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Shot in black and white, this 1965 Japanese monster movie was the Daiei company's answer to Toho's famous Godzilla series. A skirmish between U.S. and unknown "enemy" planes results in an atomic explosion over the Arctic which unthaws and unleashes the giant flying turtle Gamera, who eventually settles into Japan to wreak havoc while seeking out hydro-electric sustenance. However, this fire-eating (and breathing) behemoth displays a compassionate streak when he saves the life of a young boy who nearly falls to his death from a toppled lighthouse. Panicky scientists and military officials vainly try to find ways to destroy Gamera while the boy seeks to bond with his misunderstood reptilian hero. Like many of its celluloid Japanese monster brethren, Giant Monster Gamera has not aged all that well, but the well-staged and photographed assault on Tokyo makes for festive mayhem. Overall the film is good entertainment for young kids as well as the inner children of the adults who grew up on these monster mashes. --Bryan Reesman
Product Description
During the height of the Cold War, East-West tensions lead to a nuclear disaster when a Soviet bomber is shot down over U.S. airspace in the Arctic! Massive radiation from the atomic explosion awakens an ancient, gargantuan creature, a long-forgotten legend of the lost continent of Atlantis: Gamera! Unleashed from its glacial tomb and proving impervious to all man-made weapons, the colossal chelonian smashes a cataclysmic swath across the globe! Can the scientists of the world, led by Dr. Hidaka (Eiji Funakoshi), find a way to stop this invincible supermonster . . . or is mankind doomed?
Directed by Noriaki Yuasa (who would oversee all eight of the original Gamera entries of the 1960s and 1970s) and created by the same studio that brought Zatoichi to the screen, Daieis titanic terrapin became the only true rival to Tohos King Of The Monsters. Gamera was able to hold its own at the box office and secured a place in the hearts of kaiju eiga (Japanese Monster Movie) fans around the world.
Now, for the first time on DVD, Shout! Factory presents the original Japanese version of Gamera with new English subtitles and anamorphic widescreen from an all-new HD master created from vault elements!
Bonus Features
* A Retrospective Look at the Gamera Franchise
* Audio Commentary
* Publicity Gallery
Directed by Noriaki Yuasa (who would oversee all eight of the original Gamera entries of the 1960s and 1970s) and created by the same studio that brought Zatoichi to the screen, Daieis titanic terrapin became the only true rival to Tohos King Of The Monsters. Gamera was able to hold its own at the box office and secured a place in the hearts of kaiju eiga (Japanese Monster Movie) fans around the world.
Now, for the first time on DVD, Shout! Factory presents the original Japanese version of Gamera with new English subtitles and anamorphic widescreen from an all-new HD master created from vault elements!
Bonus Features
* A Retrospective Look at the Gamera Franchise
* Audio Commentary
* Publicity Gallery
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
55 of 59 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
THERE ARE THREE VERSIONS OF THIS FILM. DON'T GET CONFUSED!!!!
#1 The first version is the japanese original GIANT MONSTER GAMERA.
#2 This version (the second ) is the first version released in America in the 60's.
The dubbing (By SPEED RACER's Peter Fernandez) is excellent and new
scenes with American actors Albert Dekker (DR. CYCLOPS) Brian Donlevy
(CURSE OF THE FLY) and Allen Oppenheimer (The voice of Skeletor) were added. Very entertaining and well produced.
#3 The third version was the SANDY FRANK version released on video in 1987.
it is a straight dub of the japanese version, but the voice acting is inferior to the
#2 version. This is the version that aired on Mystery Science Theatre 3000 and
should be avoided. Buy the above version instead.
#1 The first version is the japanese original GIANT MONSTER GAMERA.
#2 This version (the second ) is the first version released in America in the 60's.
The dubbing (By SPEED RACER's Peter Fernandez) is excellent and new
scenes with American actors Albert Dekker (DR. CYCLOPS) Brian Donlevy
(CURSE OF THE FLY) and Allen Oppenheimer (The voice of Skeletor) were added. Very entertaining and well produced.
#3 The third version was the SANDY FRANK version released on video in 1987.
it is a straight dub of the japanese version, but the voice acting is inferior to the
#2 version. This is the version that aired on Mystery Science Theatre 3000 and
should be avoided. Buy the above version instead.
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By D. Steigman
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
THIS REVIEW IS ABOUT THE 2010 VERSION OF GAMERA
Here is a brief history of Gamera before we get on to the DVD release...
