THE PLOT THUS FAR
Restored to their Original Japanese Cuts!
The last 4 films of Daiei Studios monster series Gamera are unleashed and available on Blu-ray for the first time! Your favorite giant turtle returns to Earth leaving no fire-spitting scene behind. Beautifully captured to their lavish original cuts, viewers can experience four-times the thrills of this legend sci-fi classic like they have never seen before!
Presented in Japanese with English subtitles!
Gamera vs. Guiron (1969)
Gamera, the giant flying turtle, spins into action when two young boys board a spaceship and are hijacked to a strange planet on the other side of the sun. While the boys evade the clutches of two brain-hungry alien beauties, Gamera must deal with a knife-nosed monster named Guiron.
Gamera vs. Jiger (1970)
The fire-breathing action continues as Gamera battles one of his greatest foes, Jiger, a horned monster reminiscent of the Triceratops. Drawn to the World Expo in Osaka by an ancient statue, the evil reptile injects Gamera with its parasitic offspring to eliminate the super turtle.
Gamera vs. Zigra (1971)
The shark-like alien Zigra attacks Earth to enslave the human race as food. Aided by spacewoman X-1, Zigra s wicked plan goes swimmingly until the invaders are challenged by Gamera and confounded by two troublemaking kids.
Gamera: Super Monster (1980)
The final entry of the Showa Gamera series plays as a highlight reel reviving all of the previous evil monsters. When the alien Zanon tries to conquer Earth with an army of monsters, three superwomen enlist the help of Gamera to foil the invader’s plans.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“Gamera” arrived in Godzilla’s wake. Gamera tried to make more of a bridge to the West, as it wanted to set up a Cold War threat. Naturally, this spawns Gamera and the two sides go to War with the creature. The plot doesn’t change much for the first four movies. Well, sidekick and enemy Kaiju show up to start trouble. But, that’s typical for the subgenre.
The end of the Showa era had a big impact on Kaiju. Basically, it was when Classic Kaiju ended and we entered into a weird spot of Monster Movie history. American audiences started laughing at the Eastern classics and Eastern studios never really cared to up the budget. The shift from scope to flat only made the creatures seem less majestic. While you don’t get the weird interlace lines as you did on the first volume, the age of the films start to become more apparent on this release.
The Blu-Ray comes with no special features. The A/V Quality is pretty strong. The 1080p transfer is far more impressive than anything I’ve seen for the Gamera flicks. That being said, the Japanese 2.0 track is pretty lossy. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase to Kaiju fans.
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!