Godzilla Minus One has stomped onto Netflix, but viewers with a keen ear have detected a bizarre difference between its streaming release and the version on Blu-ray.
It’s not unprecedented for a movie to change a little bit when it comes to Netflix; for example, Denzel Washington’s Man on Fire is supposed to have stylized subtitles, but they were removed for streaming so they didn’t cause any confusion with the platform’s captions.
However, this is one a bit stranger. After Godzilla Minus One dropped on Netflix, fans who’d also picked up the Japanese Blu-ray release noticed a couple of differences between the two versions.
More specifically, the sound effects are different in two key scenes: the moment Shikishima and Odo Island’s mechanics see Godzilla for the first time, and the glimpse of Godzilla after the Bikini Atoll nuclear test.
In the first scene on the Blu-ray, Godzilla’s roar is harsher and louder, while Netflix’s version makes it seem a little quieter and more in the distance. Things get a bit more confusing in the second scene, with both releases having different versions of Godzilla’s roar; as fans have pointed out, Netflix’s sound effect sounds much more like the original Godzilla movies than whatever monster sound was picked for the Blu-ray.
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While it was initially suspected that Netflix tinkered with the sound mix, it now appears to be the other way around, with the Blu-ray coming with a different audio track that may have been corrected for streaming.
“I saw Minus One in theaters 7 times. The sound effects for the Japan Blu-ray are different from what we got in American theaters,” one user argued. “I’ve got a pretty decent ear for sound design. So I’m putting it all on the line when I say the Netflix version is the theatrical version and it’s the Japanese Blu-ray that changed sound effects,” another commented.
From a quick inspection of the Blu-ray’s specs, there may be a simple explanation: the Netflix version comes with a Dolby Atmos audio track, while the physical release has Atmos, 7.1, 5.1, and 2.0. So, it’s incredibly likely that the different sound effects are on another audio track.
If you want to know when Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color is coming to Netflix and when Minus One is coming out on Blu-ray, we’ve got you covered. We can also tell you how tall Godzilla is, how old Godzilla is, and why Godzilla Minus One is called that.
