Godzilla 1984 petition

Just curious GMan2887 if that is overall or in English speaking countries. While I wouldn't be all that suprised if it was worldwide as I expect these movies sales in Japan to greatly outdo the 1s here in the states it would be an interesting revelation to see if fans do truly prefer subs over dubs, as while I do prefer the subs of some versions better simply because the horrible editting story or character interpretation was done god awful in the dub, I will admit that for most of the films that aren't too badly changed, or not my favorites to the point I'd want to see all the original acting I do prefer the dubs.

Most of the data I've seen is from the North American discs and it's mainly the two companies that own the rights to most Godzilla movies: Classic Media and Sony.

Simitar's barebones, dubbed-only movies from 1998 sold decently, but when Classic Media picked up those same movies and re-released them in 2003/2004 they bombed. When Classic Media decided to go the extra mile in 2005/2006 and release those same movies with the original versions and extras, they proved better. (Even if Classic Media wished they had done a little better-- but they renewed their rights for those films recently. So clearly they're still making money off those titles.)

When Sony finally brought the Heisei series to the U.S. their VHS, which only included dubs, did fine, but the DVDs more or less bombed. A lot of people point to the horrible presentation of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah/Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth for that. Godzilla 2000 did well because it was in theaters in North America and everything from Godzilla vs. Megaguirus onward did very well.

Part of this is because of the popularity DVDs throughout the years. The other part is that half-assed DVDs just don't sell no matter what's on it.

I applaud Sony for putting some effort into the new Bluray discs they're releasing. Apparently Sony reached out to Keith Aiken (a writer in the fandom and commentary contributor for Terror of MechaGodzilla) and asked him what problems fans had with the previous Sony releases. He listed the english title overlays on the millennium discs, the pan-and-scan format of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah/Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth, the lack of Japanese audio w/ English subs on that title and Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla/Godzilla vs. Destroyah, the lack of credits on all the Heisei movies and the "dubtitles" on some of the Millennium films.

So far, we know the Japanese versions, original aspect ratios and end credits will be on the upcoming bluray discs. And while it's a good sign for fans that they went out of their way to ask, the truth is they wouldn't have if they didn't think it would put more money in their pockets.

Mind you, much of this is old information and Sony's expections is something I've heard down the pipeline.