packmule

Nov 12 2011, 06:51 AM

gvamp

Nov 11 2011, 02:26 PM

As you should and I agree USPS has gotten REALLY terrible recently.

Recently? The USPS has been atrocious for a long time as far as I'm concerned and I'll leave it at that.

Veterans Day was yesterday so no mail delivery. Assuming I get the DAM DVD in the mail today I'm seriously considering sending it back to Amazon unopened and demanding a refund to my Visa debit card. I've gotten to a point where if I don't receive my Amazon orders within what I consider a reasonable time turnaround I'm going to send these orders back.

packmule

Nov 13 2011, 09:19 AM

I finally received my DAM DVD yesterday(Saturday). I fired off multiple complaints to the USPS via their website asking why it would take two full days for me to receive this order. The parcel arrived in Atlanta Thursday(11/10) at 8:29 AM and I didn't receive this goddamn order until Saturday(11/12). I'm going to complain about this with the USPS until they're so sick of me they threaten to sue me to stop the complaints.

I put the DVD in two different DVD players because I encountered a problem with this disc: the audio for the version with the AIP dub is messed up for about 30-40 seconds during the Norman Rose narration which runs from his initial description of Monsterland through mentioning the names of the monsters as the camera shows them meandering about on the island. The audio then clears up after that. This audio problem occurs ONLY on the AIP dub version and NOT on the international English dub or the original Toho version with English subtitles.

During this audio glitch the sound warps and wavers and there is a rapid tapping(or fluttering) noise in the background: it almost sounds like someone rapidly thumbing through the pages of a book. This glitch occurs in all three of my DVD players so I know it's not any of them. It has to be a glitch with the DVD.

So, after a delay by the USPS I get this DVD only to discover that the AIP dub has a 30-40 audio glitch. I have this movie on Region 3 DVD(Jap lang only), a quality DVD-R(Jap w/Eng subs and a full screen DVD-R of the AIP dub that's kind of grainy).

The only reason I bought the Tokyo Shock release was to have the movie in widescreen with the AIP dub...and now I have a DVD with an audio problem for that version.

Quote:

 

First off, I haven't gotten a copy of the disc yet, so I can't say too much other than to respond to factual issues. The AIP soundtrack was taken from my 16mm scope print. I don't recall that it was as splicey as people are saying, so I need to check the print once it is returned to me. The optical soundtrack on the film is totally fine, so if there are issues with warbling and such, it must be an issue with the studio doing the transfer.

Sorry that people take such offense to the quality of the 16mm footage, but remember that this is an Eastman print that is 40+ years old. I don't think there is a print in existence from that period that has good color or doesn't have some wear. I was pleased that the color lasted as long as it did--it started to turn reddish around 6-7 years ago. And it is 16mm, not 35mm, which is how the rest of the film is presented, so the change in quality is bound to be noticeable, especially when run back-to-back...and I don't think they did a HD transfer of the 16mm elements either. The print itself is as sharp and clear as any 16mm print can be. But it isn't 35mm. The trailers are taken from my 16mm trailer reel...as you saw when we ran the trailer reel in Topeka, they look totally fine projected, not 'piss-poor'. Why they don't look as good here, I can't say, other than that the French trailer is a dupe, so the quality is not there to begin with on that one.

The Japanese trailer ought to look good as it's from Toho's original master. I've never seen the 'perfectly good' trailer on the All Monsters Attack dvd (nor have I heard of this disc), but if it was sourced directly from 35mm, I expect it looks better than my 16mm trailer. But just because it's on that disc doesn't mean it was available to Media Blasters. To say "that stuff is out there" may be true, but that doesn't mean they were aware of it or that they could get access to it even if they knew.

