FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD: Final DVD Specs!

: 05 September 2008

3 Complete Versions of the Film on a 2-Disc DVD Set from Media Blasters Author: Keith Aiken Source: Media Blasters, Inc. Special Thanks to Richard York Media Blasters has completed work on their highly anticipated DVD of FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD and revealed the final specs for the June 26 release. Today, Media Blasters’ publicist Richard York announced, “We crammed this two-disc special edition of FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD with three complete versions of the film and other assorted goodies — it`s practically pregnant with entertainment!” One big change from earlier reports is that the Japanese version will not have a seamless branching option for the alternate “Frankenstein vs the Giant Devilfish” ending. Richard York explained, “The branching option can be quite troublesome. While we would have been able to make it work, some players just aren`t quick enough to make it truly seamless and we didn`t want to upset anyone if their transition wasn`t smooth enough. So the DVD author concluded that it would be better just to put two entire features on one disc. The US version is on another disc, so there`ll be three complete versions of the film in this set.”

Frankenstein battles Odako in the alternate “Frankenstein vs the Giant Devilfish” version of FRANKENSTEIN VS BARAGON, one of three complete edits that will be included on the new Media Blasters DVD. © 1965 Toho Co., Ltd.

Disc One includes the 1965 Japanese theatrical release FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON (Furankenshutain tai Chite Kaiju Baragon) plus the entire “Frankenstein vs the Giant Devilfish” version (now billed by Toho as the FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON "International Version"). Both edits are identical except for the endings; the ending for FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON is identical to the US version while “Frankenstein vs the Giant Devilfish” closes with a battle between Frankenstein and the giant octopus Odako. “Frankenstein vs the Giant Devilfish” also features an audio commentary by Sadamasa Arikawa, Director of Special Effects Photography for FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD and many of Toho’s tokusatsu films of the 1950s and 60s. Arikawa also directed the special effects for movies like DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (Kaiju Soshingeki, 1968) and SPACE AMOEBA (Gezora-Ganime-Kameba: Kessen! Nankai-no Daikaiju, aka YOG: MONSTER FROM SPACE, 1970). Disc Two has the English language version FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD. This is the US theatrical cut as originally released by American International Pictures in 1966 (not the later UPA TV edit), and features the classic English dubbing by Titra Sound as well as Nick Adams’ own voice. The lions’ share of extra features is also on this disc and includes two Japanese trailers, deleted scenes, and a massive photo gallery with pics provided by Ed Godziszewski (editor of Japanese Giants and contributor to Classic Media’s Godzilla DVDs).

Disc 1

FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON: 1965 Japanese Theatrical Version (89:53) 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen Japanese Mono / Japanese 5.1 / English Subtitles FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON: “Frankenstein vs the Giant Devilfish” Version (93:04) 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen Japanese Mono / Japanese 5.1 / English Subtitles Audio Commentary with Sadamasa Arikawa (Director of Special Effects Photography) with English Subtitles Trailers for ATRAGON, DOGORA, MYSTERIANS, MATANGO

Disc 2

FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD: 1966 US theatrical version (84:47) 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen English Mono / English 5.1 EXTRAS: Special Announcement (40 second Japanese promo spot) Japanese Theatrical Trailer (2 minutes) “Frankenstein vs the Giant Devilfish” ending Deleted Scenes (approx 5 minutes) Photo Gallery (approx 150 images) For more information, photos, and a look at the cover art for Media Blasters` FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD 2-Disc DVD Set, please see the earlier coverage here on SciFi Japan.