RODAN and WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS Cover Art and DVD News

Source: Classic Media, Inc. Official site: Godzilla on DVD Special Thanks to Lisa Bull, Maria Lago, and Emily Schwab

A SciFi JAPAN EXCLUSIVE

In 2006 and 2007 Classic Media released seven early Godzilla films on DVD. The company now completes their "Toho Master Collection" with a 2-disc set of RODAN and WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS, featuring the American and Japanese versions of both films. As an added bonus, the RODAN DVD also includes the brand-new feature length documentary BRINGING GODZILLA DOWN TO SIZE. RODAN: A small village is besieged by deadly man-sized insects. Shigeru (Kenji Sahara) descends deep into a mine shaft to exterminate the monsters, but a landslide traps him in a cavern where he makes an even more horrifying discovery: Rodan, the flying monster! Two giant pterodactyls emerge from their mountain hiding place and terrorize Japan, soaring through the skies at supersonic speed and literally blowing away cities with wing-whipped gusts. How will the world survive this unstoppable threat? Ishiro Honda`s RODAN (Sora no daikaiju Radon, 1956) is among the most popular films from the era of vintage giant monster cinema. For the first time on DVD, Classic Media presents the uncut, original version in Japanese from the Toho vaults, with removable English subtitles (running time: 82 minutes). Also included is the English-dubbed U.S. version released in 1957 (running time: 72:15), which features the voices of George Takei (STAR TREK`s Sulu) and Keye Luke (KUNG FU`s Master Po). Both versions of RODAN are presented in the original theatrical Academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1. WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS: A man-eating, hairy green giant terrorizes Japan, sinking ships, snacking on fishermen, and attacking an airport. Using a space-age ray cannon, the military nearly kills the monster before it is rescued by its even bigger brown-haired brother. But the evil green gargantua and the good-hearted brown gargantua don`t see eye-to-eye, and their monster-sized sibling rivalry leads to a death match in the streets of Tokyo, with civilization hanging in the balance.

Director Ishiro Honda`s masterpiece of mid-sixties monster mayhem features Russ Tamblyn (WEST SIDE STORY) as the venerable scientist Paul Stewart and Kumi Mizuno (INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER) as his beautiful assistant, plus American starlet Kipp Hamilton as an ill-fated nightclub singer performing the kitschy classic, "The Words Get Stuck In My Throat" (Feel in My Heart). For the first time on DVD, Classic Media presents WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS (Furankenshutain no Kaiju: Sanda tai Gaira, 1966) in the original uncut Japanese version and the English-dubbed U.S. version (released 1970). Both versions are presented in the original anamorphic Toho Scope (Cinemascope) widescreen theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The Japanese version is from the Toho vaults and comes with newly translated removable English subtitles. Running time: 92:15. Unlike their earlier Godzilla DVDs, the RODAN and WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS set does not include any trailers, featurettes, photo galleries, or audio commentaries. Instead, the collection will have a special bonus feature... BRINGING GODZILLA DOWN TO SIZE: (2008) Featuring Akira Takarada, Haruo Nakajima, Hiroshi Koizumi, and more. For more than 50 years, Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah and other monsters have been created with traditional, handmade F/X techniques. Through interviews with actors, filmmakers, special-effects artists, and monster stuntmen from the golden age of Japanese sci-fi, this documentary goes behind the scenes of this unique and outlandish genre. Narrated by Alex Cox (director of REPO MAN, SID & NANCY) and directed by Norman England. In English and Japanese with English subtitles. Running time: 68 minutes. Classic Media`s RODAN and WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS 2-disc set (with BRINGING GODZILLA DOWN TO SIZE) will be available from online retailers and in stores on September 9, 2008. The suggested retail price is $19.95. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ For more information on Classic Media`s RODAN/WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS DVD set and BRINGING GODZILLA DOWN TO SIZE please see the earlier coverage here on SciFi Japan: