SANDA TAI GAIRA Gets Blu-ray Treatment

Toho Releases Classic WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS to Blu-Ray. Author: Loren Portillo Official Website: Toho Blu-Ray

With the great news of a new Godzilla film in the near future, Toho Studios has been getting into the Blu-ray game with some of the great kaiju classics from the 1950`s and 60`s with such titles as GODZILLA (GOJIRA, 1954), RODAN (SORA NO DAIKAIJU RADON, 1957) MOTHRA (MOSURA, 1962) and the newly released WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS (SANDA TAI GAIRA, 1966). Presented in an incredible 2:35:1 Blu-ray transfer, WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS is by far the most pristine print ever of this classic and is superior to the "Toho Master Collection" DVD put out by Classic Media last year. Many fans were disappointed with the Japanese film transfer in that collection, but will be very elated to see a fantastic film transfer here. But unlike the Classic Media DVD collection, this Blu-Ray does not come with English subtitles which is no surprise when it comes to how Toho releases their films on DVD or Blu-ray. But what is a great surprise and treat is that the Blu-ray is loaded with extras. WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS` extras include an audio commentary with Kumi Mizuno speaking about her experience working on the film, many outtakes that have been released on other formats but look much cooler here, a walking tour of Toho Studios with a stop at the prop shop showing a lot of the old props used through out the series, film trailers and a behind the scenes photo library that was very impressive. I`d like to note that so far all the Blu-ray series that have been released for these kaiju films have their own set of extras and audio commentaries, but again if you cannot speak or read Japanese, which I do not, making your way through the menus is a little frustrating but well worth the effort. With Toho releasing these great films to the Blue-ray format for around 4.680 yen , kaiju fans can now rejoice in getting the best possible transfer and get more bang for their yen!