Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995)

[GodzillaFan1990's]

I'm so glad they went with Gamera otherwise the best films that ever existed IMO wouldn't had existed and be the world as it is today especially among the kaiju genre.

[Terasawa]

Yeah I'm very glad we got the three films we did, but it's also a shame that Daimajin was only rebooted as that weird TV show. Everyone from Ishiro Honda to Shusuke Kaneko to Kevin fucking Costner were rumored or linked to a Daimajin reboot in the late '80s and early '90s; I'm pretty sure Takashi Miike planned to do one until his Yokai film flopped.

[Mr_Goji_and_Watch]

I'm pretty sure Takashi Miike planned to do one until his Yokai film flopped.

Yeah, there's a SciFi Japan article on it
http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2006 ... shi-miike/

[GodzillaFan1990's]

I never realized how much I also realized I need Gamera vs. Daimajin...Wish that was a thing.

[king_ghidorah]

In a way Gamera 3 kind of fits that bill.

Irys is a character driven by the desire for revenge and justice and Gamera gets wrongfully assigned as the villain.

[BlankAccount]

I never realized how much I also realized I need Gamera vs. Daimajin...Wish that was a thing.

The closest thing I can give to you. Happy early birthday.



artist is fbwash: https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php ... d=56328098

[LSD Jellyfish]

Rewatched this:

I love it, but I don’t think it’s the best thing ever, and I maintain that I still prefer the first two heisei Godzilla films, and maybe Ghidorah over this. I’m not a mad man, I have my reasons!

I think the film’s biggest “flaw”, is also it’s best part, which makes it dependent on what you prefer. The issue is how blazing fast the film is. The film has such a brisk pace, and it works well to keep the film moving and it never bores. Like the first scene is the intro to the monolith where Gamera is, followed by the first sighting of Gyaos, then the Gyaos on the island...then the Gyaos in the dome, and Gamera first appearance etc... It’s really great.

The issue is, there’s very little room for any character development, outside of Akagi and brief interactions with her dad. I think the only calm and contemplative moment we get, is when the father walks into her room (nice Mary poppins poster btw) and notices a photo of her and a boy. There’s a very brief line of dialogue that suggests there is some tension of the father letting Akagi stay home alone.

Akagi is well done. I’ll say she actually feels like a real teenager, and the brief scene with her in the classroom works well. I’ll say this with some form of authority, as a lot of my female students are her age, and she felt relatively natural. I like how at the end her holding her dads hand and telling her to trust her is also him accepting that she’s an adult.

Beyond this, we have the bird doctor, who really does nothing, except bicker with that glasses wearing Japanese official, who also randomly disappears from the story after being proven wrong(but doesn’t have any revelation or real impact to it). That guy btw, other then being a pain, doesn’t have any real goals or motivations, he seemingly is fine with Gyaos for no reason. Same goes for the marintine guy, the one that finds Gamera’s beads. He doesn’t do much during the climax, and he never does anything romantic with bird doctor, he’s just there.They’re really all just there to introduce plot elements and exposition.

A lot of people credit this film for its “realism” and I don’t get it. Yes the stock market is briefly mentioned...for like five seconds. I want to avoid comparing too much, but 1984 already did this as well, by having the Japanese gov deny Godzilla at first in fear that it will incite a panic that will crash the economy.

I do like how the final fight takes place in the day, and I appreciate that Gyaos and Gamera both fly around. It adds a unique dynamic to their fight.

Now for something really controversial:
I really like the Gyaos puppets, and how they are first used, but Super Gyaos/the big one at the end, has a really bad suit, or at least one they tried to hide. The issue is the head is way too bulky compared to the body, and the briefly shots of Gyaos on the ground make it really look hoppy and bulky, in the wrong way. It really does feel like at points that The Gyaos suit is just being slammed against Gamera, rather then two actual creatures fighting. You can see they try hard to hide Gyaos’s feet/legs, by obscuring the bottom half with buildings. I think the brief shots with legs are cut always.

Likewise, the Gamera suit is really impressive in some shots, but also suffers by looking bad in others. He like Gyaos, looks like he’ll fall over at any moment, in any shot where his front is covered up.

And Gamera himself, is still just a poor man’s Godzilla. I realized while watching this, that I think Gyaos in a roundabout way, looks better and was executed better then Gamera. Gamera is just here to fight Gyaos.

The miniatures and locations are really great though. All the destruction looks fantastic and well detailed. I like the goopy eggs falling all over the Tokyo Tower, and the cars and such. The film has a nice variety, of an island setting, the baseball field, the countryside, Mt. Fuji, and Tokyo Tower And Akihabara all in one film.

