Rating: 
Summary: Retromedia scores again!
Review: A decade after Japan's Toho Studios made Godzilla a cultural icon, another Japanese company, Daiei, introduced a new giant monster of their own. The flying turtle Gamera made his debut in 1965 and was a smash when his first outing was released to American theaters the following year. The film was in black and white, but the sequels were all in color and all but one (1971's GAMERA VS. ZIGRA) were released directly to the U.S. home market by American International Pictures-TV (AIP-TV for short). In typical AIP fashion, the original titles were changed to give them that epic monster hype, and in all but one case, Gamera's name was omitted.Like Godzilla, Gamera was a friend to children, and by the third film, he was a good monster as imposed to an evil, city-stomping one. The Gamera films usually had kids as the main characters in the plots (even more so than with Godzilla), but the monster battles were surprisingly more violent, with the massive turtle's thick green blood flowing freely. And although the Gamera films were shown primarily on television in the States, this "man in a rubber suit" figure has still had a major impact on monster fans who grew up in the 60s and 70s watching them on Saturday afternoon, and if you live in New York, "The 4:30 Movie." Retromedia has released two of the more well-known Gamera films on DVD as a double feature, complete with their original "AIP" logos. The first film on this set is 1968's DESTROY ALL PLANETS, which involves two Boy Scouts (one Japanese and one American) abducted by a Ping Pong ball spaceship. In it, they find some gloomy aliens that look like Japanese surgeons, and are held prisoners. Most of the film is padded with footage from the previous three Gamera movies. Scenes from the original black and white film represent the point where the aliens control Gamera's mind and turn him on Japan, and most of the his nighttime clash with Gaos from RETURN OF THE GIANT MONSTERS is also present. The later half concentrates on new footage with Viras, a disturbing squid creature who is actually the leader of the aliens. Viras grows huge by chopping off the heads of his surgeon henchman and manifesting their bodies to be able to fight Gamera. A bloody battle ensues with Gamera being impaled by Viras' head, but he regains his strength and continues to fight in order to save the boys. The other title on this DVD set is the following year's ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS. The plot has two star-gazing boys (again, one Japanese and one American) discovering an abandoned flying saucer in the woods. They are able to pilot the ship to a planet where a knife-headed monster called Guiron slices up a silver-tinged Gaos, and later does extensive fighting with Gamera (watch as the giant flying turtle does gymnastics!). Guiron is unique in that he shoots deadly Ninja stars from his head, making for some tough competition for Gamera. Meanwhile, the boys discovery that the unique-looking planet is inhabited by two alien women. They seem real friendly at first, but the jelly donuts and milk they are treated to is actually a scheme to drug them and eat their brains! Don't worry, even though one of the boys has his head shaved, no brains are actually eaten. The DVD release of these two films marks a nice return to the AIP versions we're all used to. In the 80s, Sandy Franks issued re-dubbed versions of the Gamera films, but they lacked the charm and personality of what we originally saw in this country. Retromedia's release of both are of course the panned & scanned full frame editions, since the original 2:35.1 ratios were never seen here in English. DESTROY ALL PLANETS is passable: some of the colors are faded and the image is a bit soft. ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS on the other hand has very vibrant colors and is taken from a nice clean print source. The image is very sharp despite some grain caused by the p/s zooming. Audio on both titles is fine. Extras on the disc include two really nice still/poster galleries, and there are liner notes by Christopher William Koenig.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent creature double feature!!!
Review: Finally these classic treasures arrive on dvd! The pictures are not the greatest quality, especially DESTROY ALL PLANETS, but they are EXACTLY as I remember them from TV 20 years ago! Always my favorite Gamera film, DESTROY ALL PLANETS does use a lot of old scenes from the previous three films in the series, but they are cleverly used as a flashback sequence, and just make the movie more fun. ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS is a crazy adventure, almost as fun as the previous film. If you have kids, they will love this dvd, and adults will too, if you dont try to make sense of the stories!
