Customer Ratings & Reviews

Loved this movie and it is worth the price, came quickly

My husband has been looking for this DVD for years. He's very happy with the movie and all the extras.

My husbands favorite! The original Godzilla 1954! Havoc on Tokyo

A must for the Godzilla fan. The original is by far the best of the 2 movies on this disc.

Great Family viewing. Too Bad it's in Japanese and not in English. Worth watching though.

Bought this for my husband. This was a blast from his childhood!

I've always been big on the Godzilla thing since I was a little kid back in the early 60's. Even the awful ones where he's all campy and turns good with no stomp on everything session. I was excited to see the original first Gojira released and on Blu-Ray! But that was replaced with disappointment when I tried to watch it. I checked the website twice, the specs say audio is English / Japanese, but it's only in Japanese with English subtitles. Which is freaking annoying and too often impossible to read. Same annoying nonsense with the original Gamera.

A rather disappointing release from Criterion. Nothing particularly impressive about it - the packaging, the film, and the supplements are all so-so.

This is one of my favorite movies. This Blu-Ray has the first, and the best, Godzilla movie. A movie that spawned so many squels. In this film, a mutated dinosaur is awakened by atomic testing and goes on a rampage. Godzilla's rampage destroys a large section of Tokyo and threatens more destruction if it is allowed to continue. This could have easily been a B-moive, but it is an outstanding film and a timeless classic thanks to the work of Tomoyuki Tanaka, the film's producer, legendary special effects artist Eiji Tsuburaya who created the amazing (by 1950's standards# visual effects of Godzilla, Akira Ifukube who composed the powerful and stirring score and director Ishiro Honda. It is because of them that Godzilla is still popular to this day. The original version is riveting! There are many exciting, suspenseful and heart-rending scenes. The scenes of Godzilla destryoing Tokyo look realistic and boast many terrifying moments. The scenes of the aftermath are shocking, the prayer for peace sung by a choir of young women is turly stirring. This is one of the finest sci-fi/fantasy films ever made. The extras include interviews with surviving cast and crew members #including Haruo Nakajima who wore the Godzilla suit). These offer some fascinating insights into this enduring classic. There's also a piece on a fishing ship that strayed too close to an atomic test and the crew came down with radiation sicknees, a real-life event that inspired part of the movie. Godzilla does have an anti-atomic weapons message, but it does not beat you over the head with it. Rather than using the approach Godzilla used in dealing with Tokyo, the movie is more subtle. Very effective! The Blu-Ray is fantastic! The movie looks great and almost all of the scenes are sharply defined with just a few source material issues evident due to the age of the film. All in all, this was an exemplary job of restoration and HD transferring. The Americanized version does not quite have the same impact as the original movie, and the scenes with Raymond Burr are obviously tacked on. They edited this movie a little too much. This is the start of a legend! A classic that has stood the test of time and one of Toho's finest films. Essential for any sci-fi collection!

MOVIE: There's not much to say about this movie that hasn't already been said. Now, the main feature on this disc is the original Japanese-language 1954 cut of the movie, as opposed to the 1955 Raymond Burr version (which is included as a bonus feature). It's a darker movie than many would think, not so much a giant monster romp as a powerful allegory for the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. This movie is deeply upsetting and even frightening, with haunting cinematography, excellent acting, an incredible musical score and a script that's complex at its core but executed with graceful simplicity. VIDEO: This movie was previously released on Blu-ray by Classic Media--avoid that release and go for the Criterion version. The film print may not be in great shape, with a fair deal of scratches, but Criterion has still done a wonderful restoration. Detail is extremely strong and vivid, contrast is perfect and there's a very good sense of depth throughout. This is the best the movie has ever looked on home video, and will likely remain the definitive release for a long time. AUDIO: This LPCM mono track provides more depth than one would expect from a 1.0 track. It sounds fantastic. Clarity and fidelity are outstanding, dialogue is well-pronounced and the score sounds fantastic. BONUS FEATURES: As per usual, Criterion have provided a wealth of features.

If you are a fan of the original Godzilla, then you will like this. The only drawback has nothing to do with the movie itself, but with the packaging. I have never been a fan of having to slide one thing out of another. It is clunky and feels like it could have been thought through more.

Of all the movies of this genre to come along, none of them can quite match the original Japanese Godzilla movie. Of all the releases of the original Japanese Godzilla movie to come along, none can quite match the quality of the Criterion release.

Of all the movies of this genre to come along, none of them can quite match the original Japanese Godzilla movie. Of all the releases of the original Japanese Godzilla movie to come along, none can quite match the quality of the Criterion release.

This is one of those classics that every lover of obscure horror/Sci-Fi movies should own. It is cheesy an silly for all the right reasons!

Epic monster movie everyone can enjoy. No matter how dated it is, it's still a classic.