Customer Reviews

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah / Godzilla & Mothra: The Battle for Earth

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'm not a hard-core Godzilla fan, but i find them entertaining, so i picked up this DVD. Upon watching it, the one thing that really annoyed me was the lack of the widescreen option. I always like to have the original scope of the film. That is a main reason why i didn't give it 5 stars. The japanese soundtrack isn't available as an option. I prefer the english dubbing anyway, for comic effect at least. For those people who prefer the english subtitles that option should have been presented as well as the widescreen option. But I do really like the fact that you get two movies on this DVD, while costing the same as one normally does. And anyway these are two of my favorite Godzilla movies and they look good on this DVD. These two movies are both really cool: Mothra: Battle for Earth is really my favorite, the tiny twin women are fantastic! King Ghidora is very entertaining but not nearly as cool as Mothra. It's worth the money if you're a casual Godzilla fan like me, and don't mind the missing japanese soundtrack and widescreen options...

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah and its follow-up Godzilla vs. Mothra are easily two of the finest films in the series. Koichi Kawakita won a Japanese Academy Award in 1991 for his visual effects for Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, and the following year, Godzilla vs. Mothra became one of the biggest financial hits in Toho's history, selling over four million tickets in Japan, a number that hadn't been reached since the early 60s. Unfortunately, neither film got a stateside release until Sony defecated out this horrendous DVD in 1998 to coincide with Roland Emmerich's even bigger defecation that same year.

Not only are both films sandwiched on one disc, but they're not even in widescreen, and neither of them come with the original Japanese audio with English subtitles. Instead, the viewer has to endure dubbing that is so jaw-droppingly awful that it's amazing Toho would ever allow their films to get this sort of treatment. It's inconceivable how bottom-of-the-barrel Godzilla films like Godzilla's Revenge and even Godzilla vs. Gigan have decent DVDs while these more elaborate films are stuck with cheap double feature DVDs.

Luckily, there are rumors of new DVDs of these films being made, so maybe it's best that fans of the series wait for the new issues, as they will most likely be in anamorphic widescreen with the original Japanese audio. Until then I'd recommend hunting down subtitled DVDs and even VHS's from online distributors instead of settling for this Sony DVD.

Ever since I saw the original 50's Godzilla, I had always wondered how it had evolved in the 90's. Now I know. It's plain awesome! A bigger Godzilla with even bigger special effects. I love it!

Godzilla vs King Ghidorah:

While best appreciated by true Godzilla fans, this movie is actually a pretty good science fiction story in its own right. A tricked out space craft with time travel ability presents some intriguing plot possibility that keeps the audience wondering. One interesting insights is how the story portrays what Japan will become in the future. Add to that a back story that presents the origins of both Godzilla and Ghidorah and you end up with one of the best Godzilla movies ever made.

Godzilla and Mothra:

This is basically an updated movie of the early flicks involving Mothra. Worth watching if you're a big Godzilla or Mothra fan.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah- The King Is Back!


This is the sequel to Godzilla vs. Biollante. This introduces Ghidora into the new series.
For people who are not really big Godzilla fans, the Godzilla movies are broken up into 3 parts so far. 1954-1978 is the Showa series, 1984-1995 is the Heisei series and 1999-Present is the Shinsei or Millennium series. Each has different stories. Originally in the Showa series, Ghidora came to Earth by a meteorite, but this movie is in the newer Heisei (1984-1995) series. According to this series, Ghidora was mutated from Durats way back in the 1940's. If you follow the Heisei movies in order, this movie is interesting because the added on to what was already said. They mention about his fight with Biollante in this movie, and Biollante was the movie before this. If you watch this without order, this may not be as interesting. Watch the movies in order because it is meant as a series all the way up to Godzilla vs. Destroyah and is more fun to watch.

