Toho's Godzilla 4K Restoration Project

[canofhumdingers]

I’ll put it out there again…

If anyone in the know would be willing to pm me, I’d love to have a chance at viewing the 4K masters.

Added in 2 hours 52 minutes 16 seconds:
Thanks for the help! I’m only looking at them on my phone right now, but holy moly are these vastly superior to any transfers that came before!!!!

Toho, PLLEEEEEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEEEEE put these out on 4K disc!!! PPPLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GodzillaFan1996]

I’ll put it out there again…

If anyone in the know would be willing to pm me, I’d love to have a chance at viewing the 4K masters.

Added in 2 hours 52 minutes 16 seconds:
Thanks for the help! I’m only looking at them on my phone right now, but holy moly are these vastly superior to any transfers that came before!!!!

Toho, PLLEEEEEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEEEEE put these out on 4K disc!!! PPPLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lucky son of a gun, I would love to see anything outside of KKVG 4k!

Edit: Thanks for the DM and info!

[airforce111]

looks like that answers that, chinese hardcoded subs versions seem to be the ones floating about

[MONSTER MANIC]

Glad to help!
If there's anyone else interested in getting their hands on these, feel free to send me a pm.

[Chrispy_G]

Here is the list as it stands now of vintage Toho Kaiju films, Godzilla and otherwise, that have 4K restorations completed or upcoming.

1. 1954 - Godzilla
2. 1956 - Rodan
3. 1961 - Mothra
4. 1962 - King Kong vs Godzilla
5. 1964 - Mothra vs Godzilla
6. 1964 - Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
7. 1965 - Invasion of Astro-Monster
8. 1968 - Destroy All Monsters
9. 1971 - Godzilla vs Hedorah
10. 1989 - Godzilla vs Biollante

[MONSTER MANIC]

The only ones left to find are Destroy all monsters, Hedorah, and Biollante.
However, the only people who have these (As far as I'm concerned.) Are SpaceHunter M and ShowaAddict, both seem very reluctant to give away their copies annoyingly.

[Legion1979]

The only ones left to find are Destroy all monsters, Hedorah, and Biollante.
However, the only people who have these (As far as I'm concerned.) Are SpaceHunter M and ShowaAddict, both seem very reluctant to give away their copies annoyingly.

Can we not act like we're entitled to this stuff and that the people who have them should be obliged to share them.

It's not a good look.

[MONSTER MANIC]

The only ones left to find are Destroy all monsters, Hedorah, and Biollante.
However, the only people who have these (As far as I'm concerned.) Are SpaceHunter M and ShowaAddict, both seem very reluctant to give away their copies annoyingly.

Can we not act like we're entitled to this stuff and that the people who have them should be obliged to share them.

It's not a good look.

Honestly.. yeah.
That was rather selfish of me to say that. I sure do hope these do make the rounds on the internet some day though.

[Chrispy_G]

If we are lucky and patient one day we might see all of them given official releases that we can support.

[John Schuermann]

Does anyone have a source for subtitles for these 4K transfers? Thanks all!

[MONSTER MANIC]

If we are lucky and patient one day we might see all of them given official releases that we can support.

Please Toho, PLEASE.

[Chrispy_G]

If we are lucky and patient one day we might see all of them given official releases that we can support.

Please Toho, PLEASE.

Never give up hope, but it is a multi-step process with a lot of 'what ifs' and 'maybes' and 'then this has to happen'

1. Toho has to complete the 4K Restorations/Transfers of all of their Godzilla library. The modern films are fine, Shin Godzilla had a 4K release in Japan and the Anime Trilogy wouldn't really gain much from a 4K presentation as it was likely animated and rendered no greater than 2K. It would look better than Blu Ray, but with that type of CG anime film...not by much.

So we have 8 of the 28. Certainly implies a commitment to the entire series.

2. AFTER Toho completes all of the 4K restorations...they would A. Have to be willing to license THOSE versions out to North American Distributors

3. Across the 29 films from 1954-2004, there are currently I think no less than 4 distributors in North America. Criterion has the first 15, as of last check Kraken has Return of Godzilla, Echo Bridge/Lionsgate has Biollante, and Sony has the next 12. SOME of that may have changed recently but as of their most recent releases that is where all of those films stand. No less than 4 distributors. So the various distributors would all have to opt to go in on new releases....or we could hope for the distribution rights to be further consolidated across fewer companies.

Either way, even if inspired to do a slate of new releases...the distributors may be just as likely to use the 4K restorations as sources for Blu Rays instead of going the full step of doing 4K disc releases. This would yield great looking Blu Rays...but they wouldn't maximize the presentation like 4K discs themselves would.

It is simply a big BIG "if". Because there are so many Godzilla films and distribution rights are still spread out rather thinly across multiple distributors....so many things have to align.

In fact...this could be a situation where Gamera conceivably may win again. The large number of Godzilla films makes a restoration of the whole series time-consuming. The idea of big collections representing the entire series or huge sections of the series is less likely to expect because of the various distributors. With Gamera, there are only 12 films to restore(Kadokawa has already done the Heisei Films)...and one distributor to be convinced of potentially making the upgrade. We know for a fact that the limited and standard edition Gamera sets did very well for Arrow....so a double dip a few years down the road is feasible.

[canofhumdingers]

Shoot. While US distribution would be nice, at this point I’d be over the moon just to have Toho release domestic 4K discs that I could import. I wouldn’t even grumble about the $100+ price per film.

And we live in an amazing time. If we could get the 4K discs, I can rip the subs from criterion or any other source and add them to the video stream myself.* It’s a little extra work, but by no means an insurmountable obstacle. We are no longer dependent on distributors to provide complete packages. As long as we have access to the pieces we can assemble them ourselves! It still kinda blows my mind.


*not to mention the awesome folks who make the restorations of alternate cuts/dubs! We just need access to the high quality video streams.

*also, I feel the need to mention for posterity that I would not be willing to share files of ripped video with subtitles attached. I would however gladly share detailed instructions for anyone who legally owns the discs on how to do it yourself for your own viewing.

[thegreengargantua]

Hey there fellow G fans,

I'm new to this forum but have been reading with interest about the recent 4K restorations. I have the KKvG one but that's it. Are the others, that seem to be available through this forum, the ones mentioned with hard coded Chinese subs? I'd love to get them if they're not.
It seems as though I'm unable to PM "MONSTER MANIC" (or anyone else) as a new member regarding his offer above. So any help would be much appreciated!

Cheers

[Legion1979]

Should people really be openly talking about where to find copies that shouldn't legally be available in this country?

[UltramanGoji]

Should people really be openly talking about where to find copies that shouldn't legally be available in this country?

Nope, which is why the posts in question have been deleted.

[miguelnuva]

I just saw a comparison of the 4k Mothra vs Godzilla and the blu ray from Critron and wow. The 4k version is beautiful.

[Gailah 1966]

This makes no sence. At 4k you will see all the wireworks. It will destroy the magic completely.

[Legion1979]

This makes no sence. At 4k you will see all the wireworks. It will destroy the magic completely.

So....no movie with practical effects should be remastered in 4K then?

[canofhumdingers]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news: you could see the wires in the theater when they were shown on 35mm…. (And on VHS, LaserDisc, DVD, and Blu Ray).

Is a quality 4K scan higher quality/more detailed than what audiences saw in the theaters when these films came out? Almost certainly. But why wouldn’t you want the highest quality scans done and made available? The information is there in the celluloid, even if not all of it made it up on the silver screen.