Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster ! / Ebirah: Horror of the Deep ! [Blu-ray]

BOTTOM LINE: I was really pleased that I took the plunge and double-dipped for this spiffy Blu-ray upgrade. GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER remains one of my all-time favorite G-films and it look & sounds superlative in this 1080p hi-def edition from Kraken Releasing. 5 STARSTHE STORY (contains spoilers): Ryota, a hard-headed young man desperate to find his older brother, (who was lost at sea a few months before), commandeers a well-stocked yacht and sets sail for the south seas with two newly-made friends and a cryptic stranger aboard. The four eventually end up shipwrecked on mysterious Letchi island. But rescue or escape may prove extremely difficult as they soon discover that the island contains a secret base for the Red Bamboo, a nefarious paramilitary organization that is using their island complex to manufacture heavy water, a key ingredient in nuclear weapons. They have been kidnapping peaceful natives from nearby Infant Island, forcing them into slave labor. One of these, a beautiful girl named Daiyo, encounters our four castaways while attempting to escape from the patrolling Red Bamboo soldiers. As a means of insuring that no slaves escape and to keep all others away from the island, the Red Bamboo use the monstrous mutated lobster creature Ebirah, a by-product of their radioactive skullduggery, to patrol the deep waters offshore. Adding to the intrigue, Infant Island just so happens to be the sanctuary of benevolent insectoid demigoddess Mothra. And further complicating matters, (and unbeknownst to the Red Bamboo), Godzilla is slumbering in a seaside cavern on the far end of the island. The sinister schemes of the ruthless Red Bamboo are about to go up in smoke, at least if Daiyo can contact Mothra AND her plucky castaway friends can figure out a way to awaken the mighty Godzilla!THOUGHTS: A sentimental favorite out of all the G-films, as it was the very first one I ever saw. The plot is straightforward & energetic, and things snowball quickly to the rousing climax that sees the three Toho titans mixing it up while our human heroes scramble to keep from being crushed underfoot in the conflict. Originally written as a third vehicle for Toho's version of King Kong, the idea was scrapped and eventually re-tooled, with Godzilla taking Kong's place. This explains the very anthropomorphic behavior Godzilla engages in throughout the movie. The film is full of lush seaside vistas and impressive island scenery. The color palette is bright and eye-catching. The actors are playing it straight but also having a good time. The monster bouts are splashy & imaginative. First-time G-director Jun Fukuda keeps the proceedings moving quickly and the overall tone light. A bouncy surf-rock infused musical score from Masaru Sato helps further distance this movie from other more somber G-films and, combined with the tropical south sea setting, it makes for a refreshing change of pace. This atypical entry in the Godzilla series is an enjoyable way to spend a breezy 87 minutes.THE BLU-RAY: Brought to us by the crew at Kraken Releasing, this hi-def version of GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER looks & sounds amazing. The audio & video quality of this Blu-ray is as impressive an improvement in comparison to the DVD from Sony as the DVD was to a VHS tape. Colors pop. Details & textures lost in all previous home video versions are now crystal clear. Location scenes and the gorgeous seascapes are now truly, breathtakingly impressive. The rich musical score fills your speakers. Simply put, the film has never looked or sounded better. In fact, the only negative is that the beloved English dub track from AIP has once again not been included. The substandard English language track created for Toho's International version of the film, (the same track that Sony used for their DVD release years ago), is what we're stuck with on this new format release. Purists can also enjoy the film in its original Japanese language w/ English subtitles.

Arrived on time and in mint condition, very happy to own the English audio version bluray, great quality Image and you can see much more than the old VHS and dvd but maybe since I was a kid I didn't notice anything other than awesome monsters tail-whipping one another and that's what I love seeing still!!

For those that like the first generation Godzilla movies; this one is a must. You will recognize several actors playing non-traditional roles. Akihiko Hirata (who played Dr. Serizawa in the original Godzilla) is a villian in this one. Interesting he wears an eye patch on his left eye in Ebirah, but over his right eye in Godzilla. Jun Tazaki the frequent leader of the good guys trying to deal with aliens or monsters; here is the leader of the red bamboo. The print was of exceptional quality, the sound was very good and clear. I played it on my 4k blu ray and 4k tv so the video was upscaled and surprising good. I have bought other 60s Godzilla movies and few if any come close.

