Over the years, "Godzilla vs. Megalon" has been released so many times due to the fact that for about 15 years it was in public domain. Many unknown companys released the film on low quality, SLP, tapes to make a cheap buck for themself and that is what most people see today. Although, Toho regained the rights to the film in the mid '90's, the original reel of the finished film was not stored very well and that allowed exposion of the movie to dust, dirt, and everything else. Below is a list of all the VHS copies I have found so far, mostly on e-Bay. If your copy has a low rating, well your mising out from seeing the film the way it was ment to be and you should run out an buy yourself a brand new "5 star" version.
If the copy of "Godzilla vs. Megalon" that you own is not on this list then please e-mail me a decent sized scan of the front and back cover (so I can read the back copyrights and release dates) and please tell me the following...
*tape speed (SP, LP, or SLP)
*sound quality
*picture quality
*running time
*the company that released it
*the year of the release
... but if you don't know ALL of this, just tell me what you can find. I will be shure to give you credit for it.
This copy is pretty easy to obtain, the overall quality is pretty decent. It is a exact re-release of the original "Goodtimes Homevideo" release from 1985 although, it is in the LP mode. Most of the time, this copy can be easily found a K-Mart for around $7.99. There are a few short scenes that are cut, but pretty entact. The artwork on the cover shows that someone put some time into it, unlike some of these others. The same copy was released in 2-packs with "Godzilla, King of the Monsters", "Godzilla vs. The Seamonster", "Godzilla 1985" and "The Snow Creature". The next 4 tapes are the 2-pack covers.
(4 stars)
I have never owned this copy before, but I do know that it was released in the late 1980's. It's not an official Toho release and the company obviously didn't spend to much time on the artwork. It features a black and white photo from "Destroy All Monsters" which is colorized (not very well I might add). The tape speed is in SLP and the running time said it was only 60 minutes long. This copy is not in production anymore, but a used version could sometimes be found on e-Bay (but who would want it?).
(1 1/2 stars)
This copy is one of the worst I have ever seen, every aspect of this copy is bad. The film itself is edited down to around 60 minutes and the film is almost totally black and white, because this is obviously a bootleg copy thats been copied more times than Godzilla has battled Ghidorah. It's in an awful SLP tape, and the tape has barley any tape on the spool. The sound pops and crackles and the bass is is so high, you can't hear anything that anyone is saying. Now the cover... HA! The photo is taken from the original 1954 "Godzilla". Someones trying to pull a fast one on the unsuspecting Godzilla collector by posting this on the cover sleeve.
If you want to see for your self how bad this is, you can get it on e-Bay sometimes for around $.50 to $1.00.
(1 star)
I dont know too much about this copy, although the cover is really funny looking. Megalon looks more like Mothra and Godzilla looks as if he's thowing up instead of blowing radioactive fire. If you own this copy please e-mail and give me the info.
(???)
This cover is excellent! The artwork is a great representation of the film itself. It was released by a company called U.V.A. and is in the SLP mode which is the only let down. It shows the right G-suit on the cover and bright colors to boot! Other than that I don't know anything about this version. If you know please e-mail me the facts. (3 1/2 stars)
This looks to be the same copy of the film that is the second version on the list, the picture is the same as well as the quality. The cover was just reworked with the title on top instead of on the bottom. Again, awful picture, poor sound, and edited to 60 minutes... for shame. (1 1/2 stars)
I dont know anything about this one, except it was released in the late 80's and was one film in a series of lots of public domain monster films ("Gorgo" (1961) and "The Land Unknown" (1954) was other additions to this set). All I have to say about it is why did they put Mechagodzilla on the cover? If anyone knows anything about this one, please e-mail me about it.
(???)
This was the first official release of "Godzilla vs. Megalon". It was released in 1985 and remains one of the best copies known to exist. This was the film in it's absolute prime... glorious color, bizzare effects, and big monsters! The cover is awesome as well, showing the original american poster art that shows Godzilla and Megalon battling on top of the World Trade Towers. The quality is excellent (mabey because the movie wasn't in public domain yet and the quality was still decent) and when the tape was released in America on vhs, the film was only about 8 years old. The speed is SP and the every scene is entact. Although re-released on the "Goodtimes Homevideo" label in 1993 by itself and in 2-packs, it seems they used a diffrent, less decent copy of it to release in the early 90's and released it in SLP and LP modes. Theres one catch though, vhs tapes from the mid 80's are very brittle and it might break if you play it too much. So, my advice to you if you have it is to run a copy of it on a new, high quality tape in SP, and watch that one
so you can enjoy it well into the new millinium!
(5 stars)
This is the official Toho japanese release. It is in Tohoscope (Widescreen) and features the film in it's original language with english sub-titles. It is in SP mode and has been blessed with Dolby Digital Surround Sound! The cover is okay, but could have been better. So, if your lookin' for the film in japanese... this is the one to hunt for at your local import shop. Don't be suprised if you have to pay upwards to $20.00 for it though.
(4 1/2 stars)
I have no idea who made this, what speed it is in or anything. All I can judge by the cover is that it's probobly a bootleg release and not very good. The artwork on the cover shows a cartoonish Godzilla from 1985 trashing a city. So, it must have been released after 1985. If anyone knows ANYTHING about this one, please let me know.
(???)
Again, I have nothing on this one either. It was released by an obviously short lived company called "Vintage Video". The artwork is the again the american theatrical movie poster with thier stupid label looming over the top.
(???)
If you want to get a decent copy of "Godzilla vs. Megalon" for a decent price, this one is the way to go! Overall, this copy takes the cake for quality, and sound. It was just recently released arounnd 1997 and the artwork on the cover links up to 5 other films to create a long picture. Most of the copies are in SP, but there are some in SLP that you should try to avoid if you can. The color is nice, as well as the editing and sound. It was released by "StarMaker Entertainment" and can be found for a great price of around $7.99 to $9.99. The film is all there... no 55 - 60 minute long versions, this ones the longest running at around 90 minutes long. It can be easily found at your local "Blockbuster" or other video retailer. This is the version that I watch the most often.
(4 1/2 stars)
This film never existed. I created this cover myself in hopes that someday we will see "Godzilla vs. Megalon" like this sitting on our video shelf standing tall with pride! It would be in SP mode, Dolby Digital Stereo, Tohoscope, and it would be totally re-dubbed for a clear sound and last, but not least Digitally Remastered from the original prints! Not much of a chance this will ever happen though.
(5 stars)
Here's someone trying to pull one over on you again. This is "Godzilla vs. Megalon", NOT "Godzilla, King of the Monsters"! Toho regained the rights to the film in the mid 90's, right around the time this feature was released. It was probobly one of the last bootlegs of the movie. I don't know much more than that. If you know please read the stuff at the very bottom of the page and then end me your info!
(???)
This copy has as high standards as the Toho release, but it's real hard to find. It's in SP, but the sound isn't all that great and a few scenes are missing. The cover isn't very creative at all... Godzilla's shadow?
(3 1/2 stars)
