Cheap Godzilla - Gojira Deluxe Collector's Edition (2 DVD set) (DVD) Price

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Customer Reviews of Godzilla - Gojira Deluxe Collector's Edition (2 DVD set)

Gojira vs. Godzilla!
For sci-fi fans like me, this recent release of the Gojira/Godzilla DVD set has been a long-awaited event. Now, at long last, we are able to see the original Gojira film and compare it with the Godzilla Hollywood version which we all grew up watching. And here I thought I knew this movie... <
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>When Nabokov shared his manuscript of Lolita with his friend Edmund Wilson and asked Wilson what he thought of it, Wilson's reply was: "Bury it under a rock for a thousand years." That would have been great advice to the producers of the Hollywood version of this film. <
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>I watched the Hollywood release on this DVD before viewing the original Gojira, and for me, after viewing both versions, the addition of the Raymond Burr character to the original film and his endless voice-over narrations throughout the Hollywood version turned a fairly good movie into something quite bad and boring. A movie properly driven by plot and dialogue had been reduced mostly to a guy speaking into a tape recorder's microphone... <
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>What were those Hollywood producers thinking in the mid-1950s when they chose to do such a hatchet job on Gojira? Certainly they believed that American audiences would not relate to a film drama involving only Japanese characters, and so they introduced an American character into the film: Raymond Burr. Given how soon after the end of WWII this film had been released, and the still-strong anti-Japanese sentiment alive all throughout America, it's no surprise that Hollywood producers chose this tactic. <
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>From what I can remember from my childhood viewings of Godzilla, I of course had no problem at all with such political decisions, and I absolutely loved the movie every time I saw it. But now, how it pales to the original! <
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FUN, BUT NOT BETTER THAN THE AMERICAN VERSION
Before buying this 2 disc DVD,I've read the reviews of the fans and the majority of them praise 'Gojira' and mock the American version with Raymond Burr. After viewing the original Japanese version (which I belive is excellent), I find the comparison reviews narrow minded and disapointing. These folks are sophisticated and savy and have always known they can watch their tapes and DVD's over and over and pick apart anything they see. This must make them feel important but the opinions I've read on the comparison of the 2 films is unfair. I wasn't born in 1956 when the original U.S. version was released. I saw it in 1968 when I was 7 years old on 'Creature Feature' and I remember exactly what I said when it was over: "Godzilla is my new favorite Monster". Raymond Burr's 'Flashback' narrations give the film a documentary feel which is abscent from the Toho version. The American version is "different", not "worse". The anti-nuclear approach in the original film is "great", but it's not "better". And as for the techniques used to blend the 2 films, I think they were pretty damn clever and not ameturish in the least bit. Please buy this DVD; watch and love both versions....you'll thank me.

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Not Re-Mastered and Restored, But Very Nice DVD Release Previously Unavailable!
I am very happy to finally see the ORIGINAL version of GOJIRA (a.k.a, GODZILLA) being officially released in the USA! <
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>I have always loved the American version but I have never seen the Japanese version until this DVD was released in 2006. I think they are both great versions! The Japanese original is a little more intense, and more openly talks about Gojira/Godzilla as a metaphor for the atomic bomb; but the USA version that is much better known in America, and is the ONLY version known as the original Godzilla to American audiences, is still a pretty darn good movie itself, too! I like them both, and I enjoy seeing the differences. The Japanese version may be slightly better, but the American version is the classic, as far as American fans have known it for half a century! <
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>Sony did not really clean up the film quality, so many scratches will be easily seen, but so what. I will take it. I am just glad that GOJIRA is even available domestically! <
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>The GOJIRA Japanese version is in the Japanese language only, with English subtitles that sometimes come and go very quickly, so you have to get used to reading fast, but it is worth it. <
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>The best DVD extra is a separate commentary for both the Japanese and USA versions! These are VERY informative and interesting to listen to, if you like commentaries, like I do! There are also two documentaries, each about 10 minutes, over the writing of GOJIRA and the Costume of GOJIRA, which are both interesting and amusing documentaries. The DVD also comes with a text heavy booklet, which is also good, and a lot more than most DVDs come with as far as booklets are concerned, these days. <
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>Aside from fixing the film scratches, the only thing I can think of that would have made this DVD better is if they would have recorded an English language dub sound track for the Japanese GOJIRA, but we only get English subtitles over the Japanese dialogue soundtrack. A minor criticism, but it would have been better for me. <
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>If you are interested enough in GOJIRA/GODZILLA to be reading these customer reviews, then you will most likely enjoy owning this DVD set! You will NOT be disappointed!