The Criterion Collection posted a revealing photo on their Facebook page yesterday — the film cans for the Interpositive 35mm for the original GODZILLA! This film, while released on DVD & BD five years ago by Classic Media, looked like crap. Criterion has done miracles with classic international cinema, such as their wonderful restoration on Kurosawa's SEVEN SAMURAI (1954) — I'm sure that GODZILLA will receive the same treatment: http://augustragone.blogspot.com/2011/08/c...954-dvd-bd.html
I heard about this, great news. Nothing beats a Criterion Blu-ray, clarity, contrast, color and content, Criterion is king. With every new release I get it's like experiencing it for the first time.
I tried watching Godzilla from the Criterion Collection on Hulu a month ago, and it turned out to be the Americanized version with Raymond Burr. I hope that's not the case with this one.
Criterion had both of them up — the US and Japanese versions — but in prepping these for DVD/BD (yes, both versions will be included) they pulled them down from Hulu (they were free, unlike Hulu Plus). The photo Criterion posted (seen on my blog) is one of the film cans of the Japanese version, which Criterion is remastering! You might want to read my blog story, bbb.
The news about Criterion's GODZILLA has possibly just gotten better: CRITERION FINDS US VERSION OF GODZILLA! 35mm Fine-Grain of GKOTM Discovered
Thanks for the news and updates August. This is so exciting. I recently viewed the highly praised BFI version but am sure that Criterion will be able to present an even more amazing edition. I know that I'm preaching to the choir in present company but the original Gojira is more than just the king of kaiju films. It's a classic of Japanese and international cinema for what it's really about and the era in which it was released. I'm sure Criterion will present it in that context. Perhaps it's distasteful to invoke the ongoing nuclear disaster in Japan, but the message at the end of Gojira makes it almost impossible not to think about the film's warning in that context.
Now I am going to have to by a BD player. I still have a few Godzilla 16mm prints, I need to get them out someday and find a Bell & Howell.
