One of the best Godzilla films of the last decade, 2016’s Shin Godzilla, kicked off a new remastered theatrical run in America earlier this month, featuring the original Japanese voice track, English subtitles, and restored text cards. While this new version will premiere in theaters first, it will also be released on a new 4K Blu-ray on October 28, and will include all-new special features and a collectible steelbook case. If you’re interested in adding the cult-favorite Kaiju movie to your collection, you can preorder the Shin Godzilla Steelbook Edition 4K Blu-ray for $48 at multiple online retailers.
$48 | Releases October 28
The Shin Godzilla Steelbook Edition 4K Blu-ray includes the new 4K remaster of the original film, as well as standard Blu-ray and digital download formats. There’s also a bonus disc including several bonus features, which we’ve listed below. The three-disc package comes in a collectible Steelbook case featuring cover and interior art of the film’s menacing version of Godzilla firing off a devastating atomic breath ray. Preorders are available for $46 at Amazon, Walmart, and Gruv.
Shin Godzilla 4K Blu-ray Collector’s Edition (Godzilla Store-Exclusive)
The 4K edition of Shin Godzilla is also getting two Godzilla Store-exclusive collector’s editions, alongside a bunch of other Shin Godzilla merch that’s available to preorder. The $55 Shin Godzilla Collector’s Edition is a four-disc set that includes the same video content as the Steelbook Edition, plus a black and white cut of the film and a booklet featuring behind-the-scenes notes translated to English for the first time. The whole package comes in a fold-out digipak box. There’s also an $85 bundle that includes the Collector’s Edition plus a T-shirt with the film’s original theatrical poster art.
Shin Godzilla Steelbook Edition 4K Blu-ray Bonus Materials
All versions of the new 4K Blu-ray release include an extra disc packed with special features. These include a “Making of Shin Godzilla” featurette, deleted scenes, production materials showcasing how several of the film’s special effects were created, and more. Here’s a look at all the bonus materials included. Note that these special features are presented in 1080p.
- Promotional Video Collection
- Making Of Shin Godzilla
- Deleted Scenes
- Outtakes
- News Reels
- Previs Reel Collection
- Previs and Special Effects Outtakes
- Visual Effects Breakdown
Co-directed by the creator of Evangelion, Hideaki Anno, and Shinji Higuchi (Shin Ultraman), Shin Godzilla marked the first new Godzilla movie in Japan since 2004’s Godzilla: Final Wars. It reboots the series and returns the giant monster to its destructive roots, portraying the iconic Kaiju as an atomic-fueled force of nature wrecking havoc on Tokyo, Japan. While the film takes inspiration from the 1954 original–which used Godzilla as an allegory for America’s nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki–Shin Godzilla uses the monster as an allegory for the earthquake and tsunamis that struck Japan in 2011, causing the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. It’s also notable as the last film–for now–to use practical effects for Godzilla, who is at his most grotesque and monstrous in this film.
Shin Godzilla earned high critical praise when it premiered in 2016, kicking off the new “Reiwa Era” of Japanese Godzilla films. At the time, Shin Godzilla was planned to be a standalone movie, but the production studio Toho recently stated it plans to develop a sequel.
Toho followed up Shin Godzilla with its next live-action film in the series, Godzilla: Minus One, written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki. The movie is yet another reboot of the franchise, separate from Shin Godzilla, that acts as a loose remake of the 1954 original. It follows Koichi Shikishima, a would-be Kamikaze fighter pilot who witnesses a giant creature–Godzilla–destroy his airbase, leaving him traumatized and unable to complete his final mission. Upon returning to his home after the war, he is labeled as a coward and ostracized from his hometown, which was destroyed by US air raids. However, just as he’s beginning to piece back together a life for himself, Godzilla appears again and attacks Japan.
Like Shin Godzilla, Godzilla: Minus One was lauded by critics upon release, and even won the series’ first-ever Academy Award for best visual effects in 2023. A sequel is in production and planned to premiere in 2026–which, if you’re keeping track, means there are now three separate live-action Godzilla continuities to keep track of, including Hollywood’s MonsterVerse series. Luckily, since Shin Godzilla and Godzilla: Minus One only have one entry each in their respective series, they’re easy to catch up on. You can pick up Godzilla: Minus One on 4K Blu-ray for $23.79 or standard Blu-ray for $16.53. Fans who want to go deeper into the story of Minus One can also preorder the official novelization launching September 2, which features new content and expands many of the scenes from the movie.
