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1950's-1960's
:: 1970's-1980's
::1990's-2000's
Article:
7
Date: 5/18/08
Decades: 1990's-2000's
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Godzilla
vs. King Ghidorah (1991) |
Company:
Vision Film Distribution Company (1993) Country:
Poland Category: Clam Shell |
| This
is one of only a select few VHS Godzilla releases
in Poland. The artwork on the front cover is awesome,
but for some unknown reason, King Ghidorah fires
three differently colored beams. Only the beam on
the right has the correct hue. On the back cover,
there are three stills from the film. One reveals
Mecha-King Ghidorah, so his appearance won't be
a surprise for first time viewers. The text also
fully lays out the Futurians' plan to destroy Japan,
and Godzilla is only mentioned sparsely. Oddly,
there is no information whatsoever about time travel
or the Godzillasaurus. |
|
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Godzilla
vs. King Ghidorah (1991) |
Company:
Columbia/Tristar Home Video (1998) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| Of
all Columbia/Tristar's 1998 Godzilla releases, Godzilla
vs. King Ghidorah (1991) is the only one
to feature a universal spelling anomaly. Everywhere
on the box and even in the opening title of the
film, Ghidorah is spelled "Ghidora", due
to Toho International's preferred spelling at the
time (which eventually saw revision to "Ghidorah").
However, this jarring oddity is made up for by the
cover's memorable setup. Godzilla, in all his Heisei
glory, releases his atomic heat ray upon a burning
Tokyo centerstage; his arch-nemesis King Ghidorah
menacingly looms over him in the background; all
complete with an appropriately fiery background.
The back continues the theme of destruction with
a still from Godzilla's night raid on Japan. A singular
in-film still of King Ghidorah is also featured
on the rear. In the description an error can be
found when it's said "reveal themselves to
be friendly aliens" when in fact the occupants
of the UFO are humans from the future. Another error
in the description can be found in the excerpt "an
evil and all-powerful android". This line is
most likely referring to M-11 or Mecha-King Ghidorah,
both of which are not considered to be evil. Each
side of the box features the same thing: the cover
art and the film's title running down vertically
the rest of the way. As one of the better films
in the Heisei era, this VHS could potentially be
the crown jewel of any collector's lineup. |
|
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Godzilla
vs. King Ghidorah (1991) |
Company:
Strong Video (1998) Country:
Spain Category: Clam Shell |
|
For Godzilla
vs. King Ghidorah (1991), one of the films'
posters is used on the front cover. Such artwork
features an aggressive entanglement between the
title characters as a missile rises from below.
The only inaccuracy in the synopsis is Godzilla
being described as "a little dinosaur that
transforms into a nuclear predator". While
this may not be that much of an error, the Godzillasaurus
is clearly not "little" (when compared
to real dinosaurs, that is).
As is usual, stills and credits complete the cover.
It should be noted that before the film starts we
are given 15 minutes of Hong Kong action movie trailers.
Unlike Filmax and Manga Films, Strong Video used
the international version of the film as a source.
As a result, the image and audio quality is noticeably
worse than any previous Spanish release. The audio
also goes out of sync quite a bit towards the end. |
|
 |
Hollywood
Dinosaurs (1991) |
Company:
Video Treasures (1993) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
|
This is the 1991 Video Treasures release of Hollywood
Dinosaurs, a documentary of various sci-fi
and dinosaur-related films, including Godzilla
(1954), Mothra
(1961), Rodan
(1956), King Kong (1933), and The Lost
World (1925), just to name a few. The box art
is an excellent rendition of the classic "monsters
attacking a city", In the foreground stands
a larger-than-life green Tyrannosaurus rex, while
the background features an erupting volcano. A pterodactyl
soars overhead, spelling doom for the city below.
Also, in the right corner, a King Kong-esque gorilla
can be seen atop a building. The back cover provides,
in accurate detail, what’s in store for the
viewer. Highly recommended. |
|
 |
Hollywood
Dinosaurs (1991) |
Company:
Marathon Music and Video (1995) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| This
1995 rerelease of Hollywood Dinosaurs features
no significant differences from the 1991 Video Treasures
release, aside from the box art and an almost indiscernible
difference in the grammatical structure of the title.