Product was in perfect condition! No issues! Thank you so much!

One of my favorites as a kid and I can’t wait to watch this again!

This review is for the Blu-Ray edition of 'Ebirah, Horror of the Deep' or 'Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster', released by Kraken Releasing in 2014.WHERE DOES THIS MOVIE FIT IN THE GODZILLA TIMELINE?: This is the 7th movie (out of 15) in the 'Showa' series of Godzilla movies. The 'Showa' series is the first batch of Godzilla movies produced from 1954-1975. This is the second Godzilla to appear in the series and the same one from the second movie all the way to the fifteenth and final movie.-This is the international version of the movie and not the version seen on American television when it first came out. The American version was released directly to television in 1968.WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT VERSIONS?: The American version is 5 minutes shorter. The main difference between the two versions is the opening of the movie. In the U.S. version, at the beginning, Ebirah is seen attacking a boat which (presumably) contains Yata. This scene was taken from the scene later in the movie in which Ebirah attacks a boat. In the American version, some of the scenes in which Ryota is looking for help in finding his brother are deleted and part of the scene showing the Infant Islanders singing and dancing is cut. As noted elsewhere in this review, the dubbing is also changed. The U.S. dub is superior to the International dub.THIS MOVIE WAS FILMED IN JAPANESE, HOW IS THE DUBBING?: Toho is known for it's terrible dubbing and this movie is no exception. I have found that the dubbing done by AIP (American International Pictures) for the U.S. television audience is usually much better than the Toho International dubs. Nita's dubbing in this movie, in particular, is just plain awful. You'd think a clown was being used for his voice.BLU-RAY & EXTRA'S: The picture is excellent. The colors look excellent. Everything is nice, bright and colorful in this release. The movie is shown in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. You can watch the movie in either Japanese or English languages. There are English subtitles for either version. This is the International version of 'Ebirah, Horror of the Deep'. The version titled 'Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster' was released on American television and is slightly different. The dubbing is much better on the American version. The only other extra is a trailer.*****LOTS OF SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT*****PLOT/SYNOPSIS: Ryota's brother, Yata, has gone missing, along with many other people somewhere in the Pacific. Ryota decides he is going to steal a yacht and brings his two friends along, however he doesn't tell them his plans. Once on a yacht, they find it's owner, Yoshimura (Akira Takarada), is on the boat, or so he says. Yoshimura is a thief that has just stolen 4 million yen. Yoshimura, in his infinite wisdom, allows the group to stay on the boat till morning despite the fact that he doesn't own it. While they are sleeping, Ryota takes the boat out to sea in search of his brother. Unfortunately for Yoshimura, he doesn't know how to sail, so he is stuck going along for the ride. Eventually the group nears Letchi Island in the Pacific. Once near the island, they are attacked by Ebirah. The group washes up on the shore of Letchi Island and Yoshimura is out his 4 million yen.Now on Letchi Island, the group starts exploring. They meet a girl named Daiyo (Kumi Mizuno). She tells them that the Red Bamboo are enslaving the people of Infant Island and bringing them here. She had been enslaved but escaped. She tells them that Ryota's brother, Yata, is on Infant Island. The Red Bamboo are a criminal organization that are making 'heavy water', which is used to make nuclear weapons. The slaves are making a yellow liquid that works as a repellent against Ebirah. To make a long story short, the group is chased around the island by the Red Bamboo. Nita ends up getting caught but Ryoto gets stuck in a balloon which brings him to Infant Island. Once on Infant Island, Ryota finds Yata. Yata decides to go to Letchi Island to free the slaves. The fairy twins tell them to build a net and they will send Mothra to help with freeing the slaves.Meanwhile, Yoshimura & Co. find Godzilla in a mountain sleeping. They use a sword as a lightning rod and wire found in a storage room to wake up Godzilla during a lightning storm. Godzilla wakes up and immediately confronts Ebirah. After the battle, Ebirah runs away and Godzilla goes back on land. Godzilla is first attacked by the Red Bamboo and then by a Giant Condor. He easily defeats both. Yoshimura & Company also have convinced the slaves to make fake yellow liquid. With Godzilla on the rampage, The Red Bamboo decide to abandon the island. They set a nuclear bomb to explode in two hours and take off in their ship. Unfortunately for them, they now have fake yellow liquid. Ebirah ignores the liquid and attacks and sinks them. Godzilla confronts Ebirah again and defeats him. Mothra comes to the island and keeps Godzilla at bay while everyone gets in a net. Mothra picks up the net and heads out. As the group is being carried away from the island, they call out to Godzilla, encouraging him to leave the island. Godzilla exits the island just before the island is blown up. HOW GOOD OF A MONSTER IS EBIRAH AND WHAT ARE IT'S ABILITIES?: Ebirah is designed to look like a giant lobster and that is exactly what he(she) is. Ebirah doesn't have any special abilities. It has a giant claw that it uses as it's primary weapon, just as a lobster would. It is limited to the sea (at least in this movie!). Therefore, it doesn't pose a threat unless it's territory is invaded. More on this below in 'HOW WAS THE BATTLE'. Unfortunately, in the Toho universe, Ebirah is treated with very little respect. In 'Godzilla: Final Wars'. It has the ability to come on land but is defeated by a group of humans in battle. Talk about no respect. NOW APPEARING ON WORLD'S DUMBEST CRIMINALS: Yoshimura would certainly warrant a full episode by himself. This is a guy who has just stolen 4 million yen and then decided to hang out on a yacht he doesn't own! What makes matters worse is that the yacht is fully stocked, ready to go on a voyage the next day. You'd think with all that cash that he could just find a hotel to check into. Especially since this is the 60's and you could still check into a