Now Available from Mill Creek Entertainment.
Mill Creek Entertainment releases Volume 2 of the Terrifying Tortoise with the power to connect to children as a guardian of the universe. Filled with aliens, monsters, and all kinds of kids screaming the name of Gamera until their faces turn blue, Volume 2 garners the original cuts of the “Gamera” films, now in Blu-Ray form for consumption from fans. With four films in the second volume, it’s more turtle action from Daiei Studios’ for the kaiju completists.
In “Gamera vs. Guiron (1969),” a trio of kids in love with the notion of space travel, take a space ship for a joy ride and come across the guardian Gamera. They crash land on a distant planet witnessing the monster Guiron battle the evil Gyaos. They’re also kidnapped by aliens and force them to submit audiences to clips from past Gamera movies. When Gamera comes to the rescue, Guiron the saw nosed monsters and the tortoise go head to head. “Gamera vs. Guiron” was famously lampooned on “MST3K” featuring the famous pole spinning sequence, and of course, Gamera dancing. It’s an invariably goofy installment in the series. Tedious and often meandering like the former films, “Gamera vs. Guiron” is a delightful mess with Gamera relying on children once again to come out the victor, and a surprising amount of violence.
“Gamera vs. Jiger (1970)” involves a young boy whose father is preparing a submarine to venture in to the deep seas, while the monster Jiger is awakened from his slumber in an ancient temple. Gamera and Jiger ofg course do battle, as Jiger poses a threat to Gamera with poisonous spikes that hinder Gamera’s ability to fly, and a parasite that freezes Gamera taking him out of commission. In “Gamera vs. Zigra (1971),” is another intergalactic adventure where Gamera is reliant on children once again. When Gamera’s friends are abducted by megalomaniacal aliens that hate Earth and human beings, Zigra, the underwater monster comes to life and battles Gamera for the fate of the planet.
A part sea monster and part winged menace, Gamera meets his match this time as the evil Zigra renders Gamera incapable of battling it without the help of loyal humans. “Gamera: Super Monster (1980)” is the final of the Gamera series as an attempted reboot that doesn’t really work too well. It’s science fiction with a lot of clips from past Gamera classic monster battles. Though the montages are an all star roster of Gamera foes and his classic battles, there isn’t much to “Super Monster” beyond a convoluted story, Gamera being pushed aside in his own movie. The Gamera foursome garners original subtitles with Japanese audio and restored picture for fans, and it’s a perfectly good set for collectors.