Halloween Giveaway: 'Gojira' on Blu-ray!

Ishiro Honda’s 1954 black-and-white classic, Gojira, is now available on Blu-ray! Classic Media has released the original, complete and uncut monster classic digitally re-mastered in HD. The film is being distributed by Genius Products.

American audiences are usually only familiar with the campy and cawing monster trampling everything in his path. However, the Gojira of the 1954 version is a more philosophical fellow. I always thought it was interesting that the film focused more on the individual stories rather than the monster itself. Gojira is a symbol for the anxiety of the times–casting his dark and dreary shadow over us.

When several ships mysteriously explode and sink off the coast of Japan, the country begins to panic.  Authorities are convinced that the unexplained activity was caused by underwater mines or volcanoes and sends officials to Odo Island to investigate. Days later, something comes ashore and destroys several neighboring houses, killing many locals.   Renowned paleontologist, Dr. Kyohei Yemane (Takashi Shimura), is called to lead a new expedition and uncovers the source of the problem—a 400-foot tall mutant dinosaur the natives call Gojira.  The Doctor insists that the monster, which was awakened from a million-year sleep by nuclear bomb tests in the South Pacific, be studied not destroyed.  Gojira soon begins a rampage that threatens to destroy Japan.  Can the powerful monster be eliminated before it is too late?

Gojira spawned a new genre called the “kaiju eiga” or, Japanese monster movie, giving way to countless sequels. This film version contains 40 minutes of footage that was not seen as part of the re-edited, re-dubbed Americanized Godzilla: King of Monsters.  In the US version 40 minutes were cut and 20 minutes of new scenes were added, starring Raymond Burr as an American reporter.  As a result, the original tone of the movie was changed and the anti-H-Bomb message dropped.

Bonus features include:

Making of the Suit featurette

Godzilla: Story Development featurette

Audio Commentary from Godzilla experts Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski

Original trailers

Since Halloween puts me in the spirit of giving, I am offering one of you a copy of Gojira on Blu-ray!

Just leave a comment to be entered into this giveaway. I will be choosing the winner at random via random.org on Friday, October 16 at at 7PM EST.

You must be a resident of the US, and leave a valid email address when you make your comment so that I can contact the winner. One comment per person per day, please. Any duplicates will be deleted. Good luck!

Image © Classic Media