Godzilla Minus One (ゴジラ マイナスワン) is a 2023 live-action theatrical Japanese film directed & written by Takashi Yamazaki, and produced by Minami Ichikawa, Shūji Abe, Kenji Yamada, Kazuaki Kishida, Gō Abe & Keiichirō Moriya with distribution by TOHO. The film starred Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Yuki Yamada, Sakura Ando, Kuranosuke Sasaki and many more, with music composed by Naoki Satō. The film theatrically released in Japan on November 2023 with a pre-screening a month prior, followed by international releases including the United Kingdom & United States a month later.
Background:
“In postwar Japan, Godzilla brings new devastation to an already scorched landscape. With no military intervention or government help in sight, the survivors must join together in the face of despair and fight back against an unrelenting horror.”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, December 2024.
What a film to end the year of 2023 I say. Out of nowhere came another Godzilla movie and in a surprising move TOHO did their best to release the film internationally as close as possible to the Japanese theatrical release which is unheard of. I got the opportunity to watch Godzilla Minus One at my local Cineworld in IMAX and I was blown away by how good the film turned out.
We already know a lot of people have made their praises with this film and I honestly haven’t watched a majority of the Godzilla films, with only having seen Shin Godzilla from the Japanese side and Godzilla 1998, Godzilla 2014 and Godzilla: King of the Monsters from the American side. I very much enjoyed Shin Godzilla for its Evangelion style approach that Hideaki Anno put into the direction and the film’s satirical take on the government but it had too many characters to manage and the on-screen text was a bit much when you’re watching it subtitled. The American films were fine but not to the excitement levels that I was hoping for.
So to me, Godzilla Minus One felt like a breath of fresh air for modern Godzilla films because not only did it stick back to the roots of having Godzilla be a monstrous dangerous entity but the characters were more fleshed out and had enough room to breathe so you were able to appreciate their appearances on-screen which was severely lacking in the recent American adaptations. The American films did a good job in terms of kaiju action and that was pretty much it. Also the music in Godzilla Minus One was really memorable and when it hits, it hits hard.
I also want to mention the director Takashi Yamazaki is no stranger to anime and manga. If you don’t recognise his name, he is the director for the 2010 live-action film adaptation of Space Battleship Yamato and the 2014 live-action two-part film adaptation of Parasyte, as well as a few CG anime films with Stand by Me Doraemon 1 & 2 in 2014 & 2020, Dragon Quest: Your Story in 2019, and one of my favourite anime films in recent years Lupin the Third: The First in 2019. If that wasn’t interesting enough, apparently he’s listed to have worked on special effects for Nobuhiko Obayashi’s 1987 film adaptation of The Drifting Classroom, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 1989 film adaptation of Sweet Home, and Masayuki Ochiai’s 1995 film adaptation of Parasite Eve (based on the book, not the video game).
Since we know the film is good, how did it make it over to the UK? Let’s recap what’s already out for some context and for those who don’t know what’s available thus far. There’s 33 Japanese films in the franchise and out of all of those, the first 15 films are available on Blu-ray from Criterion as part of the Godzilla: The Shōwa Era box set which is pretty expensive and is packaged like a book, but the very first film is available now on 4K Ultra HD in a regular sized set if you only want that one.
Also available is the 29th film Shin Godzilla distributed by Manga Entertainment and Funimation (now Crunchyroll) on Blu-ray. The 30th-32nd films; Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, and Godzilla: The Planet Eater, are a three-part trilogy of CG anime films by Polygon Pictures distributed through Netflix and has yet to be released for home video (though Anime Limited did release the music on Vinyl). Godzilla Minus One is the 33rd film in the franchise and distributed by Anime Limited for the UK.
Yep that’s right, Anime Limited of all distributors distributed both the theatrical and home video for Godzilla Minus One as well as the Black & White version Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color. TOHO distributed the film in North America and have released the film on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray. Anime Limited did the same over here in the United Kingdom but there’s one interesting difference for one of the editions.
Deluxe Edition Contents:
It’s pretty rare for a UK release, especially for a live-action Japanese film, to mirror the Japanese release for home video, and Anime Limited were able to do that with Godzilla Minus One‘s Deluxe Edition release, though there are some differences.
The release is presented in a rigid box housing a four-disc digipack and a booklet. The digipack contains the film on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray, Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color on Blu-ray and a bonus Blu-ray disc filled with additional on-disc extra features. The 68-page booklet contains a message from director Takashi Yamazaki, character bios, promotional artwork, interviews with the staff about the film, and articles on how they brought the film overseas and to the Academy Awards.
There’s a few editions released for Godzilla Minus One so here’s a brief table so you know which edition has which available:
| Release | Format | Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color | Bonus Blu-ray Disc | Booklet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deluxe Edition | 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Steelbook Edition | 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray | No | Yes | No |
| Standard Edition | 4K Ultra HD / Blu-ray | No | No | No |
The SRP for the Deluxe Edition is £79.99 for roughly 1000 units (potentially more given the popularity of the film). Once the print run is out of stock, this edition won’t be available. The Steelbook Edition has been selling out the most compared to the rest but the standard edition 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray editions are available across all retailers.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with clean artwork and digipack packaging
- Additional Blu-ray disc for Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color
- Additional Blu-ray disc for Bonus Features
- 64-page Booklet
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 2nd December 2024
The deluxe edition release for Godzilla Minus One contains the film on a single 4K Ultra HD disc and single Blu-ray disc each. All discs have been authored and encoded by VDMS, who have worked with Anime Limited for a number of releases.
