Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995)

[edgaguirus]

My favorite fight of the Heisei series is this one. The battle between Gamera and the big Gyaos is fast paced and has some great visual shots. It also adds some realism by having Gyaos narrow it profile in flight to achieve greater speed.

[Stump Feet]

My favorite fight of the Heisei series is this one. The battle between Gamera and the big Gyaos is fast paced and has some great visual shots. It also adds some realism by having Gyaos narrow it profile in flight to achieve greater speed.

My favorite parts gotta be when the building was about to collapse and the Gyaos quickly used its sonic beam to soften the blow.

[daveblackeye15]

There's kind of another weird moment looking back. I mean did Gamera basically die when he fell into the refinery or was he just badly wounded? It is a little strange when you think about it. Basically he seems to have died twice in the first two films.
I also wondered why in the second movie Asagi didn't seem to take wounds when Gamera was getting hurt against Legion at the airport.
Yeah I remember seeing Guardian of the Universe on VHS in middle school and was like 'oh my god this is great!' I never fell in love with Gamera as much as Godzilla as a kid. There's stuff I appreciate about Showa Gamera now but eh most of his films I don't quite love as much as Godzilla.

[edgaguirus]

To address the Asagi question....

At the end of GotU, Gamera cuts his connection with Asagi. Asagi remarks that she can no longer feel Gamera's heart, so she had no bond with Gamera when Gamera fought Legion.

[Godzillian]

There's kind of another weird moment looking back. I mean did Gamera basically die when he fell into the refinery or was he just badly wounded? It is a little strange when you think about it. Basically he seems to have died twice in the first two films.
I also wondered why in the second movie Asagi didn't seem to take wounds when Gamera was getting hurt against Legion at the airport.
Yeah I remember seeing Guardian of the Universe on VHS in middle school and was like 'oh my god this is great!' I never fell in love with Gamera as much as Godzilla as a kid. There's stuff I appreciate about Showa Gamera now but eh most of his films I don't quite love as much as Godzilla.

At the end of GOTU Gamera "releases" Asagi fro their bond. She says she can't feel Gameras heart anymore so they have no connection anymore post this film

[Stump Feet]

Gamera only needed Asagi so he could gain his strength after awakening.

[JAGzilla]

I did my first rewatch a little while ago. My memories of it had kind of become exaggerated over the years and it didn't quite hit the hype I was expecting, but that's my fault. It held up more than well enough, though, and was still a blast to watch.

Some little things that I think help elevate this trilogy above the Heisei Godzilla films in terms of realism: the news reports talking about things like traffic from the Tokyo evacuation being backed up for 100 km, or the stock market falling apart. I don't recall the Godzilla films usually bringing those type of details up, and they really help to sell the scale and significance of what's going on. I also like that the JSDF is initially stuck operating purely in a small, defensive role, and full-on combat deployment took a while to be approved by the cabinet. The Godzilla-verse JSDF, by contrast, can usually just roll out the tanks right away, no approval apparently needed.

Also, I really loved the Western duel-style standoff at the end of the final battle. The two monsters stare each other down, then Gyaos goes to snap off a quick sonic cutter... but our hero shoots first, interrupts the beam, and the bat gets cooked. I can't immediately think of another kaiju battle that ends quite that way.

[Stump Feet]

The Western draw ending was always my favorite way to end a kaiju battle

[LSD Jellyfish]

I did my first rewatch a little while ago. My memories of it had kind of become exaggerated over the years and it didn't quite hit the hype I was expecting, but that's my fault. It held up more than well enough, though, and was still a blast to watch.

Some little things that I think help elevate this trilogy above the Heisei Godzilla films in terms of realism: the news reports talking about things like traffic from the Tokyo evacuation being backed up for 100 km, or the stock market falling apart. I don't recall the Godzilla films usually bringing those type of details up, and they really help to sell the scale and significance of what's going on. I also like that the JSDF is initially stuck operating purely in a small, defensive role, and full-on combat deployment took a while to be approved by the cabinet. The Godzilla-verse JSDF, by contrast, can usually just roll out the tanks right away, no approval apparently needed.

Also, I really loved the Western duel-style standoff at the end of the final battle. The two monsters stare each other down, then Gyaos goes to snap off a quick sonic cutter... but our hero shoots first, interrupts the beam, and the bat gets cooked. I can't immediately think of another kaiju battle that ends quite that way.

I don't disagree that the Gamera Trilogy isn't better then 92-95 Godzilla films, but I take issue with how people pretty much for whatever reason ignore Godzilla 1984 and GVB when talking about the Heisei series (those films are better then the Gamera trilogy).

There are lengthy sections in 1984 that talk about how Godzilla should be kept a secret, for fear of financial collapse and widespread panic. Then when Godzilla is confirmed to exist to the public, there is a brief montage of these things happening. In fact, the entirety of 1984 was a big debate on what to do and how to handle Godzilla. Godzilla vs. Biollante deals with all sorts of pharmaceutical companies and international bio wars. Sure KG gets goofy with time travel; but underneath it is a lot of discussion about Japanese culture and economics.

