Talkback: Rodan (1956)

[darthzilla99]

Does anyone think that Rodan deserves a solo film again one day? Not that it's likely to happen, but still one can dream right? If they did, it should maintain the 50's kaiju morbid/melancholic atmosphere like the original Godzilla and Rodan '56.

Fun fact: Had Godzilla king of the monsters in 3d been made in the 80s, the same director wanted to also do a Rodan in 3d movie. So we might have had an 80s remake of Rodan.

[LegendZilla]

I find this movie a worthy contender to the original 1954 Godzilla. Also, when do you people think this movie will be released on Blu-ray in the west?

[mikelcho]

I find this movie a worthy contender to the original 1954 Godzilla. Also, when do you people think this movie will be released on Blu-ray in the west?

I'd like to see what Criterion's going to do with this film and The War of the Gargantuas.

Individual Blu-ray for both, anyone?

[Legion1979]

I find this movie a worthy contender to the original 1954 Godzilla. Also, when do you people think this movie will be released on Blu-ray in the west?

I'd like to see what Criterion's going to do with this film and The War of the Gargantuas.

Individual Blu-ray for both, anyone?

Raistically, what COULD Criterion really do with them?

[mikelcho]

I find this movie a worthy contender to the original 1954 Godzilla. Also, when do you people think this movie will be released on Blu-ray in the west?

I'd like to see what Criterion's going to do with this film and The War of the Gargantuas.

Individual Blu-ray for both, anyone?

Realistically, what COULD Criterion really do with them?

I already said what they could do; individual Blu-rays for both of them. Maybe even DVD/Blu-ray combos. That way I can upgrade them. It's pretty much inevitable, anyway.

[Legion1979]

It's only inevitable if Criterion thinks it worth it to deal with Toho and finicky fans on another comprised physical media release.

[Crazy Jim Films]

I find this movie a worthy contender to the original 1954 Godzilla. Also, when do you people think this movie will be released on Blu-ray in the west?

I'd like to see what Criterion's going to do with this film and The War of the Gargantuas.

Individual Blu-ray for both, anyone?

It'd be interesting to see some kind of "collection" release for the Showa era non-Godzilla kaiju films. Not sure how realistic a possibility is but who'd have thought they would do the entire run of original Godzilla films?

[Spuro]

I find this movie a worthy contender to the original 1954 Godzilla. Also, when do you people think this movie will be released on Blu-ray in the west?

I'd like to see what Criterion's going to do with this film and The War of the Gargantuas.

Individual Blu-ray for both, anyone?

It'd be interesting to see some kind of "collection" release for the Showa era non-Godzilla kaiju films. Not sure how realistic a possibility is but who'd have thought they would do the entire run of original Godzilla films?

This probably sound crazy to ask for, but I'd rather see Rodan and War of the Gargantuas get separate physical releases.

Why? Cuz it annoys me that everything but those two are in order of release on my Toho shelf.

[MaxRebo320]

I feel if Criterion ever does get around to releasing this and WOTG on Blu, they'd be better off doing it as a double feature, mainly to give an "excuse" for an inevitable lack of dubs (Barring the international WOTG).

[UltramanGoji]

I sincerely doubt Criterion will put this and WOTG out on their own or in a double feature. It's just not the type of thing they do.

[Terasawa]

We'll get compromised home releases of these films no matter who releases them. At this point, I want Criterion to dump these as an Eclipse set just so we can get a disc release of 1) the WotG transfer on HBO Max--which is much nicer than the 2009 Toho BD transfer--and 2) the export dub of WotG.

[CrimsonBloodX]

I sincerely doubt Criterion will put this and WOTG out on their own or in a double feature. It's just not the type of thing they do.

What do you mean?

[UltramanGoji]

I sincerely doubt Criterion will put this and WOTG out on their own or in a double feature. It's just not the type of thing they do.

What do you mean?

Criterion isn’t the type of company to just put out any movie just because they have the rights to it. Rodan, while receiving a fairly substantial US marketing campaign on release, and WOTG, despite being a fondly remembered film by fans of the genre, are not significant enough to receive individual releases by the company. They’re just simply not in the same category as many of the other films Criterion has put out because there isn’t any historical or cultural significance to either by themselves. A double feature especially is out of the question as it’s not really something they do often either. The only real hope I can see for these to have a US Blu-ray release from Criterion is if the company went after every other non-Godzilla science fiction/kaiju film from the Showa era for a giant box set or every Honda-directed one for a Honda box set. Anything beyond that is just not happening.

[Spuro]

I sincerely doubt Criterion will put this and WOTG out on their own or in a double feature. It's just not the type of thing they do.

What do you mean?

