Media Blasters
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Media Blasters, abbreviated MB, is an American independent entertainment company specializing in the localization of manga, anime, Asian cinema, and obscure or exotic films in the North American market. Founded by John Sirabella in 1997 in Belleville, New Jersey, the company consists of several divisions each specializing in the distribution of specific types of media. The company's Tokyo Shock label was founded in 1998, and focuses on home video releases of Asian cinema. It has released notable films from studios such as Toho and Shaw Brothers Ltd. Notably, it officially brought many kaiju films to DVD in North America for the first, and in some cases only, time. After many years releasing Toho's lesser-known Showa kaiju offerings on DVD, the company secured the rights to two Godzilla films, Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla vs. Megalon, in 2011. Media Blasters released both films to DVD and Blu-ray, marking the first official non-VHS release of Godzilla vs. Megalon in North America and the first time the Japanese version of either film had become available in the region. However, disputes with Toho over licensing the special features included on these releases resulted in Destroy All Monsters being pulled from circulation and re-released in 2014 without the special features. Godzilla vs. Megalon was accidentally released in limited quantities with the unapproved special features included due to an error by the duplication facility. Media Blasters also released the soundtrack album for Destroy All Monsters to CD in 2011 and 2014, but cancelled a planned CD release of the soundtrack album for Godzilla vs. Megalon. All of the companies' releases of Toho films have since gone out of print, with most of these titles later being acquired by The Criterion Collection, and the company has yet to work with Toho again following the dispute. Despite many financial difficulties during the 2010s resulting in the company discontinuing many of its labels and scaling back its releases, it has since seemingly recovered as of 2020 and continues operating to this day, releasing other non-Toho kaiju films in the North American market.
Selected releases
- Gappa (1967) - DVD (2000/2020) and Blu-ray (2020)
- The Mysterians (1957) - DVD (2005)
- Varan (1958) - DVD (2005)
- Matango (1963) - DVD (2005)
- Dogora (1964) - DVD (2005)
- Atragon (1963) - DVD (2006)
- Space Amoeba (1970) - DVD (2006)
- Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965) - DVD (2007)
- Latitude Zero (1969) - DVD (2007)
- Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds (1977) - DVD (2007)
- Gamera the Brave (2006) - DVD (2008) and Blu-ray (2013)
- Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit (2008) - DVD (2009)
- Death Kappa (2010) - DVD and Blu-ray combo (2010/2020)
- Destroy All Monsters (1968) - DVD and Blu-ray (2011/2014)
- Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) - DVD and Blu-ray (2012/2014)
Gallery
2000 Gappa the Triphibian Monsters DVD
2020 Gappa the Triphibian Monster DVD
Gappa the Triphibian Monster Blu-ray
The Mysterians DVD
Toho Pack three movie DVD set
Dogora DVD
Atragon DVD
Space Amoeba DVD
Latitude Zero DVD
Gamera the Brave DVD
Gamera the Brave Blu-ray
Death Kappa DVD
Death Kappa Blu-ray + DVD combo
Destroy All Monsters Blu-ray
Destroy All Monsters soundtrack CD
Godzilla vs. Megalon Blu-ray
External links
Comments
Showing 3 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.
|
