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Welcome! This site is dedicated to bringing you reviews of daikaiju eiga (giant monster movies) released on DVD. This is my personal favorite film genre, and I created this site to spread the news about how these films are represented on the best home video format, DVD. My goal is to collect and review every edition of every eastern kaiju film that has been released on DVD with either an English language soundtrack or English subtitles. I will also strive to present reviews of every western giant monster film widely available on region 1 DVD. From time to time, I will also post reviews of DVDs which may not be kaiju eiga per se, but which may have some interest for other fans of the genre. However, the heart and soul of this site will always be the most complete and comprehensive collection of eastern kaiju DVD reviews published anywhere. (Click here to read more about the site.)
Sunday, October 11: Dragon Riffs. The latest offering from Rifftrax is the Korean kaiju "epic" Dragon Wars. (Rifftrax are comedic, feature-length audio commentaries by Mike Nelson and other members of the old Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew. They can be bought and downloaded from the Rifftrax site, and then synched up with the DVD of the movie.) D-War is an awesome cheeseball of a movie; it should make for great riffing.
Tuesday, September 15: Kappa Shock. While browsing around the Tokyo Shock section of Media Blasters' web site, I found a listing for Death Kappa. Death Kappa is a 2009 kaiju film directed by Tomoo Haraguchi, director of Sakuya and Kibakichi 1 & 2, and monster suit maker for the Heisei Gamera trilogy and Gamera the Brave. Not much is known about the film, except that Haraguchi has super-sized the popular yokai to city-smashing proportions, and it's done "old school" with suits and miniatures. No further info on MB's R1 DVD release is available; their site is kind of wonky in that their listing for it brings up a release date of November 17, but the cover art for Zebraman (which is getting a new 2-disc SE come November 10), while their listing for Blade of the Immortal brings up Death Kappa with a release date of April 1 (earliest April Fool's joke ever?). Catch it in their banner and the product page just says "Coming Soon!". In any case, their mentioning of it at all indicates that they have plans for it. (Media Blasters have also released The Machine Girl and Tokyo Gore Police from the same production company). Stay tuned for more details as they become available!
Monday, September 14: Gojira Stumbles onto Blu. Longtime friend of the site Matt Paprocki dropped me an advance email warning about Classic Media's upcoming (September 22) release of Gojira on Blu-ray. He writes: "...I thought readers might want to know before ordering. ... This is a botched release, sloppy and cheap. It is a disappointment to say the least." You can read his full review at DoBlu.com for all the gory details. More info (and screen comparisons) can be found at DVD Beaver.
Thursday, August 6: Up from the Depths (of Obscurity). The latest batch of titles from the Warner Archive Collection DVD-on-demand service includes the long-sought-after The Bermuda Depths. This 1978 TV movie features Carl Weathers, Connie Sellecca, and Burl Ives in a story involving a ghost girl and a giant sea turtle that menaces ocean researchers. It's one of several English-language monster films made by Rankin / Bass that utilized Japanese directors and FX crews (the others being The Last Dinosaur and The Ivory Ape). The disc is 1.33:1 fullscreen, DVD-R, and there are no extras. The price is $14.95. For more info on the Warner Archive Collection, see the 3/24 update. Other new releases of interest include the 1957 killer tree movie From Hell It Came, and Razorback, a 1983 Australian killer boar movie from Highlander director Russell Mulcahy. All 3 of these titles are also part of a "Buy 5 for $49.95" limited-time special offer. (Thanks to Garo S.) UPDATE 8/18: According to SciFi Japan, The Bermuda Depths is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, presumably its theatrical aspect ratio. (Like many genre TV movies, it played theatrically in other countries.)
***** Older news can be found in the News Archive. *****
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(Click on select titles to pre-order from an Amazon affiliate.)
- November 10: Zebraman Special Edition (Tokyo Shock / Media Blasters). 2-disc Special Edition of Takashi Miike's toku hero parody. Anamorphic widescreen; Japanese and English 5.1 and 2.0 audio, English subtitles. Extras include: Theme song singer featurette, faux TV series promo, trailers, TV spots, photo gallery, and more TBA. MSRP $24.99.
- Undated: Clash of the Titans (Blu-ray) (Warner Home Entertainment). The last of Ray Harryhausen's great stop-motion animated fantasies. Restored and presented in HD on Blu-ray Disc. See the 2/8/08 update for more info.
- Undated: Death Kappa (Tokyo Shock / Media Blasters). Gamera / Sakuya / Kibakichi vet Tomoo Haraguchi directs giant yokai! See the 9/15/09 update for more info.
- Undated: Destroy All Planets Special Edition (Retromedia Entertainment). The fourth Gamera movie, aka Gamera vs. Viras. Includes audio commentary with star Carl Craig, G-Fan writer Brett Homenick, and Oriental Cinema editor Damon Foster. See the 7/19/07 update for more info. On indefinite hold; the market is saturated with cheap copies of DAP and Retromedia wants to pair it with another movie.
- Undated: King Kong (1933) (Blu-ray) (Warner Home Entertainment). The great ape comes home in hi-def on Blu-ray! See the 10/7/08 update for more info.
- Undated: Silver Mask: The Complete Series (BCI Eclipse / Ronin Entertainment). All 26 episodes of the 1971 series, in the original Japanese language, with English subtitles. Written supplements by August Ragone (author of Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters). See the 7/19/07 update for more info. On indefinite hold; BCI has been shut down, but parent company Navarre may still release it.
***** All release dates, disc specs, and cover art should be considered tentative and subject to change. *****
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