hotel under a false identity. Keep in mind that he wasn't going to steal the yacht. He had no idea how to sail the thing. Next he tells the teens, that have illegally boarded the yacht, that they could stay the night and leave in the morning. This despite the fact that they had a car and could easily just drive home. He then goes to sleep and doesn't secure his gun, which by the way, insn't even real. Ryota steals the gun from him. He doesn't wake up after Ryota takes the boat out sailing. When Ryota refuses to sail back, Yoshiumura doesn't even attempt to bribe him to go back despite having all that cash. Finally, once they get to rough waters, he fails to secure the money on his person. When they reach shore, he finds the bag of money. One problem, he forgot to close the bag!!! THERE GOES ANOTHER ISLAND: What else is new?... A science fiction (or fantasy) movie in which the island sinks or is destroyed at the end. At least it wasn't an earthquake or volcano this time! If the red bamboo had weapons like that, we would all be in big trouble. At least it fit with the plot. They were producing 'heavy water' which is needed used to build nuclear bombs.PRODUCTION: This movie was released by Toho in 1966 and is 1 hour 27 minutes long.-A major change was made to this movie before it was filmed involving the primary monster. Just skip the next section below to see the change.-A bunch of Godzilla regulars starred in this movie. Most prominently is Akira Takarada as Yoshimura. Among others, Akihiko Hirata, who plays Dr. Serizawa in the original Godzilla, plays Captain Ryuui.-This was the first Godzilla movie that did not get a theatrical release in the United States. It went straight to television. HOW WERE THE SPECIAL EFFECTS?:-There are some good effects and definitely some bad effects.-Eiji Tsuburaya was not around for the special effects even though he is given credit. As a result, the budget for special effects was much smaller than normal and it shows.-The director, Jun Fukuda, was not happy with the budget and was forced to compromise the movie by sticking in scenes that he wasn't able to fully explain.-I think Ebirah (The Sea Monster) looks good. Ebirah is meant to be a giant lobster and it looks like a giant lobster. I think the effects team did a good job in making Ebirah look good while out in the ocean. They did a good job with the waves and it really looks like Ebirah is a monster while isolated.-The island setting kept the costs down so that a miniature city didn't have to be built.-Akira Takarada stars as Yoshimura. He is my favorite of the Godzilla regular cast of actors. Akihiko Hirata who plays Dr. Serizawa in the original Godzilla in 1954, plays Captain Ryuui of the Red Bamboo. In a 'shout out' to that movie, he wears an eyepatch, albeit on the opposite eye.-Ultimately, I think the special effects are below par for Toho. I know they were probably rushed, but this is not good. WASN'T KING KONG SUPPOSED TO BE IN THIS MOVIE? Indeed he was. As a matter of fact, this script was written for him. After the movie was set to start filming, there was a problem with the filming rights. The sets had already been built. Ultimately, King Kong was used, but it was in 'King Kong Escapes'. So Godzilla substituted for King Kong. This is why so much stuff in this movie doesn't seem like it was meant for a Godzilla movie. It had already been established that King Kong was energized by electricity in 'King Kong vs. Godzilla'. Thus we have the scene of the lightning storm, waking up what was supposed to be King Kong but is instead Godzilla. The giant condor fight would be a call out to the original King Kong when he battles a similar creature. You have an island setting with natives which is right out of King Kong lore. Not to mention that Daiyo was going to be, for lack of a better way to put it, Kong's love interest. There is a scene where they wait for Godzilla to fall asleep so Daiyo can be rescued from him. This is 'pure' King Kong stuff. Ebirah, would have made a much better opponent for King Kong. The story itself, involving the Red Bamboo, was taken from a supposed spy thriller along the lines of a Japanese James Bond movie. Oddly enough, the Mothra sequence was included in the original 'King Kong' script. So yes, there would have been a fight between the two. GET OUT THE MOTHBALLS: I hate that stupid moth. Yes, I get it. Women love Mothra. That doesn't mean I have to. Mothra equals money to Toho, so they try to get that thing in whenever they can. HEY, ABOUT THAT MOTHRA PROP...: Mothra was looking really ragged in this movie. Just look at her. She looks as if she had been sitting in a dirty attic somewhere. I know they wanted Mothra in this movie, but the least they could have done was to clean her up a bit. Mothra took a bit of a beating in previous movies and they obviously didn't budget in a new one. While on Infant Island, you see a painting of Mothra that looks better but is obviously fake, especially when watching with Blu-Ray quality.COMMENTS: THE WORLD WOULD BE A MUCH BETTER PLACE: If all criminals were like Yoshimura, the world would be a much better place. He is obviously a thief with a heart. He starts out by letting the group of youngsters stay on the boat despite them being a danger to him. See more on this above. Then he decides to go and help Yata when he has nothing to gain. Even after this, he decides to go and help the slaves. In reality, Yoshimura is much too nice to be a real criminal. He shows absolutely no animosity toward Ryota for making him lose his money and putting his life in danger.