Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero

Rating:
Summary: A Lot Of Spaced-Out Fun
Review: This is one of the best entries in the Godzilla series, and the best sequel besides 1964's "Mothra vs. Godzilla". It also is the only entry in the original series to feature an American actor in the original version (unlike Raymond Burr, who was added in later for the Americanized "Gojira": "Godzilla, King Of The Monsters"). As the sometimes fiery Astronaut Glenn, the late Nick Adams clearly is having a blast alongside kaiju movie veterans Akira Takarada and Kumi Mizuno. Mizuno is particularly effective as the alien spy Namikawa, who is torn between her alien programming and her love for Adams. The plot is full of holes, but with Eiji Tsubaraya's wildly surreal SFX, who cares? Basically, aliens from the mysterious Planet X ask the Earth for permission to borrow Godzilla and Rodan to battle King Ghidorah in space. Of course, the joke's on us when the aliens take control of the three monsters and unleash them on Japan. This movie is immensely entertaining and imaginative, much more so than most of the CGI-heavy sci-fi flicks of today (are you listening, Devlin and Emmerich?). A must-have for any Godzilla or science-fiction fan.

Rating:
Summary: Alien invasion leads to monster slugfest
Review: King Ghidorah is back! Unfortunately the three headed dragon is hanging out on Planet X, a desolate place run by a bunch of humorless guys in cheesy costumes and razor thin sunglasses (Devo?). Seems that they want to "borrow" Godzilla and Rodan to protect themselves from this tri-headed pest. But if they can capture and control Godzilla and Rodan then why can't they guide the Golden One into the nearest black hole or something? This thought occurs to no one on Earth, so we gladly hand over our only defensive kaiju. Duh. Planet X then sweeps in and takes over Earth. Whoops. This entertaining b-movie contains Godzilla's infamous victory dance on Planet X, as well as Nick Adams, who fits in surprisingly well as the only English speaker of the bunch. The letterboxed edition is an essential for all diehard G-fans and recommended to those just looking for goofy fun. Pefect for a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

Rating:
Summary: Camp you wouldn't believe!
Review: OK, we got a newly discovered planet X that tricks the Earth into giving up Godzilla(?). The aliens are left over rejects from Flash Gorden forty years before. The people in these monster costumes certainly earned their money on this one. Kudos to the man who actually made Godzill do his Russian style celebration dance. I know there are a whole lotta Godzilla fans out there. But when it comes down to it, this is one of the hokiest movies ever dreamed up. Rock on Godzilla.

Rating:
Summary: Simply Silly
Review: Trust me folks, as a long time fan of classic sci fi im used to cheesy effects but when a giant, atomic-fire breathing monster, jumps up and down and waves his arms in joy all i can do is think, "Did i buy this movie?" And whats with Godzilla boxing and doing the " Ali Shuffle"? A race of evil aliens are out to conquer earth using not only Godzilla and Rodan but King Ghidorah as well. Pure cheese but good. You gotta love Godzilla and it does grow on you (like a fungus?) the more you watch it. Nick Adams stars in this one and makes it all the little better.

Rating:
Summary: A timeless Japanese classic
Review: "Godzilla vs Monster Zero", next to "Ghidrah" & the original "Godzilla, King of the Monsters", is the best of the Toho Godzilla flicks. This one has got it all: invading conspiratorial space aliens, forbidden love, trampled cities and funny characters. The performance of the "Controller of Planet X" and his hilarious hand motions is great. Although the special effects are not top-notch, the story is entertaining enough to keep one interested. Typical of late 60's, early 70's Godzilla flicks, there are some rather humourous moments that take a little away from the "seriousness" of the movie's plot, such as Godzilla's "dance" after his and Rodan's first meeting with Ghidrah on Planet X and the Earth Council meeting to discuss Planet X's "peace" overture. But aside from that, this is a throwback to those carefree Saturday afternoon "Creature Features" that are now, sadly, resigned to cable networks such as Sci-Fi or American Movie Classics.

Rating:
Summary: Simitar DVD
Review: VIDEO QUALITY:
Once again a two sided disc from Simitar. Side 1 contains the full screen TV version of "Godzilla vs. Monster Zero" and Side 2 contains the original 2.35:1 widescreen version. Sadly, Side 2 is not anamorphically enhanced. Side 1's image is as you would expect - rubbish. You loose over half the image, the print has bad colouration and print damage. It will still hold some nostalgia for those that grew up with is though. Side 2 looks reasonably good, with vivid colours and a generally sharp image. At times there can be quite a lot of grain on screen though, and during some of the effects sequences it looks like someone dropped the print, stepped on it a could of times, attempted to rub it clean with a dirty sweatshirt and rammed it back in the machine... I'll stop drinking so much coffee... As with all Simitar discs, there was also quite a lot of artifacting, most notably on Side 2 unfortunately. There was also the occasional rainbow effect, though it was very rare on this disc, and you wouldn't find it unless you were looking for it.

