DESTROY ALL PLANETS and ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS coming to DVD!

[Chris K.]

Two of the AIP-TV releases of the Gamera series, DESTROY ALL PLANETS and ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS, is being released on DVD via Fred Olen Ray's Reteromedia Entertainment. If so, it's about time.

Considering that Neptune Media originally released the original Japanese version of ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS, one wonders if the AIP-TV Gamera releases are in public domain. Anybody know if they are?

[Andrew]

Now if only ADV will put out nice, crisp DVD versions of the latest three Gamera films.  I like "Gamera:  Guardian of the Universe" so much that I hunted down a Japanese LD.

You know, the quality is mediocre, but Retromedia has been doing a good job of putting out some hard to find movies on DVD.

[Chris K.]

It's very hard to understand Retromedia. True, their quality is so-so. But then again, they work with the best source material they can find. For example, their DVD release for THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION was pulled from a Beta video inch owned by director Bill Rebane. One wonders why couldn't they just get an existing 35mm print of the film. They can't because all the 35mm prints are long gone and the 35mm source negative is lost as well! So, they got the best source material they can get a hold of for that release.

Recently they obtained the 35mm negative for their release of THE DEATHMASTER and I hear that the DVD is quite good. So, Retromedia is getting better.

With DESTROY ALL PLANETS and ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS, their transfer could come from a 16mm print (they were released on that format too-this was television, of course) so the remastering might be good. I have ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS on video from a 16mm transfer and the source condition was QUITE GOOD as all the colors were intact and not washed out.

On the same subject, Sinister Cinema found a 16mm print of WAR OF THE MONSTERS and I am now waiting to see it since I ordered it last week. I'll fill you in on the results.