Gamera Limited Edition Box Set
by Shusuke Kaneko
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Akira Kubo, Akira Onodera, Ayako Fujitani, Shinobu Nakayama, Tsuyoshi IharaDirector: Shusuke Kaneko
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Japanese (Original Language); English (Dubbed); Japanese (Published); English (Published)
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD, Limited Edition, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 330 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-09-28
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: ADV Films
Movie Reviews of Gamera Limited Edition Box Set
Movie Review: This box set is AWESOME
Summary: 5 Stars
It was only recently, to be honest, that I first learned who Gamera even was. Godzilla? Sure, I grew up on the guy... I've got the lunchbox, have taped the Godzilla's Rockin' New Year's Eve special many times and even saw the Andrew Lloyd Weber adaptation on Broadway during its woefully short run in 1994.
But now there's a NEW guardian of the universe? Why didn't anyone tell me?? Finally, someone did. Specifically, it was a co-worker from the main office of the Tokyo-based manufacturing company (it shall remain nameless) for which I have worked for the last 8 years. He was relocated to New York and has become a rather good friend.
Hunushi is a fantastic resource for all things Japanese. One of those is monster movies ("kaiju" as the genre is called in Japan), and I am also a big fan. Knowing this, Hunushi recommended to me the first Gamera film when it was released in English in 1997. Since then, I have been hooked and wanting more.
Why do I like this Gamera series so much? The special effects are AWESOME, and the dubbing is simply masterful. Forget everything that you thought you knew about dubbed dialogue, as that knowledge is now useless and outdated. The story lines are engaging, the characters are well developed. These are great movies, period.
When I heard that a box set of all three movies (Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, Gamera 2: Attack of Legion and Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris) was available, I jumped on it.
I thought I knew why I was buying this box set, but I had no idea at the time that its most entertaining feature was an as-yet-unknown-to-me DVD extra. Within the extras of the second film, Gamera 2, the English-language director has created an entirely new and hilarious version of that film dubbed almost entirely with "red neck" character voices.
This is an absolute stitch, but in no way did it offend my delicate "kaiju" sensibilities. Gamera remains completely untouched in this tongue-in-cheek version of the film. Only the human contingent, scurrying below, is made to look anything less than admirable. The bottom line is this: I have never laughed harder in my life (by the way, there is also a fantastic DVD extra on the 3rd disc but I'll let you discover that one on your own).
I hope you enjoy these films as much as I have. Thankfully, it looks like Japan's best kept "kaiju" secret has just been let out of the box!
Summary of Gamera Limited Edition Box Set
Japan's classic monster movie is back again! Not only does he carry a two-hundred foot house on his back, but he also has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Gamera - a giant, flying, fire-breathing turle, friend to children everywhere, and protector of Earth - is now available in a collectible hard shell.After decades of derision as a childish Godzilla-wannabe, Japan's monster turtle Gamera roared back in the 1990s with a trio of well-crafted and exciting features that reclaimed the franchise from its threadbare '60s roots; all three films, directed by soft-core specialist turned sci-fi/horror auteur Shusuke Kaneko (Death Note), are featured in this two-disc set, along with a wealth of extras. Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995), which relaunched the Gamera series, and its sequel, Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (1996), are bundled on the first disc; the former reboots Gamera as an ancient savior of mankind, bioengineered to protect the planet from the pterodactyl-like Gyaos, an old foe from 1967's Gamera vs. Gyaos, while the latter pits him against a race of alien insects with plans for world domination. The trilogy closed with 1999's Revenge of Iris, where the title creature is spurred to defeat Gamera through a psychic link with a young girl whose parents were killed during the turtle's fights with Gyaos. All three films are remarkably sober affairs, on par with the creative scope of Toho's millennial Godzilla features in terms of dramatic storytelling and special effects, though the limitations of the miniature work and monster suits are often highlighted by the Blu-ray detail. The creature-on-creature action is plentiful and, on occasion, violent, and Kaneko's serious and respectful approach does much to relieve fans' concerns about a repeat of the original films' juvenile tone.
Mill Creek previously released Guardian and Legion in a bare-bones double-disc format, as well as a single-disc issue of Iris with several behind-the-scenes extras. The Blu-ray Trilogy set features extras from all three films, though for inexplicable reasons, they have been haphazardly loaded onto the Iris disc as one three-hour standard definition supplement (with chapter breaks). The extras, which include deleted scenes from Iris, location footage from Legion, and camera tests from Guardian, are interesting, but their presentation is cumbersome and, occasionally, incorrectly titled (Behind the Scenes from Guardian is actually the camera test, and so on), which might prove frustrating for viewers. However, the set's relatively low price might help smooth over any ill feelings. --Paul Gaita
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