Rating:
Summary: Let the Battle Begin
Review: First off for 6-8 dollars for this dvd the really is nothing to complain cus your getting an gamera vs viras which is kinda rare due it never been release before.GAMERA is back again when he runs into you can say a ALien ship which they want to invade earth to steal its resources and claim it as there own.Gamera destroys the first ship but they sent another ship to complete the mission but when it comes down to it the leader has to take care of the situation itself and fights gamera to the end.Basically the showa series showed more action and not a lot of kid action as in some other gamera flicks.The monster action was very great and showed good special effect even they look cheesy you have to remind yourself that this was made a long time ago.The showa gamera series mark it self as entertaining the kids rather then a mature older audience thats why you see alot of kids acting a big part in every gamera series.This was indeed one of the best Gamera series to get so I would highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Too Bad - DVD Menu Not The Best
Review: First off, these are the AIP edition of the movies. Uncensored prints of Attack of the Monster are extremely rare, and I haven't seen any uncensored English editions. These movies have changed hands more than the Godzilla movies, and I don't know the differences between the two English editions I've heard about besides the dubbing. Any older Gamera movie is hard to find in any video format so this could be all we see for a long time on DVD. Both movies are pan / scan editions and from 16mm. The first movie is Attack of the Monsters (aka Gamera vs. Guillon or Gamera vs. Guiron - depending on your source. Neptune Video used the first spelling, a reference book used the second). A boy and his friend see a UFO through his telescope and think they know where it landed. The boy's sister finds the flying saucer, and the two boys get inside just as it takes off on autopilot. The flying saucer looks alot like the Jupiter 2 with fins and a spinning thing on top. No one will listen to the girl's story about what happened except for one police officer. Meanwhile, the two boys are stuck on a planet with two female aliens who want to eat their brains. The monster Guillon is under the aliens' control. This print is censored with Guillon's fight with Space Gyaos being cut short. The second movie is Destroy All Planets (aka Gamera vs. Viras). This is the first time for me to ever see this so I can't comment on what might be censored. Two boys in an experimental submarine are captured by an alien ship and become prisoners. However, the aliens are really after Gamera since he is their main obstacle to conquering Earth. The aliens capture Gamera long enough to attach a mind control device. Later, Viras is released to fight Gamera. (I can't explain why without giving a spoiler.) This movie uses many scenes from previous movies as the aliens try to find a way to defeat Gamera. Even some of the "new" scenes appear to use old footage even from the original black and white Gamera movie - tinted red here. These movies are presented as you might have seen them broadcast on TV - before cable TV came along. The voice acting is OK. Both movies have a copyright of 1969. The original edition of Destroy All Planets was release one year earlier in Japan. I could do without the Dragnet-style music during the FBI warning. The face of the DVD looks like a video capture. I don't like the menus on this DVD. I normally assume that the brightest item is the selected one. With only two menu items (the title of each movie), it's not easy to tell at first that the item highlighted with green and somewhat dimmed is the selected movie. Plus, the menu comes up with the second (bottom) movie highlighted. The submenus for each movie are easier to navigate. Each movie menu includes a photo collection. Under Attack of the Monsters, the images include movie posters and artwork for the VHS cases, LaserDisc slipcase, and DVD inserts. This includes material for all of the old movies plus the 1995 one. There are even illustrations of the monsters' anatmony (the same ones that are on the official Japanese web site). Under Destroy All Planets, the images are mainly production photos. These pictures are not still frames. They are presentations set to music with each image appearing for approximately 7 seconds. Personally, I'd prefer to see the edition that Neptune Video had released on tape. I only got their subtitled letterboxed tapes so I don't know what their dubbed tapes were like except for the original 1965 movie. I don't know if their dubbed tape was like the AIP edition or not. I would like to see all of these older Gamera movies on DVD - released in both subtitled and dubbed as well as letterboxed.
Rating:
Summary: Gamera double feature ...could be better.
Review: I was glad to see "Destroy All Planets" (Gamera Vs. Viras) finally get released to video for the first time,
but disappointed with the quality. The film print has yellowed and the hue has shifted slightly red.
Bit of a drag, because it's the better of the two movies.
"War of the Monsters" (Gamera Vs. Guiron) the second film, was taken from a good quality print.
The colors are rich and vibrant, and the transfer is very sharp.
Both movies are on the same side of a dual-layered disk.
Each flick has six chapters, and amusing menu screens.
