NICE GAMS
GAMERA VS. GYAOS (1967) DVD Starring Kojiro Hongo, Kichijiro Ueda and Reiko Kasahara
Directed by Noriaki Yuasa Written by Nisan Takahashi
GAMERA VS. VIRAS (1968) Starring Kojiro Hongo, Toru Takatsuka and Carl Craig
Directed by Noriaki Yuasa Written by Nisan Takahashi Shout! Factory
When we last left everybody’s favourite giant ra-
dioactive turtle, he proudly poked his head out of his shell for the accomplished city-levelling sequel, Gam- era vs. Barugon. Shout! Factory’s ongoing reissue se- ries catches up with the kaiju champion for his next adventures with Gamera vs. Gyaos and Gamera vs. Viras, two early indications that Daiei’s franchise was about to slide into campy kid’s fare. First up is Gamera vs. Gyaos, a fast-paced, unde-
Serling At his Sharpest (THE TWILIGHT ZONE: SEASON 1
1959) Blu-ray
Starring Burgess Meredith, Jack Klugman, et al. Directed by John Brahm, Alvin Ganzer, et al. Written by Rod Serling, Richard Matheson, et al. Image
It turns out that Image Entertainment’s “Definitive
Edition” of The Twilight Zone: Season 1wasn’t defin- itive after all. Released on DVD back in 2004, the premiere 1959-
1960 season of Rod Serling’s seminal TV showwas a TZ fan’s wet dream: six discs containing all 36 episodes, as well as good- ies such as multiple audio com- mentaries, the original version of the pilot (“Where Is Every- body?”) and vintage audio inter- views with series stars including Burgess Meredith and Martin Landau. And the best extra of all: a copy of author Marc Scott Zi- cree’s The Twilight Zone Com- panion (second edition), a deeply researched, comprehen- sive book that detailed the show’s history, summarized every episode of all five seasons and included interviews with actors, produc- ers, writers and the like. Now with a new format (Blu-ray) comes a new edi- tion boasting improved dimensions of sight and
RM 44 R E I S S U E S
sound, but what about mind? These digitally scrubbed episodes look and sound better than ever, but The Twilight Zone was less about effects than ideas. So has Image done anything to make fans want to trade in their admittedly bulky DVD version for the slimmer, sexier Blu-ray? Mostly yes. The company has produced nineteen
new audio commentaries, many of them featuring Zi- cree but also including the likes of screenwriters Gary Gerani (Pumpkinhead) and Mark Fergus (Children of Men, Iron Man) and added many more radio adapta- tions. Zicree’s commentaries are especially informa- tive, explaining the origins of each episode and its significance within the series. Miss- ing this time, though, is a copy of his book. Boo. Perhaps the jewel in this set’s
crown is the inclusion of “The Time Element,” Serling’s first TZ-style TV drama. Produced as part of the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (a dramatic anthology series produced by Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz), the rarely seen segment – broadcast in November of 1958 – was an hour-long time-travel drama written by Serling. Its ratings suc- cess paved the way for CBS green- lighting The Twilight Zone. As a
prototype TZ episode it is only moderately successful but serves as a fascinating harbinger of Serling’s fu- ture exploration of what lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. SEAN PLUMMER
niably entertaining monster movie that gives Gamera one of his most interesting adversaries. Born of an erupting volcano and driven by an insatiable lust for human and animal blood, the airborne Gyaos only looks like a poor man’s Rodan – he’s actually quite deadly, slicing airplanes and cars clean in half with a deadly sonic beam he shoots out of his mouth. Daiei’s miniatures team
pulled out all the stops for the series’ third entry, with some impressive sets that look just as good as those in any Godzilla film. Against these highly detailed cityscapes and forests, director Noriaki Yuasa pits his monster gladiators in the series’ most violent battles, spilling lots of Day-Glo blood as the pair slash and tear at each other, including one memorable scene where Gamera rips off part of Gyaos’ foot. Hate those annoying kids in short pants always try-
ing to sidle up to the monsters in these films? Then you can double your displeasure with Gamera vs. Viras, in which precocious American Boy Scout Jim (Carl Craig) and even more precocious Japanese Boy Scout Masao (Toru Takatsuka) stumble upon an alien plot to use a mind-control device to turn Gamera into their Tokyo-demolishing slave. Unfortunately, the smash-’em-up scenes are just
stock footage cribbed from the turtle’s earlier install- ments. There’s little new FX work until the aliens un- leash Viras, an ill-tempered space squid that the liberated Gamera takes on in his most cartoonish bat- tle yet, even using his foe as personal water skis in the madcap finale. Shout! Factory’s pairing of the series’ lesser entries
makes it easier to shell out for this release, but it also means that there’s nothing in the way of special fea- tures this time out – though they do both offer Japan- ese and English dub soundtracks. Still, these entries are mostly enjoyable romps that will please kaiju fans with an appreciation for monster blood and a toler- ance for short pants.
PAUL CORUPE
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