-Speaking of being a criminal. This is 1966 and the Hays Code is still in effect. Obviously it is dying at this point and people have stopped paying attention. In two years it would be gone. Yoshimura is a criminal and he goes unpunished. This is a very obviously a violation of the Code.HOW WAS THE FIGHT?: The fight was not the best but it was fairly entertaining. Ebirah was not meant to be an opponent for Godzilla as discussed just above. As designed, it was never a threat to Godzilla.This was probably Godzilla's easiest victory over a primary opponent. What I mean is... an opponent in which the movie is named after. Godzilla has had a bunch of very easy victories against non primary opponents. For instance, in this very same movie, he easily defeats a Giant Condor. Another example is that he has quite an easy time of it, in many battles, in 'Godzilla: Final Wars'. THE BATTLE PART I: Godzilla gets woken up by an electric shock bath and heads straight to the water to confront Ebirah. He starts the fight by throwing a boulder at Ebirah and they play catch and/or paddle ball with the boulder for a little while. Eventually Godzilla gets sick of this game and tosses the boulder away and it goes right into one of the Red Bamboo's tower's. Godzilla enters that water and Ebirah makes like a brat in a pool and splashes Godzilla. Godzilla being the bully that he is, blasts Ebirah with his atomic breath. Ebirah plays dead and sneaks up on Godzilla beneath the surface. They wrestle for a bit and Ebirah grabs Godzilla's hand with his claw. Godzilla then body slams Ebirah. Ebirah pulls Godzilla underwater but then runs away.Round 1 to Godzilla. THE BATTLE PART II: With the island getting ready to go nuclear, Godzilla decides to battle Ebirah again. He wrestles with Ebirah for a little while and then yanks his large claw off. After that, Ebirah says "outta here".Round 2 to Godzilla.Godzilla wins by TKO in the second round as Ebirah cannot continue the fight. TAKE THAT!: Ok, I get it, they were trying to appeal to soccer(futbol!) fans. Why does Godzilla have to use his head to send the boulder back at Ebirah? That's like a person using their face to stop a punch. WHAT MAKES THIS FIGHT UNUSUAL IS...: The first battle lasted longer than the second battle. This is something that rarely happens, if ever, in monster movies. Normally, the first battle is like an appetizer and then you get the main course at the conclusion. This is not the case in this fight. Godzilla dispatches Ebirah fairly quickly the second time around.TOHO IS AT IT AGAIN WITH THEIR BRILLIANT SCRIPTS: People, I am just having fun with this. I like the movie. Keep in mind that some of this had to do with the rushed nature of this movie. Jun Fukuda, the director said as much.-Godzilla is buried on Letchi Island. This makes no sense. Then again, if King Kong had been buried there as originally scripted, that probably wouldn't have made sense either, since we last saw him swimming away.-What exactly was that balloon that Ryata takes to Infant Island? Then of course he lands perfectly on the island after the balloon goes exactly where he needs to go. This despite having no way of steering or guiding the balloon.-I'm not exactly sure that waking up Godzilla is a brilliant thing to do. Remember he was not yet a 'good guy' during this time period. Sitting on top of the mountain, they were bound to be killed.-What are the odds that lightning would strike that sword? What are the odds that they would even have a lightning storm? What are the odds that Daiyo would take some wire and use it as a necklace?-Yata is told that the people of Infant Island are being used as slaves and he is shocked. Really!?! You live among the people. You were obviously there when the Red Bamboo came and took slaves because Daiyo knew all about you. How stupid can you be?-Why couldn't the twins just tell them what the net was for?-That was a lot of banana's for such a short trip! Just look at the raft Ryota and Yata take to Letchi Island.-OK, so Yata is going to take on the entire Red Bamboo with banana's, yellow liquid and a net. Got it!!!-I'm not sure if they were serious but Yoshiumura says "Let's build two traps (that were meant for the Red Bamboo)" and Ichino responds..."To catch Godzilla?"....-Yoshimura says in response to Yata wanting to go rescue the slaves, "Might be a good idea". Uhmm, what exactly is good about that idea? Do you want to get caught and killed?-The Red Bamboo pick up voices out in the jungle. Is there anybody actually listening in on this? If so, why would somebody be sitting there listening to one microphone planted in the middle of the jungle? Why not use camera's instead?-When Daiyo is caught out in the open and Godzilla is staring her down, her rescuers say "We'll have to wait for Godzilla to fall asleep." Huh?...that's true heroism for ya.... To be fair this was obviously meant as part of the script for King Kong.-There are some scenes of Nita cutting through the jungle with a sword even though there is not a lot of vegetation. He easily could have just walked around.OTHER COMMENTS:-When I was younger and before the age of VHS recorders, this was the Godzilla movie that I saw the most times on television.-Godzilla's eyes look 'buggy'. The suit looks worn out. This was a weak effort by Toho.-I was never able to figure out exactly what Yoshi and Co. were doing breaking into the lab. Why was he picking a lock?-On the plus side of things, 'Heavy Water' is a sophisticated concept for kids. This is part of the plot that came from the spy movie Toho was developing.-Where exactly did they get the lab coats from? This continuity error was probably due to a script change. There were two lab technicians in the laboratory and they ended up with two coats. They were probably meant to abduct the technicians and get their coats.-The miniature boat is just awful. It looks surprisingly fake.-There are several scenes in which you see the actor's mouth's moving but not voices are coming out.-We are never told what exactly the 'yellow liquid' is made of. They emphasize 'yellow'.CONCLUSIONS: I am a bit biased toward the plus side for this movie. I have fond memories of it as a child. I believe I saw this on television five times by the time I was eleven or twelve. This movie is one of my two or three favorites of the Showa period. The only movie I definitively like better from that period is 'Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster' (Godzilla vs. Hedorah).I think the story is not bad. My biggest problem was the way in which the main characters got to the island and their behavior once they got there. The story of the Red Bamboo was decent and actually believable. Ebirah looks very good, unfortunately most of the effects do not look nearly as good. Some of the miniatures, the boat in particular are awful. The battle was decent if not short. There is only so much you can do with an opponent that was designed to fight King Kong and not Godzilla. I think the Godzilla suit was probably the worst I've seen. It doesn't look good at all.I actually don't mind seeing a movie in which Godzilla is never really challenged. Toho, a studio that produces movie's that are anything but real, does well to make a movie in which the hero doesn't have to pull it out at the end like in every other movie.My ratings are as follows:Godzilla Suit: 2/10The Opponent: 7/10The Fight and Fighting Action: 4/10Special Effects: 4/10The Plot: 7/10Overall: 6/10

