Eureka to Release Mothra '61

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G-Matt
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Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by G-Matt »

Not only are Eureka going to release the H-Man/BIOS double pack, but now they've confirmed their Blu-ray release of the original Mothra! Amazing! :D

Among the special features will possibly be the shorter Champion Festival cut!
LIMITED EDITION (3000 Copies) SPECIAL FEATURES:
Hardbound Slipcase | Reversible poster featuring the film’s original US and Japanese poster artwork | Includes both Japanese and English versions of each film (101 mins & 90 mins respectively) | Original mono audio presentations (LPCM) | English subtitles (Japanese version) and English SDH (English version) | Brand new audio commentary with film historian and writer David Kalat | Audio commentary with authors and Japanese sci-fi historians Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski | Kim Newman on ‘Mothra’ – an interview with film critic and author Kim Newman on the history and legacy of Mothra | Mothra: 1974 Champion Festival Version [61 mins] – a special version of the film edited by Ishirō Honda for the 1974 Toho Champion Festival (INCLUSION TBC) | Stills Galleries featuring rare archival stills and ephemera | PLUS: A Perfect Bound 60-PAGE Collector’s Booklet featuring essays by Christopher Stewardson and Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp (Midnight Eye); a new interview with Scott Chambliss (production designer on 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters); an extract from Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski’s Ishirō Honda biography; and archival reviews and stills.
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Last edited by G-Matt on Thu Aug 27, 2020 7:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
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UltramanGoji
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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by UltramanGoji »

Fuck, that's quite a package. Likely Region 2 which isn't much of a problem but I'm leery about ordering from overseas.
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Terasawa
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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by Terasawa »

I'm not hopeful they will, but it would be wonderful if they could ditch the audio on Sony's restoration of the Japanese version. The audio on the Sony DVD and Mill Creek Blu is ostensibly mono but I'm pretty certain it's not the original monoaural mix. There's also the original 1961 four-channel stereo mix that's available on the Japanese BD which would be another great if unlikely option.
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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by G-Matt »

Eureka's reveal trailer:
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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by Purzel2205 »

Having the Champion Festival cut would be pretty great considering that would make this the first of the Champion cuts to be made available in the west (if I'm not mistaken). I wonder why it's not confirmed already though, Toho better not do their usual silly shtick of actively sabotaging the special features of western releases..
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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by kingkevzilla88 »

Holy cow! Three version of the movie, I'll say it this is going to the definitive release of the original Mothra.

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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by Terasawa »

kingkevzilla88 wrote:Holy cow! Three version of the movie, I'll say it this is going to the definitive release of the original Mothra.
Well, it will be the best on the market for sure. But it won't be the definitive release as long as there are editing errors such as this:



And I'd think a definitive release would need to include all extant audio options (it remains to be seen if that will be the case here).
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Joseph Goodman
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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by Joseph Goodman »

I saw a Japanese Twitter user post a clip from an 80's Toho VHS of this film with almost the exact same error in this scene; I'll have to see if I can dig it up.

EDIT: Here, with a longer blog post by the tweet's author.
Last edited by Joseph Goodman on Thu Aug 27, 2020 11:51 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by canofhumdingers »

So.... if I’m content with just one cut of the film, is there any major reason to upgrade from the US steel book release?

Same question for the US H-Man/BiOS double feature.

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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by Purzel2205 »

canofhumdingers wrote:So.... if I’m content with just one cut of the film, is there any major reason to upgrade from the US steel book release?

Same question for the US H-Man/BiOS double feature.
Depends on how much you value the special features
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Terasawa
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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by Terasawa »

Joseph Goodman wrote:I saw a Japanese Twitter user post a clip from an 80's Toho VHS of this film with almost the exact same error in this scene; I'll have to see if I can dig it up.

EDIT: Here, with a longer blog post by the tweet's author.
Coupled with this quote from Michael Friend, discussing the Sony restoration of Mothra, it's possible (probable?) that that error is native to the Toho elements Sony requested and received. Although, as noted in the blog, it doesn't explain why that scene was edited that way in the first place.
And we decided to try to improve the quality of the materials by asking Toho to make new interpositives from the original negatives, and new soundtracks. We also asked for a print from the original negative with the original soundtrack so we would have a record copy that would tell us how the film was supposed to look and sound.
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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by John Pannozzi »

Terasawa wrote:
kingkevzilla88 wrote:Holy cow! Three version of the movie, I'll say it this is going to the definitive release of the original Mothra.
Well, it will be the best on the market for sure. But it won't be the definitive release as long as there are editing errors such as this:



And I'd think a definitive release would need to include all extant audio options (it remains to be seen if that will be the case here).
I just pointed that sync issue out to Eureka on their Twitter and Facebook accounts.

How many extant audio options are there for Mothra '61?
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Terasawa
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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by Terasawa »

John Pannozzi wrote:I just pointed that sync issue out to Eureka on their Twitter and Facebook accounts.

How many extant audio options are there for Mothra '61?
For the Japanese version, evidently just the mono and 4-channel stereo tracks on the Toho Blu-ray.
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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by Chrispy_G »

Dang...this is Region 2? I don't have a region free player...unless an Xbox One X is region-free.

This would be cool to get, but gosh dang why do all of the giant monsters except for Godzilla seem to get these super premium releases?

I mean I know why, literally, I'm saying...why must fate be so cruel?
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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by Destoroyah of Worlds »

Is there any point to getting this? Seems like i just bought the steelbook honestly
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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by Terasawa »

Destoroyah of Worlds wrote:Is there any point to getting this?
Nah.
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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by LegendZilla »

Is this for Region 1?

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Terasawa
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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by Terasawa »

LegendZilla wrote:Is this for Region 1?
Blu-ray would be region A if it were compatible with North American models. But to answer you question, I don't think we know. The official product page doesn't say (yet), nor has it come up at the Blu-ray.com forum thread. I don't know if Eureka releases are typically locked to region B or not, but anyway that wouldn't necessarily tell us about this.
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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by kingkevzilla88 »

Terasawa wrote:
LegendZilla wrote:Is this for Region 1?
Blu-ray would be region A if it were compatible with North American models. But to answer you question, I don't think we know. The official product page doesn't say (yet), nor has it come up at the Blu-ray.com forum thread. I don't know if Eureka releases are typically locked to region B or not, but anyway that wouldn't necessarily tell us about this.
This is why I recommend getting region free player. If you have a Sony blu-ray player, you can change the region with the colour buttons. The one under the eject button is for region a, the one next to that is for region b and the third one for region c.

I hope that helps.

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Re: Eureka to Release Mothra '61

Post by canofhumdingers »

Purzel2205 wrote:
canofhumdingers wrote:So.... if I’m content with just one cut of the film, is there any major reason to upgrade from the US steel book release?

Same question for the US H-Man/BiOS double feature.
Depends on how much you value the special features
Well, special features are nice but it’s rare they make or break a release for me. And it’s rare that I revisit them.

I was thinking more like, is this a “Gamera” situation where this release is so obviously such a huge improvement over previous releases (to include video presentation and audio options) that it’s a no brainer purchase?

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