War of the Gargantuas is a Toho epic, filmed towards the end of the giant monster wave of films that swept the country. While attempts to tie this to the supposed sequel are pathetic at best (and completely eliminated from the US version released four years later), the monster battles are amongst the best the studio ever produced. The final struggle between the two mutated, uh, things is 20 minutes of city-destroying joy.

Read the full review.

For the first time in the US, the original Japanese version is available. Sadly, the transfer used here is disastrous, one so bad it should be recalled. It’s not that the print is heavily damaged or colors have faded over the years. It’s the black crush. The transfer is so dark, many of the nighttime scenes can’t even be made out clearly. Even scenes shot in bright lights have no shadow detail. It’s either black or a darker version of a color. The Japanese DVD didn’t have this problem.

The US print is the way to go, sadly forcing viewers to deal with the dubbing. That said, the source is excellent shape, with only minor imperfections at the worst. It’s overly soft and lacking in detail, but at least you can see what’s going on. Neither transfer is outstanding, though at least one of them is watchable.

Japanese version:

US version:

Audio for both shows only minor differences. The US cut is slightly louder, and represents the highs better. Missiles launching and explosions are crisper. On the Japanese side, Akira Ifukube’s soundtrack comes through better against the hectic action. The respective dialogue is clean and clear in both.

Japanese version:

US version:

There are no extras to speak of. Classic Media has packaged the film with Rodan, which includes a 60-minute documentary on its disc, Bringing Godzilla Down to Size. There’s not even a trailer for Gargantuas. (No stars)

Russ Tamblyn spoke in English for his role, and was later dubbed over by a Japanese actor when the film released there. Due to an unknown audio mistake, he was forced to re-dub all of his lines before the US release since none of the original dialogue made the trip. It’s noticeable due to some small synching issues.