This is by far the best of the Kraken Releasing releases on blu-ray. This is what a blu-ray is supposed to look like, great colors and very crisp. I think this is well worth the money. The 50th anniversary (of Godzilla) version has got nothing on this release. Just don't tell anybody I said that. As far as the movie is concerned, I always liked this movie ever since I was a wee lad. It doesn't involve one of Godzilla's greatest foes, but I think the story is pretty good and it has Mothra too. It also has Japanese with English subtitles, just like the previous release. For me, It doesn't get any better than this release unless you want a bunch of extras. Great movie at a great price. Hope this helped.

Wow... the detail you've been missing all these years. It's almost like watching the film for the first time. Of course with the highly detailed bluray quality comes a LOT of hicups ... such as really noticeable backgrounds drawn in pencil crayon, and I don't mean trees and mountains. The one sequence of a sketched out Mothra on his stone perch above his dancing worshippers, is extremely laughable and made more amusing by the film cutting to close-ups of the genuine Mothra. But that's the charm of it all after all. Still one of my favourite G films as the characters are great, and there's a bounty of regular Toho monster film actors tossed into small roles. It is interesting to note, that while the remastering gives you a totally uncluttered, surgical view of the film in every detail, it does remove a bit of the nightmare like imagery. Included on the disc is the original trailer, and watching Ebriah rise from the sea before a tiny row boat of sailors in grainy, cinema film look as a more terrifying quality to it. But you can have both, and thankfully BOTH are great for different reasons.