One noteworthy alteration is the absence of the end
credits on the tape itself, but everything else pretty
much remains the same. |
|
 |
Godzilla
vs. Mothra (1992) |
Company:
Columbia/Tristar Home Video (1998) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| The
year 1998 was a great year for Godzilla VHS tapes;
case in point, the American release of Godzilla
vs. Mothra (1992). The box is quite colorful,
like most of Tristar's releases at the time, and
a modified Japanese poster is used for the front
cover. The sides both feature the movie's American
title (Godzilla & Mothra: The Battle for
Earth). Godzilla's visage graces one side and
Mothra's the other. Strangely, Battra is nowhere
to be seen on the box, front cover or back. Speaking
of the back, it features two shots of Godzilla with
Mothra (in one instance as a larva and in the other
instance as an imago) and a decent synopsis that,
thankfully, mentions Battra (but oddly adds "a.k.a.
Black Mothra" in adjacent parentheses).
|
|
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Godzilla
vs. Mothra (1992) |
Company:
Strong Video (1998) Country:
Spain Category: Clam Shell |
|
Rather than going with the theatrical poster; the
front cover uses a composite shot of a production
still in which Godzilla is seen battling Mothra
at Yokohama Cosmo World, while the larval Battra
emerges from the nearby waters. The back, as usual,
features some stills, a fully-accurate synopsis,
and the film's credits. As with Strong Video's previous
release, the international version of the film is
used here; however, we don't get any trailers this
time. |
|
 |
Fantastic
Dinosaurs of the Movies (1992) |
Company:
GoodTimes Home Video (1992) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| Gorgo,
Rodan, Godzilla, & More!!! Fantastic
Dinosaurs of the Movies is a small, direct-to-video
release from GoodTimes in 1992 that features more
monsters than you could shake a rather hefty stick
at (in theatrical trailer form). Despite the cover's
proclivity to vaunt two of Toho's most recognizable
names in text, only one small still of Godzilla
is stamped on the front (although shockingly, they
actually colorized the shot with the true offscreen
hue of the 1954 suit). Despite the sheer number
of films represented, the list of Toho movies is
somewhat minimal; Godzilla
(1954), Rodan
(1956), King
Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), Mothra
vs. Godzilla (1964), and Ghidorah,
the Three-Headed Monster (1964) are the
only five to make the cut. The other entries are
a compilation of mainly American classics, with
a few foreign flicks like Reptilicus (1961)
thrown in for good measure. If you would happen
to enjoy a rather extensive collection of trailers
(with a ridiculously low-budget intro and outro),
then this obscure gem is worth picking up at a second-hand
store. Otherwise, many of the films included can
actually be located and purchased with relative
ease on the interent nowadays, and watching them
from start to finish will likely be far more appealing
then sitting through their unsatisfying thirty-second
counterparts. |
|
 |
Godzilla
vs. Mechagodzilla 2 (1993) |
Company:
Columbia/Tristar Home Video (1998) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| Like
all other Heisei Godzilla films distributed by Tristar,
the release of this Mechagodzilla "remake"
was intended to profit off the US Godzilla remake
in 1998. Just like their other VHS releases, Godzilla
vs. MechaGodzilla 2 (1993) has rather colorful
box art. The front cover utilizes one of the Japanese
posters but adds the title in vibrant English text.
Each side has the movie's title and star kaiju.
The first side features Mechagodzilla and Rodan
while the opposite side features Godzilla and Mechagodzilla
once more. The back ditches the red hue that adorns
most of the box and instead relies on a basic black
background. Armed with several pictures of the movie's
starring kaiju and a decent synopsis (with one visible
error in the way of a bad misspelling of "Pteranodon"),
this is yet another fine release from Tristar. |
|
 |
Godzilla
vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) |
Company:
Columbia/Tristar Home Video (1998) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| This
1998 Columbia/Tristar release of Godzilla
vs. Spacegodzilla (1994) features an impressive
cover compilation of the title monsters; Little
Godzilla and Fairy Mothra; outerspace as the main
background; Fukuoka Tower centered behind Godzilla;
and a field of Spacegodzilla's crystals jutting
from Fukuoka at the bottom. The back features several
still images of the star kaiju: one of Spacegodzilla's
head, one of Moguera's head, one of Moguera flying,
one of Moguera sitting in it's G-Force hangar, and
one of Godzilla and Spacegodzilla duking it out.
