Look!!!!!!!! (points upward)
The Toho Collection from Sony Pictures can be taken two different ways. The first way to take this collection is the classic film critic’s way where you admire how great these masterpieces were for the time. In 1961 you would find most films focusing on the youth of America or corny superstars singing songs on screen, but director Inoshiro Honda and special effects guru Eiji Tsuburaya had other plans on how to further the filmmaking process. Building small scale models of cities waiting to be destroyed or large scale monsters that were waiting to terrorize a helpless city, Honda and Tsuburaya simply redefined how things looked onscreen. They help to bring not only fear and sensational levels of horror on different levels, but they also made people aware of man’s own downfall, carelessness.
The H-Man
The 1958 classic about a hydrogen bomb test gone wrong and men getting converted into something else because of those tests is a perfect example of what Honda was shooting for when it came to man’s downfall. It’s no great mystery that 1958 was tension filled, Japan was still recovering from the atom bomb and the horror of nuclear possibilities was just that, a horror. While certainly a geeky set-up, the movie still brought on a good message of fear along side the horror of science. It was cool and brought a new level of oddity, especially on how things were shot.
Battle in Outer Space
Star Wars eat your heart out. This film was earth vs. aliens and really nothing more than that. Sure it was a message about humanity’s need to unite and be one, but it was about eight years too late on the message. The Day the Earth Stood Still really covered that need and while BIOS was certainly revolutionary in how it was presented (most of the action scenes are in space) it really didn’t do much in terms of getting to the people.
Mothra
The cousin to Godzilla (not really) came in the form of a giant moth. Probably one of the more popular creatures that Honda and crew put together, it was also one of the more epic. Mothra can be compared to King Kong in many ways. You have an island where two very tiny women exist (very tiny…. super tiny) amongst a tribe of people. When a group of people get stranded on the island where nuclear testing once happened, they find more than they expect. When the women are kidnapped and brought to Tokyo to star in a show, they telepathically contact a giant moth (whom they worship) named Mothra. Mothra kicks the hell out of Tokyo. Moral of the story? Never kidnap small women.
As classics, these movies deserve a look-see. They deserve your attention and respect as they added a lot to modern Hollywood. Hell, the Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters probably wouldn’t be as good if these films didn’t exist. So, please, laugh if you must when you see them, but certainly show the classics a bit of love.
With all of this said, let’s take a different take on this collection; a more technical focus on it. The Toho Collection is raw for even a DVD format. You get the scratchy film look and while it does give you a nice nostalgic feel, you should expect more quality than this. I think that the quality should have been much better as I’ve seen much older and better. The problem might have been how the film was preserved as Hollywood keeps everything nearly pristine. I’m not sure what the issue is, but I think the quality is pretty poor even for DVD.
The second complaint I have when it comes to the technical side of things is how the DVDs are packaged. While blu-rays have a nice coat of protection on them which makes them tough to scratch, DVDs don’t have that pleasure. The Toho Collection stacks the DVDs on each other in the DVD case. I rarely complain about such things, but I was sort of astonished that the collection was done this way. There are so many opportunities for these discs to be hurt that it’s a risk when it comes to dropping nearly $30.
With all that said, the single feature is still very interesting. You get comentaries on BIOS and Mothra from Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski. They have some fantastic insight and know what the hell they’re talking about. My only regret is that there isn’t a featurette about the history of these types of films. Also, there has to be someone alive who participated in such classics. Regardless, you still get some great commentary; I just wish there was more.