One thousand is a big number and Godzilla is a big monster, so it only makes sense that Criterion would celebrate its 1000th release with a huge tribute to everybody’s favorite guy in a rubber suit and his kaiju buddies. As announced today in a press release, Criterion is putting together an eight-disc Blu-ray set that covers “all the Godzilla films from Japan’s Shōwa era” (which was 1926-1989). That means an earth-shaking 15 monster movies, all “presented in high-definition digital transfers” with a whole bunch of “supplemental material” like a “giant” book with notes on every film, new and old interviews with cast and crew members, audio commentaries, various dub tracks, features about the special effects (as well as unused effects sequences), an “illustrated audio essay” about the “real-life tragedy that inspired Godzilla,” new English translations for the subtitles, and classic trailers.
The downside, naturally, is that this is all very expensive, with Criterion listing the retail price at $225. The set will be available on October 29, and you can see the full list of movies (and a teaser for the extremely cool box art) below: Godzilla, Godzilla Raids Again, King Kong Vs. Godzilla, Mothra Vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah The Three-Headed Monster, Invasion Of Astro-Monster, Ebirah Horror Of The Deep, Son Of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, All Monsters Attack, Godzilla Vs. Gigan, Godzilla Vs. Megalon, Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla, and Terror Of Mechagodzilla.