Gamera Arrow Limited Edition set

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Re: Gamera Arrow Limited Edition set

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I haven't had a chance to open the set yet but I've always found kaiju film commentaries to be particularly dry and boring outside of David Kalit and Criterion 1954 tracks. So didn't really have high expectations based on what I had heard from the previous Gamera commentaries. Any recommendations on which ones I can skip that are the most "IMDB-friendly"?
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Re: Gamera Arrow Limited Edition set

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Godzilla21 wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 3:30 pm I haven't had a chance to open the set yet but I've always found kaiju film commentaries to be particularly dry and boring outside of David Kalit and Criterion 1954 tracks. So didn't really have high expectations based on what I had heard from the previous Gamera commentaries. Any recommendations on which ones I can skip that are the most "IMDB-friendly"?
The Showa ones range from good to okay to... well, a tad below okay. They blend together in my mind, but I think vs. Gyaos was the best of those.

The trilogy ones are a step above. G1 and G2 are good, well researched commentaries, but the G3 commentary is excellent. Maybe the best one Steve and Ed have ever done.

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Re: Gamera Arrow Limited Edition set

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Angilasman wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 7:29 am
Rando Yaguchi wrote: Thu Mar 11, 2021 9:17 pm How does everyone like the audio commentaries? They were a big selling point for me, especially seeing all the familiar names from the old Classic Media Godzilla...I'm a little disappointed, though. The Heisei/Brave commentaries are all solid (even if Matt Frank is a little too goofy at times), but most of the Showa commentaries are just so boring - it's that tendency to start rattling off every single actor's screen credits like a glorified IMDB page, why do people do this? Ragone is the worst of the bunch, and Stuart Gilbraith isn't much better. I usually love David Kalat's stuff, but his take on Guiron is pretty unfocused and off-topic. I thought Sean Rhoads and Brooke McCorkle did a nice job with Zigra - plus it's refreshing to hear a female voice in the mix for once.
The Zigra commentary was really surprising because it was folks that aren't just from the usual fan circles who had a different knowledge base. There's a lot of virtue in that.

Anyway, my Heisei set came this morning!
The Zigra commentary was definitely one of the most interesting ones I've listened to so far. My only real complaint there was the potshots at dubbing as a practice, but it's not really surprising coming from a couple of self-described "Japanologists." I can absolutely overlook that considering the interesting commentary and context they provide in the rest of the track, though.

It was especially refreshing coming off of the Jiger commentary, which imo was the worst I've listened to so far. Very little to say, and delivered so sleepily.
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Re: Gamera Arrow Limited Edition set

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Angilasman wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 7:22 pm
Godzilla21 wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 3:30 pm I haven't had a chance to open the set yet but I've always found kaiju film commentaries to be particularly dry and boring outside of David Kalit and Criterion 1954 tracks. So didn't really have high expectations based on what I had heard from the previous Gamera commentaries. Any recommendations on which ones I can skip that are the most "IMDB-friendly"?
I liked the godzilla vs megalon commentary on the media blasters(accidental release)dvd. But yeah hong kong film historian commentaries are way more engaging in comparison.

The Showa ones range from good to okay to... well, a tad below okay. They blend together in my mind, but I think vs. Gyaos was the best of those.

The trilogy ones are a step above. G1 and G2 are good, well researched commentaries, but the G3 commentary is excellent. Maybe the best one Steve and Ed have ever done.

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Re: Gamera Arrow possible release?

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omgitsgodzilla wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 6:08 am I will laugh my ass off if Arrow and Kadokawa manage to upstage Toho's Criterion's Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films

Hell, supposedly they went for the Criterion set because they were a bit embarrassed that the Gamera series was almost entirely available in one place, while Godzilla was split up and inconsistently available. If that's true, maybe a good set of Gamera releases could shame them into lifting a finger on some new transfers.
I was reading some of the first few pages of this thread, and I just wanted to say that this post from 2019 has aged very well - Arrow destroyed Criterion, or, rather, Kadokawa destroyed Toho. Hopefully Toho learns their lesson: that quality matters...
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Re: Gamera Arrow possible release?

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Rando Yaguchi wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 11:43 pm
omgitsgodzilla wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 6:08 am I will laugh my ass off if Arrow and Kadokawa manage to upstage Toho's Criterion's Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films

Hell, supposedly they went for the Criterion set because they were a bit embarrassed that the Gamera series was almost entirely available in one place, while Godzilla was split up and inconsistently available. If that's true, maybe a good set of Gamera releases could shame them into lifting a finger on some new transfers.
I was reading some of the first few pages of this thread, and I just wanted to say that this post from 2019 has aged very well - Arrow destroyed Criterion, or, rather, Kadokawa destroyed Toho. Hopefully Toho learns their lesson: that quality matters...
And all Kadokawa had to do was basically "allow" and "give access to" and "permit" the company doing the licensing to their thing.

