Toho's Godzilla 4K Restoration Project

[MONSTER MANIC]

And yes, I will gladly pay the price toho is asking for at least a few of my favorite G-films if they get 4K disc releases!

Or you could wait until a certain bootlegger eventually releases subbed versions of the 4K discs.

Ah yes, sho-
Sorry, I said too much lol.

[UltramanGoji]

I made the jump to 4K when I saw that a few shoddy Blu-ray releases looked significantly better (Predator being the kicker but also Gremlins comes to mind) but I also just wanted some of my favorite films available on the highest quality format possible currently. Those have been the only double dips I've made, every new film I've bought has been on 4K unless there's significant issues with the 4K disc (Spider-Man: Far From Home has worse audio on the 4K disc).

Or you could wait until a certain bootlegger eventually releases subbed versions of the 4K discs.

That's my plan! I hope there isn't any issues with those.

[airforce111]

Or you could wait until a certain bootlegger eventually releases subbed versions of the 4K discs.

That's my plan! I hope there isn't any issues with those.

Apparently......there are issues which is why "certain dude" has not released a proper 4k set yet and has been pondering how to accomplish the 4k kvg release. It is in one of his blogs, I think he decided on a few workarounds but that means sacrifices to things (such as quality possibly). Will be interesting to see how it goes.

[Jetty_Jags]

can someone dm me this guys blog its the first im hearing of him

[MONSTER MANIC]

can someone dm me this guys blog its the first im hearing of him

Unfortunately I cannot send you a DM thanks to the recent restrictions on new members,
So I will have to remain quite vague as to not break this forums rules, the name starts with the first Godzilla era, you can figure out the rest.

[smagal]

I would also love to get a PM this blog address

[Legion1979]

Although specific names and dealers haven't been mentioned, I didn't know discussion of physical media bootlegs were allowed here at all...?

[canofhumdingers]

Allowed or not, I’m not interested in bootlegs. First and foremost, Unless it’s changed recently (and I admit I haven’t looked into it in at least a year), there’s no way for consumers to burn or produce actual 4K discs so I’d guess any bootleg is just going to be a standard 1080p bluray.

Secondly, bootlegs are obsolete this day and age. As JohnSchuermann already mentioned, it’s possible (and not very hard) to buy the official legal (and most likely higher quality) release and add your own subtitle tracks. Even if you don’t want or need the 4K disc, buy the official factory pressed BD and add your own subs. With current technology there really isn’t any reason to continue supporting bootleggers. I’m honestly surprised to find out any are still in business.

[Chrispy_G]

Allowed or not, I’m not interested in bootlegs. First and foremost, Unless it’s changed recently (and I admit I haven’t looked into it in at least a year), there’s no way for consumers to burn or produce actual 4K discs so I’d guess any bootleg is just going to be a standard 1080p bluray.

Secondly, bootlegs are obsolete this day and age. As JohnSchuermann already mentioned, it’s possible (and not very hard) to buy the official legal (and most likely higher quality) release and add your own subtitle tracks. Even if you don’t want or need the 4K disc, buy the official factory pressed BD and add your own subs. With current technology there really isn’t any reason to continue supporting bootleggers. I’m honestly surprised to find out any are still in business.

*Slow clap*

[MONSTER MANIC]

(REMOVED DUE TO FORUM RULES)

I found a topic in this very forum talking about the bootleg site

[Maritonic]

viewtopic.php?t=27028

I found a topic in this very forum talking about the bootleg site

Correct.

You'll also see, in said thread, people shutting it down because it's against the forum rules. Much like leaks, conversations can happen if they're discreet enough, but posting links/names/etc is against the forum rules.

I will confer with Arbok a bit about this, see if I can get some fresh understanding on this one because it's one I, myself, am not fond of.

Until that point in time, let's keep the conversation a bit more discreet. Thank you.

[MONSTER MANIC]

viewtopic.php?t=27028

I found a topic in this very forum talking about the bootleg site

Correct.

You'll also see, in said thread, people shutting it down because it's against the forum rules. Much like leaks, conversations can happen if they're discreet enough, but posting links/names/etc is against the forum rules.

