Gamera: The Complete Collection (1965-2006)

[Yami]

Originally Posted by Kaiju no Kami

What do they mean by "More Tokusatsu?" Like is Arrow saying they have more lined up or is it just Sci-Fi japan saying they have it lined up? I ask because Sci-Fi Japan covers everything (still want to know how they get news info first), so them saying it just means things like the upcoming Ultraman releases. If it's Arrow, then that is something major.

The quote is from James Flower, producer at Arrow (and of this set)

[Godzilla360]

It would be a complete collection if they included the ADV Texarkana dub from Legion. I haven't watched that in years. Time to dig out the old DVDs.

[The Great Owl]

I'm still on the fence about this box set.

I never really had any emotional connection to the Gamera movies, and I'm not all that familiar with them.

I might save some money and just revisit the Criterion Godzilla set whenever I'm in the mood for monster mayhem. I'm prone to impulsive purchasing decisions, though, so anything can happen.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm still on the fence about this box set.

I never really had any emotional connection to the Gamera movies, and I'm not all that familiar with them.

I might save some money and just revisit the Criterion Godzilla set whenever I'm in the mood for monster mayhem. I'm prone to impulsive purchasing decisions, though, so anything can happen.

I look forward to reading your posts saying how you ordered it, when it shipped, when you received it, and your reviews for each film.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm still on the fence about this box set.

I never really had any emotional connection to the Gamera movies, and I'm not all that familiar with them.

I might save some money and just revisit the Criterion Godzilla set whenever I'm in the mood for monster mayhem. I'm prone to impulsive purchasing decisions, though, so anything can happen.

I've only seen the Heisei trilogy films, and I liked them all. There's something about a 90's era Japanese movie that I enjoy. It's kind of cheesy, but I feel like it comes from a more "innocent' time so to speak. I have heard great things about Gamera the Brave too.

The reviewer on here pretty much railed against the Showa era Gamera movies (from the Mill Creek release), but I think if I keep my expectations in check, that I'll probably like those too.

[sonicyogurt]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

The reviewer on here pretty much railed against the Showa era Gamera movies (from the Mill Creek release), but I think if I keep my expectations in check, that I'll probably like those too.

Controversially, I’d rather watch Gamera vs. Guiron than almost any Godzilla movie.

[fred25_Ca]

Only the first 3 of the Showa Gamera movies are good, imo. The first Gamera movie is a mediocre black and white giant monster movie but I still enjoy it (think the Varan movie when it comes to quality). The sequel (Vs Barugon) is in color and is (imo) the best showa Gamera movie. It's just as good as most of the Godzilla Showa sequels (well, the later ones, of course) and best of all, there's no kids in it (unlike every other showa gamera movies). Gamera is also a total bad*ss in it. The third movie introduces Gamera's biggest foe, Gyaos. It's not quite as good as the second one but I'd say it compares to Godzilla movies like vs Hedorah and Gigan. Worth watching too.
The other sequels are all mostly crap but there is still a certain charm to them if you are in the right mood. They are also absolutely insane and a lot of fun to watch with friends and a few beers.
The Heisei movies are, imo, the greatest Kaiku movies of all time. A perfect trilogy.
Gamera the brave can't compete with them but as a sort of curious sequel to the trilogy and a throwback to the friends of all children Showa area, it's fun and well done. The design for Gamera is pretty awful unfortunately.

[WaverBoy]

The (apparently much-maligned) Showa Gamera films aren’t all equal in quality or tone, but every last one of them is tons of fun for various reasons. The first three are arguably the best, especially GAMERA VS. BARUGON which actually incorporates a fairly brutally violent adult story amidst the monster mayhem, and the special effects are excellent. The others are just batshit insane, especially GAMERA VS. GUIRON and GAMERA VS. JIGER. I never understood the snubbing this series gets from some kaiju fans; Godzilla films were just as goofy by this point. Gamera is an incredibly endearing character to me; what can I say, I just can’t not love a giant absurdly-fanged fire-breathing jet-propelled turtle with a penchant for mass destruction who is friend to all children and has a killer theme song!

At least most of us can agree that the Heisei Gamera trilogy are some of the finest kaiju films ever made; I’m going to buck popular opinion on those too, and name GAMERA: GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE as my fave of those glittering three. It’s the perfect combination of everything, with excellent pacing and superb suitmation and miniatures, has the least amount of CGI (sparingly used in just the right places as CGI should be) and has one of the last well-done English dubs made for a kaiju film.

Now, I really REALLY hope Arrow can fix the soundtrack problems for the Heisei trilogy; the soundtracks for all three have been lifeless on DVD and Blu-ray, with little LFE activity. For example, the old ADV VHS of the English-dubbed GGOTU rattles my windows during explosions. Alas, the English dub on the ADV DVD and Mill Creek Blu-ray is totally lifeless; the Japanese track is a little better, but not much. I have no idea what happened between the VHS and the disc releases, but something went awry somehow. Fingers crossed that Arrow will fix all problems and bring it all home once and for all.