AUDIO QUALITY:
Side 1 comes packed with the original mono track, which sounds like it was kept in very good condition. There wasn't any trace of crackling, hissing, fuzzing or any other kind of wear. The only problem I could really notice was a little distortion when the sound became slightly loud, but then I doubt this mono track was exactly designed for home cinema systems with such huge subwoofers. Side 2 contains both the original mono track and an all new 5.1 track designed by Simitar. The mono track on this side is on par with Side 1, if not slightly better. The 5.1 track is pretty much the same as the mono, in fact I hardly noticed anything different about it at all. Some of the sound effects during the battles had a little more bass, and there were some new sound effects during the military battles that really sounded odd and didn't blend well with the film, though that's really the extent of this track's differences.

EXTRA FEATURES:
Again, it carries the same basic features as all Simitar discs: There are several Godzilla screen savers included for DVD-ROM users, which are only compatible with Windows® 95 machines. There are also some custom trailers Simitar designed for their Godzilla releases, which are made in a cheesy 1950's American monster movie style. There is a video art gallery, and for DVD-ROM users a printable art gallery, which is fairly interesting, as well as a short trivia game to rest your knowledge on the film.

OVERALL:
This is probably one of the better Simitar releases. Simitar claim to have remastered this from the original source (presumably they mean the American source), which doesn't give you much comfort that we'll ever see anything better than this. Despite that, you're getting the film in widescreen with a reasonably good image and some very nice audio - add to that some quirky trivia games and some orchestrated image galleries you've got a reasonably good disc.

Rating:
Summary: One small step for Godzilla...
Review: Godzilla vs. Monster Zero is brilliant. It is a thouhrly enjoyable mix of monster action and human drama, a combination, which in the Godzilla movies, can be sometimes terrible. Although the monsters are in very little of it, Godzilla, Rodan and Ghidrah(Monster Zero) further enhance an excellent movie. The plot begins when a mysterious planet is discovered near Jupiter. The planets inhabitants are being terrorised by Ghidrah. If Earth sends them Godzilla and Rodan, to battle Ghidrah, they will trade them the cure for all diseases. But are these aliens as good as they seem? This would really appeal to someone who enjoys monster movies and Science Fiction. An excellent film, probably the last good Godzilla movie in a while.

Rating:
Summary: Simitar DVD
Review: VIDEO QUALITY:
Once again a two sided disc from Simitar. Side 1 contains the full screen TV version of "Godzilla vs. Monster Zero" and Side 2 contains the original 2.35:1 widescreen version. Sadly, Side 2 is not anamorphically enhanced. Side 1's image is as you would expect - rubbish. You loose over half the image, the print has bad colouration and print damage. It will still hold some nostalgia for those that grew up with is though. Side 2 looks reasonably good, with vivid colours and a generally sharp image. At times there can be quite a lot of grain on screen though, and during some of the effects sequences it looks like someone dropped the print, stepped on it a could of times, attempted to rub it clean with a dirty sweatshirt and rammed it back in the machine... I'll stop drinking so much coffee... As with all Simitar discs, there was also quite a lot of artifacting, most notably on Side 2 unfortunately. There was also the occasional rainbow effect, though it was very rare on this disc, and you wouldn't find it unless you were looking for it.

AUDIO QUALITY:
Side 1 comes packed with the original mono track, which sounds like it was kept in very good condition. There wasn't any trace of crackling, hissing, fuzzing or any other kind of wear. The only problem I could really notice was a little distortion when the sound became slightly loud, but then I doubt this mono track was exactly designed for home cinema systems with such huge subwoofers. Side 2 contains both the original mono track and an all new 5.1 track designed by Simitar. The mono track on this side is on par with Side 1, if not slightly better. The 5.1 track is pretty much the same as the mono, in fact I hardly noticed anything different about it at all. Some of the sound effects during the battles had a little more bass, and there were some new sound effects during the military battles that really sounded odd and didn't blend well with the film, though that's really the extent of this track's differences.

EXTRA FEATURES:
Again, it carries the same basic features as all Simitar discs: There are several Godzilla screen savers included for DVD-ROM users, which are only compatible with Windows® 95 machines. There are also some custom trailers Simitar designed for their Godzilla releases, which are made in a cheesy 1950's American monster movie style. There is a video art gallery, and for DVD-ROM users a printable art gallery, which is fairly interesting, as well as a short trivia game to rest your knowledge on the film.

OVERALL:
This is probably one of the better Simitar releases. Simitar claim to have remastered this from the original source (presumably they mean the American source), which doesn't give you much comfort that we'll ever see anything better than this. Despite that, you're getting the film in widescreen with a reasonably good image and some very nice audio - add to that some quirky trivia games and some orchestrated image galleries you've got a reasonably good disc.

Rating:
Summary: Planet X
Review: Not a bad godzilla film I mean we get to Godzilla,Rodan,and Gidorah on the same side!!!recking hell.Like usual the aliens plans on controlling Godzilla never works so he and rodan ends up turning against them and defeat King Gidorah and the Aliens.
But overal its a alright G flick in my book.

Rating:
Summary: Top notch dvd!!!
Review: One of the very best Godzilla movies, presented here in excellent form. The full screen side of the disc is the same old cropped video version that was available on vhs years ago. But the widescreen side was a big surprise to me, looking great, sounding great. It was like watching a whole new film! And it included the original MONSTER ZERO credits! Usually the Godzilla series does not get treated this good. I recommend picking up this dvd. You wont be sorry!