I will confer with Arbok a bit about this, see if I can get some fresh understanding on this one because it's one I, myself, am not fond of.

Until that point in time, let's keep the conversation a bit more discreet. Thank you.

Ok, understood.

[Rando Yaguchi]

Allowed or not, I’m not interested in bootlegs. First and foremost, Unless it’s changed recently (and I admit I haven’t looked into it in at least a year), there’s no way for consumers to burn or produce actual 4K discs so I’d guess any bootleg is just going to be a standard 1080p bluray.

Secondly, bootlegs are obsolete this day and age. As JohnSchuermann already mentioned, it’s possible (and not very hard) to buy the official legal (and most likely higher quality) release and add your own subtitle tracks. Even if you don’t want or need the 4K disc, buy the official factory pressed BD and add your own subs. With current technology there really isn’t any reason to continue supporting bootleggers. I’m honestly surprised to find out any are still in business.

This is all good to know, thanks.

[Tohosaurus]

I shelled out for the KKvG UHD set because I love the film dearly, and to see it (or any Showa film, in general) finally get the release it deserves was something I just couldn’t pass up. I don’t buy much Godzilla ‘stuff’ at all anymore, so I don’t mind splurging every now and then..but locking the UHD disc behind this set was not a good move on their part. Future releases need to make the UHD releases available stand alone in the same way the standard BD is.

We'll have to wait to see what Toho does from here on out, but they may benefit in having the 4K only available in premium releases. The people most demanding a 4K disc will be the first in line to pay top-tier prices in order to get it, and then when the hype dies down Toho can put the disc in a simpler, cheaper release. It may not maximize the initial sales, but it could maximize the margins on said sales. It's a similar strategy to big boxes or sets which have individual releases later. The company will get some people to buy the full set because they really want a few of the movies.

But this is of course assuming Toho will introduce a cheaper 4K option later.

[omgitsgodzilla]

Question though, any chance you could explain the "anti-import grace period" or send me in the right direction to read up?

Basically Toho doesn't let US distributors release things until they've been out in Japan a little while. IIRC this, combined with a longer window between theatrical and home releases in Japan, is why Shin Godzilla didn't get a US Blu-ray until August 2017.

[airforce111]

dont forget, it nearly took 10 years for toho to finally lower prices on the first hivision blurays from $60 to $45.....best we might see is these 4k releases go from 120 to something like 100 or 90, in 10 years..... if we are lucky lol!

[Major sssspielberg!]

Basically Toho doesn't let US distributors release things until they've been out in Japan a little while. IIRC this, combined with a longer window between theatrical and home releases in Japan, is why Shin Godzilla didn't get a US Blu-ray until August 2017.

Wow, I totally forgot how long it took Shin to make it over here. Jeez.

[o.supreme]

I may be mistaken, but wasn't Media Blasters DAM Blu Ray released in North America before it was released by Toho in Japan? I mean I know the bonus content , and AIP dub got MB in trouble, but if they hadn't done that, the release date I don't think would have changed, still allowing it to come out prior to Toho's release in Japan?

I mean I know it is the exception to the norm, but it may be a rare case where it actually happened.

[goji1986]

Wow, I totally forgot how long it took Shin to make it over here. Jeez.

While the home video release took its time, let's not forget that it had a healthy theatrical US release ~3 months from the Japanese premiere, which was unprecedented.

[omgitsgodzilla]

I may be mistaken, but wasn't Media Blasters DAM Blu Ray released in North America before it was released by Toho in Japan? I mean I know the bonus content , and AIP dub got MB in trouble, but if they hadn't done that, the release date I don't think would have changed, still allowing it to come out prior to Toho's release in Japan?

I mean I know it is the exception to the norm, but it may be a rare case where it actually happened.

That actually does appear to be the case; I hadn't realized that before.

I'm not sure how far back this policy actually goes; I first saw it mentioned within the last five years or so. It might even be conjecture; I can't recall the specifics of the original post/where they got that information. It is sort of interesting that the initial DAM Blu-ray was such an exception to Toho's usual reverse-import paranoia, considering they nerfed ADV's release for exactly that reason, not to mention that the MB release would lead to them getting a lot stricter about US releases.