Godzilla 1984 petition

Well it's about time some one made a petition. I'm supporter number 60. I need this movie. Once I get it, my Godzilla movie collection will be complete! Well, until Godzilla 2014 comes to DVD.

I'll sign.

yea i hope they get enogh votes i neeeeeeeed that movie

This person really hasn't done their homework about this film.

Listen guys, Toho wants to sell this film to American distributors. And there's American distributors out there that want to buy this film from Toho so they can make money selling it here. The problem is Toho legally can't.

Godzilla 1984/85 is in a legal blackhole right now. Toho is incapable of selling the movie for contractual reasons that have been left unknown to fans. Rumor has it that the contract will be up soon. (How soon is unknown, it might be a few months or a few years.)

In other words, even if Toho sees this petition and it gets more signatures than Beiber's deportation, they still are unable to sell it to North American distributors. We're just going to have to wait.

Quentin Tarantino tried to get this movie and Biollante over here on DVD a while ago and couldn't because of legal bullshit.

Best you can hope for is a subtitled region 0 release of it as far as dvds go. 

But Biollante is over here now. I got her last...um...any ways, I have Godzilla vs. Biollante on dvd. Also what contractual issues? I don't get that. It's Toho's movie! Who else has rites to Godzilla 1984?

@Logan's Displayname

It's not a matter of listening to anyone. It's simply that Toho is contractually unable to sell the movie to North American distributors at this time. Even if the petition has millions upon millions of signatures it won't make a difference due to legal problems.

@KingKaijuGojira

Toho owns the movie, yes, but there is a contractual issue with selling the movie to an American distributor right now. Apparently this was an agreement made back in 1985 when the film was first released in America. The agreement is keeping Toho from selling it to an American distributor that can put it on DVD/Bluray for us. We don't know many details beyond that discription-- at least I don't.

Remember, Toho doesn't put Godzilla movies on DVD/Bluray in America. They sell the movies to American distributors that do that for them.

For example here's a list I compiled of American companies that currently have the rights to release Godzilla movies on DVD/Bluray:

Godzilla and Related DVD/Bluray CURRENTLY Available

And here's companies that have rights for future releases, particularly this May:

Godzilla and Related DVD/Bluray Re-Releases

In both threads I've included which American distributor is putting these movies out on home video for Toho.

Well, that explains why the Tri-star logo appears on so many of Godzilla movies I have.

Wait! What about iTunes? They have several Godzilla films. How did they get them there? huh? Does the "huh" part me sound like an a-hole?

Logan's  Displayname, they probably will. They probably will.

@KingKaijuGojira

The Godzilla films on iTunes are still distributed by the same companies the distribute DVDs/Bluray. For example, Sony has the North American rights to distribute Godzilla vs. Destroyah. If Godzilla vs. Destroyah is on iTunes, it means Sony put it there.

@Logan's Displaname

The details regarding the legal issues around Godzilla 1984/85 seem to be fuzzy at best. I constantly ask some of the most reliable sources about the details of this problem and they either don't know or aren't allowed to say. All I was told is that the problems regarding its North American release will be resolved "soon". Considering this problem has been going on since before the late 1990s, I don't know how soon you could define "soon" in this case.

Here's some information I dug up from 2009. Apparently it's still true today:

To make a long story short, Anchor Bay has the rights to New World's library of movies released between 1984 and 1991. (New World released Godzilla 1985 and no longer exists today) Toho does not recognize Anchor Bay as the rightful owner of Godzilla 1985. This could possibly be because of the original contracts between Toho and New World Pictures. In order for this movie to see a legitimate release, the rights to New World will most likely need to expire so that Toho can then sell them again. 

As of 2014 the rights have yet to expire.

When May 6th hits this year, Godzilla 1984/85 will be the only Heisei Godzilla movie to not be released on DVD or Bluray.

Yay, lawyers ruining crap for everyone like always.

I wish toho would just do the tsuburaya thing and release their japanese films with subtitles.

sure I'd like to have the english version on disc, but I wouldn't miss it much. 

The problem with that being that a lot of people don't want the subtitles versions of the films. Sure you'd sell to some hardcore fans, but I think just releasing the subtitle versions wouldnt generate much, if any profit. There are quite a few fans I'm sure that wouldn't be interested in the subtitle versions of the movies, especially the younger ones.

@Durp004

Akagi can correct me if I'm wrong, but what I think he meant was that he wished Toho would release THEIR bluray discs that are sold in Japan with English subtitles. That way fans who are desperate to complete the collection can just import the movies.

If not, I'd like to point out that the Godzilla DVDs that include Japanese versions w/ English subtitles outsell the DVDs that did not (the Heisei series discs, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Simitar's discs from 1998) by a landslide.

Infact, one of the reasons Sony is finally putting the Heisei series out in it's appropriate aspect ratio w/ Japanese language and original trailers (other than the fact it would be innappropriate to not release HD cuts on Bluray) is because they expect their new bluray to outsell their original discs 3 to 1. Yes the dubs will be included, but ever since they've offered both options in 2003 it's been a much more fruitful relationship between them and the fanbase.

You make a good point about the younger audience members, but it's the older fans who actually have the money to buy these discs.

Just curious GMan2887 if that is overall or in English speaking countries. While I wouldn't be all that suprised if it was worldwide as I expect these movies sales in Japan to greatly outdo the 1s here in the states it would be an interesting revelation to see if fans do truly prefer subs over dubs, as while I do prefer the subs of some versions better simply because the horrible editting story or character interpretation was done god awful in the dub, I will admit that for most of the films that aren't too badly changed, or not my favorites to the point I'd want to see all the original acting I do prefer the dubs.

Most of the data I've seen is from the North American discs and it's mainly the two companies that own the rights to most Godzilla movies: Classic Media and Sony.

Simitar's barebones, dubbed-only movies from 1998 sold decently, but when Classic Media picked up those same movies and re-released them in 2003/2004 they bombed. When Classic Media decided to go the extra mile in 2005/2006 and release those same movies with the original versions and extras, they proved better. (Even if Classic Media wished they had done a little better-- but they renewed their rights for those films recently. So clearly they're still making money off those titles.)

When Sony finally brought the Heisei series to the U.S. their VHS, which only included dubs, did fine, but the DVDs more or less bombed. A lot of people point to the horrible presentation of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah/Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth for that. Godzilla 2000 did well because it was in theaters in North America and everything from Godzilla vs. Megaguirus onward did very well.

Part of this is because of the popularity DVDs throughout the years. The other part is that half-assed DVDs just don't sell no matter what's on it.

I applaud Sony for putting some effort into the new Bluray discs they're releasing. Apparently Sony reached out to Keith Aiken (a writer in the fandom and commentary contributor for Terror of MechaGodzilla) and asked him what problems fans had with the previous Sony releases. He listed the english title overlays on the millennium discs, the pan-and-scan format of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah/Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth, the lack of Japanese audio w/ English subs on that title and Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla/Godzilla vs. Destroyah, the lack of credits on all the Heisei movies and the "dubtitles" on some of the Millennium films.

So far, we know the Japanese versions, original aspect ratios and end credits will be on the upcoming bluray discs. And while it's a good sign for fans that they went out of their way to ask, the truth is they wouldn't have if they didn't think it would put more money in their pockets.

Mind you, much of this is old information and Sony's expections is something I've heard down the pipeline.