Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (Marketing-Film) (Region 2 PAL)

HOME News & Updates LIST ALL DVD REVIEWS SEARCH DVD REVIEWS:

Japanese Title: Gojira vs. Desutoroia (“Godzilla vs. Destoroyah”) Director: Takao Okawara (Orochi:  The Eight-Headed Dragon) Original Release Year: 1995 Running Time: 95 minutes DVD Released By: Marketing-Film (Germany) Video: Anamorphic widescreen Audio: English 2.0, German 5.1, German 2.0 Extras: Trailers, notes on the Godzilla series, full end credits Subtitles: German (non-removable) Closed Captions: None Region: 2 Format: PAL Chapters: 10 Packaging: Keepcase (translucent blue) MSRP: 9.99 EUR UPC #: 4038637250068 Catalog #: 250006 Status: Out of print

BROWSE DVD REVIEWS: - Eastern Kaiju: Godzilla & Other Toho Kaiju Gamera & Other Daiei Kaiju Other Eastern Kaiju - Western Kaiju: Ray Harryhausen Other Western Kaiju Documentaries & Compilations About the Site G-Fest Glossary Links News Archive Send Feedback!

CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR A LARGER IMAGE

Reviewed by: Jari Kovalainen

The Film: This film was the last of the Heisei series (1984 - 1995), but it (thankfully) wasn’t the end of the film saga.  Godzilla, who appears to be painfully burning from within, attacks Hong Kong.  Scientists deduce that Godzilla has too much radiation, and he’s going to either explode or melt down.  The results would be catastrophic.  G-Force sends the new Super-X3 (equipped with cadmium bombs and freezing lasers) to stop Godzilla. Little Godzilla has grown into Godzilla Junior.  Things go from bad to worse, with the appearance of small, mutated creatures.  They grow, and join together, to form larger monsters.  It is discovered that they were created by the Oxygen Destroyer, the weapon that killed Godzilla in 1954.  Appropriately dubbed “Destoroyah,” these creatures cause havoc in Tokyo.  The final, large Destoroyah battles the JSDF and Godzilla Jr.  Eventually, the dying Godzilla will be facing both Super-X3, and Destoroyah. The first half of the movie has more of the scientific point of view, and the second part is more action-oriented.  There are some very nice scenes, such as the Japanese SWAT-team fighting the Destoroyah creatures for the first time.  Destoroyah is a great monster, but I have to admit, there were some scenes where it looked too rubbery to my eyes, and its movement was a bit funny.  The rest of the FX are very good, the story is interesting, and there are some great battle scenes.  Grade:  B Video: This disc has a very similar transfer to the other Heisei Godzilla DVDs from Marketing-Film.  The film is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and it’s anamorphic.  The movie starts with the Tristar logo, and the credits are in English.  The transfer is very good.  Very few film artifacts can be seen, the colors are quite rich, and there is not much grain (although it’s noticeable in a few scenes).  This print has the player generated (English) credits, and only the film’s title is in its original Japanese.  The end credits are cut.  German subtitles are forced (at least on my stand-alone player), but the font is small and white, so it’s not that annoying.  Grade: B- Audio: There are 3 audio options.  There is English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround, German Dolby Digital 5.1, and German Dolby Digital 2.0 surround.  The English track is very clear, with some nice surround activity.  The English dubbing isn’t that bad, but it sounds very uninspired, so the original Japanese would’ve been a better choice.  The overall sound level was slightly low (compared to the menu music and the German audio tracks), so you might have to turn the sound up a bit.  Very good 2.0 surround track. The sound levels of the German tracks are a little bit higher than the English track.  German DD 5.1 and German DD 2.0 surround sounded quite equal, but since the 5.1 is discrete, you should get a little better surround activity than in the 2.0 surround.  Grade: A- Extras / Menus: There are Japanese trailers for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II and Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla, and an English trailer for Godzilla vs. Destoroyah.  Then we have an “alternate ending,” which is actually just full English end credits (without music).  Why these aren’t included in the actual film is not clear to me.  Then we have some text notes (in German):  “Die Geschichte Des Monsters Tell 3.”  It seems to be some notes about the history of the Godzilla movies (parts 1 and 2 are on Marketing-Films’ other German Godzilla DVDs). The menus are very basic and static (4:3 format), with some music.  There is a Dolby Digital trailer when the disc starts, before the main menu screen appears.  All the menus are in German, but they are easy to navigate.  There is no booklet.  Grade: B- Final Analysis: This film is already available on region 1 DVD, and since the extra features are nothing special, you can probably pass on this disc.  It’s quite inexpensive, so some fans might pick this up anyway.  Final Grade: B-

Buy this and other DVDs at:

Additional Images (Click For A Larger Image):

Box Back

All reviews, articles, and images on this site are Copyright (c) 2003 - 2008. Please do not re-publish these reviews, articles, and / or images without the consent of the webmaster. All images, and character names and likenesses, are used here for informational purposes only and remain the copyright of their respective owners.