Godzilla & Mothra: The Battle for Earth- Moth with Rodan's Voice

The Battle for Earth has to be one of the best Godzilla movies I have seen. From the story to the special fx, this movie is all around really great! The only thing wrong is that a new monster named Battra the "black mothra" sounds like Rodan. Besides that, this movie is solid gold

VIDEO QUALITY:
The release contains 2 films on one disc - on Side A 1991's "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah", and on Side B 1992's "Godzilla vs. Mothra" (stupidly re-titled "Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth"). Side A looks very good, with a very sharp image, nice vivid colours and not much print damage, and the same goes for Side B. In some of the darker scenes there can be a bit of grain, but it's generally very high quality, with no noticeable artifacting, rainbows or other transfer issues Of course you're probably thinking this is too good to be true - two films on one disc is superb condition, and of course you're right; the films were modified from widescreen to pan and scan, with is a real blow to the otherwise lovely print.

AUDIO QUALITY:
Both sides only have one option, and in both cases they are Toho's international English dubs presented in Dolby Surround 2.0. The actual quality is good, with no distortion or fuzzing (granted they're reasonably new tracks in any case), however they both sound quite weak, especially for those with home sound systems.

EXTRA FEATURES:
Side A and Side B both contain the same - theatrical trailers for the two feature films. They are presented in widescreen and are subtitled in English; it's pretty depressing when a trailer is in better condition than the film itself.

OVERALL:
Pretty much a barebones release overall. Sony claim to have modified the films ratios especially for the DVD release. Why they would purposely change existing widescreen prints into full screen is beyond me. It's truly a shame, because the actual image quality is better than Toho's very own domestic Region-2 releases of these films. The standard 2.0 audio only featuring Toho's poorly acted international dub doesn't help much either, and the only features on the disc are two (good condition) trailers. It's a good release if you simply "want them on DVD", but if you want more you should probably look elsewhere.

After Godzilla 1984 (aka The Return of Godzilla) and Godzilla Vs Biollante, Toho resurrected two of its mightiest Godzilla series co-stars.

Godzilla Vs King Ghidorah was the first out at bat and quite 'controversial' for its supposed Anti-American stance (i.e. the bad boys from the future are predominantly western in appearance). The story is a time travel paradox laden hoot (Godzilla's existence is erased, yet everybody still knows about him?) and the final smackdown between the all new MECHA-King Ghidorah is a series classic. It's silly fun for fans.

Godzilla Versus Queen Mothra: Battle for the Earth was the biggest smash for the new series, and it is easy to see why. The fourth updated Godzilla movie is a colorful affair filled with something for every fantasy movie buff. The opening nod to the classic beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark, not to mention the bridge gag clearly meant as a homage to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's bridge scene, will either have you grinning or sneering. Godzilla's stomping out of the molten lava pouring from an erupting Mt. Fuji is a classic Godzilla moment.

Fans of "The Big G" need no urging to put this in their collections. Too bad they aren't widescreen transfers, though. Recommended.

These newer Godzilla movies from TOHO are just what the doctor ordered for parents in these jaded times. They are fun, imaginative, and believe it or not, even the effects are pretty good in these newer ones. They have a very Spielberg-like slickness, the Japanese film industry has been catching up fast. My kids love these videos, they have excitement, monsters, action, all without the potty humor and racy jokes of the US "kids" films. Highly recommended!

What can I say? Having not seen the "new" Godzilla and just remembering the silly rubber suited wrestlers of the 60's, these Japanese imports from the 90's are very welcome. I wished the DVD had 5.1 surround sound and more features but the included theatrical trailers are not dubbed and are a hoot. I love how at the end of the trailers, they try to hawk Godzilla toys. Now I understand how Pokemon is so damn well marketed. A welcome addition to any Godzilla-philes's collection. Maybe in the future other Godzilla DVDs will be available with subtitles and actual Japanese dubbing that can be toggled on or off.(for us "purists")

These movies are packed with action and adventure and have never ending turns and twists!
Godzilla vs. Mothra,Battle For Earth is about three explorers travel to an island,near with a meator landed.They then discover a giant egg and two girls smaller then a flower!But the egg hatches and forms the worm Mothra,while the metor hatches into the worm Batra!But when then two worms turn into giant flying super insects,there is a fight for surival ...P>Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is about three time travelers from the 23rd century who come to warn that Godzilla will destroy Japan. The timetravelers take a writer and a team of scientists to the time of the dinosaur,Godzilla before it was exposed to nuecelar energy.But when the beast,King Ghidorah takes Godzilla`s place,the scientist`s only choice is to reive Godzilla!