Here's where things head straight downhill for this release. For the most part, the menu presentation is exactly the same. The chapter stops have been tweaked to give the appearance of something new, but Godzilla's foot no longer comes down to smash the screen during transitions.
Everything contained on the 1998 is here, including an excellent special effects oriented commentary, short promotional making-of, weak stills of the minor damage the creature caused, and a music video. Nothing has been removed, save for a trailer. The question then is obviously what makes this worth $14.99?
Absolutely nothing.
In fact, this could be one of the worst double dips of all time. The new "extras" are almost all geared towards promoting Sony's other Godzilla products. A section called "The All-Time Greatest Godzilla Fight Scenes" is nothing more than an extended trailer. It seems awfully suspicious when these fights only occur on DVDs Sony has out in stores, and they even toss in battles from the '90s Mothra updates, which they also have on DVD.
The three episodes from the far better animated series based off this terrible film is again teasing for the multiple sets of DVDs for sale. They even go as far as putting in a single episode of a three-part mini-series of sorts. Finally, a new production art gallery contains about 20 photos total, and most of these are shots of the submarine. There's nothing on the failed (or alternate) designs of the creature, which may have added some value to this absurd re-release. (*)
Sony is literally asking their customers to pay for their advertising. The new, sharper box art is nothing more than a visual punch to get people to buy this DVD, not the indication there's any added value. Anyone who was suckered into buying this expecting something worthwhile has every right to bombard Sony Pictures with e-mails. There's simply no excuse for something like this.
At the least, they could have brought over the SuperBit edition released in Europe. The upgraded video and DTS audio should be an amazing experience, like most of Sony's SuperBit line. Apparently, we don't deserve that here in the U.S.
Article comments
1 - Guppusmaximus
Anyone who can't appreciate the old Godzilla movies must not try to recreate because this is a perfect example of what happens. PURE SH!T!!
Good Review and thanks for the heads up.....But, I don't think anyone will remember this movie especially that POS cheesy song that P-Dingdong did.
2 - Foywonder
An atrocious movie that had no respect for either its subject matter or its audience combined with the backlash that arose when it failed to live up to all the megahype... The ultimate irony is that Devlin and Emmerich will never live this film down. No matter what they ever do - Devlin especially - they'll always have the spectre of this travesty hanging above their heads.
3 - matt h.
Your review of the 'Monster Edition' of Godzilla (1998)stated it is the same video transfer as in the original dvd release (which was not credited as anamorphic on the packaging!). The 06' version is credited as anamorphic. I never purchased the original version because it was supposedly only letterboxed. If this is true, it would appear that the 'Monster Edition' would be the preferable version to own based solely on the increased resolution advantages of the anamorphic display.