sunday-matineeGodzilla has returned to the big screens this year after an almost 10 year break. The last time he took a break that long was back in the late 1970s/1980s. When he finally returned to the big screen in 1984 Toho had updated the suit with a new robotic head. When the movie was released in North America was titled Godzilla 1985 and was edited with new footage of Raymond Burr.

A volcano erupts on an island and a fishing boat is caught in the current forcing the ship near the island where the vessel witnesses a large creature emerging from the volcano. The ship is found days later with all the crew dead but one. The survivor looks a pictures and realizes that he saw Godzilla. A Soviet sub sinks and the Soviets blame the Americans. Japan announces to the world that it was Godzilla. Meanwhile Godzilla attacks a nuclear plant and feeds on the energy.

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Soon he’s attacking cities and the Soviets want to nuke him. Japan has a new weapon, a super plane called Super X. Things begin to escalate.

The American cut has Raymond Burr added into it. Burr was added into the American cut of the original Godzilla movie from 1954 so this sort completed the circle.

The movie has never been released on DVD or Blu-ray until this month. The last time it was available was on VHS in 1997. For various reasons the American Cut has been held up in limbo of copyright ownership issues which is why it hasn’t been seen on home video for so long.

Kraken Releasing has just released the film on Blu-ray under the title The Return of Godzilla which features the original Japanese cut but not the American cut. It does have Toho’s International English dub cut but that doesn’t have Raymond Burr. This movie wasn’t cut the big success that Toho was hoping for but it still kick started another long series of movies featuring the King of the Monsters. It’s cool to finally see it released on Blu-ray.