Anyway, it's a gimme that Gamera Vs. Barugon was made to cash in on the first movie, but for whatever reason, this 200-foot-tall turtle didn't garner the international fame of rival studio Toho's big green Godzilla. Maybe it's because Gamera seemed at the outset to be firmly aimed at the younger crowd, whereas Godzilla was a more serious affair. Mysteriously, this hastened-to-the-theaters follow-up seems to have almost completely forgotten about the kids! (Of course the series would soon return to more juvenile waters.) First we find Gamera blithely destroying a dam, killing all the workers, and all for just a little bit of juice. Next, a load of low-wattage pseudo-intrigue graces the screen, as a group of vaguely seedy men plot to recapture a giant opal that may or may not legitimately belong to them. They even have help from the nominal hero Keisuke, (Kojiro Hongo) a guy who wants to use his share of the loot to open up a travel agency or something.

They must fly to New Guinea, so we can enjoy some reverse Orientalia in the form of hypnotically dancing natives. Of course our crew eventually gets the opal, after a few misadventures, only to eventually discover that it's not an opal, but the egg of a gigantic chameleon-like monster who can shoot freezing gas clouds from his 30-foot-long tongue, and can shoot 'destructive rainbows' from the spikes on his back, not too mention the penchant for stomping Japanese architecture.

Though the Gamera franchise forthrightly turned back to pleasing the kiddoes, clearly gone from this effort are any attempts to sympathize with lonely young Japanese tots (as in the first movie). In place is some minor league yet entertaining intrigue, occasional fisticuffs and the usual military/ political hand wringing - "how ever are we going to deal with these huge monsters?"

Luckily, there's still enough monster action to please the kid in any viewer. Gamera destroys the damn, Barugon trashes a bunch of stuff, the two engage in a climactic contretemps and some fantastic miniature work is featured. In particular, Barugon's midnight freeway roaming, shot from above, looks real, because it is real. The Gamera costume looks truly great, however the Barugon suit suffers from some thin skin that resembles oil-soaked canvas more than the typical rubbery armor of Toho fame.

While this 100-minute effort is a bit short on destructive kaiju action, percentage-wise, there are still plenty of sweet moments (including a giant tongue lashing) and stomped buildings, plus a generally serious tone, that marks this as a high-point in the Gamera franchise.

The DVD

Video:
Shout! Factory delivers Gamera VS. Barugon in a fantastic looking new HD anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) transfer that gets high marks for clarity. The image is very crisp and clean, lending much enjoyment to all scenes of stomping, revealing great detail in the miniature work. I noticed no compression artifacts, (except maybe a tiny bit of motion blur here and there) and really enjoyed rich, full colors, especially Barugon's purple blood.

Sound:
Japanese Stereo Audio (with English subtitles) is the only available audio option, sounding just fine. Monster screams, as usual, are mixed way louder than dialog, which can be a problem for late night viewing, but in general there doesn't seem to be any distortion or decay of the soundtrack. The mix itself isn't terribly dynamic, but nonetheless creates a fairly enveloping atmosphere.

Extras:
Remember that Commentary Track with August Ragone and Jason Varney that inspired me to stick to my usual reviewing methodology? I needn't really have worried about listening to the whole thing first. Other than explaining a few odd jump cuts in the movie, the pair seems content to list film credits of everyone involved in this movie. The track is certainly exhaustive, but it's also exhausting. Seldom rising above inert, this track amounts to listening to two guys reading from IMDB and Wikipedia. There are a few snippets of interesting information for casual fans, but there are far, far too many long lists of Japanese movie titles with years of production, duly recited for everyone mentioned, for this track to be anything more than aggravating. I suppose if you're writing a report on the history of 20th Century Japanese Cinema, and willing to take notes, you'll find this if not entertaining, at least informative. I simply wanted to shut the thing off after ten minutes. When Ragone and Varney occasionally go off script things liven up, but this happens too seldom, and otherwise their dry subject matter is read in faux-announcer-ly fashion that is in itself somewhat unpleasant and disingenuous. There is a lot of information here, some of it interesting to your average fan, but you simply can't call this an entertaining commentary.

Publicity Galleries and a gallery featuring the Original Movie Program ride the line between charming and extraneous, while a Liner Notes booklet contains some amusing reminiscences from actor Kojiro Hongo, a rundown of the characters in the film, and some cool Anatomy Diagrams for the title monsters. In all these extras earn an 'E' for effort, but not for entertainment.

Final Thoughts:
Shout! Factory provides us with an awesome looking edition of Gamera VS. Barugon, one of the more serious, and seriously fun entries in the Gamera series. From Barugon's truly whacked-out weapons - destructive rainbow? - to some awesome miniature work, this is a fine kaiju film. Too bad limited extras and a DOA commentary track don't rise to the occasion. Yet for the true kaiju fan, this 100-minute version is still Recommended.

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