Gamera vs. Gyaos Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.5
Audio		2.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		1.5

Gamera vs. Gyaos Blu-ray Movie Review

Fire-breathing UFO turtle vs. laser shooting vampire bat.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 6, 2014

Big, brawling Kaiju monster movies can be quite good if they're done right. Gamera vs. Gyaos isn't done right, and therefore it isn't very good. The movie has its moments of cheesy glory, but for the most part it's an exercise in lowest-common-denominator Monster moviemaking, built around a straightforward and largely thoughtless script, laughably bad visual effects, and worst of all, boring monsters battling with nary an ounce of visual or dramatic originality. The film pits the title hero Gamera, once a menace to society and now a de facto caretaker for a young Japanese boy, against one of his oddest opponents yet and that he'll ever face, a regenerative vampire bat-thing with a dislike for the sun and that shoots yellow laser beams out of its mouth, capable of cleanly slicing a car in half but miraculously leaving the entire engine intact. So the villain isn't particularly noteworthy and its combat with the heroic spinning turtle with jet engines on all four corners plays out pretty much like every other Kaiju battle, yet there's an unmistakable charm to parts of this one, most of it a product of the classic "so bad it's good" paradox, the kind of movie that will leave the audience shaking its head but smiling at the same time.

In Japan, a major highway construction project near a suddenly active Mount Fuji falls under threat from nearby denizens who don't want their way of life upset. When a team of scientists travel by helicopter to survey the volcanic eruptions, they're shot down by laser beams emitting from a creature that will come to be known as Gayos, a bat-like monster that doesn't particularly like the sun. The creature attacks with a young boy named Eiichi (Naoyuki Abe) in its sights. Enter Gamera, Elichi's hero and a powerful monster ready to protect him at all costs. Gamera is severely wounded in the fight with Gayos. While he recovers, scientists work on a way of destroying Gayos once and for all.

Gamera, a creature that's part turtle, part Godzilla, and part UFO, ambles about the screen as he battles his opponent Gyao, a creature bent on destruction because, well, people want to see the two monsters battle it out. The movie is terribly straightforward to a fault, displaying no real drive or purpose beyond framing a few big action scenes around a fairly loose plot device about highway construction and protests and a young boy whose obsession with Gamera might prove much more unhealthy than anyone could have ever imagined. The picture is terribly repetitive and slow; the battles lack variety beyond the backdrop that frames them, and the subplots and characters don't add much to the experience. Yet few, if anybody, come into a Gamera movie concerned with the humans, anyway; they oftentimes feel in the way, present really only to extend the film's runtime because even an 80-some minute onslaught of corny monster battles would get old fairly quick. The problem is that the material that fills in the gaps isn't any more interesting, and they're just obstacles to the only marginally more interesting monster battles that people really pay to see.

Gamera vs. Gyaos Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Gamera vs. Gyaos' 1080i transfer has some problems. While the image can look passably good, there are a number of underlying issues that keep it from even Blu-ray mediocrity. First, the good news. Details can satisfy on a basic level. Image clarity ofttimes impresses, and the transfer occasionally displays nice, nearly filmic textures on clothes, faces, monsters, terrains, and even the shoddy models with relative ease and command. Additionally, colors are frequently impressive, certainly not vibrant and rich and nuanced like one might expect to find in a modern film or digital production, but good enough for a lower end movie many decades old. Unfortunately, the good stops at the basics. Black levels are consistently a shade or two too pale and bright. Frequent compression issues are clearly evident, particularly in darker backdrops. An annoying combing effect is visible every time one line of subtitles transitions to another. A fair amount of wear and tear is evident throughout, much heavier in spots but rather consistent nonetheless. Overall, it's a passable image but one that's wholly unimpressive.

Gamera vs. Gyaos Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Gamera vs. Gyaos arrives on Blu-ray with a Japanese language Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. Note that the Blu-ray player reads it as an English track, but it is indeed a presentation of the Japanese original (optional English subtitles are included and can only be toggled on or off via the remote's "subtitle" button). The track is a disappointment, a shallow, sometimes barely audible at reference levels listen. Music sounds like it's playing at about a quarter of normal volume. Of course, it lacks even cursory range and clarity is iffy at best. Action effects, like Gyaos' laser beams, fail to do much other than produce the base sound. Crashes, explosions, and other action sound effects are presented just loudly and clearly enough to offer base sonic definition and presence. Dialogue is adequately delivered though also a bit scratchy and shallow. This is a classic case of a soundtrack doing just enough to get the listener through the film, no more and no less.

Gamera vs. Gyaos Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Gamera vs. Gyaos contains no supplemental content.

Gamera vs. Gyaos Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Gamera vs. Gyaos borders on being almost entirely plotless. Most of the film feels like a simple regurgitation of basic Kaiju movie mechanics, both in terms of how the human characters fit into the greater story and, of course, in the monster battles themselves. The film never surprises and it certainly never impresses. It's home to poorly realized visual effects (enough with the bad toys and models already!) and repetitive monster-on-monster action. The film satisfies as simpleminded entertainment and might even give the audience something to laugh at, but it's otherwise a rather poor entry all around. Mill Creek Home Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Gamera vs. Gyaos features troubled video, poor audio, and no supplements. Skip it.