Product Details

• Actors: Kojiro Hongo, Enami, Fujiyama, Natsuki
• Format: Color, NTSC, Full Screen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Alpha Video
• DVD Release Date: June 24, 2003
• Run Time: 89 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000098ZSK
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,824 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Platform:  DVD MOVIE Publisher:  ALPHA VIDEO Packaging:  DVD STYLE BOX Two Giant Beasts Clash in a battle for the world! Treasure hunters accidentally awaken the giant mythical beast Barugon causing a rampage that decimates a modern city. Able to stop military weapons with his freezing death ray the monster traces a path of destruction across the country. Prehistoric monster Gamera returns to Japan igniting a devastating battle between the two fearsome creatures. Buildings burn and monuments topple as the war of the monsters rages and humanity is caught in the deadly crossfire. As earth's scientists fail to halt the onslaught desperate citizens turn to the tribal folklore of Barugon's island in the hopes of saving civilization. War of the Monsters is the second installment in the Gamera series and the first to be filmed in color.Starring: Kojiro Hongo & Kyoko EnamiProduced by: Masaichi NagataDirected by: Shigeo TanakaMusic by: Chuji Kinoshita DVD Details: Special Effects by Noriaki Yuasa and Kazufumi FujiiRun Time: 89 minutesNumber of Discs: 1Originally Released in 1966ColorNo region encoding; For global distribution.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Monster Movie- Dreadful DVD quality, July 21, 2006

By 

Mike McAuley "cosmicmike1" (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: War of the Monsters (DVD)

I grew up watching Gamera movies on Detroit TV. They'd have Gamera week and Godzilla week and I'd race home from public school to watch em all.

Now as Gamera went I wasn't as big a fan. The whole flying turtle thing and too many pathetic little kids in the story lines really turned me off. BUT recently I bought the 90's Gamera box set and was blown away! The 90's movies are really good (too bad they didn't make a part 4). And thus wanting more I decided to take a trip down memory lane and wander the mine field of cheesy hokey cruddy Gamera films. I started with the first one which is totally ruined by American actor scenes which just make an already stupid movie EVEN worse. I checked out Gamera vs Monster X cause it was my all time childhood fave (the sub scene). It's OK but leans towards kiddy film heavily, although the cheese factor pulls it from a complete nose dive and several clever scenes keep it above water too. Nervous about trying more I decided to read the other reviews and most people rated War of The Monsters rather highly (one I don't remember all that well) so I gave it a shot- hell, Alpha DVD's are cheap as dirt (with equal quality). And I got to say I was happily surprised. Why??

A) Solid SCI-FI adult story line! Some loopy stuff but hey it's about a flying turtle damn-it.

B) Good action scenes. Loads of monster crushing stuff and decent human action as well.

C) Plausible evil monster. Okay the rainbow ray is a bit sissy and the baseball bat tongue is really odd. But he grew up quick and mean. GOOD human villian too!

D) NO stupid little kids. I repeat NO stupid little kids.

E) Hot chick in lead role. Got to like that.

F) Good soundtrack- no kiddy music!

So why not 5 stars??

A) Not enough Gamera. When it ends you realize Gamera just wasn't in there enough to make it a 5. Good- but needed more.

B) BAD special effects- good enough for B-Movie fans. Better than "Reptilicus" but still goofy bad and loads of wires. Monster blood looked like chocolate milk (maybe the reason why is located in C).

C) Pathetic Alpha Video quality dub. For three seconds the colour goes perfect and you realize why you are squinting your eyes. AND for those few seconds you realize how good this movie could look if done properly. Especially the island dancer scenes! Come on Alpha Video it doesn't have to suck this BAD!!

In conclusion: Solid Monster movie. Dreadful DVD quality dub. But a keeper in my B-Movie collection. I have a feeling this movie may last longer than Monster X (oh those stupid little kids! And all that kiddy music. Gotta remember the telephone poles in the ears and the sub scene... cheese factor- cheese factor- plugging hydro wires into his heart by taking a sub into his mouth- classic cheese).

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE REAL WAY TO HEAR GAMERA!!!!!, November 29, 2004

By 

A. C. Cronvich (Planet Zeist) - See all my reviews

This review is from: War of the Monsters (DVD)

It should be noted that this is the AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL
version of this film. It features excellent dubbing and should not be confused with the horrible SANDY FRANK version that aired on
MST3K.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Gamera is back and this time he's in color AND the HERO!, January 13, 2004

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: War of the Monsters (DVD)

In "War of the Monsters: Gamera vs. Barugon" (known as "Daikaijû kessen: Gamera tai Barugon" in the Land of the Rising Sun) everybody's favorite jet-powered super-turtle Gamera battles Barugon, a gigantic horned dinosaur hatched from a huge opal. From his deadly horns, Barugon emits the devastating "rainbow ray" and he also has some wild tongue action that defies description. That means in this second edition of the Gamera series, the giant turtle gets to be the hero, so it sure was a good thing the Japanese Defense Forces decided to let him live at the end of the first film. Gamera was awakened by a nuclear explosion, but Barugon gets hatched when a bunch of stupid gangsters try to cash in on the giant opal, which, of course, is really a giant egg.

Unlike the first Gamera film, "War of the Monsters: Gamera vs. Barugon" is in color (which makes the special effects look cheesier) and in Japanese (which means unemployed American actors are sparred being spliced into the action, a ploy that only worked with Raymond Burr in the original "Godzilla" film). The first half of the film is arguably more boring than the original film, mainly because it is a monster movie with no monsters until the second half. But you do have the semblance of a fight between the two creatures in the end. Consider this one step forward and one step backwards with regards to the original Gamera film. The cast is headed by Kojiro Hongo as Keisuke Hirata, Koji Fujiyama as Onodera, and Kyôko Enami as Karen.