The description is somewhat out of place: Spacegodzilla's
desire to conquer Earth is mentioned after it is
said that the Project-T amplifier is already implanted
in Godzilla's brain; when it is a fact that Spacegodzilla
was nearly upon Earth at that point. Both sides
of the box have separate designs. One side has the
head of the cover Godzilla at the top, title in
the middle, Moguera's head at the bottom and the
other side has Spacegodzilla's upper body at the
top, title in the middle, and Little Godzilla at
the bottom. As with Tristar's other Godzilla releases,
this is a colorful and worthwhile addition to any
collection. |
|
 |
Yamato
Takeru (1994) |
Company:
A.D.V. Films Inc. (1999) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| This
1999 release of Yamato
Takeru (1994), titled Orochi the Eight-Headed
Dragon, was the only way to get hold of the movie
legally in the United States for quite some time.
The cover features a patchwork-like background with
a picture of Orochi and the two main heroes of the
movie. The sides both feature the title of the movie
along with Osu at the top with his sword. The back
of this release features a gorgeous shot of Orochi
unleashing his flames at the top with a quick tag
line. The back cover also features several snapshots
including two more of Orochi along with Osu and the
king of the Kumaso Kingdom. Along with the pictures
is a synopsis for the feature that includes no notable
mistakes. |
|
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Godzilla
vs. Destoroyah (1995) |
Company:
Columbia/Tristar Home Video (1998) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| This
1998 Columbia/Tristar release is widely considered
among the darkest installations in Godzilla's Heisei
series. A universal error occurs on the entire box,
for wherever they are showcased, two Super X-III's
can be seen flying side-by-side with one another
when in fact there was only one in the film. The
cover features Godzilla centerstage (in his super-powered
meltdown form), the crab-like Aggregate Destoroyah,
the two Super X-III's, a burning Tokyo at the bottom,
and a dark cloud unleashing lightning in the background.
The back has an extremely wealthy compilation of
in-film stills: Godzilla (after being attacked by
the Super X-III), Destoroyah in his final form,
a still of the Aggregate Destoroyah in flying form
destroying a building, the two Super X-III's from
the cover, and a still of Godzilla preparing to
battle Destoroyah. The description's first line
is incorrect when it states "Godzilla emerges
from his own ashes", it's never been confrimed
whether or not Godzilla died and resurrected when
Birth Island was destroyed. Both sides of the box
stick to a common theme of having pictures of the
star monsters at the top and bottom and having the
title in the center. One side has the cover Godzilla's
head at the top and the flying form Aggregate Destoroyah
at the bottom, while the other side has the final
form of Destoroyah's head at the top and the two
Super X-III's at the bottom. With it's dark theme,
this release is an impressive addition to any collection.
|
|
 |
Gamera:
Guardian of the Universe (1995) |
Company:
ADV Films Inc. (1997) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| The
first film of the Heisei Gamera series has rather
interesting and well-drawn box art. The front shows
Gamera standing in front of the baseball stadium where
the 3 infant Gyaos are captured. And behind him is
the fearsome antagonist of the film, Super Gyaos,
who appears to be emerging from an explosion behind
Gamera. On the side of the box, a small image from
the original Japanese movie poster can be seen with
Gamera in flight and the Super Gyaos flying close
behind. One error on the back of the box states that
the Gyaos are reptiles: "Gamera's grim new ready-for-the-nineties
mind set pits the super turtle against a misguided
military and a hideous race of man-eating flying reptiles."
