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Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: September 21, 2010.
Director: Noriaki Yuasa
Cast: Nobuhiro Kamjima, Miyuki Akiyama, Christopher Murphy
Year: 1969
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The Movies:
Gamera Vs. Guiron (1969):
Also know as Attack Of The Monsters, this first movie begins when a mysterious unidentified flying object lands in a field outside of Tokyo. Two curious young boys, Akio (Nobuhiro Kajima) and Tom (Christopher Murphy), set out to check out the crash site and see what exactly happened. They enter the ship and wind up taking control of the ship and piloting it on a joyride of sorts. Unfortunately, most twelve year old boys suck at driving and these two are no exception - they crash the ship on a foreign planet where they see Gyaos doing battle with a creature with a giant knife for a head named Guiron. Making matters worse for our heroes is the presence of two female aliens, Barbella and Flobella, who intend to eat their brains, steal their spaceship, and head to Earth to make all kinds of trouble.
What Gyaos, Barbella and Flobella don't count on is the fact that Gamera is on watch and he's not going to take any of their shit. He spins around really fast, breaths some space fire, and goes on an ass kicking rampage of epic proportions!
Okay, ignore the obnoxious kids or pretend that you live in the perfect world where the alien chicks really would have eaten their brains and enjoy the plethora of rubber suited chaos that this movie offers up in spades. Sure, the plot is dopey and ropey but what matters here are the battles and on that level this is a pretty great entry in the Gamera series - where else in the series are you going to see a strange creature with a knife-head use that knife-head to saw off his opponent's noggin? Nowhere! While the writers seem to have gone on vacation this time around, the effects technicians and monster suited powers that be have more than made up for that, stock footage inserts be damned.
Gamera Vs. Jiger (1970):
Released in North America as Gamera Vs. Monster X, our second feature begins on a strange island somewhere in the South Pacific where the natives are irritated by the presence of a strange, noisy statue. Thankfully for them, Expo 70 is going on in Japan and some exhibitors seem keen on displaying it there for the world to see. Moving the statue proves to be a bad idea, however, as it awakens a giant lizard named Jiger who follows the exhibition crew to Tokyo to wreak death and destruction. Gamera shows up but the first round of their battle goes to Jiger when he stabs him with his tail which somehow manages to make Gamera a host for its creepy insect larva hatchlings!
This time around, it's up to Hiroshi (Tsutomu Tawkawa) and Tommy (Cary Varis), two boys not at all unlike those seen in the first film, to pilot a mini submarine through Gamera's body and eliminate the parasites so that he can get back to full strength and send Jiger back where he belongs.
Not quite as insane as the first feature, this is still a movie ripe with quality monster battles and miniatures being trashed by guys in rubber suits. This entry also has the bonus of not recycling so many clips from earlier films, though there are a few early on in the picture. Some interesting, almost documentary style footage of the actual Expo 70 occurring for real in Tokyo will interest those with an affection for such things, though again, the child actors hired to play in this picture are pretty irritating.
Jiger isn't quite as cool an opponent for everyone's favorite space turtle as a knife-headed beastie, but he's still a fun bad guy thanks to his unique insemination skills. This isn't the best entry in the series or even the best entry on this DVD, but it's still a fun time at the movies.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Shout! Factory presents both films on DVD in good 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen color transfers. Properly flagged for progressive scan playback, these transfers mop the floor with the lousy fullframe transfer that Alpha and a few other 'public domain' outfits offered up of the American versions. The images here are very clean, with some noticeable grain but no real heavy-duty print damage to complain about. Contrast levels are solid, with deep blacks and color reproduction looks appropriately bold and garish - just as they should. There aren't any obvious compression artifacts nor is there any pesky edge enhancement. Gamera fans should be quite happy with the way that the film looks on this DVD, which was mastered from a brand new high definition transfer taken from original vault elements (or so says the packaging!).
The Japanese language Dolby Digital Mono track, which comes with optional subtitles in English only, sounds crisp and clear. Range is obviously limited, this is an older mono track after all, but the levels are well balanced and there are no problems with hiss or distortion to note. For those who want the English audio options, well, unlike the first two releases in the series this disc does contain those tracks too (the first film features the AIP track and the Sandy Frank track as options, while the second film features the AIP track as an option).
Aside from some static menus, each disc gets a still gallery of promotional materials and that's it. It's a shame the later films in the series didn't get the love that the first two did in this department, but on the flip side of that coin, here you get two films for the price of one. An insert inside the keepcase contains chapter listings for both films on one side and an advertisement for other Shout! Factory releases on the other.
The Final Word:
The lack of extras is going to irk some but the movies look and sound very good and are presented in their original aspect ratio. On top of that, they're offered up at a pretty snazzy price, making this double feature of monster mayhem one Gamera fans already know they need to own.