Gigantis the Fire Monster Original Title Card

[DrKaiju1954]

"Gigantis the Fire Monster" is a movie that has fascinated me ever since I learned about its existence as a young fan. I bought the Classic Media "Godzilla Raids Again" DVD back in the day but I was disappointed that the American version had the title card changed with the Japanese title. Before I go deeper into the rabbit hole, does anyone know which VHS/DVD release has the original "Gigantis the Fire Monster" title card? Does the Video Treasure VHS have the original title card or is it edited?

[UltramanGoji]

The Video Treasures VHS does indeed have the original Gigantis title card.

[o.supreme]

I'm not sure if there have been any HD fan restorations of this one, but I know there are some pretty good scans of the Video Trasures VHS online if you know where to look. Thankfully i still have mine

https://www.tohokingdom.com/articles/im ... gra_vt.htm

[DrKaiju1954]

I'm not sure if there have been any HD fan restorations of this one, but I know there are some pretty good scans of the Video Trasures VHS online if you know where to look. Thankfully i still have mine

https://www.tohokingdom.com/articles/im ... gra_vt.htm

I saw that someone on TK was working on a full-restoration of the movie a while back but they've never followed up with a finished product. I'm waiting for my copy of the Video Treasures VHS to arrive but its a shame the movie has been brushed aside like it has been

[UltramanGoji]

I'm not gonna dog on a movie you like but I think the reason it's been brushed aside is that it's not very good at all, probably one of the worst English versions of a Godzilla or Toho movie

[Legion1979]

Worse than the Americanizations of Half Human or Varan?

[UltramanGoji]

Worse than the Americanizations of Half Human or Varan?

Well I did say "one of"

[o.supreme]

Ill agree, Gigantis isnt great, but still deserves to be preserved, like all the others. I have so many fan restorations, I cant remember which ones I have or don't have . But I think at this point, while I have everything commercially released on DVD or BRD in North America, I do have either fan restorations, or good quality scans of pretty much every Americanization of a Toho film that is in danger of being lost to time. Thus my signature, and my eternal thanks.

[mikelcho]

Worse than the Americanizations of Half Human or Varan?

Or King Kong vs. Godzilla? Don't forget that one.

[Legion1979]

The americanization of Kong vs Godzilla isn't great, but it's not the travesty that Half Human and Varan are.

[Chaos Reincarnation]

I do have the wonder what the point of changing the movie title is if most versions didn't bother to change the title card.

[UltramanGoji]

I do have the wonder what the point of changing the movie title is if most versions didn't bother to change the title card.

Brand recognition. It was also way easier in later years for Toho/whatever media company handling the transfer to edit a new one into the film.

[Goji]

As far as I know, the best official source is still an SP mode copy of the Video Treasures VHS, which was special order-only when it was released, so they are hard to come by. You can likely find an existing rip if you look hard enough, or know the right people.

I do have the wonder what the point of changing the movie title is if most versions didn't bother to change the title card.

Toho wanted "Godzilla" to be in the title, and they also clearly didn't want the Gigantis title in circulation anymore; since the video-generated "Godzilla Raids Again" title card first appeared on TV as early as the late '80s. I first saw it on The Disney Channel in 1991, not long after I got the VT VHS, and I was very confused. I was very not surprised when it showed up on the Classic Media DVD.

[o.supreme]

As far as I know, the best official source is still an SP mode copy of the Video Treasures VHS, which was special order-only when it was released, so they are hard to come by. You can likely find an existing rip if you look hard enough, or know the right people.

Its been decades since I actually watched my VHS copy, or looked at the tape itself (which the cover for is archived here on TK see above).... Are you saying (just for clarification) that Video Treasures had an LP release along with and SP release of GRA/Gigantis on VHS? If so, I find that fascinating, but not unheard of. My copy was not hard to find at all, was found in a drug store in a small town my aunt lived in for like $10 in 1990. But if there was a better/rarer copy (special order only) at SP speed, that would make sense. I have seen better preserved versions online, which is my preferred version if I watch the dub. I still have the CM DVD though, as I appreciate it for what it was at the time.

[Malchik]

I'm not sure if there have been any HD fan restorations of this one, but I know there are some pretty good scans of the Video Trasures VHS online if you know where to look. Thankfully i still have mine

https://www.tohokingdom.com/articles/im ... gra_vt.htm

I have a sealed copy of that somewhere.

[Goji]

Its been decades since I actually watched my VHS copy, or looked at the tape itself (which the cover for is archived here on TK see above).... Are you saying (just for clarification) that Video Treasures had an LP release along with and SP release of GRA/Gigantis on VHS? If so, I find that fascinating, but not unheard of. My copy was not hard to find at all, was found in a drug store in a small town my aunt lived in for like $10 in 1990. But if there was a better/rarer copy (special order only) at SP speed, that would make sense. I have seen better preserved versions online, which is my preferred version if I watch the dub. I still have the CM DVD though, as I appreciate it for what it was at the time.

Yup! Took me a long time to find, but I settled on a Blockbuster ex-rental (which is where a lot of these SP mode versions showed up) that I found online. I did also manage to find SP copies of the Video Treasures releases of Ghidrah the Three Headed Monster and Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster as well, and those weren't ex-rental's, so they are out there. I have not managed to find one for Son of Godzilla, however. Planning to have them all digitized eventually.