This 30-film set showcases every one of the movie monsters from Universal Studios' golden age of screen screams, including Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Phantom of the Opera and more. Extras include a 48-page collectible book, behind the scenes documentaries, featurettes of Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr. and Jack Pierce, feature commentaries by motion picture experts, archival footage, theatrical trailers and the 1931 Spanish version of Dracula, starring Carlos Villarias and Lupita Tovar, shot on Universal sets after-hours by the studio's Spanish language crew and thought by some to be the superior version.
Ishiro Honda's The Mysterians has arrived on DVD from Media Blasters in a beautifully transferred edition, at its full anamorphic aspect ratio of 2.35:1, with a glowing, deep, rich image, excellent sound (especially the Japanese mono track), a selection of languages (including English and Spanish), and subtitles. The movie has been given a more than adequate 16 chapters and comes with two significant bonus features, the first a selection of trailers (including the one for this movie, and one for Attack of the Mushroom People), in Japanese; and a movie-length commentary track in Japanese (with subtitles) by special effects specialists Koichi Kawakita and Shinji Higuchi, who range freely across the history of Toho and its sci-fi/fantasy movies as well as their own memories of working there, and the astonishing quality of the movie at hand, even with its nearly 50-year-old special effects. The disc opens automatically to a multi-layered menu that's very easy to maneuver around.
He's back, he's green, and he's mean in the monster hit Godzilla 2000. Columbia's work on this 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is very nice. With bold, bright colors and well saturated black levels, the transfer is nearly clear of any defects, save for a small amount of grain in a few key scenes. The soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround and Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, both in a dubbed English soundtrack. The 5.1 mix features a very full range of effects in both the front and rear speakers, plus a thumping, bombastic bass that should give any home theater a through and rough workout. Also included on this disc is a French Dolby 2.0 soundtrack along with English and French subtitles. This monster disc includes a few extra features for Godzilla 2000 fans, including a very enlightening audio commentary by Michael Schlesinger, film editor Michael Mahoney, and sound editor Darren Paskal, discussing the American version of this film (compared to the original Japanese version). Also included on this disc is a short two-minute behind-the-scenes look at the film, a few talent biographies, and theatrical trailers for the Godzilla remake and Anaconda.
Everyone's favorite atomic fire-breathing prehistoric monster confronts both natural and man-made adversaries in this Japanese horror vehicle, which gets a solid presentation for its North American DVD release. Godzilla Vs. Magaguirus has been transferred to disc in letterboxed format in the widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1, which is also enhanced for anamorphic playback on 16 x 9 monitors. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, and viewers may choose between the original Japanese soundtrack and a dubbed version in English. Optional subtitles in English and French are also included. The film's theatrical trailer appears as a bonus.
A monstrous prehistoric reptile squares off against an equally huge mechanical creature in this Japanese monster opus, which has been given a straightforward presentation for its North American DVD release. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla has been transferred to disc in letterboxed format at the widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1, which has also been enhanced for anamorphic playback on 16 x 9 monitors. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital 5.1; viewers may choose between the original Japanese-language soundtrack and a dubbed version in English, while optional subtitles in English and French have also been included. No additional bonus materials have been included for this release.
Roland Emmerich's ho-hum remake of Godzilla comes to DVD with plenty of extra features: along with a widescreen transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio, the disc also includes a commentary by the special effects supervisor, shots of New York before and after the giant lizard destroys the town, cast filmographies, and the theatrical trailers. A "making of" featurette and photo gallery also highlight the film's admittedly impressive special effects, while the music video for the Wallflowers' cover of "Heroes" showcases the film's other selling point: its soundtrack. Though the film's artistic merits are dubious at best, Godzilla's DVD plays to its strengths, making it a disc special effects fans will appreciate.