In 1965 Gamera was created by Daiei to compete with Toho's Godzilla. The first film was a more serious effort. The plot is very simple. Gamera arises from the Arctic to destroy Japan, & he does . Is there nothing to stop the giant turtle from destroying Japan and the entire universe ?
The special effects in this are good for the most part, save for some obvious toys used but the miniatures used and the Gamera suit were well done. I feel this movie is a little underrated and gets a bad rap at times but overall it is entertaining and a lot better than later releases..
Before getting to the 2010 DVD releases here are some notes about previous releases to home video of Gamera
Sinister Cinema carried a USA version of Gamera called Gammera the Invincible - this version had extra scenes with Albert Dekker (Dr. Cyclops) and Brian Donlevy (he was Professor Quatermass & was in some excellent film noir movies such as Impact, the Glass Key,etc). This version also contained the Gammera song. A few years ago this same version appeared was released by Alpha DVD and other low budget DVD companies..
Another USA version of Gamera came out, simply called Gamera minus the USA Gammera footage, minus the original credits , replaced by what I call the "water credits scenes" where this movie and 4 others all had credits on water. These are called the Sandy Frank versions and were released on VHS from Celebrity Video (and a laserdisc distributed by Image entertainment) These also contain a different English dubbing.
These versions were used for Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes for Season 3 as well as the KTMA Season - the earliest MST3K season.
Several years later (the early to mid 1990s) Gamera again came out on VHS via Neptune Video - in 2 versions - English dubbed and English subtitled and called Giant Monster Gamera. The English dubbing was yet another different dubbing the other 2 Gamera releases...
Now here we are in 2010 and Shout Factory has gotten the rights to not only release the original Gamera on DVD in its uncut *authentic* original language,but they have the rights to ALL the Showa Series Gamera which goes all the way to Gamera vs. Zigra. That's right - ALL of them..
This NEW DVD from Shout Factory - will be anamorphic widescreen from an HD Transfer - expect a great transfer basically :)
As of this moment the bonus features are being worked on - what I do know is there will be a 12 page booklet with an essay by director Noriaki Yuasa, a photo gallery, trailers & the big news is an audio commentary by one of the most knowledgeable persons of not just Kaiju like Godzilla, Gamera, etc, but of Japanese pop culture. That man is the one and only August Ragone. I expect a truly fantastic insight to the history and making of Gamera & overall a fantastic commentary. For those that know August - he is the author of Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters & has written many articles for G-Fan, his own magazine called Markalite Magazine. And he had big role with the Neptune Video VHS releases of Gamera many years ago.
With his vast knowledge of Gamera on audio commentary - plus the anamorphic HD transfer & the bonus features , this will easily be the best Gamera DVD release & should not be missed by any monster movie lover & fan , die hard or otherwise.
Here is a brief history of Gamera before we get on to the DVD release...
In 1965 Gamera was created by Daiei to compete with Toho's Godzilla. The first film was a more serious effort. The plot is very simple. Gamera arises from the Arctic to destroy Japan, & he does . Is there nothing to stop the giant turtle from destroying Japan and the entire universe ?
The special effects in this are good for the most part, save for some obvious toys used but the miniatures used and the Gamera suit were well done. I feel this movie is a little underrated and gets a bad rap at times but overall it is entertaining and a lot better than later releases..
Before getting to the 2010 DVD releases here are some notes about previous releases to home video of Gamera
Sinister Cinema carried a USA version of Gamera called Gammera the Invincible - this version had extra scenes with Albert Dekker (Dr. Cyclops) and Brian Donlevy (he was Professor Quatermass & was in some excellent film noir movies such as Impact, the Glass Key,etc). This version also contained the Gammera song. A few years ago this same version appeared was released by Alpha DVD and other low budget DVD companies..
Another USA version of Gamera came out, simply called Gamera minus the USA Gammera footage, minus the original credits , replaced by what I call the "water credits scenes" where this movie and 4 others all had credits on water. These are called the Sandy Frank versions and were released on VHS from Celebrity Video (and a laserdisc distributed by Image entertainment) These also contain a different English dubbing.
These versions were used for Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes for Season 3 as well as the KTMA Season - the earliest MST3K season.
Several years later (the early to mid 1990s) Gamera again came out on VHS via Neptune Video - in 2 versions - English dubbed and English subtitled and called Giant Monster Gamera. The English dubbing was yet another different dubbing the other 2 Gamera releases...