Some details I really liked:
-It’s cool how when Gamera first emerges from the water, he still has some rocks on him which fall off. Nice attention to detail.

-Good foreshadowing as it shows the people on the train going to Tokyo for a sports event, and then they’re later seen being devoured by Gyaos at the end.

I think Gamera Gaurdian of the Universe, is a really solid Kaiju film. I think it nails the genre, in terms of having two monsters built up, leading to a big fight. But beyond that, it’s not as hyped up as everyone makes it out to be.

[Orichalcum]

The issue is how blazing fast the film is.

The pacings no where near as ass as King Of The Monsters, so there’s that. Could have been a lot worst imo.

but doesn’t have any revelation or real impact to it

That’s not true exactly, there’s a scene during the end where he makes a snide remark towards her and she snarks right back, he immediately fumbles on his words and remains begrudgingly quiet, knowing that she just put him in his place.

They’re really all just there to introduce plot elements and exposition.

That’s no different than every one of the Heisei Godzilla films

The Gyaos suit is just being slammed against Gamera

You’re not wrong, but that’s also every Heisei Godzilla film past Biollante yet Gamera’s battle still manages to be far more dynamic than those other Heisei films.

[Ultraman02]

The pacings no where near as ass as King Of The Monsters, so there’s that. Could have been a lot worst imo.

That's a really low bar.

[Mr_Goji_and_Watch]

This film is kino as fuck

[Orichalcum]

I’m probably the only person here who prefers the 1995 design over the 96 and 99 one.

[Godzilla21]

I’m probably the only person here who prefers the 1995 design over the 96 and 99 one.

I actually prefer it too. I think it strikes the best balance of new and classic.

[Orichalcum]

Heres a really nice video if you haven’t checked it out already, goes into the design process of the Heisei Gamera films

[Ultraman02]

Heres a really nice video if you haven’t checked it out already, goes into the design process of the Heisei Gamera films

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MSsUWqlQIsg

I like how they explained why Gamera's design changes throughout the movies.
Also, the idea that Gamera can be defeated and that the odds were stacked up so high against him made me more sympathetic to him than other kaiju.

[LSD Jellyfish]

The issue is how blazing fast the film is.

The pacings no where near as ass as King Of The Monsters, so there’s that. Could have been a lot worst imo.

but doesn’t have any revelation or real impact to it

That’s not true exactly, there’s a scene during the end where he makes a snide remark towards her and she snarks right back, he immediately fumbles on his words and remains begrudgingly quiet, knowing that she just put him in his place.

They’re really all just there to introduce plot elements and exposition.

That’s no different than every one of the Heisei Godzilla films

The Gyaos suit is just being slammed against Gamera

You’re not wrong, but that’s also every Heisei Godzilla film past Biollante yet Gamera’s battle still manages to be far more dynamic than those other Heisei films.

To be clear, I never said the film is bad, but point taken on number 2. I think that GMK is basically a perfected version of what this tried to accomplish. I do agree the fights are more dynamic with the flying though.

This film is kino as skreeonk

It's just a film in my eyes. Only films prior to 1975, and Shin, can be considered true kino.

[Orichalcum]

I don’t know, GGOTU is definitely a high point in the kaiju genre, so much so Ebert even called it kino

[Mr_Goji_and_Watch]

cringe: every post-1984 japanese godzilla film (sans 2000 and Shin kino) being relegated to home video

based: gamera guardian of the universe getting a theatrical screening in the west and 3 stars from ebert in spite of him making fun of it

[LSD Jellyfish]

I don’t know, GGOTU is definitely a high point in the kaiju genre, so much so Ebert even called it kino

Also I meant to ask is your new name based off the brief mention of the metal?

[Ultraman02]

I don’t know, GGOTU is definitely a high point in the kaiju genre, so much so Ebert even called it kino

Also I meant to ask is your new name based off the brief mention of the metal?

Orichalcum is that fictional Atlantean metal right?

[Terasawa]

I don't think the lack of character development here is all that bad; that's not really a critical necessity in every movie anyway. The characters themselves aren't terrifically interesting but they're entertaining and they serve their purpose: to get us from one set piece to the next. It's done organically (tracking and trying to prevent the casualties caused by the monsters). So too is the exposition, which is disguised as unraveling the mysteries of the monsters' origin and connection.

IMO this is a top 5 tokusatsu movie.