Oh no! The Monsters!

I never in my wildest dreams thought that such a fantastic set would be produced. After refusing to buy the garbage DVD and VHS releases that have been the trademark of US Godzilla releases, I had given up hope. The original Japanese releases, freeded from the monstrosity of bad English dubbing and political-themed edits, are finally able to be viewed in all their glory.

This set contains six gems of the Showa series (1954-1975), from the first ("Godzilla Raids Again") to the last ("Terror of Mechagodzilla"). The Showa series, 14 films in all, saw the transition from the serious, dark tone of the original "Godzilla" into a more campy, kid-friendly series. The transition really starts with "Ghidoran, the Three-Headed Monster" were Godzilla becomes a hero rather than a villain, battling the space dragon King Ghidorah to save the Earth. Godzilla's son Minira also makes an appearance in "Godzilla's Revenge."

One can only hope that this is the beginning of a series of Godzilla releases as there are still plenty of greats with no decent DVD release. Noticeably missing are "King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)," "Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster (1966)" and the Battle Royale "Destroy All Monsters (1968)."

This box set in chronological order:

"Godzilla Raids Again" ("Gojira no gyakush?") (1955)
"Godzilla vs. Mothra" ("Mosura tai Gojira") (1964)
"Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster" ("San daikaij?: Chikyu saidai no kessen" (1964)
"Godzilla vs. Monster Zero" ("Kaij? daisenso") (1965)
"Godzilla's Revenge" ("Gojira-Minira-Gabara: Oru kaij? daishingeki") (1969)
"Terror of Mechagodzilla" ("Mekagojira no gyakushu") (1975)

Godzilla On Dvd

I've never seen the Japanese Versions of most of these films and I've only seen the American Versions. It's going to be good to finally get these fims with both versions on dvd. I've also seen all of these films.