Gamera vs. Jiger Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.5
Audio		1.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		1.5

Gamera vs. Jiger Blu-ray Movie Review

Gamera: the inside story.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 8, 2014

'Gamera vs. Jiger' is currently only available as part of a four-film bundle.

Everyone's favorite oversized turtle returns -- again -- in Gamera vs. Jiger, another movie in which the famed Godzilla-wannabe kaiju battles it out with another extra- large monster while a couple of pint-sized kids get involved in the fight for bragging rights, the future of humanity, Expo '70, and the viability of miniatures everywhere. Fortunately, this film veers away from its predecessors -- Gamera vs. Viras and Gamera vs. Guiron -- by refusing another flight into outer space and, this time, centering the battle in and around a worldwide expo being held in the heart of Japan. It does, however, see the return of a couple of kids doing work in a little yellow submarine, reminiscent of a plot device from Viras, so it's not completely original after all. Still, the film is, overall, a welcome, though limited, uptick in quality from its predecessors, at least in terms of breaking from the routine established in the last couple of pictures while still retaining that signature Gamera, er, charm that's a series staple.

Stoned out of his mind.

It's time for Expo '70! While the world celebrates and sets up shop in Japan to show off the latest wares -- accompanied by the Fuji and Hitachi groups -- an evil lurks under the surface. The Japanese government has authorized the relocation of an ancient statue -- known as "Devil's Whistle" -- to the Expo grounds. Cultists know better and loudly warn that upsetting the statue will most assuredly release a dangerous monster upon the world. Their pleas are ignored and, sure enough, a monster that comes to be known as Jiger appears. But so, too, does the heroic Gamera, the turtle with four jet engines and a friend to children everywhere. Gamera and Jiger do battle, but the new monster proves too much for Gamera. Now, it's up to a couple of children -- Hiroshi (Tsutomu Takakuwa) and Tommy (Kelly Varis) -- to enter a submarine of Hiroshi's father's design and get the inside story of what has stopped Gamera and what it will take to defeat Jigger once and for all.

Although the action remains squarely on terra firma, Gamera vs. Jiger nevertheless oozes that same Gamera spirit through-and-through. The film remains home to a number of terribly unconvincing miniature sets and support elements that literally look no better than if a child plopped a dollhouse in front of the camera or shot footage of a toy in some water. The creature rubbery suits are bulky and slow moving. They're nicely detailed but not particularly agile or capable of carrying out complex action scenes. Worse, the new introduction -- Jiger -- looks perpetually stoned in every scene. The move away from aliens and towards ancient curses at least gives the film something of a fresh coat of paint and reaffirms the classic Godzilla and Gamera style of "Japan under attack" and not "children whisked away to another planet." And with this return to a more classic cadence and plot device, the film rediscovers the simple charms of entries past and the appeal of the Monster, or Kaiju, genre, even if it is, here, presented in all its cheesy glory.

Gamera vs. Jiger Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Gamera vs. Jiger's 1080i transfer isn't all bad, but don't expect the world of it. Mill Creek's high definition home video presentation delivers, at least, a relatively clean picture, one that features mostly crisp, nicely defined details. Viewers will enjoy the rubbery monster textures in all their glory. Terrains are nicely detailed, and the miniatures reveal all their flimsy flaws. The submarine's seams and bumps are clearly visible, and skin and clothing details are sufficiently textured. Colors are decently robust, particularly Gamera's red mouth and the submarine's yellow paint scheme. Black levels are pale and purple, but skin tones don't appear to stray too far from accurate shading. The image suffers from light blockiness here and there, and minor interlacing artifacts are visible, particularly in fast-moving subtitle transitions.

Gamera vs. Jiger Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mill Creek's Gamera series continues to disappoint in the audio department. Gamera vs. Jiger features a Dolby Digital 2.0 track, presented in the original Japanese but read by the player as an English track. Nevertheless, the results are less than impressive. The entire thing is cramped up the middle. There's absolutely no range and precious little clarity to be found. Music is muddled and mushy. Dialogue is suitably firm but hardly lifelike in delivery. Monster screeches and battle effects fall flat. Listeners will note a slight underlying scratchiness and hissing in spots. Overall, the track conveys basic sonic information through poorly developed elements but does nothing more.

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

Gamera vs. Jiger contains no bonus content.

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

Gamera vs. Jiger doesn't redefine the series, but it does, at least, return it to its basic roots, keeping the action firmly on Japanese soil rather than on some space rock who knows how far away from home. In essence, it's Gamera through-and-through, with corny miniatures, slow action, overacted characters, and silly music one might expect to hear on a children's sing-along CD, not in a Monster movie. Yet the movie is fun for what it is and at least a little bit tighter in terms of script and pacing than a few of the previous entries. Mill Creek Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Gamera vs. Jiger features passably bland video, shallow and dull audio, and no supplements. If one is just dying to see a Gamera film, this one is as good a choice as any of the others.