[fred25_Ca]

That's funny, while I think Guardian of the universe is wonderful, I'd rank it last in the trilogy (with Iris first, imo, the single greatest Kaiju movie of all time, with easily the best Gamera design of the trilogy). But I can also see why Guardian might be someone's favorite, it's easily the most light hearted of the three and has a certain innocence to it the sequels lack. It's also the closest one to the Showa entries in tone.
Gamera vs Guiron was my first Gamera movie (saw it through mystery science theater 3000) and it blew my mind how insane it was (aliens who kidnapped kids so they can eat their human brains while a giant space turtle comes flying through space to save them on Mars and fights to the death a giant knife monster, in one of the bloodiest showa kaiju battles ever filmed. I was in love!).
The only Gamera movie I can't stand is the last Showa one, Gamera Super monster, an absolutely dreadful movie packed with stock footages. Even worse than Godzilla's Revenge and the bottom of the barrel when it comes to Showa Kaiku flicks. Avoid at all cost, haha.

[Partyslammer]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I've only seen the Heisei trilogy films, and I liked them all. There's something about a 90's era Japanese movie that I enjoy. It's kind of cheesy, but I feel like it comes from a more "innocent' time so to speak. I have heard great things about Gamera the Brave too.

The reviewer on here pretty much railed against the Showa era Gamera movies (from the Mill Creek release), but I think if I keep my expectations in check, that I'll probably like those too.

The first, original B/W Gamera film is ok, but the first 2 immediate sequels are fairly good, with Gamera vs Gyaos being arguably the best of the 60's films. The series is noted for having an almost cartoonish level of monster gore and one film Gamera vs Jiger, features stock footage of a positively nauseating operation on a sedated elephant where it's swollen trunk is cut open revealing thousands of worm-like parasites spilling out of the incision.

The last few of the original series are pretty bizarre and wacky, even by lower tier Kaiju standards and are really the kind of films MST3K was made for mocking.

I can't really add to the positive comments about the 90's trilogy, they are all excellent. I cannot overstate what a thrill it was seeing the 3rd film at it's US premier in LA.

As for Gamera The Brave, hearing it was a "kids movie" I saw it with very low expectations but was greatly surprised how good and how "adult" it was. It *is* a slight notch below the Heisei trilogy and does emphasis the kiddie element but not to the obnoxious degree the last few 60's films did. The opening sequence of the adult Gamera battling and succumbing to a swarm of Gyaos is as good as the best action bits in the Heisei trilogy.

[chriszilla]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm still on the fence about this box set.

I never really had any emotional connection to the Gamera movies, and I'm not all that familiar with them.

I might save some money and just revisit the Criterion Godzilla set whenever I'm in the mood for monster mayhem. I'm prone to impulsive purchasing decisions, though, so anything can happen.

The fact that you are questioning whether to get this set certainly supports the decision to wait for a low price on it, during one of those big Arrow sales.

I think you would mostly enjoy the collection, based on your Godzilla reviews (which I really enjoyed, btw). Everyone is going to have a different opinion with regard to "XXX films are great, and XXX films aren't very good". Regarding the Showa series, Waverboy's comments above sum it up pretty well for many of us. Personally, I think the original is an important film in the kaiju genre, and the fact that this collection will also feature the American re-edit allows for a Gojira/GKOTM-type comparison of the way the film was presented for different audiences.

I believe you would also enjoy the 2nd and 3rd entries. Interestingly, for a series that was mostly aimed at children, BARUGON was a film with no child characters, and a surprisingly adult plot. The 3rd film, GYAOS, features a great monster and a fun story. After that, things get pretty weird, and frankly, that's half (three quarters?) of the fun! Plots involving weird types of aliens (including a pair of beautiful space women who eat brains!), a FANTASTIC VOYAGE-style mini sub that takes two boys inside of Gamera's body to rid it of a parasite, and a ridiculous metal shark alien (with a spaceship that looks like a bowl of jelly beans) await the intrepid viewer. Did I mention the octopus/squid-thingy that decapitates a bunch of zombie servants with the wave of a tentacle? Or the monster with a giant knife for a head that cuts up "Space Gyaos" into little pieces, right before our horrified eyes?

Don't tell me that all of that doesn't sound like a ton of fun!

I don't know if you've seen the Heisei trilogy, but as many have already said, they're among the finest kaiju eiga films ever made, and the last film (GAMERA THE BRAVE) is surprisingly good; it's a film made for a family audience that doesn't pander or talk down to the viewer.

FWIW, my scorecard says that 10 of the 12 films in this set have decent-to-heavy replay value. As DetroitSportsFan already said, I look forward to future reviews of these films from you!

[Mark E. Desade]

Originally Posted by sonicyogurt

Controversially, I’d rather watch Gamera vs. Guiron than almost any Godzilla movie.

Excepting Godzilla, Monster Zero, Godzilla vs the Thing and possibly Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster, I'm with you.

[art123guy]

Amazon had the set unavailable last night (previously 179.00) and still does. I thought they dropped it to 119.77 this morning, but it's the Mill Creek set.

