Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster was the first Japanese monster movie that this reviewer ever got to see previewed in theaters, though we never did get to see the movie theatrically -- (our mother wouldn't take us to see such as picture). So this movie is sort of "special" in our memory, in an odd way. And it has arrived, at last, in a first-rate DVD edition from Classic Media and Genius Entertainment -- the virtues of this release are many, including a good (if not great) letterboxed (2.35-to-1) transfer of both the 85 minute US version and, with subtitles, the 93 minute Japanese version. And on that basis alone, it would be worth owning. But the bonus features push it right off the scale -- the biography of special effect designer Eiji Tsuburaya is a long overdue acknowledgement of a fine and influential film designer; but the real treat is the commentary by David Kalat. This reviewer has done his share of such film commentaries (more than two dozen), and it must be said that Kalat has done an incomparable job of weaving explanations and accounts, of both the American edition and its Japanese original, and the alterations between them. Kalat's is an award-caliber performance, and one that this reviewer has consistently returned to, as an entertaining creation in its own right. The disc opens with one of the very few preview sequences that this reviewer does not find objectionable or annoying, highlighting as it does other releases, current and upcoming, in this genre, before jumping to a multi-layer menu that's as much fun as it is easy to use. The dozen chapters are adequate for the film involved, and both editions of the movie get the same number of chapters. Neither transfer is perfect -- neither version of the movie has quite the sharpness one would hope for, though the Japanese edition does seem to hsve a slight edge over the US edition, and both can be enjoyed in the form in which they're presented.

This reviewer never saw Invasion of Astro-Monster (aka Monster Zero aka Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero etc.) in a theater -- it dates from a time when the Japanese giant monster movies began to recede in visibility, and was the first such title that we could only ever catch up with on television, years after its original release (in fact, after the death of its American star, Nick Adams). Thus, it wasn't until Scimitar put it out on DVD in the late 1990's that we got to see it in widescreen; and while that transfer was a considerable improvement over any prior release, the 2007 Classic Media DVD at hand is significantly better, still. Indeed, the latter actually looks superior to the preceding Godzilla film, Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster, which Classic Media issued issued concurrently with this disc. As with this entire DVD series of Japanese giant monster films, the disc contains both the US and Japanese editions of the movie (the latter with optional subtitles), as well as a bunch of extras. The movie looks good enough that it would be worth buying in this edition, in any case, but the commentary track by Stuart Galbraith IV is an extremely valuable bonus feature. Galbraith's discussion delves into the differences between the two editions, as well as the origins and evolution of the project, and also provides some long-neglected insights into the personal side of director Ishiro Honda and biographical accounts of the actors. A documentary on producer Tomoyuki Tanaka is the other major bonus feature, and it's a finely detailed, beautifully written and produced, affectionate tribute to the man behind Godzilla and the origins of the entire genre of Japanese giant monster movies. The letterboxed (2.35-to-1) transfers of the two editions of the film are good to look at, and the US edition is far superior to prior releases of this title (while the Japanese version is unique to this release). The sound is particularly crisp and mastered at a good, healthy volume on both versions of the film. The disc opens with an enjoyable array of trailers for other Japanese giant monster films, before going to a menu that is is great fun to use, in addition to being very easy to maneuver around. Both versions of the movie get a dozen chapters, and the original trailers are included for each edition.