Well I've gotten Gamera vs Gyaos/Viras/Guiron/Monster X DVDs

[daveblackeye15]

Last month I raved about the awesomness of the Shout! DVD release of Gamera and Gamera vs. Barugon where they are in Japanese, cleaned up, and in widescreen. Along with bonuses like packets and actual DVD commentaries.

Well, it's a shame that the release of these four films do not match that of the first two. I'm not surprised since these are double feature DVDs. For one thing they have no packets, commentary, and the translation seems to be rushed since some lines are not translated (obvious stuff like 'help me!' or 'hey!') or misspelled, like trees is 'tress'.

Okay sure much of the Showa Gamera series isn't that interesting but still I was hoping to learn just a little more about them. And I'm not ungrateful for these releases but still it's a shame that so much more effort was put into the first two movies. At least Barugon, the best of the Showa, got an awesome release.

I don't dislike the Showa Gamera films, they are kind of fun and though most of the monsters lack personalities they are kind of unique in a certain way, it's just that most of them are damn tedious and those annoying kids!

They certainly help me appreciate Godzilla better, heck the Japanese version of "Godzilla's Revenge" suddenly doesn't seem quite as bad, as well as the Heisei Gamera trilogy.

Gamera vs. Gyaos was a step down from Barugon but one of the more solid films. Still that damn kid thought up everything, apparently scientists didn't notice that Gyaos comes out only a night, among other things. The only special effects shot that really stood out to me was the scene where Gyaos looms over a train he destroyed and people were fleeing from him. It looked kind of creepy actually.

What I liked about the monsters in "Barugon" was that a lot of effort was put into the costumes, writing, and even acting. It was darkest of all the Gamera films until "Gamera 3" came along and the monsters acted more like animals instead of people. Barugon showed curiosity, caution, anger, pain, and maybe even a little joy here and there. The only flash of personality Gyaos showed was when it was regenerating its foot, a stalagmite fell on its foot and it paused and became angered.

Anyway my post is longer than it was supposed to be. If you love Gamera from the 60s and 70s then go for these DVDs since you get to hear them in Japanese and the kids are slightly less annoying. I know most of the films were for kids but c'mon that doesn't mean children's entertainment has to be lazy. Funny how after they did another Gamera film aimed for kids we haven't seen Gamera since.

[daveblackeye15]

Oh right and I forgot about Guiron's 'Cornbob' or 'Cornjob' as he sounded in the dub. Don't know why it sounds like that when his name is Kondo or Kon.

I realized something: in Guiron they pretty much killed another planet's Gamera. I mean that monster was defending its home I'd think. It'd be like Viras or Zigra winning in their movies. Okay the kids weren't planning to invade Guiron's planet but still.