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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally We Get Godzilla VS MechaGodzilla done right!, October 23, 2004
This review is from: Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla (DVD)
First off, as someone who has been a Godzilla fan for ages, I know all the films by heart and can tell you why each one is good and bad in it's own various ways. Now for the DVD. This particular release is a new HD transfer of the international release print done by Sony Pictures as all of their DVD's now feature HD transfers. The original Japanese audio comes from the recently released Japanese 50th anniversary DVD collection so it sounds wonderful while the English audio is taken from the original international print and while neither one has real directional sound, oddly enough, the Japanese track sounds the best as the English one is poorly balanced. I guess it comes from the poor ADR dialogue techniques often used with dubs. The video is a pristine anamorphic transfer of the international release print and is as good as it can get without digital restoration considering the fact that the film has held up well this long. I would really love it if each of the classic and 84-95 films were restored using the Lowry Digital Imagining software and techniques as they would really bring out the true beauty of these films. Anyway, if you like your Godzilla DVD's done the right way with quality, buy this one!
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everything I want in a Godzilla movie, April 14, 2002
This movie has everything a good Godzilla movie should have--monsters, fights, spies, scientists, aliens, the works. You don't even have to wait until the end of the movie to see a fight because the action starts early in this one. First, an old cave is discovered with mysterious artwork on the walls and a unique statue in a cleft, and a young woman has a prophecy that a monster will come to destroy the earth. As if on cue, Godzilla pops up, but he is immediately attacked by Anguiras. Right away, you know something's fishy because Anguiras is Godzilla's sidekick. This Godzilla is ruthless, and I am still upset about the injury poor Anguiras receives at his hand. Before long, Godzilla shows up, the two Godzillas fight and the impostor is exposed as a cyborg. Godzilla takes a pretty good beating and disappears, but MechaGodzilla is also forced to retreat and seek repair. Aliens are controlling MechaGodzilla, but they need the help of a brilliant Japanese scientist to make the necessary repairs. They capture the scientist and coerce him into helping them. Meanwhile, the good guys are running around trying to figure out the meaning of the strange statue found at the start of the movie. They find out that King Seesar, a guardian monster of sorts on Okinawa, is portrayed on the statue, so they must race to awaken Seesar to fight MechaGodzilla because they do not know if Godzilla is still alive. The battles in this movie are quite good. MechaGodzilla has everything but the kitchen sink in his arsenal, and he even flies. King Seesar is a little weird, basically looking like a giant dog of some sort mixed with who knows what. The explosions, laser weapons, fiery breath, and general mayhem are very good, and many models are blown to bits. One of my favorite parts, though, is the song that is sung to awaken King Seesar--I have no idea what the words mean, but it is a great song I sometimes listen to just by itself. Interestingly enough, I assume the song is in Japanese, yet it is still dubbed (and rather badly in places). In conclusion, this is easily one of the best movies in the original Godzilla series. If you don't enjoy this one, you almost surely won't enjoy any of the others, so this is a good litmus test for Godzilla newbies.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mechanical Titan of Terror!, December 5, 2004
This review is from: Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla (DVD)
Who is Godzilla's greatest enemy? While some may vote for the three-headed King Ghidora or the soaring Mothra, to me that honor will always rest on MechaGodzilla, the star of no less than five Godzilla films, more than any other monster. Here, in the 1974 "Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla," we have the first appearance of that mechanical menace.
Filmed as a 20th anniversary celebration of Japan's most famous monster, "Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla" is a bloody and violent entry in the Godzilla series, with MechaGodzilla being a merciless killer, tearing the dinosaur-like Angirasu's jaw in half in the opening battle scene, then stomping off with bloody hands. The vanguard of an invasion, and controlled by a clan of ape-faced aliens from outer space, MechaGodzilla rampages throughout the unhappy island nation of Japan, and Godzilla is powerless to stop him. In order to stop the mechanical terror, an ancient, sleeping deity, King Seesar, is awakened and brought into the fray. Together, Godzilla and King Seesar withstand the assault of missiles, ray blasts, and a host of other weapons in the arsenal of MechaGodzilla.
If you like Godzilla films, than you pretty much know what you are getting yourself into. Big stompy fun, with giant monsters treading on toy tanks and beating the heck out of each other. "Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla" has all of these traditional delights, with a bit of a harder, more violent edge than the more-campy releases. It is still brilliant, Sunday morning fun.
This DVD release is one of the best available Godzilla flicks on the US market, but still not complete. The Japanese language track is included, which is an absolute must. This is an 85 minute version, rather than the full 97 minutes of the Japanese release. However, it is superior to the original US "Godzilla vs the Cosmic Monster" version, which ran 80 minutes.
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