Hold the phone! What’s this?! Is it possible that Criterion will be gracing us with a cleaned up, tricked out Blu-ray edition of the original 1954 Gojira (more popularly known on these North American shores as Godzilla: King of the Monsters) sometime in the near future? I think it just might happen if the photo below is any indication. Criterion posted it today on their Facebook page – a clear indication that they’ve got the reels in house and are ready to do something with them. So they’re either going to have one hell of a private Gojira screening or they’re preparing to clean that bad boy up for eventual high-def release. I’m betting on the latter.
Some of you might recall that Gojira was released on Blu back in 2009 by Classic Media. While an honest attempt at bringing the lizard to high-def, the transfer was in rough shape, overall quite soft, presented in a strange aspect ratio (1.47:1) and sadly, not worth the upgrade from DVD. Gojira is due for some serious TLC and Criterion are just the folks to offer that print a proper restoration. If they do, they’ll have my dollar.
Fake (but awesome) Criterion cover - Click to enlarge
