Have you seen this DVD, in places like Amazon or Ebay? Have you wondered what was up with it? I had wondered for a long time, and I broke down and spent a whole four dollars and 80 cents to find out...here goes:
1) Could it be a copy of the American version of the film, on a factory-made DVD? Nope. Firstly, the cover says "GODZILLA vs THE SMOG MONSTER," and shows Godzilla 2000...that's a little bit like putting Harry Truman on the front of your George Washington biography, but I suppose we can overlook it for the time being. Nevertheless, it's our first clue that something is amiss.
3) Even though the tiny screenshots on the back cover are a convenient 4:3, this film is letterboxed...I haven't done a subtitle comparison, but it looks to me that this is a complete bootleg of Sony's 2004 DVD, which was re-released by Kraken in 2014, and is still available! In short, this disc should not exist.
4) Finally, since this film is one of a handful that is unavailable on DVD in its classic American version, if you want the AIP dub, you have two choices: track down one of two VHS versions, OR, there are some fan-made projects out there that sync the AIP dub to a widescreen print of the film: seek, and you shall find!
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| Orion Home Video's official 1989 release of the AIP dub! |
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| The following year, Simitar released a legal (or semi-legal?) budget version. I've always assumed it was at least semi-legal, because eight years later, they were allowed to license a whole pile of Godzilla films! |
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