Now here we are in 2010 and Shout Factory has gotten the rights to not only release the original Gamera on DVD in its uncut *authentic* original language,but they have the rights to ALL the Showa Series Gamera which goes all the way to Gamera vs. Zigra. That's right - ALL of them..
This NEW DVD from Shout Factory - will be anamorphic widescreen from an HD Transfer - expect a great transfer basically :)
As of this moment the bonus features are being worked on - what I do know is there will be a 12 page booklet with an essay by director Noriaki Yuasa, a photo gallery, trailers & the big news is an audio commentary by one of the most knowledgeable persons of not just Kaiju like Godzilla, Gamera, etc, but of Japanese pop culture. That man is the one and only August Ragone. I expect a truly fantastic insight to the history and making of Gamera & overall a fantastic commentary. For those that know August - he is the author of Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters & has written many articles for G-Fan, his own magazine called Markalite Magazine. And he had big role with the Neptune Video VHS releases of Gamera many years ago.
With his vast knowledge of Gamera on audio commentary - plus the anamorphic HD transfer & the bonus features , this will easily be the best Gamera DVD release & should not be missed by any monster movie lover & fan , die hard or otherwise.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
Giant Monster Gamera (LBX , SUBS).
For many years these films have been produced on cheapy SLP tapes , and never subtitled..Now , it is. The movie is one that any true Kaiju fan should buy if not , only rent it then. The film has been completely remastered and its uncut.
In the film , Gamera is awakened by a plane that crashes into the artic. From there on Gamera goes on a killing spree , but not because he's violent , instead the creature is hungry.(Don't beleive me? check out the cover's reverse side) After destroying much of Japan the beast is rocketted into outer space.... Other movies are.. Gamera Vs. Barugon , Gamera Vs. Gaos (Gayos , Gyaos) , Gamera Vs. Viras , Gamera Vs. Guiron , Gamera Vs. Jiger , Gamera Vs. Zigra , SuperMonster - Gamera (yuck) , Gamera : Guardian of the Universe , G2 : Advent of Legion and G3 : Awakening of Irys (Iris)...All are okay but maybe not to all....
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Memories of Youth.
When this first Gamera film came out, I was still in high school. I have always enjoyed this genre, its not deep, and it doesn't ask the viewer deep questions. Read more
Published 6 days ago by John Ventrillo
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gamera
If you are a fan of old Japanese monster movies... you can't lose. Like Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan.... this movie is awesome!! A classic old school cheesy monster movie. Read more
Published 20 days ago by Michael Berger
4.0 out of 5 stars
Japanese. Monster
I love it, my grandkids watched it with me. I first saw the movie in 1970. Good memories. Thanks. Japanese Company TOHO.
Published 1 month ago by PeteRal2012
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best edition of the U.S. version to date
The American re-edit of Gammera, the Invincible has fallen into the public domain, and is thus very easy to find in bargain bin collections. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Steven J. Handzel
4.0 out of 5 stars
GAMERA NEVER LOOKED BETTER! ALMOST PERFECT RELEASE!
I've been a fan of horror films since I was a wee lad and some of my fondest memories come from watching late night TV Horror Host Dr. Shock. Read more
Published 1 month ago by DR SHOCK
5.0 out of 5 stars
GRAMMERA
I WATCHED THE MOVIE ALL THE WAY THROUGH. AND NEVER MOVED FROM THE COUCH. THAT IS WHAT A GOOD MOVIE IS. IF YOU ENJOY OLD MONSTER MOVIES. THIS IS A GOOD ONE.
Published 4 months ago by barbara brown
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth the price
This is the incredibly Americanized version of "Gammera". It is a solid film and for the price it's not worth nitpicking and bitching. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Robzilla
3.0 out of 5 stars
See this for Toschio
Okay this IS the poor-man's Godzilla. Even for a rubber-suited monster movie there are too many laughable parts. It is enjoyable if you like this genre and pop-culture. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Dominic T. Sedillo
5.0 out of 5 stars
The First Gamera - With Subtitles - The Only Way To Go
As a kid I remember Saturday afternoons watching Sir Graves Ghastly showing films like "Godzilla" and "Mothra", but "Gamera" was always my favorite. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Eulogia
3.0 out of 5 stars
Gam(m)era the Invincible!
The Showa Gamera series has its charms, especially the first three (GIANT MONSTER GAMERA, GAMERA VS. BARAGON [WAR OF THE MONSTERS], and GAMERA VS. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mark Rainey
