Original Japanese version on DVD

I've been posting reviews or information (usually under this same topic heading) of some classic Toho sci-fi films available from videodaikaiju.com in their original, Japanese-language, widescreen, full length formats. I purchased "Battle in Outer Space" ("Uchu daisenso" -- "The Great Space War") recently, and some comments....

Picture and sound are very good -- the picture isn't quite as pristine as some others I've gotten from the same company (e.g., "Mothra", "Rodan"), but it's nearly as good. (As there seems to be some question as to the existence or at least quality of good prints of this film in English, I won't quibble about extremely minor imperfections in this transfer, which are barely evident.) Although there are no extras, the theatrical trailer is, as usual for video d.'s releases, included, and even in unsubtitled Japanese it's perhaps the best, most exciting trailer from Toho I've seen. (The movie itself is subtitled, of course.)

But I was most impressed by how much better the movie was in the original than in the dubbed version. The film was actually kicking around on cable last year and I saw it again, and remained not terribly taken by it, which had always been my opinion. But I decided to order it anyway, and it's suddenly so much better than I'd ever found it. Being in widescreen helps, of course, but though as far as I could tell there were no missing scenes in the dubbed edition from the original, the plot, dialogue, everything, suddenly came alive to me and seemed much more logical and detailed in a way the somewhat awkward English version never did. This is a much better film when seen as it should be seen, in its original form, and the recurrent Japanese theme of universal (i.e., worldwide) peace, of the need for nations to band together and avoid war, is once again on display here, as it is in most of Toho's sci-fi epics...only this is much plainer in the Japanese original than in the dubbed Columbia release.

Overall, I definitely recommend getting the Japanese DVD, a pleasant surprise for me. $15 from videodaikaiju.