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Category:    Home > Reviews > Giant Monsters > Horror > Adventure > British > Gorgo - Widescreen Destruction Edition (VCI DVD)

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


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