First: Indeed all the content (save for the menus) is available by selecting the right titles on your remote control.The picture quality on these new releases is – considering the age of the movies – almost excellent. Colours are rich and all the grain is retained. I see no DNR whatsoever and no compression artifacts show up.Extras are thin with only the original Japanese trailer, however, the original Japanese audio and subtitles are included. Audio is solid as well."Ebirah – Horror of the Deep" has an especially beautiful picture and the movie is ,after all, one of the better of the old Godzilla-movies.

このシリーズは、最初のタイトル〜出演者まで全て英語に置き換わってます。なので、国内盤との差は歴然です。特典も無いし。ただし、画質は及第点。同じシリーズのゴジラ対ガイガンがフォーカスの撮影の甘さや荒さが残りすぎていたのに比べると、この南海の大決闘は良いです。

A Godzilla Classic! If you are a fan of the original Godzilla made famous by Toho in Japan, then since movie on blu-ray is a must. The quality is fantastic and audio equally as good. The only downfall that is offers no additional featurers of bonuses.Audio: Japan and English DubSubtitles: English

Four stars for delivery etc. HOWEVER - Using a Sony UK Bluray this is region locked & will not play . It may depend on your particular player make / model , a previous reviewer states the film is accessible by selecting the chapter from the player menu - unfortunately mine will not let me select chapters from the disc without playing it first......which after a hopeful start , it then refuses to do . Worth a try at £6 but looks like I'm sticking with the DVD versions for now , hope this is some help if you are deciding whether to order or not !