Cheap Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster (DVD) (Ishiro Honda) Price

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Customer Reviews of Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster

Enjoyable DVD of one of the more rare of the Classic Godzilla films. Though it's not without flaws
While just having this Godzilla film finally on region 1 DVD, is cause for celebration, there is much more to this release than just the movie itself. With the addition of a great bundle of extra features adding to the fun, and a nicely designed package this becomes a very worthy purchase. But while the film quality is mostly above average or acceptable, it is unfortunately (though not unexpected) a bit below average at times. Just don't expect crystal clarity all the way through the entire film. <
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>1) The movie itself is one of the best of the Godzilla films. This is from the originators of the franchise and this being the fifth in the series, Toho studios and this production crew are at the height of their game here. Ghidorah's introduction as mentioned in other reviews, is very memorable. The human characterizations are fully realized and completely believable. Very interesting and compelling interaction between all the main characters. This is actually one of the better plotlines in a Godzilla film and if you subtract the Godzilla part of the movie, it's still a fairly compelling plot. Princess escapes death by unseen alien assistance, she becomes a spokesperson for the aliens and pleads with the earthlings to be forewarned of the emminent disasters that await. Foreign assasins attempt to find her and kill her. Police are involved in her protection as well in finding out why she now has the personality of an alien. The structure of the story is very well formed and does not have the hokey kind of plots that are reminescent of the low budget 1960's era sci-fi genre. <
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>2) The package has a very unique look and design to it. The Obi band is a nice touch. And it appears much like the "Mothra vs Godzilla" package or the "Godzilla Raids Again" package. Very distinct, utilizing poster art from the era in which it was originally released, encapsulated in what appears like a film canister "look" to it, as a fold open style book. The center spine creaks a bit too much when it opens though. But perhaps it's appropriate as it further reflects the age of the original film. <
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>3) The extras are well done. Poster gallery, commentary by godzilla "expert" and trailers and a fine documentary on Eiji Tsuburaya. The poster gallery includes brief explanations regarding each poster, which is a helpful addition. <
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>4) Sound quality is very good. The introductory score grabs your attention and sustains throughout the movie. Dialogue mix has been improved over previous releases and there is a very noticable difference between the 50's era toho pictures and this time period of mid to late sixties. All the groundbreaking sound effects are here in bright and full mono, with both the Japanese and U.S. dialogue tracks fully represented. Some will be disappointed by a lack of sound options, but the sound is as it was originally released in 1964 with a mono soundtrack. <
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>5) The anamorphic widescreen picture and image for the Japanese edited version while not pristine, and considering it's 40+ year old age, is not bad. Spots and scratches appear from time to time, though not glaringly so. It's hard to believe that this movie could look perfect after all these years, and it certainly does not. But here in all it's full color glory is about as good as it can look, which isn't bad at all and actually quite clear for most of the movie. Contrast is sharp, color is balanced well, images are crisp. And while there is some expected minor fading and it is at times too dark or too light, it does not detract from the overall presentation and most viewers will be satisfied with the film quality. Of course it will not compare favorably to a film released recently, but with the age that this film is and the fact it is of the low budget variety, it is comparable to other DVD releases from movies of this time period. <
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>Bad points: <
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>1) The American edit otherwise known as "Ghidrah, the Three Headed Monster" suffers from a worse looking image quality than the Japanese edit version. Right from the opening titles, the picture is blurry, colors are washed out, scratches and spots exist throughout. Contrast is poor and unbalanced, and though the majority of it looks about average or above, at times it looks like a VHS quality image. Most of the other Godzilla releases are superior in image quality compared to this U.S. edited version. The American Ghidrah definitely shows it's age. In addition several edits and changes from the original Japanese edit, detract needlessly. For example, editing out nearly the entire Mothra song that the peanut twins sing in calling for Mothra's assistance. There was no valid reason for cutting the song out. The images remain but different music has been inserted at that point. Sometimes the U.S. edit works better with dramatic music at certain points. In this particular instance it was ill advised. <
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>2) The commentary, while much appreciated for all the vast amounts of information and anecdotal memories, becomes extremely tedious after a while. David Kalat proves from the outset that his knowledge of the subject matter is robust and authoritative as he covers a lot of ground in small bursts. But with one person talking almost non stop, it becomes tiresome to listen to. Perhaps another commentator teamed with him might have broken the monotony a bit, and could have offered another viewpoint to certain details. Also, while Kalat touches upon the differences in the U.S. and Japanese releases in a very detailed manner, it would have helped to have screen shots accompany his descriptions. Sometimes his knowledge goes beyond that of most viewers and he seems to assume everyone is able to follow right along. On the other hand, the personal stories of his own children's interest in Godzilla and it being the main reason he himself has altered his attitude towards dubbing, was a very interesting and illuminating observation. He definitely hit the nail on the head with those comments, which could apply to practically every person watching, be they longtime fans or casual viewers. Also, his information regarding the toho studios production schedules and how they were producing quite a few films in short periods of time, with some productions overlapping others, whilst using the same production teams, was quite interesting. It illustrates for me, the achievements made in special effects, miniatures, and production values that many of these toho movies are unfairly denigrated for. <
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>So all in all a very good release, and while not perfect is still a very fine, complete movie package. Classic Media have proven with previous releases that they are capable of producing great products, and they continue that trend here with this release of one of the older, more rare Godzilla films and one that has not truly had a legitimate U.S. release...until now. I rate it 4 stars and a recommended purchase, with great extra features and a generously informative, though sometimes monotonous commentary track.

Let's try to review the DVD....PLEASE
Yes, I agree that is is a title long overdue. I also agree that this is a great Godzilla flick. But, let's review the DVD itself--not just the film. In fact, how can you post an accurate review without the media? You can't! So, when this monster (pun intended) comes out next Tuesday, let's all review the DVD in all of its glory. You know, the transfer, features, sound quality, etc. <
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>Thank You...