Criterion isn’t the type of company to just put out any movie just because they have the rights to it. Rodan, while receiving a fairly substantial US marketing campaign on release, and WOTG, despite being a fondly remembered film by fans of the genre, are not significant enough to receive individual releases by the company. They’re just simply not in the same category as many of the other films Criterion has put out because there isn’t any historical or cultural significance to either by themselves. A double feature especially is out of the question as it’s not really something they do often either. The only real hope I can see for these to have a US Blu-ray release from Criterion is if the company went after every other non-Godzilla science fiction/kaiju film from the Showa era for a giant box set or every Honda-directed one for a Honda box set. Anything beyond that is just not happening.

Didn’t they release Fiend Without a Face? Surely that can’t be more culturally significant than those two.

[UltramanGoji]

Didn’t they release Fiend Without a Face? Surely that can’t be more culturally significant than those two.

Sure, close to 14 years ago and during a time when Criterion hadn't really settled on the "important classic and contemporary films" stance and were releasing mainstream films such as Robocop and Armageddon. There's a reason it hasn't been released as an upgraded Blu-ray, same for the other films of its kind: Criterion's mantra for releases has changed significantly since that time. I'm not able to speak on the significance of FWAF personally, but looking at where Criterion is today, I really can't believe they'd ever put out Rodan and/or WOTG in anything other than a Toho Sci-Fi box set or an Ishiro Honda box set.

[edgaguirus]

I agree. The market for kaiju movies has heated up because of the MV, but I don't think there's enough general demand for Rodan, WoTG, or the older kaiju flicks.

To use 1950s sci fi, like FWAF, as an example; We're getting a Giant Claw release later this month, but only as a set of films. I'd love to see a blu ray of La Carcagne alone, but I doubt that will happen. The interest, outside of fans of that genre, just isn't there. The same could be said for the two kaiju movies previously mentioned.

[UltramanGoji]

I agree. The market for kaiju movies has heated up because of the MV, but I don't think there's enough general demand for Rodan, WoTG, or the older kaiju flicks.

To use 1950s sci fi, like FWAF, as an example; We're getting a Giant Claw release later this month, but only as a set of films. I'd love to see a blu ray of La Carcagne alone, but I doubt that will happen. The interest, outside of fans of that genre, just isn't there. The same could be said for the two kaiju movies previously mentioned.

I wasn't talking about whether or not there's any general interest in the films being released on Blu-ray (there objectively is), I was talking about how this specific company wouldn't put the films out individually since it doesn't fit with the other releases in their catalog.

[Terasawa]

Also Janus has acquired the rights to a lot of foreign films that they've never released on video; I think some of these were in "package deals" to obtain certain movies. But just because they have Rodan and WotG doesn't mean there are any plans for home media releases. Janus has been sitting on other Toho films for years. They've had the two Iron Finger flix for more than a decade; I don't know when they obtained Princess from the Moon (arguably the most likely of all these films for a disc release, considering it's a Kon Ichikawa film), but it was streaming circa 2012 or '13.

[LSD Jellyfish]

I wrote a lengthy analysis of Rodan in my MA program. Not going to just copy paste that here, but man rewatching it made me realize how in many ways it’s an environmental film. It’s a film focused on coal mining and climate change that serves as a “sister film” to the original Godzilla film.

It portrays mining as a dangerous and hazardous job, which at the time wasn’t really a big focus in media. I dug up a lot of research that basically showed that coal mining in japan from the 1930s to 60s was incredibly dangerous and many of the ways the miners are killed by the meganulon parallel real life. Landslides and cave ins were common in the Kyushu region and actually unfortunately cause disasters even in the modern day. The way that Kitamatsu and the surrounding forests are sacrificed in the end to kill the Rodan also directly ties into a lot of environmental Justice philosophy about “sacrifice zones”, in which communities are sacrificed after ecological and economical exploitation.

The film name drops climate change a couple times, so none of this is “over analysis”.

I view Rodan as not just a kaiju flick but also a genuine early environmental disaster film. With this mindset the segue between the Meganulon and Rodan threads become seamless. Absolutely love Rodan now.

[Spuro]

I wrote a lengthy analysis of Rodan in my MA program. Not going to just copy paste that here, but man rewatching it made me realize how in many ways it’s an environmental film. It’s a film focused on coal mining and climate change that serves as a “sister film” to the original Godzilla film.

It portrays mining as a dangerous and hazardous job, which at the time wasn’t really a big focus in media. I dug up a lot of research that basically showed that coal mining in japan from the 1930s to 60s was incredibly dangerous and many of the ways the miners are killed by the meganulon parallel real life. Landslides and cave ins were common in the Kyushu region and actually unfortunately cause disasters even in the modern day. The way that Kitamatsu and the surrounding forests are sacrificed in the end to kill the Rodan also directly ties into a lot of environmental Justice philosophy about “sacrifice zones”, in which communities are sacrificed after ecological and economical exploitation.

The film name drops climate change a couple times, so none of this is “over analysis”.

I view Rodan as not just a kaiju flick but also a genuine early environmental disaster film. With this mindset the segue between the Meganulon and Rodan threads become seamless. Absolutely love Rodan now.

These are the kind of posts that keep me coming back to TK. Cool essays and readings of the films that give you even more reasons to love them.