Kadokawa just pretty much had to sit back and unleash Arrow upon on the Gamera set and provide them with what they needed. Properly syncing the Gamera The Brave Dub(Frankly it needs a full audio overhaul as not having proper Gamera roars and using all weird old vintage random roars is a crime in a Gamera movie) and letting them include the Gamera 2015 short WOULD have been super cool...but hard to nitpick the set. Kadokawa also isn't trying to bury/stifle the existence of English Dubs and English versions of their films.

That being said...I don't see Kadokawa going and doing full-blown 4K restorations of every Gamera movie (yes, they did the Heisei Trilogy) any time soon...while Toho does at least seem to be finally giving all of the Godzilla films their due respect. I read that apparently Kadokawa is in like...kind of a tough financial situation these days...so who knows.
Last edited by Chrispy_G on Thu Mar 25, 2021 12:06 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Gamera Arrow possible release?

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MaxRebo320 wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 10:54 am It would be nice to have that Gammera print on Blu-Ray, even with the missing scenes.

And I guess I’m REALLY jumping to conclusions here by saying this, but if Gamera BDs do come to fruition, I’d love to see more titles from Daiei’s SFX catalog (Not just the Yokai films, but also the likes of Demon of Mt. Oe and especially Whale God, which is honestly superior to most Toho Kaiju films) While not as large, I’d call it just as diverse as Toho’s, maybe even slightly more so.
We haven't seen these specific titles yet, but this has basically come to pass as well with Warning from Space, the Invisible Man films, and the upcoming Daimajin set.

And just imagine, we could be seeing the same for other Toho films if they hadn't made themselves a reputation for not being worth the trouble of working with.
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Re: Gamera Arrow possible release?

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Rando Yaguchi wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 11:43 pmHopefully Toho learns their lesson: that quality matters...
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Re: Gamera Arrow possible release?

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tbeasley wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 12:46 pm
Rando Yaguchi wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 11:43 pmHopefully Toho learns their lesson: that quality matters...
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Re: Gamera Arrow Limited Edition set

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What Hollywood Studio would be most comparable to how Toho operates?

Obviously we may not be super informed on how some USA based studios treat international distributors/license holders...and in some cases, Hollywood Studios often get very hands on with their various international dealings.

So I doubt we'll have a situation of like...."Paramount screws over every international release of the Friday the 13th films" or something like that.

But in general, with the sort of reputation Toho has developed....what is a Hollywood Studio they are comparable to in terms of some of the negative/frustrated perspective many hold towards them?
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Re: Gamera Arrow possible release?

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Chrispy_G wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 11:52 pm
Rando Yaguchi wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 11:43 pm
omgitsgodzilla wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 6:08 am I will laugh my ass off if Arrow and Kadokawa manage to upstage Toho's Criterion's Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films

Hell, supposedly they went for the Criterion set because they were a bit embarrassed that the Gamera series was almost entirely available in one place, while Godzilla was split up and inconsistently available. If that's true, maybe a good set of Gamera releases could shame them into lifting a finger on some new transfers.
I was reading some of the first few pages of this thread, and I just wanted to say that this post from 2019 has aged very well - Arrow destroyed Criterion, or, rather, Kadokawa destroyed Toho. Hopefully Toho learns their lesson: that quality matters...
And all Kadokawa had to do was basically "allow" and "give access to" and "permit" the company doing the licensing to their thing.

Kadokawa just pretty much had to sit back and unleash Arrow upon on the Gamera set and provide them with what they needed. Properly syncing the Gamera The Brave Dub(Frankly it needs a full audio overhaul as not having proper Gamera roars and using all weird old vintage random roars is a crime in a Gamera movie) and letting them include the Gamera 2015 short WOULD have been super cool...but hard to nitpick the set. Kadokawa also isn't trying to bury/stifle the existence of English Dubs and English versions of their films.

That being said...I don't see Kadokawa going and doing full-blown 4K restorations of every Gamera movie (yes, they did the Heisei Trilogy) any time soon...while Toho does at least seem to be finally giving all of the Godzilla films their due respect. I read that apparently Kadokawa is in like...kind of a tough financial situation these days...so who knows.
Tough financial situation, eh? Does this sound familiar...say, like what happened in the early 1970s back when they were Daiei?

I hope in this case that history doesn't repeat itself here.

