Gorgo [Blu-ray]

GORGO: a review of the VCI DVD only
Like many of you, I first saw GORGO as a child at the neighborhood theater back in 1961. I was impressed by "this towering apparition from before the dawn of history". The years have not erased that impression. But various video releases have not been so kind. This VCI release is the best of them all! Having said that, I regret to add, it could have been better.

THE CASE admirably reproduces the US movie poster, although it looks a bit dark. Compare it to the halfsheet poster presented in the "photo gallery" section of the "special features". Why they didn't use the distinctive logotype on the spine instead of that blobby font is a mystery. The back could use some design makeover, but that's just me....

THE INSERT is a single fold affair with the front cover reproduced in case you missed it on the cover. Inside is the printed narration from the "behind-the-scene short" in case you want to read it. The back lists the chapter stops. Nice insert, though I wish there...

Fine Monster Film.
I first saw "Gorgo" as a kid, when it was released theatrically in 1961--in fact, I went to see it several times. To this day, it is one of my favourite "giant monster on the loose" films. I suppose the quickest way to describe "Gorgo"

is to say that this was Britain's answer to Godzilla, Japan's iconic creature of destruction. However, I still find "Gorgo" several cuts above most films of this type.

Two rather unscrupulous divers/salvagers (Bill Travers and William Sylvester) capture a huge, prehistoric beast (it looks like an over-sized, aquatic T-Rex) off the coast of Ireland. Ignoring pleas from the Irish government and scientists who want to study this amazing animal, our two "heroes" are more interested in someone who will "show me the money !" That "someone" is a circus-owner in London, where the creature is put on display for the ticket-buying public. However, when scientists do their homework, they conclude that this "huge" animal is really just a baby...

picture restored but sound destroyed!
I saw Gorgo when it was first released in the movies in 1960 and I'm probably the movie's biggest fan. This 'Destruction Edition' release by VCI is the first serious print of the movie to be sold. The bonfire scene on Nara Island where Gorgo makes his first appearance is restored to visual perfection. It looks like it was actually printed from the negative as do many other scenes in this release. It seems like all the criticism heaped on VCI for releasing the atrocious previous version with its near black scenes paid off. The fans of Gorgo , which are many, deserved and got this restoration. Unfortunately the glee I felt initially with seeing Gorgo finally restored was short lived when the most bizarre thing occurred.
I began to notice the soundtrack was cheaply tampered with in an attempt to guess 'enhance it'. Now mind you I have seen probably ten different video releases of Gorgo all of which had awful print quality but the movie's soundtrack was never ruined or doctored in...

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