Customer Reviews

Gamera [VHS]

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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....

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.

It's hard to believe that I was already in college when this came out. And that I had to sneak away from the local art theaters to watch this at a downtown Saturday kid's special. Yes, as the dust of an atomic squabble between the US and the USSR settled and a man in a giant turtle suit climbed out of the ice, I was stuffing my mouth with popcorn - with real butter in those days.

The basic film is pretty simple minded. Japanese scientists investigating Eskimos witness an atomic accident that releases a giant turtle. After a short flying tour of the world, Gammera descends on Japan and Tokyo for an extended lunch. An irritating young boy names Toshio races about telling everyone not to kill the terrapin from hell. Which is moot, since nothing can kill him. Does the Earth get saved? Or is the turtle toast? I'm not telling, but anyone who has ever watched a Japanese monster movie should have no trouble guessing.

What I missed in my adolescent popcorn days was that Gammera is about 60% biting satire about scientists, news writers, and politicians (both US and international). It makes you wince a bit to realize that the filmmakers had no delusions about how silly we all are. And how many double standards we have. There were moments when I wasn't sure if I was wincing at the humor or the acting. The latter is classic Japanese sci-fi - awful.

The transfer is nothing to sing about, unfortunately. It looks like a copy of a copy. Which is probably exactly what it is. Even so films like these have a certain timelessness, like bomber jackets and BurmaShave signs. So, if you to once had a mouthful of popcorn on the Saturday matinee, I salute you. Some things never change.

After many years and cheap, SLP-mode speed video re-releases of various titles from the "Gamera" movie series, someone gives the giant, flying turtle the respect he deserves. This video is the original Japanese film, letterboxed with English subtitles. The print of the film is superb and the story tells a slightly different story than the American cut. While not the terrible monster that Godzilla started out to be, Gamera was a fast favorite of Japanese children. This movie, with its surprising ending, will be a great film for kids and for parents to relive their memories of the flying turtle.

If you are a fan of the Gamera series, you have to see how it all began right? And if you are just a fan of japanese monster movies, you will want to check it out. It isnt as much fun as the silly sequels it inspired, but the effects are fair and the japanese cast does a good job. The added american scenes are boring but brief enough. Check out the cool lighthouse sequence that forshadows what Gamera would become! Not as serious as the original GODZILLA, and not as juvenile as the rest of the series, its certainly worth a look!

This is Gamera: The Giant Monster. Sorry folks this only has the Japanese version with English subtitles in what looks like 2:35.1 widescreen. (that's the really long one). The commentary track though informative sounds very low, at least on my player it does. There's a documentary with interviews of the original creators of Gamera, and a photo gallery. Now for the gripe. I WISH AMAZON WOULD HAVE THE COURTESY TO SEPARATE THEIR REVIEWS! Gamera: The Giant Monster and Gammera the Invincible are two different movies on two different DVDS distributed by two different dvd studios. Shout Factory for this. Alpha Video for the other. It's absolutely unfair that a person clicks on this product then sees the bad reviews that are meant for the other one and a sale is lost, or at least an unfair bad impression is made. I know some people take the time to discern, but others do not. So how 'bout it Amazon. How 'bout separating the reviews, after all I'm NOT reviewing Gammera The Invincible. I'm reviewing Gamera: The Giant Monster.

The first of the famed turtle's movies (later changed from Gammera to Gamera), this movie is a bit cheesy looking, but if you compare it to most monster movies of the time, it's not that bad. Appearance wise, the film is scratchy, but it was made in the 60's, afterall. So, try to remember that and hopefully it won't to ruin your experience. The movie itself has a kind of original "Godzilla" feel, since japanese scenes are intermingled with American scenes, with each side speaking their native language and they seem to know what the other is saying. The giant turtle looks a little goofy; he seems to be unable to lower his head in walking scenes and it bobbles like he has little control if it.

Still, if you're a Kaiju fan, the cheesiness and all it's other faults will mean little to you. Gammera is still Gamera, and, even without the giant enemy to battle with, you root for the turtle and want to see the next installment.

Giant monster Gamera/aka Gamera the invincible. This is the first Gamera film. It was originally shot as a back up plan to a disastrous film project about car sized rats. The film was put together with a shoestring budget - That's why it was shot in black and white; To save money...

A doctor in zoology, his assistant, and a photographer, are out in the Arctic, in a Eskimo village, to study a ancient legend about giant turtle. Suddenly, mysterious airplanes are spotted in the sky. They run silent and their origin is a mystery. However, the US airforce has spotted them too, and they decide to investigate. The mysterious aircraft's, refuses to identify themselves, missile fire are exchanged! One of the mysterious airplane crashes, a huge explosion occurs - The plane was carrying a A-bomb! When everything has calmed down after this, something as powerful as the A-bomb arises from the ice - Gamera! The beast is however not a benign creature, the first thing it does is to sink the teams boat, all onboard dies. The huge ancient turtle makes eventually its way to Japan. Weapon can't pierce its skin. Different plans are carried out, but they all fail - It seems futile, is there any hope at all, for Japan?

The special effects are good. The story is intelligent - It's a very good film!
(Can one say anything bad about a monster film, which Tokyo tower is being wrecked in?)
They had a shoe string budget, but they have made magic with it...

This edition is a quality one; Hard video box, good picture quality, trailers and theatrical stills after the film, and a lot of info on the two sided cover sleeve. It's also is subtitled, not dubbed - Which me, from a non-English speaking country, without tradition of dubbing - Appreciates a lot!
Thanks, Neptune media!

In 1954, Toho Company Ltd. made the most popular monster movie ever to be made: Godzilla. Obviously, several other movie companies made their own daikaiju (or giant monster) films. Only a few were successful. Giant Monster Gamera was one of them. The movie is about a giant turtle that breathes and eats fire and can withdraw his limbs and head inside his shell, replace them with fire and take off into the sky awakens in Antarctica. He crushes Tokyo and saves a boy named Toshio from a falling lighthouse. He is attached to a giant rocket and launched to outer space. I really liked this movie. It's just that Toshio is annoying and it is shot in black & white, almost a decade after color was added to TV. If you like giant monster movies, you should buy this movie.