Cheapo Gamera dvds

[Torgaman]

Last thursday I went into a COCONUTS music store to browse and noticed they had two double pack dvds of Gamera films of the sixties[minus the first one] on dvd,and each dvd had two films[MONSTER FROM A PREHISTORIC PLANET was on one of the discs] making for a total of seven films.The discs were priced at 9.99
each,making for a total of 8 kaiju films for less than what some bootleg dealers sell one film for.Now granted
this might mean the quality of the discs are not of the highest standard,but if all you want to do is kickback and have fun watching these films this seems like a real great bargain.Check your COCNUTS retail stores in your area to see if you can get this deal.

[Xenorama ™]

i've heard of these, but we don't have that store here in paradise. i'll look at Fry's. they have pretty good prices on DVDs, that's for sure.

[Agul]

Sounds cool. I think I know of one about 15 minutes away.

[005]

I've seen Alpha Video discs in Borders and Half Price Books. You can always try there. Hell, I even saw "MANOS" THE HANDS OF FATE in Borders. Alpha Video picks up probably every movie in the public domain from the 30s-60s and releases it on DVD. But it is a case of you get what you pay for. Though DESTROY ALL PLANETS does have some pictures of poster art and lobby cards from various Gamera movies, almost all the discs have no extras and have pretty crappy A/V quality.

[RoadWarriorYajuta]

They have some at a music store down here, for ten bucks. I was thinking of picking upone to check out.

[Torgaman]

I bought the dvds about two weeks ago.In fact they do have the first Gamera film[the American version.]They have the AIP dubs of GAMMERA THE INVINCIBLE,WAR OF THE MONSTERS,ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS,DESTROY ALL PLANETS and GAMERA VS MONSTER X.GAMERA VS GAYOS and GAMERA VS ZIGRA are the Sandy Frank dubs
and GAMERA VS GAYOS looks like it was taken from a bad ep videotape[yet to sit through ZIGRA,can ya blame me?]while the AIP films are pretty clean,though
WAR OF THE MONSTERS seems to have some scenes trimmed.[All the monster footage seems intact though]
MONSTER FROM A PREHISTORIC PLANET is also included and the print used also leaves something to be desired.
But these are really minor gripes considering I paid about twenty two buck[tax included]for eight Kaiju eiga
films.As of late alot of fans have become rather snobbish about video and dvd releases,and seem to forget that these films are about having fun.If you don't
mind these quibbles I mentioned and are on a fixed economy these dvds might be right up your alley.[By the way,all films are pan and scan.]

[celamowari]

The Alpha DVDs are sourced from old TV prints. The one I have looked acceptable. WAR OF THE MONSTERS was cut by AIP-TV, hence the edited version.

I would be unsurprised if GYAOS and ZIGRA really are mastered from EP VHS. This happens more than we'd like to imagine.

[stareater]

I bought a few of the Alpah DVD's, mainly for my sons to keep them away from my imports (those little hands have a way of trashing discs!). I have the double feature of Attack of the Monsters/Destroy All Planets and War of the Monsters. The latter was $4, and I think I paid $10 for the double disc. The prints are awful, looking like they've been underwater for the last 35 years, and the versions are chopped from the original films. They're okay for the money, but leave you wanting a better version. The imports are the best, as they have been masterfully restored, uncut, and have subs, but are a bit pricey.

[Torgaman]

Actually they were chopped up for their original us television airings,so you can't blame the makers of the dvds.Plus finding prints of the AIP versions is hard since that company no longer exists,so the prints may have been aquired from another source.As for the ones I bought,most of the AIP versions of the films,in fact all
are in pretty good shape.It was the two Sandy Frank versions which left a little to be desired,and the Gappa
film was also not the best quality.But considering I paid about the same for eight films than I would a high quality import,I would say it is a good deal.

[celamowari]

There are a couple of other companies (Diamond or Platinum?) that are also marketing multi-movie discs of these films. Dunno if they are using dupes of the same prints or what.

EDIT : Like these -

www.digitalmonsterisland.com/jap_mons_vol_1_box.html
www.digitalmonsterisland.com/jap_mons_vol_2_box.html

[Torgaman]

I got the DIAMOND ENTERTAINMENT dvds.Volume 1 is actually a great bargain.Volume 2 leaves a bit to be desired since three of the films appear to be taken from
EP tapes.

[Torgaman]

I have to disagree with the reviews in the link,at least about volume 1.The films on volume 1 aren't that bad.They aren't perfect,but they are ALOT better than any dupe of a single film for the same price.Do not go for "The color is fading" lines.Look the only way you'd get a crystal clear picture is by travelling back in time to the moment they developed the film in the japanese darkroom.Trust me,volume 1 is well worth the price.
No they aren't letterboxed subtitles with a gazillion extras telling us how many pancakes Kojiro Hongo could
scarf down for breakfast.They are four monster movies we plopped down to see as kids on SON OF SVENGOOLIE or CREATURE FEATURES or SHOCK THEATER or YOU HAVE NO LIFE MOVIES or whatever title your local station gave that time slot.As of late people are getting TOO SNOBBY and don't realize we are supposed to be having fun watching these movies,not criticizing every damned pixel on the screen.
This is supposed to a fun hobby and those dvds will not disappoint anyone who approaches them in the right mind set.

[celamowari]

Eh, I tend to agree that people are too picky. I tried to find a link to buy them, but I couldn't. Anybody seen these at online dealers, for those who might want to order them?

[hman]

I wrote a review of the first Gamera film based on the Alpha DVD. It's here:

www.angelfire.com/ca5/blake/gammera.html

[Xenorama ™]

ya gotta see it in widescreen- it's pretty cool that way, and marginally better (the movie's not great to begin with).

[WaverBoy]

I agree. You gotta see these films in widescreen. I've got dubs of all the widescreen import DVDs. The AIP dubs would be nice, but, since half the picture is gone, plus footage edited out, I'd rather watch the imports. If, somehow, widescreen versions of the AIP dubs could be released, I'd buy them in a heartbeat. But, since these films were released directly to television over here, there were probably only pan&scan 16mm prints made of the dub versions. So that probably ain't gonna happen...