It's no secret that I am a Godzilla fan so for those who don't want to read another one of my fanboy reviews full of praises for my favorite giant monster series, please read my reviews for Final Wars and Tokyo SOS.

Invasion of the Astro Monster (aka Monster Zero) is my absolute favorite of all the color Showa Godzilla films. While I do love Godzilla vs. the Thing, it's hard to negate the fact that Monster Zero is a very solid, albeit goofy film. It's also the only Godzilla movie I prefer dubbed over the subtitled version.

The reason I prefer the dubbed version is simple and his name is Nick Adams. Known to US audiences mostly as TV's Johnny Yuma or the blond guy who would show up on everything from Wanted: Dead or Alive to 77 Sunset Strip (and most anyone who ever appeared on that show is cool by me.) I however, will always remember him as the drunk Harvard man after Doris Day in Pillow Talk. Sadly, his acting career for some reason never took off to where it should have been. He was a top notch actor and his early death left a void in both Hollywood and Japan that was never filled. He is also, in my view, the best gajin to ever appear in a Godzilla movie. (I don't count Raymond Burr as he was edited into the first Godzilla film)

Anyway, the DVD is top notch. They have the subtitled version complete with Nick Adams being dubbed by a Japanese actor and the slightly edited American release complete with the Henry G. Saperstein titles, although they do not include the Astro Monster title card. The extras are nice although a bit scarce. I actually found myself enjoying the commentary and will have to give it a full listen as I just sampled it for the review.

My advice is to pick this up now. There isn't much left for Godzilla films. Classic Media will be releasing All Monsters Attack and, one of my favorites, Terror of Mechagodzilla later this year. That will only leave Megalon in limbo for an official release. Maybe someday ...

Labels: Classics, Godzilla, sci-fi