This is topic Original Godzilla--theatrical re-release in forum The Afterlife at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=12;t=000255
Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 02-10-2004, 03:46 PM:
Don't know how I missed this one. Rialto Pictures is releasing the original 1954 Godzilla to theaters this Spring. This will be the Japanese version without the Raymond Burr scenes but with 40 minutes of original footage restored.
Hopefully one of the art screens here will give it a play!
Da link:
Rialto Pictures -- Godzilla
And a December 2003 New York Post article about the release:
* * * * *
New York Post
December 21, 2003 -- Happy Birthday Godzilla!
No, not the Yankee outfielder. We're talking about the radiation-breathing Japanese monster who first stomped on to movie screens in 1954.
To mark the 50th anniversary, Rialto Pictures will be giving the original, uncut Nippon version - directed by Ishiro Honda and titled "Gojira" - a U.S. release in the spring.
Back in 1954, the sci-fi flick was released in the United States in a dubbed version, minus 40 minutes of footage and re-edited to include Raymond Burr in key scenes.
The actor is nowhere to be found in the uncut film, which has an all-Japanese cast. One of the stars is Takashi Shimura, who in the same year appeared in Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai."
The pre-historic reptile, which ravages Tokyo and survives repeated shellings by the army, is awakened by hydrogen-bomb testing, and is a metaphor for the nuclear menace. The U.S. version, however, downplayed the antiwar subtext, which is restored by Rialto.
The company says it will strike new 35mm prints, with updated translation and subtitles. In New York, it will unreel at the Film Forum (Houston Street, west of Sixth Avenue). "Gojira" - the name combines the Japanese words for "gorilla" and "whale" - spawned 26 sequels in Japan and a big-budget Hollywood flop in 1998.
# # # # #
Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-10-2004, 04:12 PM:
The original 1954 Toho film "GOJIRA" played in Hawaii and Los Angeles where there was a market for Japanse films due to the population of Asians from that country living in the selected market areas in the United States. As a Japanese American I have seen many films from Japan long before they became classics in the western world including "GIJIRA", "SHICHININ NO SAMURAI" (Seven Samurai"), "RASHOMON" and "YOJIMBO" to name a few. Honolulu , Los Angeles and possibly New York were the only cities in the United States to play Kon Ichikawa's "TOKYO OLYMPIAD" in the original uncut version in Toho's three theatres in this country. "RASHOMON" distributed by Daie played at the Kokusai Gekejyo, the company's Honolulu outlet.
-Claude
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 02-18-2004, 08:03 PM:
No Raymond Burr scenes.... I detest this evidence Mr Rialto..... Or is it ![[ian]](graemlins/ian.gif)
that is re-releasing it?
We can only hope that they leave the dubbed version completely out of sync as its alwyas been or will we have to re-set the digital delays on the playback systems to make it the same way it was ![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup.gif)
Mark
Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 02-19-2004, 10:38 AM:
I'd love to see this. It'll probably flop, though, because today's kids detest b/w. I doubt even anime fans (and lovers all things Japanese) would give it a nod.
Posted by Christian Appelt (Member # 1067) on 02-19-2004, 06:13 PM:
It's a strange and fascinating film, done very seriously.
I liked it although I only saw a dubbed version of the original Japanese cut. But I wonder what the new prints were printed from? With films of this age, it is often a pleasant surprise to see how a better dupe negative brings out good b&w photography.
Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 05-10-2004, 04:18 PM:
Well damn! This is not going to play in 'Vegas, but it will be in LA starting next week for two weeks, then in San Diego later this summer. Will have to make a road trip, which may prove difficult if I end up driving a tour bus for Princess Cruises in Alaska this summer...
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-10-2004, 10:49 PM:
"which may prove difficult if I end up driving a tour bus for Princess Cruises in Alaska this summer... ![[Confused]](confused.gif)
"
So tell me Paul... Are those Princess ships getting so large now that they have to do Bus tours of them, or in reality how well do those buses float and do you cary enough life boats??
Captain Smith
Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 05-10-2004, 10:58 PM:
Ah EJ, those MCI floating tour buses are unsinkable--no need for lifeboats. No worries! ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
A friend of mine worked for Princess last summer as a tour bus driver/guide in Ketchikan, AK and he really enjoyed it. Apparently Princess hires a lot of people every summer for the short Alaska cruise season, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I have nothing going here until school starts up again in September, and if this comes through it'll get me out of the desert heat. And I'll come back with a Class B driver's license with Passenger and Air Brake endorsements (Princess provides the training). Could be useful down the road.
BTW Princess runs movies on a pool side outdoor screen aboard their Caribbean Princess, sailing out of Miami. Looks like it's some flavor of ![[dlp]](graemlins/dlp.gif)
. Good screen to run Titanic on, ey EJ? ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Still going to try to see the original Big G in LA though... ![[Cool]](cool.gif)
Posted by Todd Cornwall (Member # 2205) on 05-19-2004, 11:45 PM:
People would pay to see this? ![[thumbsdown]](graemlins/thumbsdown.gif)
I'd sooner sit through the Phantom Menace again...
Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 05-20-2004, 10:39 AM:
FWIW: AMC had the dubbed, Burr Godzilla on last night, and it was hands down the worst print I have ever seen on the channel--not splicy, but the negative was obviously whooped.
Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 05-26-2006, 01:02 PM:
It has been 736 days since the last post.
Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 05-26-2006, 01:02 PM:
Finally! Classic Media will release the original subtitled un-cut Ishiro Honda version on September 5th. Apparently it will be a 2-disc set including the dubbed and re-cut Terry Morse/Raymond Burr version.
Hmmm, my local JACL chapter has been looking for some fun things to do. Wonder how difficult it would be to arrange for a screening of the Rialto print around Labor Day weekend? That print never made it to 'Vegas during its rounds in 2004.
Posted by Wayne Keyser (Member # 2420) on 05-29-2006, 09:00 PM:
It's more than just a "monster movie" - it's said by those who know more about Japanese culture than the average American fan, that GODZILLA is just one in a whole group of films expressing a kind of end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it sadness and fear over the unique nature of Japan being inevitably destroyed by foreign cultures and postwar influences.
I remember that I ALMOST got the idea at a drive-in in the early 1970s when, after JACKSON COUNTY JAIL and THE POM POM GIRLS, the third feature was THE SUBMERSION OF JAPAN (NIPPON CHINBOTSU). Even severely cut and given the GODZILLA "add an American actor" treatment, and sold as a disaster movie (shall we call it "Eartha-kuwaiku"?) the message came through.