This is neither confirmed nor denied in the film.
|
|
 |
Super
Atragon OAV 1 (1995) |
Company:
ADV Films Inc. (1996) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| The
front cover of the ADV release of the first Super
Atragon (1995) OAV utilizes a striking bit
of promotional artwork later used on the Super
Atragon the Motion Picture DVD release. This
is some gorgeous, well-balanced art with main protagonist
Go Arisake front and center, with his father, the
captain of the Ra battleship, to the left. To be honest,
it's been a long time since I watched this video,
so I'm not sure who is to the right of Go--but it
looks rather like Go in a different suit, holding
a sword. Hovering above them is the super-ship Ra
(a redesign of the Gotengo, essentially) with the
two female Subterranean spies looking out above, the
human-sympathizing Annete to the left, and the destructive
Avatar to the right, and the horrible Subterranean
technology approaching in the background. Added to
the English cover are several hyperbolic taglines
to catch potential video consumers, the most ridiculous
being "... the most incredible military adventure
ever filmed!" On the back cover there are
eight captures from the film, most of them very
small and highlighting the naval combat sequences.
A small shot of disguised Subterranean Annette can
be seen winking from the bottom right. The background
for the text is a watery design coupled with multiple
"gravitonic rings." The synopsis text
is not very descriptive, failing to name any of
the characters and never mentioning the American
super vehicle, the Liberty. Worst of all, nowhere
on the video is it mentioned that this is only the
first half of the two-part story. I was one of the
schmucks who bought the video thinking I was getting
the entire film, and getting stuck with the insubstantial
initial chapter instead. The video itself, much
like many of ADV's releases, is white. |
|
 |
Rebirth
of Mothra (1996) |
Company:
Columbia/Tristar Home Video (1998) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| The
first movie in the Heisei Mothra trilogy features
a gorgeous image that was used for her Japanese poster.
It features the mother Mothra looming over the Earth
as two golden energy orb things emerge from the sides.
One complaint is that the tag line, "She's Mothra.
She's Back. And She's Mad!" makes the movie sound
as if Mothra is playing a villainous role. Both sides
feature the same type of text and image of Mothra
at the top while the back features several images
from the film. A nice shot of Mothra sits upon an
egg-shaped design that houses an accurate synopsis
while images of Desghidorah, Mothra, and Leo Larva
adorn the back also. |
|
 |
Rebirth
of Mothra 2 (1997) |
Company:
Columbia/Tristar Home Video (1998) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| Released
at the same time as its predecessor, the second entry
of the infamous Mothra trilogy sees what is easily
the ugliest cover of any Heisei era movie. It features
a shot of Dagahra's head emerging from horrid looking
water as helicopters and a battleship (weapons not
once seen in the movie and likely lifted from one
of the Heisei Godzilla movies) surround him. Nilai
Kanai tower explodes in the background while Aqua
Mothra and Rainbow Mothra fly about at the top, giving
the movie a false image that there are two different
Mothras fighting Dagahra. The sides both feature a
red background, the movie's title, and a shot of Dagahra's
head on one and Aqua Mothra's on the other. The back
gives an accurate synopsis and is decorated with images
of Dagahra and Rainbow Mothra. |
|
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GODZILLA
(1998) |
Company:
Columbia/Tristar Home Video (1998) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| Although
held in contempt by many Toho G-Fans, this 1998
Columbia/Tristar VHS release does lend some good
attributes to the same year's Godzilla remake. The
cover features one of the title monster's eyes which
appears to be enraged and displays a ring of fire
circling the pupil. The cover also has raised surfaces
to give it a realistic feel. The front of the box
also displays the film's famous tagline "Size
Does Matter". The back features a small array
of in-film stills such as an entire shot of the
American Godzilla, a shot of "Animal"
(Hank Azaria), a picture of a pack of baby American
Godzilla's, and a still of Nick Tatapolous (Matthew
Broderick) and Philippe Roaché (Jean Reno).
In the film's description the statement "much
better than ever" is an extreme overstatement
as many believe this incarnation of Godzilla to
be the worst ever. Each side of the box has the
same setup: a still of American Godzilla at the
top and the title running down the rest of the way.
