Toho continues to release their special effects films, recently restored in high definition, to Blu-ray in Japan [same Blu-ray region as the USA!]. November 20th will see the release of Shusuke Kaneko’s excellent millinium effort GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH – GIANT MONSTERS ALL OUT ATTACK, the 1984 return of the King of the Monsters, GODZILLA, and the dim-witted 1991 sequel GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH. More exciting than all three of those combined, from my perspective, is that Toho will be releasing their seminal disaster effort SUBMERSION OF JAPAN, directed by Shiro Moritani from the novel by Sakyo Komatsu with fantastic effects direction by Teruyoshi Nakano, on the same date.
On American shores, the soon-to-be-released Blu-ray of the original GODZILLA due out from Classic Media / Genius Products looks to be a real bust – high definition, to be sure, but soft, interlaced, and mastered from the same edited version of the film as the earlier two-disc DVD. Those seriously interested in adding this to their collection in high def should think about Toho’s own Blu-ray, sourced from their reecently restored high definition master, or wait for a company like B.F.I. to release an English-friendly disc.
