YONGARY, MONSTER FROM THE DEEP Gets Japanese DVD Release

Author: Kim Song-ho Source: Run Corporation, Amazon Japan YONGARY, MONSTER FROM THE DEEP (??? ???, Daegoesu Yonggary), the seminal 1967 Korean monster movie is now available on DVD for the first time in Japan. The Japanese company Run Corporation released the DVD on July 23 as part of their "Sci-Fi Masterpiece Movies" line. The DVD features the 1968 English-dubbed American version in widescreen, along with Japanese subtitles. There is no mention of any special features. The price is 1,620 yen (approximately $15.96 US). The Japanese release title is a direct translation of the original Korean title: DAIKAIJU YONGARY (???????). YONGARY, directed by Kim Ki-duk, is probably the most well-known Korean giant monster movie, both in its home country and the rest of the world. After the initial release in 1967, it was exported to several countries including the United States, Germany, France and Italy. It inspired the 1999 reimagination YONGGARY (???, aka REPTILIAN) by director-comedian Shim Hyung-rae, who went on to make DRAGON WARS (? ?, D-War) in 2007 and THE LAST GODFATHER (??? ???) in 2010, the latter of which starred Shim himself and Harvey Keitel. The original Korean version of YONGARY is considered a "lost" film, with only a 48-minute portion with the Korean audio track known to exist. This incomplete version is available VOD on the Korean Film Archive website, but the the movie is not currently available on any physical format in Korea. YONGARY finally made its domestic TV debut in June 2011 on the Korean channel EBS, which aired the English-dubbed American version with Korean subtitles. EBS reran the movie in July 2013. YONGARY, MONSTER FROM THE DEEP (US Edited Version) Distributor: Run Corporation Region: 2 Running Time: 80 Minutes Aspect Ratio: Widescreen Language: English Mono Subtitles: Japanese Release Date: July 23, 2014 Price: ?1,620

For more information of YONGARY, MONSTER FROM THE DEEP, including its production history and restoration process for the Region 1 DVD, please check SciFi Japan`s previous coverage: