Godzilla Minus One UK Home Entertainment Review

4 stars, a monster of a creature feature.

Godzilla Minus One is a 2024 Japanese epic Kaiju film, written and directed and with special effects by Takashi Yamazaki (The Fighter Pilot, Parasyte Part 1).

Featuring an English dub as well as the original Japanese track with English subtitles, it is available in the UK from 2nd December 2024, on 4K UHD + Blu-ray Deluxe Edition, 4K UHD + Blu-ray SteelBook, Blu-ray, and DVD, courtesy of Anime Limited.

“That’s right. Take a look. Everyone is dead because you didn’t shoot. Goddammit!”

It’s 1945 and near the end of World War II, Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki – Your Name, Weathering With You) is a Japanese kamikaze pilot. Fear leads him to head for Odo Island for unnecessary repairs to his plane, although the chief mechanic Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki – Missing, Ghost Cat Anzu) sees straight through his ruse. While there, the island is attacked by an enormous sea monster, known by the locals as Godzilla. Tachibana asks him to help them but he freezes and as a result, he and Tachibana are the only survivors.

Back home in Tokyo, he us shunned by his neighbour Sumiko (Sakura Andô – Monster, Shoplifters) for his cowardice and discovers that his home has been destroyed and his parents killed in the air raids on Tokyo. Wracked with guilt, he encounters Noriko (Minami Hamabe – Silent Love, Shin Kamen Rider), another war orphan, as well as Akiko, a baby that she has rescued.

Reluctantly, he allows them to stay with him and they gradually begin to rebuild their lives, as does the city around them. He finds a job clearing mines with former weapons scientist Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka – Fukushima 50, Winny), captain Akitsu (Kuranosuke Sasaki – The Memory Eraser, One Night) and the young but enthusiastic Mizushima (Yuki Yamada – Blue Giant, Whisper of the Heart). As a revitalized and empowered Godzilla begins to head for Japan, will he find the courage to do what’s needed?

“It’s too late to play the hero. I see right through you. Don’t bother asking me for help.”

Godzilla Minus One is an absolutely brilliant addition to the franchise and features some quite astonishing special effects, which are shown off to their full potential in the 4K version, superb.

Koichi is an admirably unlikable character, taking the cowards way out at every turn yet somehow always landing on his feet, but despite all of that, you still find yourself rooting for him.

It is as much a study of rebuilding from the devastation of war as it is a creature feature, very well done and making for an extremely interesting film.

With lots of different versions to choose from, this is a must own for the stocking of the monster lover in the house.

“Every night I hear them calling to me in my dreams. Come and join us already they say. Stop trying to cheat death and accept your fate.”

Godzilla Minus One is available in the UK from 2nd December 2024, on 4K UHD + Blu-ray Deluxe Edition, 4K UHD + Blu-ray SteelBook, Blu-ray, and DVD

With limited copies across all good retailers, the GODZILLA MINUS ONE Deluxe Edition is housed on a rigid slipcase containing four discs:

Disc 1: The film on 4K UHD Blu-ray.
Disc 2: The film on Blu-ray.
Disc 3: GODZILLA MINUS ONE/MINUS COLOR on Blu-ray (exclusive to the Deluxe Edition!).
Disc 4: Bonus Blu-ray packed with special features, all of which are English subtitled.

The release also includes a comprehensive 68-page booklet featuring a message by director Takashi Yamazaki, an introduction to the film, a host of promotional artwork, and a wealth of interviews with key staff and other information, including the colour-grading of GODZILLA MINUS ONE/MINUS COLOR, and the operation to bring the film to global success.

The on-disc bonus features include a Making Of feature, VFX featurette, a special behind-the-scenes program, a whole host of event footage, and a collection of trailers for the film.

For the home cinema aficionados, the 4K UHD Blu-ray features a Dolby Vision HDR Presentation, with audio in Dolby Atmos for the Japanese audio (with English subtitles). Both the Blu-ray edition and GODZILLA MINUS ONE/MINUS COLOR also support Dolby Atmos Japanese audio with English subtitles, and 5.1 English audio.

For the SteelBook enthusiasts, Anime Limited and Toho Co., Ltd are also offering a 4K UHD + Blu-ray SteelBook Edition that alongside the premium collector’s packaging, includes a grand total of three discs:

Disc 1: The film on 4K UHD Blu-ray
Disc 2: The film on Blu-ray
Disc 3: Bonus Blu-ray packed with special features, all of which are English subtitled

All of the disc contents, specifications and bonus features across these discs match those of the respective discs in the Deluxe Edition, with all of the same bonus features which are once again fully subtitled.

The Standard Edition releases will both include a single disc featuring the film only, in Japanese with English subtitles, and English-language audio options. The Blu-ray version will feature Dolby Atmos for the Japanese audio and 5.1 audio for the English dub, while the DVD will include 5.1 for both audio languages.