Coming in after the giant monster era had long since passed in the US, this Korean entry into the genre is a boring escapade that makes you wonder why it was made in the first place. There is nothing original here, and the by-the-numbers plot and monster action in Yongary are beyond dull. Even though Yongary is on screen for nearly the entire film once past the initial exposition, you’ll never be thrilled about it.

Going back to the old standby of a nuclear bomb explosion, Yongary is awakened through a series of earthquakes caused by the blast. The stiff, glowing-eyed beast looks simply awful on screen for a leading monster, and it’s no surprise it ends up looking like something out of a Gamera escapade. Masao Yagi and Akira Suzuki handled the special effects, having previously worked for Daei on that franchise. His powers, including the typical ray and fire breath, are equally unimaginative.

Miniature work is extensive, though rarely believable. Yongary does heavy damage to the city, though it never carries much weight behind it. His rampage simply goes on forever, and the film fails to attempt to do something special with it.

Human characters are utterly forgettable, and the inclusion of a young boy (Lee Kwang-Ho) is another rip-off from foreign competition. This causes a shift in the film’s tone, from serious attempt to downright campy moments. When the Korean pop music kicks in and the monster starts dancing, you have to question who came up with this concept and how it made it on film.

Yongary does have a notable finish for showing a harsh, brutal death for the creature. It plays up the sympathy angle the script attempts to push near the end, after the monster has taken out most of the country. It’s not enough though to save this mess, or make it noteworthy for fans of the genre.

This is the first time Yongary has ever been viewed by a US audience in widescreen. It was released directly to TV here. That makes this transfer all the more stunning. Filled with vibrant color, beautiful detail, and few compression artifacts, this is the best the film has ever looked. The print itself is in miraculous condition with only minor scrapes, a far cry from the public domain DVD releases of years past.

English mono and stereo are the choices available, though neither has the effect the video does. The elements are obviously worn, and distortion is evident in the soundtrack or with any higher pitched moments. At times, the music is almost unintelligible.

Yongary is packaged with an equally awful British giant ape “epic,” Konga. That’s the only thing you could even consider an extra.

Some will note the lack of an original Korean language track available on the disc. There’s a reason for it — it doesn’t exist anymore. James Owsley who worked at MGM on this disc explained the situation to website SciFi Japan: “We tried as much as we could to find the Korean YONGARY. And again, sometimes there are problems because of the language barrier, but we were told that it was terminated. That how they said it…”

Ouch.