As much as many people despise the film itself,
this VHS box is still worthy to be included in anyone's
collection. |
|
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GODZILLA
(1998) |
Company:
Columbia/Tristar Home Video (1998) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover - WIDESCREEN EDITION
- |
| As
whispers of changes in home entertainment began
to emerge (with the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio
slated for alteration), "widescreen editions"
were starting to become more and more common for
standard VHS releases. GODZILLA
(1998) was no exception. The biggest difference
in the actual look of the box is concentrated mainly
on the front. Featuring a cropped version of Godzilla's
eye (in what appears to be a mock stylization of
the so-called "letterbox" format), the
word "WIDESCREEN" is stretched vertically
on the right side. There really isn't much else
worthy of notation in regard to differences between
this and the fullscreen cover. |
|
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GODZILLA
(1998) |
Company:
Columbia/Tristar Home Video (1998) Country:
United Kingdom Category:
Clam Shell |
| The
art work featured on this VHS release of GODZILLA
(1998) consists primarily of one of the film's famous
teaser posters. The rear displays stills of the
main characters, along with a (revealing) shot of
the star monster's snout. The synopsis contains
only one noticeable error: "a body as tall
as London's Big Ben". The monument in question
is, in actuality, more than 50% taller. |
|
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Monsters
in the Movies: Godzillamania (1998) |
Company:
Gemstone Entertainment (1998) Country:
United States Category:
Clam Shell |
| Monsters
in the Movies: Godzillamania, or Godzillamania:
Monsters in the Movies as the title is given
on the actual film, is an exceedingly cheap cash-in
picture consisting mostly of film clips, trailers,
and narration apparently thrown together as another
cash-in attempt when the 1998 American Godzilla film
was released. The cover features several cheap-looking
fonts scrunched together to form the title over two
photos -- one from Godzilla
vs. Megalon (1973), and the other a colorized
still from King Kong (1933) showing the life-sized
mechanical beast used in several brief sequences in
the original film. All of this is displayed in glorious
low resolution and placed over an ugly explosion effect.
The back of the box has five small stills somewhat
haphazardly placed: a shot of Godzilla from Destroy
All Monsters (1968), King Kong battling
the airplanes from the original King Kong,
transforming Hedorah from Godzilla
vs. Hedorah (1971), Jet Jaguar restraining
Megalon from Godzilla
vs. Megalon (1973), and, strangely, the
aliens from the old-school serial Invasion of
the Saucer Men (1957) in a shot apparently
taken from an old lobby card. The text on the back
is partially gleaned from the narration in the film
itself and includes the "funny" assertion
that Godzilla's job is to "crush Tokyo at least
once a year," and the spurious statement that
Godzilla sparked such movies as King Kong
(1933) and Mighty Joe Young (1949) -- a
mistake that could have been avoided if the author
had bothered to watch the entirety of the film included
in the box!
As for the film itself, very little money was sunk
into it. There are a lot of movie trailers included,
but most of them aren't Toho and are blatantly used
to pad out the time. They include such b-movie classics
as The Alligator People (1959), Return
of the Fly (1959), Teenage Caveman
(1958), War of the Colossal Beast (1958),
Attack of the Puppet People (1958), The
Angry Red Planet (1960), One Million Years
B.C. (1966), Beware! The Blob (1972)
(a.k.a. Son of Blob), The Green Slime
(1968), How to Make a Monster (1958), The
Black Scorpion (1957), The Day of the Triffids
(1962), Reptilicus (1961), and The
Land Unknown (1957). There are also clips of
A Trip to the Moon (1917), The Lost
World (1925), Mighty Joe Young (1949),
and Godzilla
vs. Megalon (1973). When there aren't trailers
or film clips, instead the audience is "treated"
to badly cropped photographs, film shots, lobby
cards, and posters. Ostensibly the film focuses
on Godzilla, and narrator Jeff Thomas does include
some interesting trivia, some of it taken from David
Kalat's: A Critical History and Filmography
of Toho's Godzilla Series. This narration is
generally given over various trailers from Toho's
movies when they were released in America, such
as Godzilla
vs. Megalon (1973), Godzilla
(1954), King
Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), Rodan
(1956), Mothra
vs. Godzilla (1964), Destroy
