After decades of derision as a childish Godzilla-wannabe, Japan's monster turtle Gamera roared back in the 1990s with a trio of well-crafted and exciting features that reclaimed the franchise from its threadbare '60s roots; all three films, directed by soft-core specialist turned sci-fi/horror auteur Shusuke Kaneko (Death Note), are featured in this two-disc set, along with a wealth of extras. Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995), which relaunched the Gamera series, and its sequel, Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (1996), are bundled on the first disc; the former reboots Gamera as an ancient savior of mankind, bioengineered to protect the planet from the pterodactyl-like Gyaos, an old foe from 1967's Gamera vs. Gyaos, while the latter pits him against a race of alien insects with plans for world domination. The trilogy closed with 1999's Revenge of Iris, where the title creature is spurred to defeat Gamera through a psychic link with a young girl whose parents were killed during the turtle's fights with Gyaos. All three films are remarkably sober affairs, on par with the creative scope of Toho's millennial Godzilla features in terms of dramatic storytelling and special effects, though the limitations of the miniature work and monster suits are often highlighted by the Blu-ray detail. The creature-on-creature action is plentiful and, on occasion, violent, and Kaneko's serious and respectful approach does much to relieve fans' concerns about a repeat of the original films' juvenile tone. Mill Creek previously released Guardian and Legion in a bare-bones double-disc format, as well as a single-disc issue of Iris with several behind-the-scenes extras. The Blu-ray Trilogy set features extras from all three films, though for inexplicable reasons, they have been haphazardly loaded onto the Iris disc as one three-hour standard definition supplement (with chapter breaks). The extras, which include deleted scenes from Iris, location footage from Legion, and camera tests from Guardian, are interesting, but their presentation is cumbersome and, occasionally, incorrectly titled (Behind the Scenes from Guardian is actually the camera test, and so on), which might prove frustrating for viewers. However, the set's relatively low price might help smooth over any ill feelings. --Paul Gaita
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