 29, 2010

By 

Frank-E - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Godzilla 1985 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This was the second Godzilla movie that I ever watched (the first being the original, Godzilla: King of the Monsters) and to this day I still get a thrill from watching it. It started my facination with Godzilla and has kept it alive since I was a small child.

I've seen the original Japanese version and yes THAT version is, story wise at least, the better film. But there is just something about popping in the slashed up American dubed VHS that brings back so many fond memories that I cant help but find that the American version, and not the original one, is my favorite.

Don't get me wrong, the original film is amazing, and just because I call it better (story wise) that does not mean that I prefer it. Both versions are great, but G:1985 is just something else. It has a great list of characters who you can actually be attached to, it had decent dialouge, the special effects are 80's-tastic! But, by far, the best part of this movie is the Big-G himself!

Godzilla is reinvented in this film. He goes from the comic super-savior of the world, as he is in the 60's and 70's, and becomes and indestructible force of nature, killing people by the hundreds and burning Tokyo to the ground in a sea of atomic fire! His roar is changed from the high-pitched shreek from his comic-book hero days into a animalistic and primordial roar, but still holding on to the classic sound we all expect from Godzilla. The costume used is the best one ever used, up to that time. At times I find myself forgetting that I'm watching a movie and part of me begins to think that I'm watching actual footage of the destruction of Tokyo! The point I'm trying to make here is that the costume looks very real, and is sometimes even scary! This is how The King was always ment to be shown!

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of Godzilla, or monster movies in general! I also HIGHLY recommend a good sound system (preferably Surround-Sound) to get the full effects of Godzilla's roar.

Wait until the sun goes down, close the windows, make yourself a bowl of popcorn, turn off the the lights, cuddle up under a blanket, turn up the volume, and prepare for the monster-movie ride of your life! 4 out of 5 stars for one of my favorite Godzilla movies of all time!

THIS MOVIE IS A BLAST!