All Monsters (1968), and Godzilla
vs. Hedorah (1971), but the narration from
the actual trailers is not muted, just lowered in
volume, so the viewers can hear the dramatic advertisement
chattering in the background while Thomas drones
on. Because he has a lot to say about Destroy
All Monsters (1968), the entire trailer
is shown twice--once in color, once in black-and-white,
as if the audience wouldn't notice they were watching
the same thing two times. If a Godzilla movie isn't
included in the above list, Thomas basically doesn't
talk about it. The film ends with the notorious
Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969), followed by
extremely cheap credits. |
|
 |
Godzilla
and other Movie Monsters (1998) |
Company:
Passport Video (1998) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| Spanning
well over half a century of monster mayhem, Godzilla
and other Movie Monsters is chock full of film
trailers and behind-the-scenes infotainment. The
case features a predominantly crimson motif, adorned
with thumbnail movie posters (as well as detailed
cover art). The synopsis contains no visible errors,
aside from using outdated spellings such as "Hedora",
"Ghidrah", and "Gammera". Lastly,
it should be noted (perhaps for reasons beyond the
norm) that this feature includes the quote-unquote
"hit song" Godzilla Rap. |
|
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Pokémon:
Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998) |
Company:
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (2000) Country:
United States Category:
Clam Shell |
| In
this Warner Bros release, under the title Pokémon
the First Movie, the clam shell box cover art
takes the poster art and switches the placement of
the title and the words "Mewtwo vs. Mew"
and adding a little blurb in the corner about "Never-Before-Seen
Pokémon footage." Otherwise, the art is
largely unchanged, featuring accurately-rendered pocket
monsters Mewtwo and Mew center stage and, clockwise
from Pikachu on the bottom, Togepi, Marill, Vaporeon,
Tentacruel, Mr. Mime, Clefairy, Tauros, Bulbasaur,
Goldeen, Omanyte, Voltorb, Caterpie, Nidoran, Seaking,
Cubone, Psyduck, Tangela, Snubbull, Blastoise, and
Donphan amongst a burst of light, lightning bolts,
and an image of the earth down below in the distance.
The art is attractive for Poké-fans, but a
bit overly busy and bunched together.
On the back is a brief synopsis of the feature
with sparse details, followed by a description of
the bonus material via incomplete sentences. Not
counting the logos for the movies and companies,
there are four images on the back. The topmost image
appears to be a promotional shot featuring Mewtwo,
Pikachu, Ash Ketchum, Bulbasaur, and Dragonite.
Below left is an image from (I believe) Pikachu
the Movie, also included on the tape, featuring
a pocket monster stampede with Pidgeotto, Geodude,
Vulpix, Charizard, Staryu, Onix, Zubat, Goldeen,
and, one of my personal favorites, a happy Psyduck.
Below right is a still from the movie showing Mewtwo
looking intimidating. The bottom image actually
looks to be a collage of popular promotional Pokémon
art, most of which is also featured radiating clustered
around the edges of the front cover. The pocket
monsters included in this image are, from left to
right, Blastoise, Marill, Snubbull, Butterfree,
Pikachu, Charizard, Togepi, and Donphan. All of
these design elements are arranged over a purple
background with gray squiggly lines completing the
composition, the somewhat gaudy colors used in an
attempt to appeal to younger consumers. Thus the
box ends up looking a little bit like a big box
of sour candies. |
|
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Godzilla:
The Series - Trouble Hatches (1998) |
Company:
Columbia/Tristar Home Video (1999) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| One
of only two VHS releases of the 1998-99 Godzilla
animated series, this volume contains the 2-part
pilot episode "New Family". The back goes
into a nice descripiton, setting the story up without
giving too much away. The other VHS release was
the "Monster Wars" 3-part episode. However,
while the latter has seen a subsequent DVD release,
"Trouble Hatches" has not... making it
somewhat of a collectors item as of present (despite
the popular trend of bringing whole TV series to
DVD, Godzilla: The Series only has 9 episodes
available on 3 DVD's). |
|
 |
Godzilla
Trailers & Sci-Fi Monsters |
Company:
Simitar Entertainment, Inc. (1998) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| A
phosphorescent green, stylized Godzilla destroys
a hapless city with the aid of flying saucers (and
one crawling saucer) hovering ominously overhead.
