Original Release Date: August 29, 2006
10.2 Release Date: February 5, 2008
Re-Release Date: March 19, 2019
Episodes Featured:
Godzilla vs. Megalon (Volume 10 only)
The Giant Gila Monster (Volume 10.2 only)
Also Featured:
Poopie II! (partial)
MSTie for Me (partial)
When Volume 10 of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 box sets came out there was much rejoicing. The fan favorite episode, Godzilla vs. Megalon, was released for purchase in home media and it was glorious. But all was not well. See, the episode wasn't exactly obtained legally, and the box set was soon pulled.
At the time, Godzilla vs. Megalon had a lot of question marks around it's US legality. Technically the film is in public domain (presumably this is how it wound up on MST in the first place), but it's not quite a black-and-white scenario, since the Godzilla trademark is still the property of Toho Company Ltd., which means anyone interested in licensing of the film would still need to go through them. Toho had already licensed the film out for a lengthy contract, but who that company was had been uncertain to most. For the record, the company it was licensed to was Goodtimes, which was bankrupt and didn't have the resources to release it.
As of this writing, Godzilla vs. Megalon is licensed for distribution to Janus Films and is released through their Criterion Collection blu-ray line, as well as their Criterion Channel streaming app, so all is well on that front.
The MST version is another story. During this period of confusion, Rhino Home Video was negotiating with a shady company called Krypton International, who they had previously licensed Women of the Prehistoric Planet from. Krypton claimed they were the company who owned the US rights to Godzilla vs. Megalon and they licensed it out to Rhino. Toho got wind of it and, in the words of Frank Conniff on this DVD set, "Toho said Noho." Turned out that not only did Krypton not have the rights to Godzilla vs. Megalon, they also didn't have the rights to Women of the Prehistoric Planet either (which is owned by a gentleman named Wade Williams), which meant that not only did Volume 10 have to be pulled, but Volume 9 had to go too.
This is why we can't have nice things.
Volume 10 was eventually reissued with a replacement episode that was a nice and safe public domain movie called Giant Gila Monster, and it included a funny skit with Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, and Frank Conniff as a "Sorry! We'll do better!" Can't complain about that. Folks who had already purchased 10 also had the option of purchasing Gila Monster by itself through Rhino's website.
As to which set is better, that's largely going to depend on whether or not you prefer Godzilla to Gila. Personally, I do favor the Godzilla episode, but one thing I will note is that whichever set you have, the episode in that specific slot is definitely the best episode featured, because Gila Monster is a pretty good episode too. But that's not to say the rest of the episodes on this set don't stack up. When I look at the episode list for Volume 10, it strikes me as a comfort food menu. The episodes aren't particularly great, but they're an endearing good time. Godzilla/Gila is the highlight, though I wouldn't say no to Swamp Diamonds, Teen-Age Strangler, or Giant Spider Invasion, all of which are just about even in quality and very funny. Swamp Diamonds does get an advantage for having a very funny short, while I might prefer Spider Invasion over Strangler (but that battle comes down to microscopic details).
Average Rating (out of 4, both sets): 3
Video on all of the episodes averages out to be pretty good, and audio is great as well. I'll tell you, having Godzilla vs. Megalon in this pristine a condition is a godsend. Now if only we could get Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster too. Bonus features were highlighted by an edited down version of the Poopie II blooper reel. Also featured were a Video Jukebox of songs from the show (edited from the Play MSTie for Me videos) and a photo gallery. When Giant Gila Monster replaced Godzilla vs. Megalon, a few more bonuses were added, including the afore mentioned skit with Joel, Trace, and Frank which demonstrated how to "replace" the Godzilla vs. Megalon disc (though if anybody was dumb enough to throw it away, that's their loss). Also on the Gila Monster disc was an interview with the film's star, Don Sullivan.
Dinosaur lovers will love Rhino's box art, which features a close-up of a tyrannosaurus on it's cover, and he's wearing a dog tag that says "Volume 10" on it. The background is a lot of prehistoric rocks, a lake, and an active volcano, while an orange illuminated MST logo hits the earth, like an asteroid. This box art was retained for the 10.2 rerelease. Interior art featured a burned up landscape with dinosaur skeletons, presumably representing their extinction. It's pretty cool art. On the disc art front, exclusive to the original Volume 10 release, Godzilla vs. Megalon's disc is a platter of sushi. Replacing it on the 10.2 release, Giant Gila Monster is represented as a white-walled tire. Featured on both sets, Swamp Diamonds has a pair of handcuffs, Teen-Age Strangler has a phone dial, and Giant Spider Invasion has a tarantula on a web.
Moving on to menus, Godzilla vs. Megalon's is rather simple, as it just plays clips from the movie. It's replacement, Giant Gila Monster, is a CGI landscape with a, wait for it, giant Gila monster. Swamp Diamonds features overlapping images of the swamp. Teen-Age Strangler is a brick wall and an alleyway, where all the shady characters of the movie peak their heads out of, including Mikey and Mike Nelson as Mikey. Giant Spider Invasion is a blank blue wall with a CGI spider on it, as little spiders crawl around the screen. All of the menus feature the Shadowrama theater seats at the bottom of the screen, with Joel in the middle theater seat (even if it were a Mike episode) with the exception of Giant Gila Monster. That one is just a plain menu, probably because it's a last minute replacement.
Years later, Volume 10.2 was rereleased by Shout Factory, predictably leaving Godzilla vs. Megalon in the wind. With that episode's exclusion, Godzilla vs. Megalon joined Amazing Colossal Man (which had a VHS release in the 90's) in the exclusive club of MST episodes that Rhino released that was never released by Shout Factory. The release was their standard rerelease package, in a slim DVD case with the MST logo against a starry backdrop with the theater seats at the bottom (the top of the package humorously refers to the set as "Volume X.2"). Interior disc art is the traditional starry backdrop with the episode titles, and the menus are the traditional starry backdrop, episode title, theater seats, and closing theme to the show. This set retains most of the previous bonus featuresThe only exclusive bonus feature to this set is a featurette borrowed from the VCI blu-ray release of Giant Spider Invasion called Spider-Man: Looking Back with Bill Rebane, which features director Bill Rebane reminiscing about the film. Also featured is an archive of the DVD menus created for the previous set, minus Godzilla vs. Megalon.
There is no way around it, if you're lucky enough to own an original Volume 10 DVD set, then it should be considered the crown jewel of your collection. It was unfortunate to see it get pulled, but at least briefly we had an episode we never thought we could own on home media. Volume 10.2 is a decent and affordable replacement, but the original is the prize to seek.
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