Originally Posted by Jr7936

...It makes severin set that came out for pre order today over priced at 186 shipped...

Originally Posted by jboss

I agree this is a great price, but the Severin set contains 32 films versus 12 films in this set....

What's the Severin set? I can't seem to find anything on it.

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

Barnes & Noble has a 50% off Arrow sale a couple of times per year as well. That’s probably when I’ll pick this up.

Do you know roughly when they have their sale?

Thanks!

[jboss]

Originally Posted by art123guy

What's the Severin set? I can't seem to find anything on it.

The Severin set being referenced was the unrelated Al Adamson Masterpiece Collection. Jr7936 was comparing the value of the two sets and I was mentioning they weren't directly comparable due to the difference in the amount of content between them.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by art123guy

Do you know roughly when they have their sale?

They usually run a Arrow sale at the same time they run the Criterion sale in November. There’s at least one sale earlier in the year as well, but I can’t remember when.

[art123guy]

Originally Posted by jboss

The Severin set being referenced was the unrelated Al Adamson Masterpiece Collection. Jr7936 was comparing the value of the two sets and I was mentioning they weren't directly comparable due to the difference in the amount of content between them.

Got it. Thanks!

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

They usually run a Arrow sale at the same time they run the Criterion sale in November. There’s at least one sale earlier in the year as well, but I can’t remember when.

If they're at the same time, it's August because that's when I snagged Blue Velvet and Scanners.

Thanks!

[hariseldon]

Originally Posted by art123guy

If they're at the same time, it's August because that's when I snagged Blue Velvet and Scanners.

Arrow sales haven't really fallen into a pattern yet other than probably the November-ish sale. Will the corporate sale in October I'm not terrible comfortable predicting future sales based on history. New release items are often excluded so even if there is a sale concurrent with the usual July Criterion again, Gamera likely won't be part of it until Holiday season even assuming it's not sold out by then.

B&N Arrow sales
8/23/2016-10/3/2016 (50% Off)

3/14/2017-4/14/2017 (Select $19.99 items)
11/24/2017- 11/26/2017 (50% off)
12/19/2017-1/8/2018 (50% Off)

11/6/2018-1/6/2019 (50% Off)

6/28/2019 - 8/4/2019 (50% Off)
11/1/2019 - 12/1/2019 (50% off)

[Kaiju no Kami]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I never really had any emotional connection to the Gamera movies, and I'm not all that familiar with them.

I didn't know you needed to have some emotional connection to enjoy a film. I mean, I've been watching old movies all of the time for the first time and have never needed to have seen them as a kid to love them and I'm 37. Hell, a few year's ago I watched a film called Double Indemnity for the first time and now it may very well be my favorite movie of all time.

Hell, there are even movies I hated when I was younger that I am watching now and am just now noticing their brilliance.

Originally Posted by sonicyogurt

Controversially, I’d rather watch Gamera vs. Guiron than almost any Godzilla movie.

Yeah, no. Not even funny. Even the worst Godzilla film is better than the Showa era of Gamera and The Brave.

Well okay... all of the Gamera movies are better than Godzilla's anime trilogy.

[omgitsgodzilla]

Originally Posted by Xephix

So was Gamera: The Brave 4k remastered also? It appears on the Heisei 4k remastered boxset from Japan however the details Arrow give us says only the Heisei trilogy will be 4k remastered.

Gamera the Brave was included on that set since it was technically a Heisei-era Gamera film, but with the caveat that it wasn't a 4K restoration since it wasn't shot on film in the first place.

Originally Posted by Partyslammer

I never bothered with the very expensive (about $300US) 4K remastered Gamera 4 movie w/GTB Japanese Blu-ray box set from a few years ago as I've long had the first Japanese Heisei trilogy Blu-ray box (with the lenticular cover) but I've heard that the 4K remasters didn't look great. I can't imagine this will be yet another newer 4K remaster, so my question would be does anyone who splurged for the Japanese 4K remaster have any comments how good the trilogy looks on that release?

I don't have the actual set, but somebody sent me MKV copies of the Kaneko trilogy from that set and they look gorgeous -- I've seen some people say that the color grading isn't quite as faithful to the natural look as it could be, which may be true, but regardless, I think they look really nice. Certainly a huge improvement over the masters Mill Creek previously released.

Originally Posted by Kaiju no Kami

Uh what? Since when? Media Blasters was selling it at their booth for $20 back in August last year at the anime con I was at. They had a stack of about 30 copies.

I'm pretty sure it's been out of print for a while, at least officially. Amazon currently has it listed at $50, with copies on eBay going for similar prices, save for a few copies that haven't been bid up to that price yet and a few sealed ones listed at $80 or more.

[chriszilla]

Originally Posted by Kaiju no Kami

I didn't know you needed to have some emotional connection to enjoy a film.

To enjoy a film, no. But to plunk down $100-150 dollars on a set of films that you fear you may watch only once is a different matter. I think that's what he was driving at. That's why a few of us attempted to give him some idea of what he might be getting into.

Congrats on discovering DOUBLE INDEMNITY, by the way. It's a great one...