Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975 (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

This is the perfect way to collect the Showā era Godzilla films. I can’t rave enough about this. The brilliant artwork, the thought provoking essays and sturdy book frame are all top notch. I’ve wanted this for five years and finally have my hands on it, it was more than worth the wait.

This is an excellent compendium of movies designed for every Godzilla fan. While it comes in a cumbersome packaging, it's still an art piece that you can display on a stand in your home. I really enjoyed reading the history of the franchise and the summaries of the films. This is sure to please fans of the movies like me.

Never in a million years did i ever think a collection like this would ever see the light of day. If you like me grew up in the 80's, you grew up with the godzilla movies being a staple of tv. In the nYC area they were always shown on two of my local stations that would normally run syndicated stuff. We grew up with the American cuts of the films. Schlocky but fun. If you're looking to relive that experience youw ont find it here. Instead this will be like rediscovering Godzilla for you. This entire collection has only the original Japanese versions of the films. with subtitles. Upon seeing the Japanese films for the first time I was shocked. The American films were cut so much as to be almost totally different movies. The schlock factor disappears, and the movies are way more coherent and some of them even turn from camp into serious explorations of certain themes. One movie that i used ot watch over and over again as a kid was Godzilla vs Megalon. One of the schlockiest in the entire Godzilla canon. But when I watch the original, im surprised to see there's actually a cohesive plot and a serious attempt at drama as well. Are all the original versions better? No there are some movies where I think the American version might have been better and the original plods along a little bit, but those movies are few and far between--for the most part there are more hits than misses. Also this collection is COMPLETE. if you ever tried collecting the Godzilla movies previously on dvd you know that there were certain movies that had gone out of print and if you managed to somehow find a dvd they were going to cost you hundreds of dollars. Here for one low price you can have the entire original Godzilla collection from Godzilla all the way to Terror of Mecha-Godzilla. For the most part this collection is not going to replace your old "Godzilla Collection" dvd box set and other dvd's you may have been able to get separately. You need ot keep those old dvd's because they have the American versions and you may want to revisit the versions of thes emovies you grew up with. This new Criterion Collection set should probably be gotten in addition to old dvd's you already have. If you can only choose one then go with this set as you will have a complete set at least. There are 2 American movies included here--the Raymond Burr version of Godzilla is included as an extra on the first disc. The American version of King Kong vs Godzilla is the default "main version" in the collection because of US copyright laws. You will find the original Japanese version included separately, almost hidden away, as part of the Extras disc (disc 8). All movies are given the excellent and respectful treatment Criterion is known for. These movies have never sounded or looked better. The picture is clean with no visible age artefacts on the film. The subtitles are done well and in no way distract from the movie or come across as obnoxious in their placement on the screen. I wish there was a second mega collection like this one from Criterion collecting the Heisei and Millenium eras. Unfortunately for that to happen we will have to wait for Toho to once again get the rights to the more modern films. To close--i give this collection a wholehearted recommendation. Get this set right away before it goes out of print!!

If you want a definitive collection of every version of the Godzilla Showa-era movies, you will be disappointed to learn that the English version of the films are missing other than Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956) and the English international version of King Kong vs Godzilla. Those are the only two English version movies available, all the other films are the original unedited cuts of the Japanese versions of the movies with subtitle options. This collection most notably contains the original Japanese version of King Kong vs Godzilla which a majority of the world beyond Japan has never before.If you are a serious die-hard Godzilla fan then this collection is a must-have item. It is a beautiful book with interesting essays about the Showa series, a large collection of special features that have never been seen outside Japan, beautiful artwork that captures the fun and zany, yet incongruous tone of the Showa-era overall, and the films look and sound much better than any old DVD versions you must have in your possession already.I'm very pleased that the honor of Criterion Collection spine number 1000 went to the entire collection of the Showa Godzilla films widely regarded in the West as "bad films," and their inclusion in the Criterion Collection is some nice validation for the people who love these movies. It says to me "these films should be judged by a different merit of quality, it's not that they are 'bad films,' rather they are and important time capsule of pure entertainmentvalue."I almost passed on getting this set, as I already own all of the Godzilla movies on DVD and it seemed redundant, but the collection of supplementary materials, higher quality transfers, fully uncut original Japanese versions of every film (many I had never seen), and the convenience of having the entire era in one case, made me change my mind and I'm glad I did.If the only version of Godzilla you love is the goofy dubbed versions of your childhood, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, however this likely won't be the collection for you. There are plenty of DVD and Blu Ray copies of the English versions of the films available out there. If you do have an interest in the original Japanese version of Godzillas first two decades worth of movies and want an interesting and attractive collector's piece, this is an absolute buy and you shouldn't hesitate.

Great collection of all the Showa Era, Gojira films. Movies are not as sharp as a modern day 4K film given the timeframe in which they were made. But, the prints have been nicely restored or enhanced, and the audio is very clear. My prior Godzilla movie collections were either VHS or regular DVD, so this was a huge step up! I'm hoping Criterion will do the same for the Heisei Era films as well.