Two classic Godzilla films finally make it to DVD and Blu-ray courtesy of Media Blasters

by Chris MaGee

For the longest time New York-based Media Blasters was one of the major avenues for classic and contemporary Japanese exploitation and horror films into the North American market. Don't get us wrong, they still are, but in recent years they've had some stiff competition from the likes of Funimation, Shout! Factory and Mondo Macabro and Synapse Films. Don't count out Media Blasters, and their subsidiary Tokyo Shock, just yet though. This past week Sci-Fi Japan broke the news that Media Blasters will be releasing two of the holy grails of the kaiju movie genre on deluxe DVD and Blu-ray sets.

In an exclusive interview with Sci-Fi Japan Media Blasters' Carl Morano revealed that his company will be releasing Ishiro Honda's 1968 film "Destroy All Monsters" (above) and Jun Fukuda's 1973 film "Godzilla vs. Megalon" in the very near future. This is amazing news for fans of the "Godzilla" franchise. Yes, the folks at Classic Media did a great job releasing some key "Godzilla" films on DVD in the past few years, including a very nice (and cheap!) double-disc set of Honda's 1954 "Gojira", but both "Destroy All Monsters" and "Godzilla vs. Megalon" have long been out-of-print on both DVD and VHS. Now Media Blasters will be bringing both these two monster blockbusters to U.S. and Canadian audiences with "worthy deluxe treatment" and "exciting extras"! Exciting indeed!

Frankly, the last time I remember seeing these two classics was back in the early 80's when Buffalo TV station WUTV aired the films in edited and dubbed versions. This will be a real treat! Follow the link above to read Sci-Fi Japan's full interview with Carl Morano and the Media Blasters press release. Hopefully we'll have a firm release date for these two discs sooner than later... We leave you with the trailer for "Destroy All Monsters" to get you ready!