Gamera 3 - The Negatives

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

I havent seen the movie, mostly cuz the fanboys post so much fanwank that I want to avoid it, and partly cuz the DVD's tend to get pricey. And no, I'm not buying any bootlegs.

I dunno why, but just having all these rabid fans praise the film somehow makes me want to not support or watch it out of sheer principle. It's weird.

Anyone else have this feeling?

Yes, I have it too Frank. Its one of the reasons why I havent watched G3 or GMK in sometime.

[Darkness]

I've heard a lot of people say that they prefer Gamera 2 over this and I would like to know why. Keep in mind, I'm not questioning anyone's taste or anything, I just wanna hear a reason because Attack of the Legion is my least favorite of the trilogy. It just didn't appeal to me as much as the first and third movies for some reason. I'm also not a huge fan of seeing a lot from the military perspective.

[Tyler]

Gamera 3 really rose the bar for what a serious kaiju film should be now. It's hard for me to find negatives because I enjoy it so much. There's no such thing as a perfect movie but if I really like it I'm not gonna nitpick. It's certainly better than all of the Heisei Godzilla movies. The Gamera trilogy as a whole are much better films. They owe more to Honda and Tsuburaya. I'm not trying to sound like a fanboy.

[Arrow]

I'm in agreement with Tyelr.

Gamera 3 may not be a perfect film, but I'd take it over any Heisei or Millennium Godzilla film any day. I love the idea of a character-oriented monster film. That stuff interests me. When the final battle hit, I barely noticed there was monster action at all. I was too enamored with Asagi screaming at Ayana to care and how that particular plot would play out. The special effects are top-notch and the musical score is excellent. I was blown away when I first saw this movie. Gamera 3 was everything I had wanted out of a monster movie and more. I really wish the Godzilla films had been able to reach that sort of quality. And, just like Teylr above, this is me trying to not sound like a fanboy.

[Darkness]

I'm in agreement with Tyelr.

Gamera 3 may not be a perfect film, but I'd take it over any Heisei or Millennium Godzilla film any day. I love the idea of a character-oriented monster film. That stuff interests me. When the final battle hit, I barely noticed there was monster action at all. I was too enamored with Asagi screaming at Ayana to care and how that particular plot would play out. The special effects are top-notch and the musical score is excellent. I was blown away when I first saw this movie. Gamera 3 was everything I had wanted out of a monster movie and more. I really wish the Godzilla films had been able to reach that sort of quality. And, just like Teylr above, this is me trying to not sound like a fanboy.

I agree for the most part. There aren't very many Godzilla movies that I put above Gamera 3, mainly Gojira and Mothra vs. Godzilla. Kaneko seems to do a good job of making the human and monster drama connect. In Kanekos films, the humans seem to not only be watching the battles, but they are in the middle of the action itself. Other modern kaiju films usually have people watching the battles on a distant building rooftop or a big screen in a government facility. I also wish Toho was a bit more caring of the quality of their later Godzilla films instead of the money. For the most part, I enjoy the Heisei Godzilla series, but it has it's bad points (GvsM and GvsSG).

[Inferno Rodan]

When the final battle hit, I barely noticed there was monster action at all.

Call me crazy, but I find it to very much be a bad thing when you don't notice the monster action in a monster movie...

[Tyler]

I'm in agreement with Tyelr.

And, just like Teylr above, this is me trying to not sound like a fanboy.

I thought the monster action was fine.

[Legion1979]

I've heard a lot of people say that they prefer Gamera 2 over this and I would like to know why.

Quick list of reasons: I like the Gamera suit in G2 far better than the one in G3. It has the right mix of fierce and friendly. I prefer Legion over Irys by a wide margin and enjoyed the fact that we got far more monster action in the second film than we did in the third. G3 has this anime meets kaiju feel about it that I can't really get behind and I've never been able to get into the story. G3 is a good movie but I just enjoy the first two more.

[Arrow]

When the final battle hit, I barely noticed there was monster action at all.

Call me crazy, but I find it to very much be a bad thing when you don't notice the monster action in a monster movie...

Lol, it probably is. I've always said that the final fight was lackluster. But I'm more a fan of character drama than monster action so it didn't bother me too much.

[Darkness]

I've heard a lot of people say that they prefer Gamera 2 over this and I would like to know why.

Quick list of reasons: I like the Gamera suit in G2 far better than the one in G3. It has the right mix of fierce and friendly. I prefer Legion over Irys by a wide margin and enjoyed the fact that we got far more monster action in the second film than we did in the third. G3 has this anime meets kaiju feel about it that I can't really get behind and I've never been able to get into the story. G3 is a good movie but I just enjoy the first two more.

Well, your reasons are fairly legit. I just wanted to hear a good reason for the preference of Gamera 2.

[KaijuSapian]

Frankly, the thing that bugs me even more than the battle sucking was the fact that it started off AMAZING. The aerial sequence was absolutely stunning. But then the monsters touched the ground, and the fight instantly ground to a complete halt.