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Re: Gamera Arrow Limited Edition set

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Chrispy_G wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 12:16 am What Hollywood Studio would be most comparable to how Toho operates?
...
So I doubt we'll have a situation of like...."Paramount screws over every international release of the Friday the 13th films" or something like that.
I think with hollywood it's moreso the battles between individual creators and the studios that muck things up. F13 is a good example with the big legal kerfuffle between Cunningham and Paramount, which has prevented new films for almost 10 years now IIRC. Another example would be the Kong right mess. But then you gotta think, back when, Toho was desperate to get their product on screens over here, and the consensus on monster movies was generally that they were lowbrow schlock with not much merit. Toho was in a position that a hollywood studio wouldn't be in.
If you wanted to compare Toho to a hollywood studio Disney would probably be the closest due to the massive influence they have on their respective markets and theater chains as well as their draconian tactics.

Regarding the topic, the set is fantastic. I wasn't aware of a Majin set, but count me in! Also would love to see Whale God make its way over here. I usually pride myself on my knowledge of such things but only found out about Whale God a few months ago.
Last edited by Major sssspielberg! on Fri Mar 26, 2021 8:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Gamera Arrow possible release?

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mikelcho wrote: Fri Mar 26, 2021 6:06 am
Chrispy_G wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 11:52 pm
Rando Yaguchi wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 11:43 pm

I was reading some of the first few pages of this thread, and I just wanted to say that this post from 2019 has aged very well - Arrow destroyed Criterion, or, rather, Kadokawa destroyed Toho. Hopefully Toho learns their lesson: that quality matters...
And all Kadokawa had to do was basically "allow" and "give access to" and "permit" the company doing the licensing to their thing.

Kadokawa just pretty much had to sit back and unleash Arrow upon on the Gamera set and provide them with what they needed. Properly syncing the Gamera The Brave Dub(Frankly it needs a full audio overhaul as not having proper Gamera roars and using all weird old vintage random roars is a crime in a Gamera movie) and letting them include the Gamera 2015 short WOULD have been super cool...but hard to nitpick the set. Kadokawa also isn't trying to bury/stifle the existence of English Dubs and English versions of their films.

That being said...I don't see Kadokawa going and doing full-blown 4K restorations of every Gamera movie (yes, they did the Heisei Trilogy) any time soon...while Toho does at least seem to be finally giving all of the Godzilla films their due respect. I read that apparently Kadokawa is in like...kind of a tough financial situation these days...so who knows.
Tough financial situation, eh? Does this sound familiar...say, like what happened in the early 1970s back when they were Daiei?

I hope in this case that history doesn't repeat itself here.
Unsure...frankly, I saw someone make a meme about how they had to "beg" people to crowdfund their Nezura 1964 movie. I'm not an expert on any of the parameters around that production, so maybe the meme was just being cheeky, I'm not sure.
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Re: Gamera Arrow Limited Edition set

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Guess they're doing the Yokai films, too! Zack Davisson (author of yokai books and English translator of the great yokai manga artist Shigeru Mizuki) had a camera crew in his house to record a special feature for an upcoming blu-ray!

https://mobile.twitter.com/ZackDavisson ... 1940443143

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Re: Gamera Arrow Limited Edition set

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Angilasman wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 8:16 pm Guess they're doing the Yokai films, too! Zack Davisson (author of yokai books and English translator of the great yokai manga artist Shigeru Mizuki) had a camera crew in his house to record a special feature for an upcoming blu-ray!

https://mobile.twitter.com/ZackDavisson ... 1940443143
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Re: Gamera Arrow Limited Edition set

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Awesome. I've never seen any of those films, but I keep hearing good things.
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Re: Gamera Arrow Limited Edition set

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Angilasman wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 8:16 pm Guess they're doing the Yokai films, too! Zack Davisson (author of yokai books and English translator of the great yokai manga artist Shigeru Mizuki) had a camera crew in his house to record a special feature for an upcoming blu-ray!

https://mobile.twitter.com/ZackDavisson ... 1940443143
On one hand I'm happy that these films get a proper rerelease and on the other hand my wallet cries because I got the expensive OOP ADV DVDs not too long ago
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Re: Gamera Arrow Limited Edition set

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All the Daiei Yokai films are good, but Spook Warfare/The Great Yokai War is in the running for my favorite tokusatsu movie ever. Love that flick!

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Re: Gamera Arrow Limited Edition set

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I'm so glad the Yokai Monsters trilogy is being rereleased at last! That's definitely my next Japanese tokusatsu project.

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Re: Gamera Arrow Limited Edition set

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Often the little postcards that come in the cases of Arrow releases spoil titles that aren't announced yet. A new card with the original Daimajin poster is now showing up.

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