As an extra perk, there are two collections of promotion stills and Japanese movie posters. Both films have the original A.I.P. soundtracks, which are far superior to the versions re-dubbed by Sandy Frank in the 1980's. Unfortunately, these movies were released directly to television and mastered on 16mm, so the prints are somewhat grainy, and not widescreen. But what do ya want? We're talking about a giant fire-breathing, saber-toothed, prehistoric, flying turtle here. I predict this disk will end up being a collector's item, like the Simitar-Godzilla DVDs that sold out. If you're a Gamera fan, get this before it disappears.
Rating:
Summary: Gamera double feature ...could be better.
Review: I was glad to see "Destroy All Planets" (Gamera Vs. Viras) finally get released to video for the first time,
but disappointed with the quality. The film print has yellowed and the hue has shifted slightly red.
Bit of a drag, because it's the better of the two movies.
"War of the Monsters" (Gamera Vs. Guiron) the second film, was taken from a good quality print.
The colors are rich and vibrant, and the transfer is very sharp.
Both movies are on the same side of a dual-layered disk.
Each flick has six chapters, and amusing menu screens.
As an extra perk, there are two collections of promotion stills and Japanese movie posters. Both films have the original A.I.P. soundtracks, which are far superior to the versions re-dubbed by Sandy Frank in the 1980's. Unfortunately, these movies were released directly to television and mastered on 16mm, so the prints are somewhat grainy, and not widescreen. But what do ya want? We're talking about a giant fire-breathing, saber-toothed, prehistoric, flying turtle here. I predict this disk will end up being a collector's item, like the Simitar-Godzilla DVDs that sold out. If you're a Gamera fan, get this before it disappears.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a badly edited version of 2 good films
Review: I was looking forward to finally obtaining a clear copy of 2 movies from the Gamera series. Unfortunately, this DVD has been edited and takes away some of the best scenes from both films. In Attack of the monsters, Gamera Battles Gurion (a dog like creature with a knife for a head). There is a scene missing that went under the editing knife with this creature fighting another flying monster called a Gyaos. The Gyaos meets an untimely death and is literally hacked to pieces by Gurion. It is a shame that this scene was deleted. I'll stick with my laserdisc copy that I have. You can find my DVD for sale soon on EBAY.
Rating:
Summary: Best Gamera movie!
Review: It is great to see these old Gamera movies on dvd! This one has always been my favorite of the series, and is an excellent film for kids. If you can find the retromedia double feature disc, which includes ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS as well, I recommend that one instead. The picture is much better, not as blurry and faded, and the menu is not just a still picture like this one. But this edition is ok for the price!
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly cheesy Roger Corman films....
Review: Okay they feature Gamera and were made in Japan, but they look like they made the movies with advice from Roger Corman. Even the film prints themselves looked grainy and have aged badly. Ignore this mess.
Rating:
Summary: The Worse of the Worst
Review: Okay, this is a distgusting and sickening film! Aliens invade earth and somehow offspring a octopus creature that was created from the ocean. Supposeldy the aliens reproduced and had the creature. I don't want to know how. Then the monster destroys the rest of Japan, and China. He is almost invinciable. Then Gamera decides to kill the aliens in space. gamera kills them which triggers the monster on earth to die. Gamera goes to earth and he begins to save three kids named Tomo, Sika, and Inoshiro. Gamera almost kills the kids by steping on their house and then he burns woods to ge to another city. Gamera also finds the octopus' offspring and it is exactly the same. Gamera eats it and i beleive by my eyes i saw him pee on its carcas. What the??!!!Gamera even tears his suite and i see the actor. Its horrible! Then about hundreds of alien ships come and Gamera uses one fireball and kills them all. He then dances! What the! He dances and he sings some stupid song and the government sign a treaty with Gamera! What the hell? That is stupid! Then the end! After that i just did an outline in lame terms: ALiens make their offsrping. Japan burns. Gamera kills the monster in Yokohama. Gamera saves the kids almost merely killing them. Gamera pees on the monster's carcas. Gamera kills the offsrping of the octopus. Gamera burns the alien ships. Gamera sings and dances. Gamera signs a treaty and uses a pen! Gamera then flys to the sun! The End Good i hope he burned!
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