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Gorgo(1961); Discuss the film here and VCI DVD here
Topic Started: Feb 8 2006, 09:11 PM (770 Views)
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In 1961 Gorgo was released by MGM. The story: a salvage vessel is nearly wrecked by undersea volcanic activity off the Ireland coast. Two of the vessel's crew(played by Bill Travers and William Sylvester) go ashore into the local fishing village, befriending a boy and running afoul of the surly harbormaster. Nights later a 60-foot reptilian sea monster appears briefly, driven off by torchtossing villagers. The creature is subsequently captured by the salvage vessel crew, where it is brought back to London, and unceremoniously put on display as part of a circus show. In the meantime, the monster's 200 foot "mother" appears at Nara Island, wipes out the harbormaster's abode and then sets off to London to rescue her 'child"... Directed by Eugene Lourie. Produced by Frank and Maurice King. -- Post your thoughts and opinions about this film here. :)

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Gorgo is pretty good, not at all much fun, but its still pretty good, Gorgo and Ogra were really cool looking, and the SPFX were almost as good as a Show Goji film.

Decent storyline too.

I'd give it a 3.2/5.0
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Love the film, although it does tend to bog down from time to time, once London is under attack, all is good. I thought the effects were quite good and it's nice to see the beasties walk off, healthy and happy, in the end.
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KaijuFanatic
Feb 10 2006, 02:31 AM
Love the film, although it does tend to bog down from time to time, once London is under attack, all is good. I thought the effects were quite good and it's nice to see the beasties walk off, healthy and happy, in the end.

Have you picked up the new and improved VCI DVD of this film? It has a new 5.1 audio remix and an improved "print" of the movie. Very nice upgrade I think. I ordered mine direct from VCI. Very affordable at about $15.00, shipped. :)

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Ro-Dan
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I have the previous print of GORGO and it's so dark that you can barely see the monster. Is the new one much brighter and clearer?
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Ro-Dan
Mar 1 2006, 12:43 AM
I have the previous print of GORGO and it's so dark that you can barely see the monster. Is the new one much brighter and clearer?

Yes, I think so. The video upgrade is noticeable, but the 5.1 audio remix, as opposed to the mono of the original release, is a very noticeable improvement. I was pleased with the upgrade. It will not blow your doors off, but for about $15(which included S&H), it was worth it. VCI Entertainment

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Yeah, maybe I'll get it. My print is so hard to watch. You can barely see the monster on my DVD. The print is that dark.
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Ro-Dan
Mar 1 2006, 04:32 AM
Yeah, maybe I'll get it.  My print is so hard to watch.  You can barely see the monster on my DVD.  The print is that dark.

I used to have the original DVD release. It is disappointing to me that such a classic monster film had such a poor quality release. Give VCI credit for kicking out an improvement. The improved DVD also has a "stills" gallery and a short "Making Of Gorgo" featurette, and the format is true 1:85-1, not the 1:66-1 cropped and "altered widescreen" format on the original. :)

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I haven't gotten the re-release, I've been holding out to see if the double-dip is worth it and it certainly sounds like it's something to consider. I had a VHS of this way back and if you can believe it, the DVD release was a vast improvement over the VHS, as far as nighttime scenes went. You could basically only hear what was going on, not see a thing!
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It is. I ordered it from VCI's site. The movie itself was $9.99+tax and shipping(I chose standard ground and received it in about five days). My total cost was around $14.00. I ordered this upgrade immediately after seeing it advertised in a magazine called Fangoria, because you never know when something like this could be discontinued or rendered permanently out-of-stock(unlikely perhaps but not outside the realm possibility). :)

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I still have the old VCI DVD, I will probably upgrade to the new one someday, seems worth the money.
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I recently saw the new DVD at Borders Bookstore for $9.99 but I still didn't get it. Eventually I'll replace that murky version I currently have...eventually.
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Ghost the Bat
Mar 29 2006, 03:08 AM
I still have the old VCI DVD, I will probably upgrade to the new one someday, seems worth the money.

It is worth the money. I bought the upgraded version of Gorgo and was most impressed with the 5.1. remix. The video is also an improvement, and this film can be ordered directly through VCI for around $9.99 plus tax and shipping. THis film is still one of my favorite non-Godzilla kaiju films(the other being Mothra, also released in 1961) :)

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I just received the 'Destruction Edition' DVD for, Gorgo and noticed it states a different aspect ration than my original DVD of the film. The original states a 1.66:1 aspect ration, while the 'Destruction Edition' states an aspect ratio of, 1.85:1. Being totally ignorant on aspect ratios, I'm curious, does anyone know which was the correct and original ratio for this film?
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KaijuFanatic
Jun 30 2006, 07:48 AM
I just received the 'Destruction Edition' DVD for, Gorgo and noticed it states a different aspect ratio than my original DVD of the film. The original states a 1.66:1 aspect ratio, while the 'Destruction Edition' states an aspect ratio of, 1.85:1. Being totally ignorant on aspect ratios, I'm curious, does anyone know which was the correct and original ratio for this film?

I believe it was indeed the 1.66:1 ratio KF, but this is a guess, and I could be wrong. I can tell you that the change in ratios from the original DVD release(1.66:1) to the 1.85:1 ratio was done because of some distortion/compression issues(not egregious but noticeable in some scenes, most notably the "compressed" look of the Gorgo logo at the beginning credits of the first DVD release) that raised more than a few eyebrows, and the ire of fans of this classic monster film. busy bee

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