Whether you’ve been a fan of the kaiju-destroying Godzilla from its initial creation in 1954 from Toho, or your first introduction to the gigantic destructive beast was Legendary’s Godzilla from 2014 or 2023’s spectacular Godzilla Minus One, there is one thing that has been a constant throughout its 71-year saga, and that is simply that Godzilla is constantly entertaining with levels of destruction, success, and emotion varying between them all. Criterion has dipped its toes back into the ocean with their new 4K release of Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) for the first time in their collection. While this feels like a direct sequel to 1984’s Godzilla (also known as The Return of Godzilla and being screened in select theaters in May 2nd, 2025 on 35 mm) which dawned a new era of Godzilla for a new generation of fans, it is everything and anything someone can expect from a Godzilla movie and this new restoration is masterfully crafted and presented.
Godzilla in GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE. Photo courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
Godzilla movies (typically from my experience, there are exceptions, especially Minus One) do not focus on the humans or their interactions as the audience is typically more interested in getting to Godzilla and whatever chaotic chaos he is going to find himself involved in, has to save people from, or inflict upon them. Godzilla finds himself face to face with one of the most ingenious, creative, and other-worldly creations, Biollante, a creature created by bio-engineering the cells of a rose, the DNA of a rebel scientist’s dead daughter, and DNA from the King of Monsters himself. Combined, they create Biollante, and it proves to be one of Godzilla’s most formidable opponents.
Biollante in GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE. Photo courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
Criterion makes this transfer something transformational, it is clean, crisp, and pristine, and truly shocks at how glorious it is considering the movie is 36 years old. Like all of their Godzilla 4K restorations, Criterion’s restoration of Kazuki Omori’s Godzilla vs. Biollante is the crème of the crop. Truly, the 4K digital restoration with 5.0 Surround audio presented on a 4K disk is exceptionally beautiful. Being in line with some of the more recent Criterion releases, as well, the special features are located solely on the Blu-ray disk of this dual format release, leaving the 4K disk to be solely for the feature. If you’ve never seen the movie before, it is partially in English, so do not fret that somehow there is a dub, because it is intentional and not a mistake. There is a handful of English spoken in the film. In terms of new things for this release, there is really only one thing, an audio commentary from film historian Samm Deighan which is an interesting listen after you watch the movie or if you’re revisiting the film, but not on a first time watch as you should *never* watch commentary on a first time watch. Atop the new feature, a “new” addition to Godzilla vs. Biollante is a new English subtitle translation. The translation seems fantastic and natural, but without having seen the movie before, I cannot truly tell if there is or isn’t a massive difference between the two translations.
L-R: Biollante and Godzilla in GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE. Photo courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
The legacy features are the more interesting features personally, with the making-of program from the mid-‘90s and the short documentary, also from the mid-‘90s, about the concepts between the Biollante and X2 vehicles. Packed to the brim with interesting and fascinating special features, a stunning and mind-blowing transfer, and new cover art from Eric Powell that begs for a full-blown poster to be explored and mounted on a wall, this 4K/Blu-ray and Blu-ray Criterion release is a must-have for any fans of Godzilla and his adventures as this boasts some beautiful creations, effects, and mythos behind one of the true kings of cinema, the King of Monsters, Godzilla.
Godzilla vs. Biollante Special Features:
- *NEW* 4K digital restoration, with 5.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- *NEW* audio commentary featuring film historian Samm Deighan, host of the podcast Eros + Massacre and coeditor of the book Revolution in 35mm
- Making-of program from 1993 featuring director Kazuki Omori and special-effects director Koichi Kawakita, among others
- Short documentary from 1993 about the Biollante and Super X2 vehicle concepts
- Deleted special effects
- TV spots and trailers
- *NEW* English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by science-fiction and horror film expert Jim Cirronella
- New cover by Eric Powell
Available on 4K UHD Blu-ray Combo and Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection March 18th, 2025.
Share this:
Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews
Leave a Reply