Gorgo - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

With the massive success of one kind of film, there’s always a siege of imitators to follow. When an audience latches onto something, movie studios are often all too willing to oblige, especially if it fills theater seats and drive-in spaces! When Toho’s original masterpiece Godzilla stomped across screens it sent a genre shockwave across the industry. All of a sudden giant monsters were in vogue again and studios were on the hunt for the next big monster masher. Among them was Eugène Lourié’s Gorgo, often called “British Godzilla,” the film is equal parts an extension of the Giant Rampaging Monster genre and a satire of the films that came before. If anything the film feels more like "British King Kong."

Our little opus opens with Captain Joe Ryan (Bill Travers) and his first mate Sam Slade (William Sylvester) salvaging off the coast of Ireland. When a volcano erupts forcing the two to return their ship to port, they fall into a mystery of gold at the bottom of the sea. But after one of their divers returns to the surface and dies of fright, they soon meet a massive creature capable of incredible destruction. When they capture the beast, the men see dollar signs selling it off to the circus in London. But when the big top goes up, The Swinging City is in for a spectacle no one is prepared for when the creature's mother comes ashore! 

Along with about 175 other films, I first encountered Gorgo thanks to Mystery Science Theater 3000. It was one of the later Sci-Fi Channel era episodes where even Leonard Maltin helped introduce the film (and gave it a positive endorsement) before Mike and the bots savaged it. To say the film is riffable is an understatement, it’s certainly silly as all beans, but I don’t necessarily think it’s worth that kind of attention. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a funny episode (it's also one of three episodes featuring actor William Sylvester), but it’s aimed at a movie that’s actually pretty damn good and very entertaining all on its own. Not the first or last time the crew of the S.O.L. would roll that way with their episodes, but Gorgo is a solid flick. 

Solid, but not perfect. While I really do enjoy this film, at 77 minutes there is a lot of shoe-leather padding on the front end. A lot of exposition sequences feel interminable and the film takes a very long time to get where it wants to go with odd character subplots along the way. But once it clocks into that last act, the film completely redeems itself for one hell of an epic monster rampage! 

No stranger to monster mayhem Eugène Lourié has a deft hand when it comes to bringing big creatures to life. For Gorgo, our titular giant creature of the sea is more than a simple rubber suit. The film evokes a few flavors of the Gamera films with the friendly orphan child Sean (Vincent Winter) intuitively knowing the true nature of the beast. Of course, none of the adults listen until London is in flames! But the film also has flavors of Lourié's The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and the source story The Fog Horn from Ray Bradbury. It even enjoys some thematic flavorings of King Kong about the showmanship and exploitation of nature's wildest creatures - with deadly consequences!

But that’s what we’re here for right? We didn't sit down for Gorgo to listen to David Attenborough tenderly describe the majesty of this magnificent beast.1961 was a rough year for London and giant rampaging creatures. Released just seven days apart (in the U.S. at least), London would be smashed by the ridiculous giant ape flick Konga and then smacked again by Gorgo. Neither film was met with great critical reception, but they both steadily gained a following through a long run at drive-in theaters and television. Of the two I’d say Gorgo is the better effort with Konga being the most ridiculously entertaining - largely because of Michael “I’m Alfred” Gough and his mad scientist turning a chip into a gorilla. Neither are “great” films but they make a wild double feature! 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
Gorgo demolishes the physical media landscape with a two-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray release from Vinegar Syndrome. A BD-66 disc stores the 4K version with a Region Free BD-50 supporting the 1080p and most of the bonus features. The discs are housed in a standard black case with reversible insert artwork. Also included is a double-sided poster with an illustrated anatomical diagram of our titular beast by artist Matt Frank. If you were able to order before they sold out, the Vinegar Syndrome exclusive featured a stylish slipcover with an original artwork hardstock slipcase.

Gorgo was something of a technological marvel in its day and it’s aged fairly well for this 2160p HDR10 1.85:1 transfer. There are a number of visual effects tricks in play ranging from scale miniatures to optical overlays to some bluescreen chromakey to pretty rough stock footage. Some of these effects might look silly today - the blue outlines for the chromakey are unmistakable, but for their era, they were very impressive. On 4K UHD with HDR they arrive as visual flavor and add to the fun. 

Details are generally sharp as a tack - again that may depend on which visual effect is employed in any given moment - but overall this film looks terrific. Facial features, fine lines, textures, and the intricacies of the model work and the Gogo creature are all on display. It really is a heck of a great-looking creature! Film grain is intact and again depending on the visual effect employed can be thicker appearing from one scene to the next. Still appropriately cinematic.

HDR10 does its work for this disc. Black levels are a nice deep black shade with some lovely shadows. This is especially important for the film’s final act where Big Momma Monster destroys London in a fiery inferno. For all those glorious moments of monster mayhem primaries are right on point with lovely shades of red, yellow, and blue. Skin tones for our cast are appropriately human-looking without appearing pinked out or pushed to the peach. Whites are nice and crisp. All around this is a pretty first-rate effort for a fun monster masher.

On the audio side Gorgo stomps away with a solid DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono track. Dialog from our key cast and the screams of terror are clean and clear without issue. The big Gogo screams are very effective and damned creepy. The Angelo Lavagnino score brings the right kind of big excitement to the mass destruction without blowing out the rest of mix. Adds that perfect balance of action, whimsy, and mystery to the film as it plays out. The audio elements are in great shape without any serious issues like persistent hiss or dropouts to interrupt the experience. I’d have been curious what a 5.1 remix could have done for this one but as is it’s a great track.

True to form for a Vinegar Syndrome release, fans of Gorgo can dig in and enjoy a nice range of extra features. Leading the pack is a pretty fun audio commentary from Stephen Bissette. Bissette is obviously a huge fan of the film so take in everything he’s got to offer. After that, Ballyhoo Motion Pictures “The 9th Wonder of the World” documentary is a terrific piece for this set offering plenty of insight and trivia about the production. Not sure if Samuel Beckett intended or knew what he’d inspire with his seminal play, but the fan film “Waiting for Gorgo” is a very fun extra! Once that fun is all over with, we can dive into an impressive collection of galleries including a look at the very cool comic book series! 

4K UHD Disc

• Audio Commentary featuring Stephen Bissette
• Isolated Music & Effects Track

Blu-ray Disc

• Audio Commentary featuring Stephen Bissette
• Isolated Music & Effects Track
• The 9th Wonder of the World - The Making of Gorgo (Extended Version) (HD 31.17).
• Gorgo Behind the Scenes (SD 9:52)
• Gorgo Lives! (HD 36:46)
• Waiting for Gorgo (HD 19:13)
• Behind the Scenes Waiting for Gorgo (HD 36:28)
• Original Theatrical Trailer (HD 2:36)
• Galleries & Comics:
• Promotional Image Gallery 
• Original Production Notes - Video Gallery
• Lobby Card & Poster - Video Gallery
• Pressbook - Video Gallery
• Photos - Video Gallery
• Gorgo: The Monster from the Sea - Video Comic Book

Like so many films, MST3k introduced me to Gorgo but I grew to love it when I found an unriffed version and saw what it had to offer. It may be comical and certainly easy to joke with, but it’s a wild adventure with some very impressive visual effects (and maybe a few that didn’t quite work). All credit to Eugène Lourié and his skills as an artist in front and behind the camera to bring this big beautiful beast to life! Vinegar Syndrome does right by fans delivering an excellent 4K experience for this monster epic with a terrific HDR10 transfer, great audio, and plenty of excellent bonus features to pick through. Recommended