Gorgo
- Widescreen Destruction Edition
(1961/VCI DVD)
Picture:
C- Sound: C Extras: C+ Film: B-
Eugene
Lourie's Gorgo
(1961, now also on Blu-ray from VCI elsewhere on this site) is one of
the only (if not the only) entries into the giant monster movie cycle
of the 1960s and one of the only to take place in England. Like
Godzilla,
the monster has been awakened (all of the sudden?) after centuries of
evolution have taken place around it as it was frozen. Quicker than
you can imagine, the creature as huge as a building is on the loose
and heading for Piccadilly Square for the final showdown.
The
film can boast actor William Sylvester, 7 years before screen
immortality in Stanley Kubrick's 2001:
A Space Odyssey
(1968) and the creature itself is still a favorite with fans. VCI
has issued this ''Widescreen Destruction Edition'' in time for the
Peter Jackson version of King
Kong,
especially since it has been out of print for a while. Now people
will not be gouged on the secondary market into buying the old
version.
The
letterboxed 1.85 X 1 image is just a matting of the old full screen
DVD issued by VCI a while ago, with problematic definition and color
troubles that have nothing to do with the EastmanColor going bad.
Rumor is that one of the big studios (Warner with the old MGM catalog
or Sony with the newer MGM and all the United Artists titles) has a
great print but will not issue it in any way, shape or form because
of rights issues. The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also dated and
sounds like the same soundtrack from the older DVD. Extras again
include an old featurette on the film, a trailer for this and several
other VCI titles and text on three of the film's principles.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