At the start of the 4K Ultra HD disc for Godzilla Minus One, you’re greeted with the option to select either English, French or Italian. The English menu includes Japanese Dolby Atmos with English subtitles and the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 dub, which is the same VSI Los Angeles dub used for Netflix streams. The French and Italian menus do not have their own dubs on the disc so the only option that remains is Japanese Dolby Atmos with French & Italian subtitles respectively. The white subtitles are all locked during playback, and the 4K Ultra HD disc is all region compatible. The video presentation also includes Dolby Vision HDR.
At the start of the Blu-ray discs for both Godzilla Minus One and Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color, you’re greeted with the option to select either English, French or Italian. The English menu includes Japanese Dolby Atmos with English subtitles and the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 dub. Like the 4K disc, both French and Italian menus only include Japanese Dolby Atmos with French & Italian subtitles respectively. The white subtitles are all locked during playback, and the Blu-ray discs are locked to Region B players.
At the start of the Blu-ray disc for the Bonus Features, you’re greeted with the option to select either English or French. Each menu includes all of the on-disc content included in the Japanese Deluxe Edition’s bonus disc, which includes the Making ofs, Behind the Scenes, Yamazaki Takashi Selection Talk Show Interviews and Event footage. Some of the trailers that are normally included on the feature film disc on the Japanese release are included here but only a few, namely the Promo trailers (basically teaser trailers), Japanese trailer and the Minus Color trailer used for the UK theatrical release. Unlike the North American release, all of the on-disc content included here are subtitled in English and French, however the white subtitles are locked during playback and the Blu-ray disc is locked to Region B players.
4K Ultra HD Specs:
| Languages | Godzilla Minus One: Japanese, English |
| Audio | Godzilla Minus One: Japanese Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1) English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 |
| Video | Godzilla Minus One: 2160p Ultra High Definition format 2.39:1 aspect ratio Dolby Vision HDR |
| Region | All Region |
| Subtitles | Godzilla Minus One: English, French, Italian |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 1 BD-100 |
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | Godzilla Minus One: Japanese, English Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color: Japanese, English Bonus Blu-ray Disc: Japanese |
| Audio | Godzilla Minus One: Japanese Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1) English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color: Japanese Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1) English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Bonus Blu-ray Disc: Japanese LPCM 2.0 Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (Japanese Trailer, Promo 1 & 2 only) |
| Video | Godzilla Minus One: 1080p High Definition Native format 2.39:1 aspect ratio Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color: 1080p High Definition Native format 2.39:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | Godzilla Minus One: English, French, Italian Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color: English, French, Italian Bonus Blu-ray Disc: English, French |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 3 BD-50s |
4K Ultra HD On-Disc Extra Features:
No extras on this disc.
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Additional Bonus Disc:
- Behind the Scenes:
- Making of the film (01:07:12 runtime)
- Making of VFX (19:24 runtime)
- Behind the Scenes (22:24 runtime)
This is also known elsewhere as “”Behind the scenes: The movie “GODZILLA-1.0” -No.30-“
- Interviews – These are the Yamazaki Takashi Selection Talk Show:
- Takashi Yamazaki with Shinji Higuchi (12:57 runtime)
Also known as “Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Selection Godzilla (1954) with Shinji Higuchi” - Takashi Yamazaki with Keizo Murase (15:46 runtime)
Also known as “Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Selection Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) with Keizo Murase” - Takashi Yamazaki with Shusuke Kaneko (17:04 runtime)
Also known as “Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Selection Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) with Shushuke Kaneko” - Takashi Yamazaki with Hideaki Anno (18:48 runtime)
Also known as “Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Selection Shin Godzilla (2016) with Hideaki Anno”
- Takashi Yamazaki with Shinji Higuchi (12:57 runtime)
- Trailers:
- Japanese Trailer (01:28 runtime)
- Minus Color Trailer (00:38 runtime)
- Promo 1 (00:36 runtime)
- Promo 2 (00:34 runtime)
- Events:
- World Premiere Red Carpet (07:46 runtime)
Also known as “October 18, 2023: World premiere red carpet event” - North American Premiere (12:29 runtime)
Also known as “November 8-10, 2023: North American premiere” - Opening Screening (16:07 runtime)
Also known as “November 3, 2023 (National Holiday): Opening day stage greetings” - TIFF Opening Red Carpet (03:06 runtime)
Also known as “October 23, 2023: Tokyo International Film Festival opening red carpet” - TIFF Closing Screening (10:31 runtime)
Also known as “November 1, 2023: Tokyo International Film Festival closing screening stage greetings” - Sapporo Event (06:59 runtime)
Also known as “November 29, 2023: Sapporo event” - Press Conference (11:38 runtime)
Also known as “September 4, 2023: Completion report press conference”
- World Premiere Red Carpet (07:46 runtime)
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Godzilla Minus One is available to purchase on 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray by Anime Limited in the UK & Ireland. The deluxe edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray release can be bought through different retailers including AllTheAnime Store, Anime-on-Line, HMV and Zavvi.
The steelbook 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray release was available across different retailers but they have all pretty much sold out, but should be available through AllTheAnime Store.
The standard edition 4K Ultra HD is available to order through different retailers including AllTheAnime Store, Amazon UK, Anime-on-Line, HMV (standard & slipcase version), Terracotta Store & Zavvi.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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