It's official: Criterion Godzilla

The Criterion Collection made their official January title announcements on Friday, and among all the great films listed is the 1954 original Gojira, also known as Godzilla, King of the Monsters. It appears that it will be a hi-def digital restoration from one of Toho's interpositive prints.  Long rumored for years, and often times thought to be wishful fan thinking, this DVD and Blu-ray release is the more important of two recent kaiju events, the other being the possibility of getting the AIP audio track for Destroy All Monsters.

Check out the product page for more detail on the specs. The U.S. version is confirmed as an extra. Criterion is creating a new hi-def transfer of Godzilla from a 35mm fine-grain print in the hands of a collector, and it should look like an entirely different film compared to the poor-quality video transfer that has been used for years. More information about that is on August Ragone's blog.

It's great to see Ishiro Honda take his place among other great Japanese directors like Kurosawa, Ozu, Oshima and Suzuki in the Collection.