Gamera: Legacy Collection 1965-1999 (DVD)

While Mill Creek Entertainment’s “Legacy Collection” for the Gamera series doesn’t offer every title from the Gamera saga, it definitely bones up on the necessities while also offering up some of the most contemporary Gamera adventures. The “Legacy Collection” features the first in the Gamera adventures from 1965, in which the giant turtle is awoken during nuclear testing from the ice, and begins wreaking havoc. Only a little boy sees the goodness in the snaggle toothed turtle. The sequel “Gamera vs. Barugon” sees Gamera return from his imprisonment in space to save Earth from the wrath of Barugon. Barugon can freeze people, but that’s okay since Gamera can breathe fire, and fly with the help of a rocket power shell, and whatever other powers the writers can concoct.

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Poseidon Rex (2013) (DVD)

Director Mark Lester’s giant monster movie is a mix of rock bottom budgets and mediocre common sense. It’s a classic B monster movie about muscle bound pirates, busomy scientists, and a military battling a gigantic monster while operating out of a tool shed with only three people manning the helm. You also have to love how so much hoopla is raised about Poseidon Rex, with the military set to nuke the entire island that’s held Poseidon Rex, only for our busomy heroine to kill it single handedly with a missile launcher. How did no one think of that? What of its eggs in the bottom of the ocean? Also, how can divers talk while their lips are wrapped around air regulators?

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Poseidon Rex (2013) (DVD)

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Director Mark Lester’s giant monster movie is a mix of rock bottom budgets and mediocre common sense. It’s a classic B monster movie about muscle bound pirates, busomy scientists, and a military battling a gigantic monster while operating out of a tool shed with only three people manning the helm. You also have to love how so much hoopla is raised about Poseidon Rex, with the military set to nuke the entire island that’s held Poseidon Rex, only for our busomy heroine to kill it single handedly with a missile launcher. How did no one think of that? What of its eggs in the bottom of the ocean? Also, how can divers talk while their lips are wrapped around air regulators?

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Revenge of the Nerds (1984)

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I said it before, and I’ll say it again. If you’re going to rip off a movie, twist it in to something unique and almost refreshing. “Revenge of the Nerds” is my favorite “Animal House” rip off of all time. And while “Animal House” was about underdog slackers battling upper crest class men, “Revenge of the Nerds” focuses on the grade A students and outcasts that fight for their right to be treated like human beings in the face of a world that values physical prowess over basic intellect. “Revenge of the Nerds” has its charms, and though it riffs on “Animal House” every now and then, it still comes out feeling unique and original.

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Gamera: Ultimate Collection Volume 2 [Blu-Ray]

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.

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Godzilla: The Complete Animated Series (DVD)

Sony really overplayed their hand in 1998 with “Godzilla.” Not only did they overestimate the appeal of a Godzilla unlike Toho’s Godzilla, but they also accompanied the movie with a bunch of merchandise no one liked, and a series that lasted forty episodes total. So if you have fourteen hours to kill, you can check out what happened after the end of “Godzilla.” Whether you call him Zilla, Godzilla, Notzilla, or GONI (Godzilla In Name Only), the extension of the 1998 Roland Emmerich is given more mythos than it deserves, with its focus more on genetic monsters and underwater creatures than anything.

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The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

Sony seems to be following the plan of Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” movie series, with “Amazing Spider-Man 2” being “The Dark Knight” of the series. Except Sony doesn’t seem to have a clear end in sight for their own flagship franchise. Which may or may not be a good thing. If they keep up the momentum that “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” does, we might be in store for a very complete reboot with a clear cut satisfying evolution of its titular hero. The writers and producers focus very heavily on correcting former director Sam Raimi’s mistakes, and they have pulled it off well. Granted this follow up to the 2012 reboot isn’t perfect, but it’s better than its Raimi predecessor.

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