'S

Manufacturer:

Alpha Home Video

Retail Price:  7.99 each

WAR OF THE MONSTERS ("Gamera vs. Barugon" 1966 Daiei Studios, released in US by AIP) Starring: Kojiro Hongo, Kyoko Enami  Director: Shigeo Tanaka DESTROY ALL PLANETS ("Gamera vs. Viras" 1968 Daiei Studios, released in US by AIP) Starring: Carl Clay, Mari Atsumi Director: Noriaki Yuasa

God Bless the Japanese.....

Not only do they produce far superior electronics than us (which, amongst other things, served as inspiration for the Buck Owens country and western ditty, "Made In Japan"), they gave the world the sometimes goofy film genre known as "kaiju"..... Kaiju, loosely translated, means "Japanese actors in big rubber monster suits, trampling model cities and stomping toy tanks".  Hey...I said it was a "loose" translation, but that's basically the gist of the situation.  By any stretch, Toho Studios Godzillla (or, as one of my friends pronounces it, "Gawd-ziller") is the most popular franchise of these types of films.  But, by no means, is it the only one. Back in the mid-1960s, when rival Japanese studio Daiei saw that Toho was raking in some cash off'n their little movies about a giant lizard, they decided to join in on the craze with their own rubber goliath....Gamera.

Gamera, for the uninitiuated, is simply this:  a giant turtle.  With fangs.  That breathes fire.  And flies, propelled by what seems to be his rocket powered ass.  I could not make this stuff up and it not sound anymore ridiculous.  Gamera's exploits were chronicled in several films...not as many as Godzilla's...but at least a dozen.  And for some odd reason, the bastard step-child of the Toho Titan garnered a small cult following that exists to this day.  'Course, there's cult following for another Japanese film product, "hentai" (loosely translated, "animated porn featuring schoolgirls being "violated" by f*ck-happy tenacle monsters".  Hey, like I said...it's a loose translation), so anything's possible in this screwy reality. Alpha Home Video has recently released the first three of Gamera's adventures to DVD, Gamerra the Invincible (the original film, note the spelling change for US release), War of the Monsters and Destroy All Planets (the second and third flicks, respectively).  The transfer on "War" seems a little murky, probably due to the 16mm print it was taken from, but for the price is worth it.  "Destroy", on the other hand, is a much better package all-around, a cleaner (but still sub-standard) picture and crisp sound, with a minimum of pops and hisses....the only problem I had with my copy was that about 3/4ths through the flick, heavy MPEG artifacting is evident, but that may be due to a faulty or unclean disc (if so, then that's my fault).

Destroy All Planets Japanese release one-sheet (1969)

The plots of either film are unimportant.  More than likely you know the formula:  Giant monsters duke it out for the fate of the world (or at least Japan).  "War of the Monsters" features Gamera's battle with Baragon...a giant alligator that shoots a destructive rainbow ....out of his ass.  Seriously.  It must be seen to believed, and it's funnier than hell. Alpha Home Video's catalog of affordable titles is quickly becoming a genre fan's wet dream, with them releasing several long out of print films and cheaply priced versions of more pricely cult items.  The packaging art alone is sometime worth the price of admission, and slowly Alpha seems to be exploring the possibilities of supplemental features (both of these Gamera discs feature still galleries of different Gamera related collectables and promotional material).  definately worth the 7.99 apiece I payed for 'em. Highly reccommended for kaiju fans.... Official Alpha Home Video website:

War of the Monsters Japanese one-sheet (1966)

ALPHA HOME VIDEO