Godzilla 1984, Godzilla vs. Biollante, and yes...Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, talk about real world issues and things like finance and politics and all sorts of moral and ethical dilemmas. People just stereotype the Heisei series as the latter half, and ignore the first few films which easily trump the Heisei Gamera series.

The main thing that the Gamera Trilogy got right, was keep the fear tangible, and make it not just feel like a bunch of sets. The scene where Gyaos attacks the train for instance, the details on all that damn. Same for converting the baseball field into a trap.

[Terasawa]

I take issue with how people pretty much for whatever reason ignore Godzilla 1984 and GVB when talking about the Heisei series (those films are better then the Gamera trilogy).

Could not disagree more, especially in regards to G84. I'm not sure there's any one significant aspect of G84 or GvB that's better than anything in the Gamera trilogy. And I even think GvB is one of the ten best Godzilla movies...

But as to people disregarding the two '80s Godzilla movies when talking about the Heisei series as a whole, isn't it pretty much because those films aren't at all representative of that series? 84 was made with nearly an entirely different crew than that which worked on all six sequels while Biollante and to a lesser degree GvKG were the only ones that really ventured outside the box. But even then GvKG shows signs of the formulaic approach to come with the '92-'95 films.

[Stump Feet]

I absolutely cannot stomach the Heisei films after Biollante and find those two to be great Godzilla films... although I'd never put them above the Gamera trilogy, at least, I wouldn't put them over the first two.
Especially not above Guardian of the Universe.

Part three can go to hell

[eabaker]

I think comparisons between the Gamera trilogy and the Heisei G-flicks also tend to focus on the latter half of that series because those are the entries that more closely coincide with the releases of said trilogy. And, of course, Kaneko lobbied for the job of directing Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth; had Toho been open to working with outside directors on those film, we probably would have ended up with a very different Heisei series and a very different Gamera trilogy.

As for ranking the Gamera trilogy against Return of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Biollante... I think the tones and styles at play are too different to facilitate 1:1 comparisons, and they're all movies to which I have an especial emotional attachment, but I would ultimately say that Gamera: Guardian of the Universe is the best structured movie of that whole lot, and that Return of Godzilla and Gamera 3 are probably equals in terms of creating a consistent, distinctive and immersive atmosphere.

[BlankAccount]

I think comparisons between the Gamera trilogy and the Heisei G-flicks also tend to focus on the latter half of that series because those are the entries that more closely coincide with the releases of said trilogy. And, of course, Kaneko lobbied for the job of directing Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth; had Toho been open to working with outside directors on those film, we probably would have ended up with a very different Heisei series and a very different Gamera trilogy.

As for ranking the Gamera trilogy against Return of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Biollante... I think the tones and styles at play are too different to facilitate 1:1 comparisons, and they're all movies to which I have an especial emotional attachment, but I would ultimately say that Gamera: Guardian of the Universe is the best structured movie of that whole lot, and that Return of Godzilla and Gamera 3 are probably equals in terms of creating a consistent, distinctive and immersive atmosphere.

It's possible they're might not have even been a 90's Gamera trilogy. The decision was between do we reboot Daimajin or Gamera, so we could have very well gotten a Daimajin 90's film or films. I think Gamera just won out cause he's more well known.

[JAGzilla]

At least as important as familiarity would be the fact that Gamera is a turtle. You want to try and cash in on the popularity of Godzilla, a giant turtle is a safer bet than a giant statue.

[BlankAccount]

At least as important as familiarity would be the fact that Gamera is a turtle. You want to try and cash in on the popularity of Godzilla, a giant turtle is a safer bet than a giant statue.

I was talking more along the lines Gamera had several films over the decades while all 3 Daimajin movies were in the 60's.

[Stump Feet]

There's only so much you can do with daimajin anyway, have a couple films set in the past, have one set in the present day, Gamera's got so many possibilities

[Terasawa]

At least as important as familiarity would be the fact that Gamera is a turtle. You want to try and cash in on the popularity of Godzilla, a giant turtle is a safer bet than a giant statue.

I was talking more along the lines Gamera had several films over the decades while all 3 Daimajin movies were in the 60's.

That doesn't negate JAGzilla's point.

[BlankAccount]

There's only so much you can do with daimajin anyway, have a couple films set in the past, have one set in the present day, Gamera's got so many possibilities

Gamera vs Daimajin.

BOOM!

[szmigiel]

There's only so much you can do with daimajin anyway, have a couple films set in the past, have one set in the present day, Gamera's got so many possibilities

You can always move it to modern day and add in an Idol Singer angle.

[edgaguirus]

At least as important as familiarity would be the fact that Gamera is a turtle. You want to try and cash in on the popularity of Godzilla, a giant turtle is a safer bet than a giant statue.

I was talking more along the lines Gamera had several films over the decades while all 3 Daimajin movies were in the 60's.

And Gamera was the better known character. Gamera was more likely to be recognized by both Japanese and international audiences.