Gaira: Thoughts and his popularity

[Arbok]

Gaira always stood out to me. The character has been a popular one for commercial and film purposes. My question is why, and what does everyone think of the creature?

Personally, I felt Gaira was perfect as the antagonist of The War of the Gargantuas. His kinship to Sanda added a level of emotion to their fight that was unexplored in other Toho kaiju pictures and made it more than just a brawl between the two. Although similar in ways to Frankenstein vs. Baragon, Gaira added a level of menace that was missing from the more approachable Baragon.

In terms of why he is so popular, I think it's easy to explain: he scared the crap out of people. Although I saw the film too late in my life for the first time, there is no denying that Gaira is quiet frighting. Its hard to be spooked by the larger monsters, as they seem to target buildings and structures. Gaira chased after people and consumed them. It adds a touch of horror that made the monster memorable, and as human nature is prone audiences became fascinated with him. An appearance in GxMG and Final Wars, toys, and even a return in Godman. All at the same time as Sanda being... well never mentioned again. I guess sometimes it doesn't pay to be the good guy.

Anyway, wondering everyone else's thoughts on the evil green gargantua and his relative popularity.

[Living Corpse]

He's pretty cool. I never got the chance to see his debut film though I'm planing to. I think he would make for an interesting fighter if he ever gets put into a Godzilla game and his cameo in that flashback in GxMG was pretty cool.

[Hotrod93]

TBH id loved to see him in a new movie as a cameo or even *Gasp* a Remake of TWoTG.

[Hedorah]

Gaira seems pretty badass, I wanna see WotG so bad

[GotengoXGodzilla]

When I watched the film for the first time (just a couple years ago, actually), I will admit that Gaira kind of scared me. I think it was mostly because of his deformed face. That expression is something out of my nightmares.

Other than that, though, Gaira didn't leave much of an impression on me.

[KaijuSapian]

Honestly I think Gaira wouldn't have made such an impact without Sanda. They're both contrasts who complete the other. Absolute opposites. If the movie was just about Gaira alone, I doubt the film would've been as enjoyable without Sanda.

[JVM]

Have yet to see War of the Gargantuas, but it always surprised me how Gaira seemed insanely popular yet Sanda seemed rarely heard from.

[Draglord]

I liked Gaira, I thought he was a great villain. I would like to see the Gargantuas return in another Toho movie someday.

[JVM]

I'd like to see the Gargantuas cameo in a Godzilla film in the future. They're as far as I see, the most popular Toho kaiju never to properly appear in Godzilla.

[Red-Death Gigan]

When I watched the film for the first time (just a couple years ago, actually), I will admit that Gaira kind of scared me. I think it was mostly because of his deformed face. That expression is something out of my nightmares.

Other than that, though, Gaira didn't leave much of an impression on me.

Deformed face, and... he EATS people! That last part freaked me out when I was a kid.

[baragon123]

I remember when I first watched WOTG on TNT back in 94-95 I couldn't watch it because he scared the living crap outta me. Took me a couple times to watch it all the way through. Apparently theres a Japanese horror movie director with the nickname Gaira because his movies are so gory. Thats awesome. But yeah, Gaira is definatly Toho's most evil kaiju ever.

[ZigraDude]

Gaira is a pretty cool monster and is one of Toho-s few mammalian creatures. I like how he represented the "Bad" side of Frankenstein as a son while Sanda was the "good" side. He makes a great villain in War of the Gargantuas as well.

[James23873]

I think Gaira is popular because he's a more believable monster appearance wise. When you look at him, you don't think "guy in suit." He's so close to human that you just tend believe his performance more. His movements are so natural looking, I still get chills when he runs to the water from the airport after first seeing the sun.

[Hedorah]

Argghhhh I wanna see this movie!!!

[tokyostateofmind]

Oh the whole Haneda Airport attack scene and the attack in the forest at night were chilling. I think that his presence is very chilling, the Gargantua's were very memorable characters that whole story, I don't think there was another movie like that (two giant humanoid type kaiju fighting each other). Gaira to me just sticks out so much, I honestly have no idea, but i mean his name, his roar, and his presence. I agree with the face thing like its a "monster under the bed" type face, if both Gargantua's were more human scaled, I would be deathly afraid of them in the dark, but Gaira...I would never run so fast in my life.

[Tyler]

Gaira's cool, but I prefer Sanda. I like good guys.

[Killswitch]

Gaira always stood out to me. The character has been a popular one for commercial and film purposes. My question is why, and what does everyone think of the creature?

Personally, I felt Gaira was perfect as the antagonist of The War of the Gargantuas. His kinship to Sanda added a level of emotion to their fight that was unexplored in other Toho kaiju pictures and made it more than just a brawl between the two. Although similar in ways to Frankenstein vs. Baragon, Gaira added a level of menace that was missing from the more approachable Baragon.

In terms of why he is so popular, I think it's easy to explain: he scared the crap out of people. Although I saw the film too late in my life for the first time, there is no denying that Gaira is quiet frighting. Its hard to be spooked by the larger monsters, as they seem to target buildings and structures. Gaira chased after people and consumed them. It add a touch of horror that made the monster memorable, and as human nature is prone audiences became fascinated with him. An appearance in GxMG and Final Wars, toys, and even a return in Godman. All at the same time as Sanda being... well never mentioned again. I guess sometimes it doesn't pay to be the good guy.

Anyway, wondering everyone else's thoughts on the evil green gargantua and his relative popularity.

You pretty much nailed it. Gaira had all the right characteristics needed to be a great villian. Toho hit a homerun with the size of the monsters in that film. They weren't too big. They were the size of mythical Giants, which have scared people since the beginning of time.

I would like to see more movies made with monsters in that size range. I would also like to see a reboot of that movie. Although I think the story needs to be tweaked a bit.

[Godzilla2000]

Gaira's okay. He's not the best, and not the worst. I like his colors, and he is pretty menacing.

[Arbok]

I think Gaira is popular because he's a more believable monster appearance wise. When you look at him, you don't think "guy in suit." He's so close to human that you just tend believe his performance more. His movements are so natural looking, I still get chills when he runs to the water from the airport after first seeing the sun.

I agree.

The way you can see the actors eyes through the costume really sells it too. Plus, this is done so flawlessly that the affect isn't ruined even once. You don't see the actor's eyes looking out, you see Gaira's. They had tried a similar technique with King Kong back in 1962, but with this film they finally perfected it.

[Godz]

I'm a huge Gaira fan. I, too, was a bit scared of him when I first saw this movie at the age of six or so. The thought of this giant monster that RAN, didn't lumber about, but could honest to god run as fast as he could, scoop up people and eat them....WOW. Plus, the shot of him where he spooks the couple of guys in the fishing boat, where it cuts to an overhead shot and you see Gaira lurking underwater, looking up..it's my favorite shot in all of kaiju eiga.

Hey, this seems like a perfect opportunity to post my Gaira suit I wore to G-FEST this year. I call this one "Gaira Doesn't Understand Elevators", or, "Hey, Wait, Here Come Some Hot Broads!"