Exciting Old-School Godzilla Movie
590395
This is a good little movie that is a good follow up to the first Godzilla movie.  There is a lot of focus on the human actors, but they are very charming in an old-fashioned kind of way.  Godzilla vs Anguirus is a bit of a mismatch, and you don't see much of Godzilla firing his flame breath, but it's worth watching.  Godzilla looks a little more realistic in black and white than in color, I think.
The explanation of how Godzilla and Anguirus came to be is kinda funny - the lines in that part of the movie are memorable.
On this particular edition of the movies (this current set) the special features are nifty, too.
4142823
Excellent Godzilla movie, This movie is Godzilla at his best, he both destroys and saves mankind perhaps man should just let sleeping giants lay...!
1588932
This film takes me back to the days of really bad drive in movies (that's good). The rubber suited monster invokes memories of my youth watching my favorite movies (any Japanese rubber suited monster) and brings a smile to my face. Any fan of cheesy fun monster movies will love this one. The film quality and sound are good, and in spite of what other reviewers say, the bonus film is equally interesting to true fans of the genre. In the words of the immortal Roger Ebert (may he rest in peace in the balcony up above) I give it two thumbs up for both.
3084087
I love Gamera as much as I like Godzilla! I watched most of his movies from the 1960s, dispite that they were all a little goofy, they really appealed to the kid in all of us! And now we have these three movie for the 90s;
1. GAMERA, GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE
It was great to see the big guy in action again!
What I liked about it;
1. Gamera looked better than he did before in the 60s!
2. Gamera sounded better!
3. The Gyaos looked better and sounded better!
4. The characters all served a good purpose!

What I didn't like;
1. The battles could have been better!
2. The Gyaos had weird/ rolling eyes!

Overall; I liked this movie! My grade: B or three-and-a-half stars!

2. GAMERA: ATTACK OF THE LEGION
A major improvement of the last one!
What I liked;
1. Gamera just looked and sounded better and was an imposing fighter!
2. The visual effects just keep getting better and better!
3. The Legion wer and looked very scary!
4. The battles were well done!
5. The plot was great!

Overall; I liked this movie even more than the first!
My grade; B+ or four stars!

3. GAMERA: REVENGE OF IRIS
The best Gamera movie yet!
What I liked about it;
1. Gamera looked bigger and more imposing than ever before!
2. I liked how all the human characters were tied into the plot!
3. The plot was complex and well written!
4. Iris looked cool!
5. The visual effects were excellent!

Overall; This is the best made Gamera film yet! My grade: A or five stars!

Bottom line; If you are a Gamera fan or just like monster movies, this 3-pack is for you!
My grand grade: A-
1514117
Movie:
In this installment, we see Godzilla's first opponent who would go on as a popular icon in Toho and a character we would see in later movies.
Godzilla returns and is pitted against Angilas(Anguirus), a creature that sports nasty rows of spikes on his shelled back.
Godzilla looks "vampiric" with his large fangs and pronounced teeth.
The fighting is more similar to animalistic fighting. Like watching two bears fight. The creatures claw and swipe each other like reaol animals engaged in combat. You won't see this kind of fighting in the later intallments. They added more "wrestling" type moves - which are equally fun to watch.
This movie is a classic monster man in suite beat 'em up and tons of stuff getting blown up.

DVD
The picture and sound are fantastic and I lke the optional dubbed version for those "Creature Double Feature" memories.
This is a must have for "Kaiju" fans and giant monster fans.
165307
I have always been a sucker for creature features, and this one is an A-list contender for my top favorite.

The fun begins when a ferocious Rhedosaurus is resurrected from its prehistoric dormancy after a series of nuclear tests in the Antarctic. The beast heads due south through the canadian territories and surfaces straight smack-dab in the center of New York City. From there on, you should be able to guess what happens next.

