GAMERA VS. GYAOS / GAMERA VS. VIRAS

Shout! Factory delivers more monster-sized action in a half-shell with their latest Gamera double feature DVD, GAMERA VS. GYAOS and GAMERA VS VIRAS, spinning into your player on September 21st!

The double feature disc opens with GAMERA VS. GYAOS, originally released in 1967 and directed by Noriaki Yuasa for Daiei Studios who launched the uber-turtle monster franchise with GAMERA in 1965. Gamera was created as a competitor of Toho Studios' monster hit GODZILLA, though like most of the daikaiju eiga films, much of Gamera's cult success in the West resulted from redubbed editions broadcast in local U.S. television markets in the 1970s. Shout! Factory finally delivers GAMERA VS GYAOS on DVD as it was meant to be seen, with an all-new anamorphic widescreen transfer including the Japanese language original release with subtitles, plus two English dubbed versions for optimized viewing choices by monster fans and film collectors alike.

Devotees of the genre know well enough to watch these films for the city-stomping action of the costumed monster performers and not their plots, but this one is as simple (and goofy) as its predecessors: volcanic eruptions awaken the bat-winged, shark-headed Gyaos from its subterranean slumber to wreak havoc on the Japanese countryside. Gamera quickly answers the call to defend humanity but is sliced up badly by Gyaos' vocally emitted laser beams. Gamera frees a young boy Eiichi from captivity before retreating to heal in the sea, and as a survivor of the battle, Eiichi helps scientists and the military exploit Gyaos' weakness: sunlight can destroy him. The quite extraneous subplot about local farmers blocking new road construction to earn more money on their land serves as a morality lesson against greed and little else. A rather ludicrous military plot to defeat Gyaos via merry-go-round dizziness fails miserably, which leaves the return of Gamera to take on the shark-bat in a miniature-crushing fight to the death at dawn atop a volcano. Viewers know never to take these stories seriously, they're in it solely for the monster-suited action and mayhem, and GAMERA VS. GYAOS delivers it with childlike glee, knowing its audience all too well by this third film in the series.

Technically, the 1.85:1 widescreen transfer from a high-definition master looks surprisingly good given the film's age, and Shout! Factory's edition is certainly the best version ever seen in a Region 1 DVD release. It's safe to say that if you grew up watching these monster movies on your local station's Creature Feature weekend show on a 1970s-era 4:3 TV screen, you have NEVER seen GAMERA VS. GYAOS look this complete and in such high video/audio quality. The Japanese subtitled track sounds clear and quite robust and is the preferred version to be watched to see this GAMERA sequel as originally intended. The two English dubbed audio tracks vary a bit in sound quality: the AIP (English Dub 1) track is a little flatter, has less bass end and more hiss in quiet moments, while the infamous Sandy Frank (English Dub 2) track suffers from very flattened music to keep its overacted voice dub prominent over the top... and over the top is the key to these much more Americanized re-dubbing of dialogue by Frank when he owned distribution rights to the series! Ironically, these Frank-ensteined versions are the ones most fans in the U.S. grew up watching on TV, so they may well be familiar old friends if still inferior to the original, much more serious toned Japanese language versions.  Best of all, Shout! Factory now offers all three options to viewers, adding tremendous collectible and fan value to this new DVD edition. Minimal bonus features include a small (and disappointingly small-sized) image gallery of promotional stills and posters.

Likewise the second double feature entry, GAMERA VS. VIRAS, is Daiei Studios' fourth film in the franchise, originally released in 1968 and directed once again by Noriaki Yuasa. Most American fans, however, know this film better as the Sandy Frank English-dubbed version retitled DESTROY ALL PLANETS. Either way, the plot remains the same: alien invaders arrive in their bumblebee-striped spaceship intent on conquering the Earth as a new home planet for their species. Their first attack is foiled when Gamera launches into space to defend humanity, but they survive just long enough to signal for another attack ship, warning them of Earth's guardian creature. A young Boy Scout and technological prodigy, Masao, takes an experimental sub out for a joyride with his friend Jim and they encounter Gamera swimming along side them. The second alien ship arrives and captures Gamera (with its Super Catch Ray, of course) and enslaves the uber-turtle by implanting a brainwave control device so he obeys all their commands. The aliens hold the boys as hostages, demanding Earth surrender or the two innocent Scouts will die. After a series of mishaps on the spaceship and face-offs with the glowing-eyed crew, Masao and Jim reverse the controls of both the alien ship and the brainwave remote control so Gamera now does the opposite of what the aliens demand. The alien leader and crew then join together in one giant squid-like monster Viras to battle Gamera for supremacy over Earth.

The bonus features for GAMERA VS. VIRAS are nearly identical in quantity to the previous title, except viewers only get one English Dub audio option which is the Sandy Frank redub — always an interesting take on the original Japanese approach! Chapter selections and a publicity image gallery supplement the title. Don't miss the reversible DVD cover which features an anatomical diagram of Gamera himself, detailing the location of his fire-breathing organs and arm/leg jet sacs for his trademark fiery flight ability. Watch the slide presentation on Gyaos in the first film and you'll see a similar anatomical cut-away diagram of the flying shark-bat as well in the background. How fun the filmmakers actually tried to explain and rationalize these monsters' superpowers for such unabashed fantasy adventures!

Gamera was always intended to be the more child-friendly Japanese monster compared to Godzilla, and the franchise never strayed from this formula despite some increasing if harmless violence starting with this film. More importantly, the series repeatedly puts child actors in leading roles at the center of the recycled plot, which may well account for the soft spot these films hold in the hearts of '70s-generation fans who grew up on a steady diet of these syndicated stomp-and-roar flicks on TV.  Now most of the GAMERA films' original audience have long since become adults, but watching these GAMERA monster mashes again will bring out the inner kaiju-geek in any grown up who remembers these giant turtles, squids and laser-blasting bats with fond memories. Indulge in these guilty pleasures without the guilt, and enjoy the superb restoration efforts and viewing options Shout! Factory deliver on DVD so these treasures can be preserved and enjoyed for another generation. Add GAMERA VS. GYAOS/GAMERA VS. VIRAS to your collection and have a monstrously good time!

READ FILMEDGE'S REVIEW OF THE DOUBLE FEATURE GAMERA VS. GUIRON/GAMERA VS. JIGER