gamera2014

Even die-hard Godzilla fans will admit that the idea of a 60-meter tall turtle stomping across Japan is patently ridiculous. Not to mention that he breathes fire and travels through the air like a jet-powered Frisbee. And yet that’s part of the charm of the Gamera series, the only legitimate contender to Toho’s “King of the Monsters” crown. Popping up for years on TV creature features across the country (and appearing in a slew of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes), the Gamera films seemed to know they were second-best when it came to giant monster movies…but damn if they weren’t going to have a good time!

In 2010, Shout Factory came to the digital rescue by scooping up the rights to all of Gamera’s screen appearances and releasing them on a series of stand-alone and double-feature DVDs with extras like audio commentaries and a half-hour retrospective. Fast-forward four years later and Mill Creek Entertainment is releasing the same eight movies across two blu-ray collections, minus the extras and English dubs. That’s right, these are Japanese language only, which is great for the mature collector, but makes it a bit tough to share with their toddler-age kids who don’t share their love of subtitles.

First up in Volume 1 is Gamera, The Giant Monster, which, as an introduction to the Gamera series as a whole, might not be the best place to start. While the latter films sported brightly colored monsters and a campy, kid-friendly theme song, Gamera, The Giant Monster is closer in tone to the original Godzilla: dark, semi-serious and a bit light on action. That doesn’t mean it’s not entertaining. With the future of Japan hanging in the balance, the country’s top scientists come up with a master plan to stop the giant turtle by – flipping him on his back and waiting until he starves?! That’s just cruel!

Gamera vs. Barugon introduces the first monstrous menace that our turtle hero must face, a tropical lizard with an Alien-like tongue appendage, which also squirts out an instant-freezing vapor. This is followed by Gamera vs. Gyaos – arguably our turtle’s most famous foe who also appears in the ingenious ‘90s Gamera updates – and Gamera vs. Viras which sets the tone for the next four films in the series.

Volume 2 is just one enjoyably ridiculous entry after the other. Gamera vs. Guiron, Gamera vs. Jiger, Gamera vs. Zigra and the 1980 “Best Of” Gamera: Super Monster all feature relatively primitive effects with cut-rate miniature work, but some imaginative creature designs and a surprising amount of green and purple blood. Much as Godzilla became a clownish Saturday-morning extension of the popular Ultraman TV series, Gamera shifted to a completely kid-friendly creation with each battle becoming more cartoonish than the next.

While these new Mill Creek sets don’t include the previous special features and English dubs, they do offer an affordable upgrade, packing four films on each blu-ray disc. There’s not a real noticeable increase in detail or color until you reach the later entries, but saving some shelf space and a few extra bucks (each volume is priced at about $15 at Amazon) is probably reason enough to add them to your cart if you didn’t catch the giant turtle craze the first time around.