This marvelously unique artwork adorns the slip
cover for Godzilla Trailers & Sci-Fi Monsters,
a documentary which covers the golden age of B-movies
in the '50s and '60s. This rare gem could be purchased
alone, or together in a Godzilla-sized 3-pack. |
|
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Godzilla
2000: Millennium (1999) |
Company:
Columbia/Tristar Home Video (2000) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
| The
last Godzilla movie to see VHS incarnation stateside,
this 2000 Columbia/Tristar release features frontside
art from the American theatrical poster art for
Godzilla
2000: Millennium (1999). Also of note on
the cover is the ominous appearance of Orga's face
in the background; staring at Godzilla as if to
challenge the king for supremacy of the Earth. It
also features the film's theatrical tagline "Get
Ready to Crumble". Another aspect about the
front is that the title and Godzilla himself have
raised surfaces, giving them a somewhat 3D feel.
The back of the box features an in-film shot of
Godzilla unleashing his incorrectly termed "furious
heat beam" in the film description that should
be labeled as "Godzilla's atomic heat ray".
Also, the line "Godzilla - who's just crushed
the entire city", is pretty much a
gross hyberbole. The back also has a still of the
Millennian UFO taking off from a building top to
avoid G's heat ray. Each side of the box has the
same setup: a picture of Godzilla at the top, the
title in the middle, and a still of the UFO departing
a destroyed building top at the bottom. The VHS's
dubbing is as good as American dubbing can get;
and, as is usual with other Tristar releases, some
of the dubbing is off lip-sync. All-in-all, the
box is an exceptional piece in any true G-Fan's
VHS collection. |
|
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Godzilla:
The Series - Monster War (1999) |
Company:
Columbia/Tristar Home Video (1999) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover |
|
Boasting an array of vibrant, spicy hues, the front
cover of this VHS features Godzilla and several
of his foes, while the back includes a rather accurate
description surrounded by warplane silhouettes.
One of only two VHS releases of the 1998-99 Godzilla
animated series, this volume contains the famous
3-part episode "Monster War". |
|
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Metropolis
(2001) |
Company:
Columbia/Tristar Home Video (2002) Country:
United States Category:
Slip Cover - FULLSCREEN EDITION
- |
| A late
release to the home video market, Metropolis
(2001) features the original poster art on the cover,
taken from (I am guessing) the limited American theatrical
release, since the Japanese poster art appears to
be different. The video release adds Roger Ebert's
rating of the movie along the top in a silver band.
The image focuses on an apparently naked Tima (the
robot girl) gazing upwards inside a hellish, bright-pink
factory with the villainous Rock glowing and standing
in the background, looking on. The title of the movie
is given in both English and katakana Japanese on
the front and both sides. The text on the back reveals
the higher anime awareness in the United States at
the time of the film's release, highlighting the original
creator Tezuka, as well as the director and screenwriter.
The text reads like an advertisement, praising the
film with hyperbolic phrases, and including a wildly
enthusiastic quote from James Cameron endorsing the
film. The description of the plot is mostly accurate,
if my memory serves, although it exaggerates the threat,
as I don't recall the "fate of the universe"
to be at stake in this movie. Three tiny stills from
the movie are displayed next to the text, but they
are so small and rather poorly chosen that they don't
illustrate the grandeur of the movie well. The blue-tinted
cityscape and silhouette of Kenichi below the text
looks like more promotional art, but I don't know
its exact source. Also in the background, and along
the sides, are glowing blue lines and strands of running
text repeating the word "metropolis," a
design choice that seems to be aping The Matrix
(1999). |
|
 |
Godzilla
Against Mechagodzilla (2002) |
Company:
Toho Video (2003) [Rental] Country:
Japan Category: Clam Shell |
| As far
as VHS covers go, this rental only version of Godzilla
Against Mechagodzilla (2003) features a rather
eye-catching layout. The cool, serene blues and silvers
on the front meld into the rich warmth of the oranges
and yellows on the back. The virtual medley of pleasant
eye candy makes for quite the experience. Featuring
several stylized stills, composites of Yumiko
Shaku, and the always awesome profile shot of
a powered-down, berserk Kiryu on a sunset skyline
backdrop, the whole package makes for an excellent
display piece. |
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