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A Worthwhile Boxed Set for Godzilla Fans

J. Pinkerton Snoopington | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | 01/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This Godzilla boxed set from Columbia Tristar includes three films of varying quality: "Son of Godzilla," "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla," and "Godzilla: Tokyo SOS." Combined, they make for a very enjoyable evening for any Godzilla fan.
"Son of Godzilla" is easily the weakest of the three films. Though its special optical effects are surprisingly good, the other special effects are very limited and unengaging. The addition of a Godzilla son (Minya, or Minilla) was a goofy mistake, and the human subplots are extremely unengaging. To top it all off, the monster battles are almost non-existent, and the various monster opponents are appallingly sub-par.
"Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla" is one of the best of the 70s Godzilla movies (and certainly the best to be directed by Jun Fukuda). The story involved alien monkeys trying to take over earth with the help of Mechagodzilla, a giant mechanical Godzilla clone. This marked a definite improvement over previous entires with its mature, gritty atmosphere and very enjoyable monster battles (additional monsters include the forgettable King Caeser and, briefly, Angillas).
"Godzilla: Tokyo SOS," a recent Godzilla movie, is my favorite of the set. It's almost plotless, and is basically made up of an engaging three-way battle between Godzilla, Mechagodzilla, and Mothra. This is among the best monster action Toho studios have produced, and the special effects are top-notch. What little plot there is is made more interesting than usual by the presence of the star of the original "Mothra" reprising his role, and a connection between Godzilla and Mechagodzilla that is explored at the film's conclusion.
The DVDs for "Son of Godzilla" and "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla" are revealations. The 2.35:1 image is spectacularly sharp and bright, with almost no scratches. "Godzilla: Tokyo SOS" looks surprisingly lacklustre for such a recent film, with heavy grain and some truly grotesque moments of edge-enhancement. Purists will be happy to know that the original Japanese audio is included along with the English dub. All films include some random trailers, but "Godzilla: Tokyo SOS" contains a 20-minute Toho-produced documentary about the special effects. It's a bit too slow for the casual fan, but die-hards will enjoy it."

If only I had waited...

Lawrence Coronelli | Chicago, Ill | 11/07/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's too bad I didn't just get the other three-pack released back in October, instead of the five-pack, wasting my money on the same old G2K DVD I allready had. Then I could have waited for this one to get Mechagodzilla. But sadly, Tristar decided to announce this a week after my 5-pack arrived. Too bad. Now I have to buy SOG and GMMG seperately."

The changing face (and rubber suit) of Godzilla over the yea

Trevor Willsmer | London, England | 05/09/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Columbia's boxed set offers a trio of Godzilla flicks that covers his changing personality (and rubber suits) over the years.

1967's Son of Godzilla is from the period when the movies had abandoned their apocalyptic roots and were aimed firmly at children, with a more benign Godzilla who may trample the odd building, but only on his way to take out some giant mantis beating up on his newly hatched son. Like Son of Kong, this is largely played for laughs, with dad teaching junior (the unfortunately named Minilla) how to breathe fire or inadvertently finding his tail used as a skipping rope for the little tyke. It's not one of the best of the series, but if you're in an undemanding mood it's entertaining enough and has a typically funky Masaru Satoh score.

1975's Godzilla Vs. MechaGodzilla is from his protector of Japan period and sees him up against a giant robot replica controlled by space monkeys. It's an attempt to move back into slightly more adult territory with increased (but not terribly convincing) violence and some hand-held camerawork, although the presence of space monkeys and the fact that Godzilla's ally, King Caesar, is a curious cross between the Cowardly Lion and a Pekinese dog, make it seem a somewhat half-hearted one.

By contrast, 2003's Godzilla Tokyo SOS, part of the third wave of Godzilla flicks, returns the Big Guy to his mean city stomping roots (no sappy protector of Japan stuff here) in a surprisingly well directed number with some superb visuals, is much more successful and one of the most exciting in the series. The film hits the ground running with a great opening that sees a jet chasing an unidentified flying object hidden in the clouds, with only a giant beating wing dimly visible, before setting out its stall as a direct if somewhat belated sequel to the original Mothra. The attempt to impose a moral dilemma on the narrative doesn't really work because it's so confused: unless Godzilla's bones, used to build the giant MechaGodzilla robot to defend Japan, are returned to the sea, Mothra will attack Japan. If they are, Mothra will defend Japan from Godzilla. Naturally they don't listen, only for Mothra to end up defending Tokyo anyway when Godzilla attacks... Go figure.

There are plenty of nice touches, including having the showdown in a part of Tokyo that still hasn't been rebuilt after Godzilla's last rampage, the first full appearance of Mothra amid falling peony blossoms is a strikingly beautiful piece of imagery, and best of all, not only is Godzilla back to his old bad*** self but the singing Japanese fairy girls are back. With particularly good special effects and action sequences, it's a highly enjoyable addition to the canon.

Extras are thin on the ground on the set: Godzilla Tokyo SOS has the brief Japanese teaser trailer and 21-minutes of behind the scenes footage, but aside from offering good 2.35:1 transfers with either the original subtitled Japanese soundtrack or a dubbed English-language version, the only extras are brief trailers for other DVD releases.

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