This is a great showcase for stop-motion effects legend, Ray Harryhausen. He is the man who later went on to lend his talent to the "Sinbad" movies, "Jason and the Argonauts," and "Clash of the Titans." It's a popcorn movie that never loses its appeal, and one that I am especially proud to say I own. I had no prior idea that it even made it to DVD. So, it goes without saying that I practically lunged at the opportunity to finally have it in my collection.

I actually prefer this over the original "Godzilla" film. Many don't but, hey, that's just my two cents.

Kick back, monster fans, relax and enjoy!!!
3301239
The whole new version of "Godzilla" animated is in many ways not just direct sequels to the much maligned movie, but trumps it with 40 episodes. Done in a very nice style that isn't influenced by anime. Similar to "MIB" series, "Big Guy & Rusty the Boy Robot" and "eXtreme Ghost Busters." A nice animation style with nice detail beats hands down any of the really cheap animation of the late 1970's to 1980's. The stories are interesting too with different types of mutations, hostile locals and even aliens and various groups, including the US military, adding to the problems that HEAT faces around the world as the rise of giant mutations continues. The action takes place all over the USA, but also the world. Just as in XGB there is a time travel story into a bleak future where HEAT sees the aftermath of a new monstrous hybrid species that seems too well adapted to stop.

Humanitarian
Environmental
Action
Team

Good news! The two previous unaired episodes are part of it. Sadly there are no extras which is disappointing. However the four discs are packed tight so watch out when you open it. A little difficult prying them out. They probably found it was cheaper to stack them so be careful when you work to remove them. They are numbered so no problem there. No trailers or commercials so you don't have to wait long to get to the good stuff.  Now if they would only release those other three cartoon series I listed above and then I rest easy.

For the money a very good deal. Haven't seen this cartoon since it ran in 1998.
4275243
I have always liked "Godzilla vs. Megalon" but I have never thought it was nearly as good as classic Godzilla movies like the original "Gojira" (Released in the US as "Godzilla:  King of the Monsters".) or "Ebirah:  Horror of the Deep" (Released in the US as "Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster".).  Like many Godzilla fans I originally owned a very badly dubbed (When is dubbing ever good?) and heavily edited VHS tape with very poor picture quality.  When I heard Media Blasters had restored the original movie and released it on DVD, I jumped at the opportunity to see it.

To begin with Media Blasters has done a very good job restoring "Godzilla vs. Megalon" to its original form.  The original dialogue tracks have been restored, the many scenes that were cut from the US release are back which greatly improve the movie (I had no idea that the character of Gigan was even in the movie.) and the sound and picture quality are excellent.

However, having the original movie restored does not make it great.  It's easy to understand why many fans consider this one of Godzilla's worst.  The story is a bit cornball.  The undergorund city of Seatopia decides they can no longer tolerate the serious threat to their home by Japan's constant nuclear testing.  In response they decide to release their monster Megalon to wreak havoc on Tokyo.  Agents from Seatopia steal an experimental robot named Jet Jaguar to guide Megalon to his intended targets.  The agents kidnap Jet Jaguar's inventors and a young boy who is the inventor's friend in order to take Jet Jaguar.  The inventors eventually overpower their captors and regain control of Jet Jaguar.  They send him to Monster Island to hopefully summon Godzilla to fight Megalon.  Upon learning this Seatopia summons the monster Gigan from deep space to assist Megalon.  When Jet Jaguar sees Gigan arrive, he somehow or another grows himself to enormous size to team up with Godzilla to even the odds in the fight to save the day.

The fight scenes look like kiddie fights.  They hurt the movie to a certain degree, but they do add a bit of comedy relief so there is some redeeming value.  The dialogue is also a bit cheesy.

