Godzilla (2D) [Blu-Ray]
Director: Gareth Edwards
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston
Release Date: Own it on Blu-ray 3D & 2D Combo Pack, DVD & Digital HD on September 16th
A Review By: Kevin Lovell
Film Rating: 8.5/10
Disc Rating: 9.5/10
Synopsis:
In this gritty, realistic sci-fi action epic, Godzilla returns to its roots as one of the world’s most recognized monsters. Directed by Gareth Edwards and featuring an all-star international cast, this spectacular adventure pits Godzilla against malevolent creatures that, bolstered by humanity’s scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.
This time around, the human portion of ‘Godzilla’ begins with a well known and respected scientist named Joe Brody losing his wife in a mishap that occurred at their lab. Years later when everyone (including his now grown son Ford) believes him to be mad, he insists the same force that caused that disaster and the resulting lives lost has returned and something must be down about it. Unable to leave his father in a foreign prison, Ford goes off to bring his father back home and try to calm him down, but while he is away from his own wife and child, his father’s seemingly insane claims become a reality and he is thrown into a military crises as monsters escape and start wreaking havoc throughout our world. While the military tries to stop these creatures to no avail and Ford struggles to get home to his family, the only hope we may have left to help us might just be the god (or king) of all monsters, Godzilla.
Gareth Edwards (Monsters) does a fantastic job in the role of director and he impressively handles the balance between the human interactions and the full on destruction filled mayhem involving the film’s creature elements. The cast includes a number of well known and talented individuals, including Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe and a number of others folks are sure to recognize or be familiar with. While this film may not allow them to show their full acting capability, they still do great in each of their respective roles here. The fact of the matter is, the real star of this movie is the monsters, specifically of course Godzilla himself who in my opinion has never looked better than he does here.
I would definitely give ‘Godzilla’ one of my highest recommendations, but make certain you don’t go into this film expecting complex storylines and the top Oscar contender for the year, because that’s not what you will find. What you will find here is exactly what you should expect, as well as what fans have been hoping for all of these years, an American take on the infamous ‘Godzilla’ that stays true. ‘Godzilla’ delivers plenty of breathtaking monster battles filled with mayhem and destruction galore and if that’s your cup of tea, you are not going to want to miss out on this one by any means. I would recommend picking up a copy of ‘Godzilla’ as soon as you’re able and you are without question going to want to make sure to grab this one on Blu-Ray if possible.
VIDEO:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘Godzilla’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.4:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks outstanding, delivering detailed, smooth picture throughout. The colors are sharp and everything looks great as a whole with no notable faults to be found within, not even during the numerous detailed and fast moving (or action packed) sequences. Fans and newcomers to the film alike should be extremely satisfied with the high definition video presentation on this Blu-Ray release.
AUDIO:
The Blu-Ray release features a lossless 7.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack which is absolutely phenomenal; even lossless 7.1 soundtracks really don’t get any better than this. The film takes constant advantage of all seven channels, utilizing them for mere background noise in tamer moments and throwing debris, cars and everything else in every possible direction during the action packed sequences. The soundtrack is impressively discrete and sounds marvelous as a whole from start to end; it definitely takes full advantage of the allotted high bitrate, hitting over 7 MB/s in certain moments, such as with Godzilla’s roar; personally, I think it sounds discrete and perfect from start to end. Audiophiles such as me will surely be amazed by this fantastic 7.1 channel DTS-HD MA track, as should the casual viewers.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘Godzilla’ includes a pretty impressive collection of bonus content. Included on the release is ‘Monarch Declassified’ which features three top secret video’s regarding the findings surrounding the film’s creatures including: ‘Operation: Lucky Dragon’ ‘Monarch: The M.U.T.O. File’ and ‘The Godzilla Revelation’. Also included are a number of featurette’s that take a deeper look into the character of Godzilla and what it took to bring this incarnation to life. These featurette’s include: ‘Godzilla: Force of Nature’ ‘A Whole New Level of Destruction’ ‘Into the Void: The H.A.L.O. Jump’ and ‘Ancient Enemy: The M.U.T.O.s’ There is definitely a pretty satisfying collection of bonus content included on the Blu-Ray release for the fans of the film and Godzilla to delve deeper into the movie.
*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.