I did not provide them with the dvd copy of the AIP dubbed version because it was something that was made by another person's hard work, and without their permission, I did not feel it was fair to let MB use it. I had forgotten who I got this copy from until I saw a post in this thread by John, by which time it was too late. Nevertheless, I'm a bit disappointed to see so much crabbing about things like the credits and the AIP dub, things which MB didn't have to spend extra money and effort on to put on the disc, but they did it anyway to try and give something special to the fan base. I can't comment on the quality of how things were transferred yet, but I was pleased that they went out of their way to try and track down as many extras as possible and to get the best source materials they could find. Gee, all these things which were made 40+ years ago and for which most original materials are generally unavailable...they don't look 100% perfect?!?! And then they didn't spend lots of extra time and money to make them absolutely perfect!?!?! The shame!

Yeah, I wish things could have been better, and I expect I may be disappointed myself in the quality of some of the transfers once I see them. But unlike a current film where there are no excuses for everything not to be just right, DAM is 43 years old after all, and is not likely to be selling 1 million copies either. Pristine prints aren't laying around in plain sight waiting to be used, and it's not a title where significant time and money can be invested in a restoration.

I can't wait to hear the nit picking and complaining about Criterion's Godzilla set. If they don't take out all the negative dust and imperfections, I am sure people will be howling. Never mind that they are in the original negative and that the film looked that way from Day 1, the fans demand perfection! Even if the film wasn't made that way.

Ed G.

gvamp

 

Lee it's not a glitch at all, the AIP dubbing was sourced from Ed G's 16mm print of the film. I forgot to mention that for the users here sorry about that

gvamp

Mar 15 2012, 12:24 AM

Media Blasters recently annouced via their FB page that they'll be releasing a barebones release of Godzilla vs Megalon because of the time period it'd take Toho to approve the extras. They then plan to later do a special edition release some time down the road.



I will most likely be cancelling my preorder from Amazon in the near future and hold off for the Special Edition.

The Real McCoy

Mar 17 2012, 04:56 PM

I want the special edition, but as long as this release has the dub and trailers, I'll be happy

packmule

Mar 22 2012, 03:49 PM

The Real McCoy

Mar 17 2012, 04:56 PM

I want the special edition, but as long as this release has the dub and trailers, I'll be happy

Mediablasters will release Godzilla Vs Megalon(1973) on August 14th(2012). This release WILL NOT contain extras and will only include the film itself, in both English and Japanese audio tracks. Read more: http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2012/03/22/media-blasters-announces-new-release-date-for-godzilla-vs-megalon/

packmule

Mar 22 2012, 03:49 PM

The Real McCoy

Mar 17 2012, 04:56 PM

I want the special edition, but as long as this release has the dub and trailers, I'll be happy

Mediablasters will release Godzilla Vs Megalon(1973) on August 14th(2012). This release WILL NOT contain extras and will only include the film itself, in both English and Japanese audio tracks. Read more: http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2012/03/22/media-blasters-announces-new-release-date-for-godzilla-vs-megalon/

TrentonFella

Mar 23 2012, 08:13 PM

packmule

Mar 22 2012, 03:49 PM

The Real McCoy

Mar 17 2012, 04:56 PM

I want the special edition, but as long as this release has the dub and trailers, I'll be happy

Mediablasters will release Godzilla Vs Megalon(1973) on August 14th(2012). This release WILL NOT contain extras and will only include the film itself, in both English and Japanese audio tracks. Read more: http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2012/03/22/media-blasters-announces-new-release-date-for-godzilla-vs-megalon/

August 14, 2012?! Meh...they might have lost me as a customer...this is a bit much. August is a long time...it was bad enough that they blew the January release date but August?! I don't even like this movie that much...*annoyed*

packmule

Aug 3 2012, 05:23 AM

Keith Aiken posted at Facebook two days ago that he'd received word from Mediablasters that their distributor was about to start shipping out Godzilla Vs Megalon DVDs, presumably to online and store vendors planning to stock them for sale.

The Real McCoy

Aug 4 2012, 10:14 AM

I have doubts that we'll ever see a BR of this one though, the way things have been going over there