Overall, "Godzilla vs. Magalon" is no classic, but the restored version of the movie is much better than the version we grew up with.  It's not great, but it is entertaining.
1608644
This is a great trilogy of hard to find movies, and they arrive packaged well and playing back effortlessly in my Sony BluRay player. The video quality is great, and the story lines are also above average for the genre, well worth the minimal cash outlay to give it a try out. If you like big monster Japanese flicks, this is a must have, try it, you'll like it!
1588176
Great movie for a Godzilla fan! Lots of emotional catches! Lots of action too! Different twist on the remake! Thumbs up!
238030
If you grew up watching Voltron, Godzilla, or any of the Mech Anime series, just buy this now. Well paced, fun, and a bit over the top movie about monsters fighting robots for the fate of humanity. What else do you really need in life? Nothing.
2779318
It is a Godzilla movie. As a fan that is all you need to know.

The pacing is great, the monster sequences are used in a way that you get the payoff at the end, and Godzilla is a powerful force of nature. This movie is as much a must see for people who are not fans of the Daikaiju genre as it is for fans of the genre. 12/10

The King has finally returned.
4650561
This is a fun story that fans of Godzilla and other giant humanoid monster films (daikaiju) are sure to enjoy. But it isn't stereotyped into that category by any means. Those who never got into tales of large beasts destroying large cities are likely to appreciate the witty characters, compelling plot, frequent action, compelling mystery and underline thriller aspect of this tale. There's even a small element of romance, which never distracts or cheapens the story. It's like the author wrote this book to appeal to a wide audience, but without hindering the quality of the work whatsoever. Not to say there aren't any holes, but they are easy to overlook when getting pulled into the exciting and unfolding events. There's something for just about everyone. I'd rate this 4 and a half stars, but because there is no such option, I'm leaning more toward five.
3967851
A Nuclear Bomb test in the Arctic thaws out and awakens a prehistoric monster called a "Rhedosaurus".  The creature makes its way to New York eventually smashing its way through the city and killing a number of people.  The film is based on a story by Ray Bradbury and stars mostly a cast of unknowns although a young Lee Van Cleef, who would go onto fame in Spaghetti westerns, does play a role.  In general the acting is the pretty hokey stuff you got with sci-fi films of the 1950's.

The real star of the movie is the stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen in his first big solo-effort.  Ray learned his craft under the great Willis O'Brien who did the effects for King Kong, Son of Kong, and others.  Ray's meticulous planning of the creatures movements lends a sense of realism not seen in other's use of stop-motion.  It honestly comes off as far more realistic than a guy in a suit that would be used in the movie it inspired the following year, "Godzilla".  Terrific set pieces and miniatures really enhance the movie including the fantastic attack on the lighthouse and the climax at Coney island.  Amazingly, this was all done on a budget of around $200,000.

This film would set off a giant creature movies with ants, spiders, locusts, and other beasties all going on a rampage throught the 1950's.  But this really was the original and best of the lot.  This new DVD contains two outstanding featurettes on the making of the movie and of the "rhedosaurus" that are a welcome addition for the fans of this classic drive-in film.
2166532
I gave this four stars, not because it's Oscar material but because it's good old-fashioned Godzilla versus other impossible monsters making up an enjoyable movie.  It's one of those so bad that it's good.  Invading giant cucarachas using humans for uniforms, poor English dialogue, and not very good English subtitling make for a sofa/popcorn/soft drink evening.
1916620
IDW took note of previous problems with bringing Godzilla to comics and avoided most of them. Lots of fun surprises and well-drawn fight scenes. I found the human characters more palatable than many readers seem to have. It's a no-brainer of you're a fan of Godzilla movies.
4532729
These are the same great Godzilla movies I remember staying up and watching Saturday evenings on TV as a child on.  When I read the poor reviews here, I expected grainy video with poor audio, but the video and audio quality were great, in my opinion; much better than any VHS tape. These are the full screen versions that were aired on U.S. TV, and that's what I prefer anyways, and remember seeing as a child. My 6 year old son gets as excited as I did (and still do) at the monster fight scenes.  We are both extremely happy with the set.