This article contains several comparisons which contrast Criterion’s new 4K restoration against Echo Bridge’s 2012 Blu-ray of the film. The frames aren’t necessarily exact matches, but should give a solid indication of the visual differences.
Before Godzilla Minus One, before Shin Godzilla, before any Hollywood remakes. The original reboot to bring Godzilla back from pure camp into a grittier, more realistic modern day setting was The Return of Godzilla, alternately known as Godzilla 1984 or Godzilla 1985. It famously ignored all other sequels and instead inserted itself as the direct sequel to the original 1954 film, with Godzilla returning to wreak havoc thirty years after his original rampage.
Godzilla vs Biollante (1989) was its direct sequel, carrying on in the same new continuity (the Heisei series). While both films do have some campy elements, Biollante arguably went even darker, with more intense action and violence in comparison with the franchise’s past. The new creature, Biollante, a mutant genetic creation born from combining Godzilla’s DNA with a tropical flower, remains a highwater mark in Godzilla creature design and established an example for films that followed, which pitted the Big G against bigger, badder, cooler foes like Space Godzilla and Destroyah.
Screen Comparisons
Godzilla vs Biollante was previously released on Blu-ray by Echo Bridge in 2012. It was a decent package (even notably including an English dub, which is missing in the Criterion edition) but its softer, washed out image has been given a major upgrade.
The “slider” images below allow for a quick comparison of the stills from both discs by color, cleanliness, framing, but are downscaled and not representative of the full 1080p resolution. These are only illustrative of differences, and not definitive, especially in terms of resolution and clarity.
Keep in mind these are Blu-ray to Blu-ray comparisons. So this certainly does not demonstrate the additional resolution and color palette of the 4K UHD disc!!
For a truer direct comparison, it’s recommended to download the image files and view them at full size on a large monitor with 1080p or higher resolution. You can download all images at full resolution via the zipfiles below:
Before going into wider differences, a couple quick observations:
Different distributor logos precede the feature, natch:
Here’s something I found surprising. The Japanese subtitles, which appear in scenes with English dialogue, have visibly changed position. This suggests that they were a separable element from the film; one might speculate this means a conscious decision was made to include them in this new US release. (But I could be wrong, perhaps both presentations are different generations of older sources).
Across the entire presentation, the improvements are largely consistent throughout, so I won’t try to break out the images to highlight certain points. It’ll all be pretty apparent.
- Much better clarity – the 2012 edition was quite soft with high noise, which is especially apparent when compared directly to the newer transfer
- As a result, textures are far more discernable, which matters a lot when it comes to creature effects
- Contrast is much more refined now – the 2012 release looks dull by comparison.
- Both prints are very clean of scratches and random specks.
- The framing is almost identical but you can see there has been a correction to a slight vertical stretch which made the older transfer appear a little taller.
- Some small differences in color, not much. I think much of what might be read as color correction is better contrast and less digital fuzz.
Image improvements aside, Criterion’s edition dwarfs the prior release in terms of content, including both of the vintage features from the Echo Bridge disc and a tone of new and vintage content.
The only setback to Criterion’s release is in the sound department. It’s missing the English dub (and corresponding dubtitles).
The Criterion release also lacks SDH captions. This might not sound important since the film is subtitled, but there’s quite a lot of English dialogue in the film, and this is not entirely a friendly release for the deaf and hard of hearing.
A couple points:
- People who are hearing impaired are often more likely to seek out foreign films because of the expectation that they will be subtitled.
- Much of the English dialogue in this film is spoken by Japanese characters with thick accents which can make them more difficult for people with hearing loss to understand.
Aside from these audio and subtitle points, this is in all other ways a vastly superior presentation of the film.
Plus, incredible cover and and a foldout insert by one of my favorite comics artists, Eric Powell (The Goon, Godzilla) make this a gorgeous looking package.
– A/V Out
