Godzilla: King Of The Monsters (2D) [Blu-Ray]

Director: Michael Dougherty

Cast: Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown

Release Date: August 27, 2019

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 8/10
Disc Rating: 9.5/10

Synopsis:

The new story follows the heroic efforts of the crypto-zoological agency Monarch as its members face off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed Ghidorah. When these ancient super-species—thought to be mere myths—rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.

Please Note: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

The third installment in the ongoing Monsterverse franchise from Warner Bros. & Legendary Pictures (following 2014’s ‘Godzilla’ and 2017’s ‘Kong: Skull Island’), ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ accompanies members of the secret agency Monarch as they race to combat an attempt by rebel forces to unleash various monsters (aka Titans) across the globe with the intention of restructuring the planet; even taking two of their own people in the process. Knowing that their only chance at fighting this threat lies in the powerful creature Godzilla largely responsible for the destruction in San Francisco years prior, they will have to put aside their personal issues and work with the monster they know in one last desperate attempt to save the planet.

‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ is a fantastic new addition to the Monsterverse that delivers more than enough monstrous destruction and breathtaking visuals to appease the fans, while still allowing time for the human characters to unfold; just doing a superior job of balancing the two when compared to previous American Godzilla films (although make no mistake, I was certainly a fan of the 2014 film as well). With plenty of extravagant battles between creatures and humans alike and an array of stunning locations and effects utilized to capture the mayhem, it all evolves into one insanely fun ride that any Godzilla and/or Monsterverse fans out there will definitely want to go out of their way to check out if you haven’t already had the pleasure.

For a more detailed review of the film itself, please also see my original Film Review of the movie from my initial 4DX theatrical experience Right Here!

Overall, ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ is an action-packed, explosive and visually magnificent new installment in the ongoing Monsterverse beautifully guided along by director (and lifelong Godzilla fan) Michael Dougherty. Giving the monster battles plenty of time at the forefront to dazzle, yet still allowing our human stars their own share of growth and screen time in the process. With a great cast and gorgeous effects along with plenty of fan favorite creatures brought to breathtaking life like never before, it’s a perfect summer popcorn flick that may not be an Oscar contender but more than delivers across the board in the areas fans will want. Any fans that were unable to catch it in theaters definitely won’t want to miss out on this great Godzilla flick and it should easily prove well worth two hours of your time and the price of a rental at the absolute least.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.40:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks rather wonderful as a whole and serves up a sharp and richly detailed presentation from start to finish, with no notable faults or issues to be found along the way. Even with heaps of bonus content to accommodate, it still holds up impressively even during the numerous darkly lit and fast moving sequences, never allowing anything occurring onscreen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a great high definition video presentation that should satisfy the film’s fans as well as those checking it out for the first time.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack is quite the treat in itself, a nearly constant auditory assault that sends monsters, vehicles, weather effects and a whole lot more constantly whipping throughout the various speakers, while also offering plenty of opportunities for the bass to rattle the room and never disappointing with the aggressive results; all the while making certain that any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously never become distorted or rendered inaudible along the way. Overall, this is an utterly magnificent Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that continually amazes, contributing plenty of additional fun to the overall viewing experience around every turn.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ includes a monster-sized helping of bonus content that fans should appreciate. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with Michael Dougherty, Zach Shields and O’Shea Jackson Jr.’, in addition to a couple ‘Deleted Scenes’ from the movie (running approximately 5 minutes combined) and tons of behind the scenes Featurettes that explore bringing the film to life, featuring behind the scenes footage, interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus much more. They include ‘Monsters 101’ which is broken down by monster and explores details of each, including: ‘Godzilla: Nature’s Fearsome Guardian’ (approximately 1 minute), ‘Mothra: Queen of the Monsters’ (approximately 2 minutes), ‘Ghidorah: The Living Extinction Machine’ (90 seconds) and ‘Rodan: Airborne God of Fire’ (1 minute); next up we are treated to ‘Evolution of the Titans’ which features four segements within: ‘Godzilla 2.0’ (approximately 9 minutes), ‘Making Mothra’ (7 minutes), ‘Creating Ghidorah’ (6 minutes) and ‘Reimagining Rodan’ (5 minutes). Also included is ‘Monarch in Action’ which features 5 Featurettes within: ‘The Yunnan Temple’ (approximately 7 minutes), ‘Castle Bravo’ (6 minutes), ‘The Antarctic Base’ (6 minutes), ‘The Isla de Mara Volcano’ (6 minutes) and ‘The Undersea Lair’ (7 minutes). On top of all of those, the release also offers a number of additional standalone Featurettes including ‘Millie Bobby Brown: A Force of Nature’ (4 minutes), ‘Monster Tech: Monarch Joins the Fight’ (9 minutes), ‘Monsters Are Real’ (14 minutes) and ‘Welcome to the Monsterverse’ (4 minutes). 4 ‘Theatrical Trailers’ for the movie (running approximately 12 minutes altogether) are also included.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally 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.

–

Film Rating: 8/10
Disc Rating: 9.5/10

–

Own ‘Godzilla: King Of The Monsters’ Today on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD or Digital from Legendary Pictures & Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

–

You can purchase your copy of ‘Godzilla: King Of The Monsters’ by clicking on the Amazon Cart icon below!