Reviews for the new American blu-ray release of the original 1954 Godzilla movie are coming in and thankfully, it’s good!

Blu-ray.com reviews of the release earned 4 1/2 stars for combined video and audio quality score and stated that “Criterion’s presentation of this classic Japanese film is leaps and bounds ahead of Classic Media’s presentation ” which only received 2 1/2 stars back in 2009. Ain’t It Cool raised the bar by saying “this is the first must-own Blu-ray of 2012“.

In what could be seen as a the first ever replaced actors but with same battle footage adaptation, the movie comes with Godzilla, King of the Monsters! starring Raymond Burr, digitally remastered.

Other features include:

• Audio commentary on both versions by kaiju historian David Kalat
• New interviews with actor Akira Takarada (Hideto Ogata), Godzilla performer Haruo Nakajima and FX technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai
• Interview with legendary GODZILLA score composer Akira Ifukube
• Featurette detailing GODZILLA’s photographic FX
• New interview with Japanese-film critic Tadao Sato
• “The Unluckiest Dragon,” an illustrated audio essay featuring historian Greg Pflugfelder describing the tragic fate of the fishing vessel Daigo fukuryu maru, a real-life event that inspired GODZILLA
• Theatrical trailers
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• Booklet featuring an essay by critic J. Hoberman

The DVD and blu-ray are both scheduled for release on 24th January.