The Return of Godzilla: Returning from his slumber for his 30th anniversary, Godzilla attacks Japan once again in the first of the second series of Godzilla starting what would come to be called the Heisei Godzilla films. Godzilla stripped away the more juvenile aspects of his later films like Godzilla vs Megalon and Terror of Mechagodzilla and went back to his roots with a rather dark, moody and, at times, topical film.

The Return of Godzilla was released in America as Godzilla 1985 with some of the Japanese footage edited out and new scenes featuring Raymond Burr, reprising his inserted role from the original, were added. While that version is perhaps best left forgotten, the VHS tape was the only way that the English speaking world could watch the film until now as all US releases are caught up in a rather muddy rights issue. For Godzilla fans, this release is certainly a Godsend.

Somewhat surprisingly, Universe Laser didn't do a terrible job with this release. While it is region coded 3 and fans have to use a region free player to watch it, they kept the price down (I paid less than $5) and the audio and video quality are excellent.

If you are a Godzilla fan and you have a region free player, which you should have, pick this DVD up today.

Labels: Godzilla, Horror, Japanese, sci-fi