Godzilla Reiwa Era Blu-rays and Books
Fans of the Reiwa Era Godzilla films will also want to check out several other projects related to Shin Godzilla and Godzilla: Minus One. Most notable are the other two entries in Anno’s “Shin” trilogy: Shin Kamen Rider and Shin Ultraman, which offer new reimaginings of the iconic Tokusatsu heroes. Both are available to stream via Prime Video. Then there’s Toho’s other Reiwa Era films, including the sci-fi Godzilla Anime Trilogy, which reimagine the giant monster as an enormous planet-destroying titan. The films have seen mixed reception, but you can check them out on Netflix if you’re interested. Similarly, Toho was also behind the live-action Monster Hunter film adaptation directed by Paul WS Anderson. The movie bears only a loose resemblance to the Capcom action RPG series it’s based on, and its reception was mixed at best, but it at least features cool monster effects befitting a Toho production.
Hollywood Godzilla Films
The third ongoing Godzilla live-action timeline is Legendary Pictures’ Monsterverse, which kicked off in 2014 with Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards (Star Wars Rogue One, Jurassic World Rebirth). Since then, the series has seen several more entries, including Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs. Kong, and Godzilla X Kong: New Empire. There’s also the TV series Monarch that’s available to stream on Prime Video and Apple TV+, the Monsterverse graphic novel. The next film, Godzilla X Kong: Supernova, is set to premiere in 2027, which means you’ve got plenty of time to catch up on the series. The best way to do that is with the Godzilla x Kong MonsterVerse 5-Film 4K Blu-ray Collection available for $81, though you can also grab each of the films as standalone releases, too.
Since we’re talking about Hollywood-produced Godzilla films, we should also mention the 1998 Godzilla movie directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Matthew Broderick. While panned by critics at the time, it’s garnered a cult following that appreciates the “so-bad-it’s-good” watchability of Emmerich’s weird take on Japan’s iconic monster. If you feel like revisiting it yourself, it’s available on 4K Blu-ray at Amazon.
Despite the poor reviews, this version of Godzilla proved popular with children at the time–so much so that it spawned an animated cartoon series that ran for 40 episodes, and is arguably better and more fun to watch than the movie. You can grab Godzilla: The Complete Animated Series on DVD at Amazon.
MonsterVerse Blu-rays & Graphic Novel
1998 Godzilla Film And Animated Series
Classic Toho Godzilla Blu-rays
Alongside all these new films, there are also dozens of classic Godzilla flicks to check out, many of which have been recently re-released on Blu-ray. The best place to start is, of course, with the 1954 original Godzilla, which is available in a Criterion Collection Edition on 4K or standard Blu-ray. There’s also a Criterion Collection of the Showa Era films that collects all 15 Godzilla flicks Toho produced from 1954 to 1975. These are the oldest–and in many cases silliest–films in the series, and while none have aged as well as Godzilla (1954), they’re still a fun watch.
Movies from the two Godzilla film eras that followed the Showa Era–the Heisei Era (1984-1995) and the Millennium Era (1999-2004) are harder to track down on Blu-ray, but you’ll find some classics like the Heisei Era’s Godzilla vs. Biollante or Millennium Era’s Godzilla 2000 available. We’ve rounded up a few more classic Godzilla films in the list below.
Millennium Era (1999-2004)
Heisei Era (1984-1995)
Showa Era (1954-1975)
Godzilla Library Collection Comics
While the Godzilla films are the best way to experience Godzilla, the giant lizard has also appeared in many comics and graphic novels over the years, several of which are available in the giant Godzilla Library Collections from IDW Comics.
This ongoing series of large omnibus-sized paperback volumes will collect all of the Godzilla comics published by IDW over the years. Many of these are considered some of the best Godzilla stories ever written, including the gorgeous Godzilla: Half-Century War by James Stokoe–which you’ll find in Godzilla Library Collection Vol. 1. Four volumes have been released so far, with Volume 5 set to launch on November 18, and more planned after.
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