Gamera (1965)
Audio Commentary by August Ragone
Shout!Factory DVD - 2010
The classic Gamera movies have had such a rough run in North America. Most of them were only available on edited, pan-&-scan TV broadcasts, then many of them were released on VHS by Sandy Frank and became fodder for Mystery Science Theater 3000, then they were the stuff of dirt-quality bargain-bin DVDs for more than a decade. Only Neptune Media gave any of the films respectful releases on VHS and laserdisc. It wasn't until 2010 that Shout!Factory provided the first quality DVD releases for the Showa Gamera films on these shores, working with Kadokawa to license the films and obtain their materials. They enlisted August Ragone to oversee the English subtitles for the original Gamera and record an audio commentary for their DVD.
Ragone certainly offers a boatload of information. He points out which actors went on to reappear in later Gamera entries and other films of the genre. The biggest downside here is just how much of the commentary is comprised of lengthy filmography info for so many of the actors. It makes sense for the lead cast but for the various bit players it too often gets to the point that it doesn't have much to do with this movie or the genre. All the same, it's a commentary that's well worth listening to. Ragone's enthusiasm keeps it flowing and it's amusing how he doesn't shy away from pointing out Toshio's obvious insanity.
The meatiest elements of the commentary are the insightful anecdotes that Ragone shares, from Noriaki Yuasa's experience directing Gamera to the film's reception, including Daiei's historical place in the Japanese film industry and the contemporary geopolitical contexts that Japanese moviegoers lived with. He goes into detail about Daiei's unmade Nezura film project that eventually turned into Gamera and he dissects the various rumors about how the character was conceived. He also offers a lot of nuggets about how the special effects were achieved and he reads from a number of direct quotes from Yuasa and other crew members.
At 78 minutes, the original Gamera is a brisk and lively monster mash and this commentary suits it well.
