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Son of Godzilla Actors: Tadao Takashima, Akira Kubo Director: Jun Fukuda Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Widescreen Audience Rating: G (General Audience) Running Time: 86 minutes Studio: Columbia Tristar Hom Region Code: 99 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2004-12-14 Buy from Amazon |
 "Amusing, Whimsical entry in the series."Thursday, December 16, 2004 / 4 of 5 / Amusing, Whimsical entry in the series. Son of Godzilla, recently released on DVD is presented in a very nice widescreen transfer from the original. Colors are bright and vibrant. Weather experiments are being conducted in secret on an island that just happens to play host for mutated spider Kumonga, scary giant mantises Kamacuras, and of course the loveable Godzilla Jr., Minya. Godzilla is drawn there thankfully just as Minya comes out of his shell and is being ¡¥picked on¡¦ by Kamacuras. The back story is amusing with a large cast of kaiju eiga regulars running about and meeting up with an oddly for the time slender beauty left on the island by her father. Later this film would be picked apart for its stock footage in Revenge of Godzilla. Minya never fails to amuse with his smoke/fire ring breath which would reach it¡¦s comedic apex in Destroy All Monsters going over Ghidora¡¦s middle head. º I hadn¡¦t actually seen this one in my 30 plus years of Godzilla viewing, at least that I can remember, so it was a nice treat having watched Tokyo SOS the same day. My wife just shook her head at the effects, and I had to patiently explain the wonder of kaiju eiga and its nostalgia and feel good value. Recommended.  "ENJOYABLE ENTRY IN GODZILLA SERIES!"I've never been a really big fan of Godzilla, but I do have a soft spot for this adventure in the big green guys exploits. In this enjoyable outing, we meet the big lugs little son ( GWAA, GWAA ), some giant mantis and a rather silly looking spider. Pappa 'Zilla has to teach junior the in's and out's of life as a rampaging monster, including how to blow fire ( the kid keeps blowing tiny smoke rings, instead), and how to defend himself from his prehistorical enemies. The story follows a group of intrepid scientists experimenting with changing the climate on the monster filled island. Its fun to watch and occasionally moving. And take a good listen to the films title music. Doesn't parts of it remind you of Jerry Goldsmith's score for "ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES"? Or is it just me? The new anamorphic widescreen DVD is a pleasure to watch. Picture and sound are very nice and the best feature of all, for me at least, is the ability to watch the film with the original Japanese soundtrack instead of the poorly dubbed English version ( which is also included). Listen to both and compare the two. I think you'll see how better the film plays in Japanese. English sub-titles are, of course, included. There are a handful of trailers but no other extras of value. The good news, coming soon, is one of my other fav Godzilla flicks, "GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER". I know, its not the best of the bunch, but it was the first film I saw starring the Big G when I was a kid, so its a sentimental favorite. Godzilla fans rejoice! And enjoy! - George Bauch. "TOP NOTCH TREATMENT FOR GOLDEN AGE GODZILLA"Finally some effort went into bringing the Golden Age of Godzilla (Godzilla, King of the Monsters to Destroy All Monsters)to new life. This DVD release of the 8th in the Godzilla series is full of vibrant color, quality sound, and presented in wide screen format for total viewing enjoyment. This is the original Japanese version with some opening footage that was cut from the American release. It as original Japanese (english sub-titles)and dubbed English (although not the same dubbing as common american release). One truely sad note is that the DVD has no extras to speak of, even if the extra were in Japanese with no sub-titles I'd think they would be worth watching. The story is a simple one, scienists on a remote South Sea island are conducting weather experiments when they come accross a gigantic egg. The egg hatches into a baby godzilla who gets into several scraps with titanic mantis (Gimantis in America / Kamacarus in Japan)and a huge spider god (Speiga in America / Kumonga in Japan) that only the BIG G himself can rescue him from mortal peril. Where does SOG fall into my Golden Age of Godzilla scale? #1 - Godzilla vs the Thing (the best of the series) #2 - Destroy All Monsters #3 - Monster Zero #4 - Godzilla, King of the Monsters #5 - Ghidrah, the Three Headed Monster #6 - Godzilla vs the Sea Monster #7 - Son of Godzilla #8 - King Kong vs Godzilla #9 - Gigantis, The Fire Monster (the worst of the series) A must for fans of Godzilla and fun family entertainment without computer generated creatures. "Great Picture Quality, Re-Dubbed Audio "The picture quality is excellent on this DVD but the audio is not the original audio tracks from the original released movie. So if you are a Godzilla fan you may be disappointed by the re-dubbing of the monster movie classic.  "Like it will kill them to put some bonus features on this."What all the Godzilla movies released on DVD have in commen is that there are no bonus features on them at all. Just the movie and sometimes a theater trailer, what's wrong with them. Like it's against their code of ethics to put some bonus features on these DVD's like a making of featherette or an audio commentery, or something. The monster suits used for this movie were among the worst ever designed for any Godzilla feature. They had little Godzilla look something like a cross between a dinosaur and the Pillsbry Doughboy, in sone crazy way they also had Godzilla look like that also, with a more hog like apperance to his face, a small circle for the nose, and distored jaws. Thankfully after this film, none of these suits were ever used again. |
