DVD Collectors Online

Gamera vs. Gyaos, a review by Danae Cassandra

Gamera vs. Gyaos  (Daikaiju kuchusen: Gamera tai Gyaosu)
Year of Release: 1967
Directed By: Noriaki Yuasa
Starring: Kojiro Hongo, Reiko Kasahara, Taro Marui, Yoshio Kitahara
Genre: Science-Fiction, Disaster, Tokusatsu, Kaiju

Overview:
The third entry of this classic monster series continues when a volcanic eruption awakens Gyaos, a gigantic vampire-like bat who has a ravenous hunger for blood. Gyaos is Gamera's most popular foe, returning in four more films (not counting the stock footage in SUPER MONSTER). Can the fire-spitting terrapin Gamera defeat this nocturnal beast?

My Thoughts:
Gyaos has emerged from his cave! He is hungry! Humans are the perfect size for snacking! See him generate great wind with his wings! Witness his sonic scream cut through almost anything! Gamera is all that stands between Gyaos and humanity's snacktastic end!

One of the best of the Showa era Gamera films. Gyaos is a lot more frightening than the usual monsters of the era - after all, he's not just about rampaging damage. He eats people! And seems to have a genuine glee about it. He's also a pretty cool monster, and there's a bit of thought given to what the anatomy might have to be for his powers. The kid is a fairly annoying character, but aside from him this is a pretty fun kaiju film.

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 3/5

(From Gamera! on February 27th, 2016)

Millennium Actress, a review by Tom

Title: Sennen Joyu (Millennium Actress)
Year: 2001
Director: Satoshi Kon
Rating: PG
Length: 83 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Audio: Japanese: Dolby Digital Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese: DTS 5.1, English: Dolby Digital Stereo, English: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: DTS 5.1
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Japanese Voices
Miyoko Shoji
Mami Koyama
Fumiko Orikasa
Shozo Izuka
Syouko Tsuda

Plot:
Millennium Actress has the stylistic sophistication of Perfect Blue with the empathy, warmth and truth of Spirited Away.

A gorgeous, theatrical animation from the maker of anime classic Perfect Blue and last year's adorable Tokyo Godfathers. MILLENNIUM ACTRESS begins as a TV crew track down 70-something screen goddess Chiyoko Fujiwara. Chiyoko begins to tell her life story, at which point she literally steps into the past, dragging the confused crew into her memories - one moment they're discussing dramatic art, the next dodging bullets in the midst of a movie as the boundaries between film, memory, fact and fiction become a breathless blur. Chiyoko's history is depicted as a series of screen roles in which she appears as a feudal princess one moment, a lonely astronaut the next, endlessly chasing a lost love across the millennium. This stunning plunge through the centuries is testament not just to the pleasures but also the great strengths of animation: the many ages of screen goddess Chiyoko are achieved not with dubious CGI but artfully drawn. Playing with subjective and objective realities and richly textured with swooningly beautiful imagery, the film is a mental and visual anime feast.

Extras:
Featurettes
Scene Access
Trailers

I bought this, because I stumbled across this when browsing amazon.co.uk. It sounded interesting and it was cheap.
The animation is beautiful, the story is an interesting blend of reality and fiction. While the title-giving actress tells about her past, the interviewers are sucked into her world by having her movie roles and her real life search for a lost love mixed together into the surreal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpGrD5wUzKE

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on May 1st, 2009)

Birthday Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 3
Helpless
Buffy feels weak and is unable to carry out her duties as a slayer. When she goes to Giles for help he seems distracted. This is because he is, on the orders of the Watcher's Council, preparing her for the Cruciamentum, a test the Watchers put each slayer through on her eighteenth birthday. She must be weakened and left alone to beat a vampire, to test her resourcefulness.

My Thoughts:
This is another great episode of Buffy. One I have enjoyed quite a bit every time I seen it. Though I must say it doesn't live up to the season 2 birthday episode... though it is close. I thought the test they put Buffy through was an entertaining idea. I must admit the first time I watched this episode I was pretty pissed at Giles myself.



(From Birthday Marathon on May 27th, 2009)