This...
This is really the only thing I can find negative about the movie. The fight between Iris and Gamera started of just stellar... then became rather dull. I remember them walking more than I do fighting.
That and I wish Gamera was in the movie a bit more, other than that, I have few gripes with this movie.

[Mecha-Anguirus]

Actually, I never really liked the G3 suit. To evil for my taste. Give me G2 anyday (but G4 is still my favorite).

[FlawedCoil82]

Now see, I have always been fascinated by the idea of evil versus evil. I like seeing one evil character taking on another to prove which is the worst. So I like how aggressive Gamera looked, he looked even more scary than Iris (but Iris was scary more because he was so mysterious and hard to understand and I had hoped he was going to live up to the hype in the final battle and give Gamera hell). I love how Godzilla looked in GMK and found it unfortunate that none of his opponents could look (or act) half as evil or badass as he did. One of my favorite things about Godzilla vs. Destoroyah was seeing an evil, scary looking monster fighting another scary, evil looking monster (Godzilla with his glowing reddish eyes was pretty evil looking).

"Gamera 4"? I haven't seen that (unless you mean "Gamera: The Brave", in which it's fatal flaw was a cute monster versus a mean (pretty awesome looking) one.

[DaikaijuSokogeki!]

My main beef with Gamera 3 are those two creepy as hell cultists that follow our leads around. They barely serve any purpose to the main plot and the payoff we get for both characters is extremely lame. They just ate up screentime that could've gone to the kaiju or the other characters instead. Aside from that, it's a solid film but I gotta say Gamera 2 is the more entertaining and downright better film.

[Arrow]

"Gamera 4"? I haven't seen that (unless you mean "Gamera: The Brave", in which it's fatal flaw was a cute monster versus a mean (pretty awesome looking) one.

Gamera: the Brave was released in 2006 by Kadokawa and the only studio-released Gamera film released this decade. It was a return to the Showa Gamera-style, and non-canon to the Heisei Gamera Trilogy, but didn't do well at the box office.

Gamera 4 is a fan film taking place after Gamera 3.

[FlawedCoil82]

Really? I have never seen "Gamera 4" before. Is it easy to obtain (or is it worth it?)

[bananaoil]

While Gamera 3 is okay, I consider it the weakest film in the trilogy because of some weak/needless characters and because certain elements of the story are under-developed.

Kurata's only purpose in the film is to deliver the Dreamcast game to Nagamine. During the rest of the film he's simply a talking head who delivers exposition that Asakura could have easily provided and should have since she's the more developed, interesting character anyway.

And on that note, while video game culture is an interesting, almost cyber-punkian way to tie this film in with teenagers (something Kaneko was trying to do with the entire trilogy), the concept is dead in the water the moment it's introduced. We get an explanation of mana from Asagi later on in the film anyway, and Nagamine gets caught up with Kurata and Asakura because of her connection to Ayana, not because Kurata sent her a beta copy of a video game, so the entire segment in which Nagamine fiddles with a Dreamcast controller is moot.

My last problem with this film is most likely an issue with ADV's subs. Who the hell is Kurata speaking to at the end when he's yammering on about "your family was once of the house of Gyaos but your blood is now weak." Was he talking to Asakura, who was attempting to fuse with Iris, or was he talking to Nagamine, who seems to have a connection to the Gyaos through her research? I would think it's more likely that Kurata was talking to Asakura considering the context, but the rant is so long and muddled and, if memory serves, it follows something Nagamine said, that I don't know who he's talking to. Can anyone clear this up for me?

[Inferno Rodan]

Who the hell is Kurata speaking to at the end when he's yammering on about "your family was once of the house of Gyaos but your blood is now weak." Was he talking to Asakura, who was attempting to fuse with Iris, or was he talking to Nagamine, who seems to have a connection to the Gyaos through her research? I would think it's more likely that Kurata was talking to Asakura considering the context, but the rant is so long and muddled and, if memory serves, it follows something Nagamine said, that I don't know who he's talking to. Can anyone clear this up for me?

He might have been talking to Iris itself, considering it's supposed to be a mutated Gyaos. I dunno, I've never watched it subbed and I don't recall the dub having any line like that.

[Fairy Mothra]

Who the hell is Kurata speaking to at the end when he's yammering on about "your family was once of the house of Gyaos but your blood is now weak." Was he talking to Asakura, who was attempting to fuse with Iris, or was he talking to Nagamine, who seems to have a connection to the Gyaos through her research? I would think it's more likely that Kurata was talking to Asakura considering the context, but the rant is so long and muddled and, if memory serves, it follows something Nagamine said, that I don't know who he's talking to. Can anyone clear this up for me?

He might have been talking to Iris itself, considering it's supposed to be a mutated Gyaos. I dunno, I've never watched it subbed and I don't recall the dub having any line like that.

don't take my word for this since it's been a while since I watched it and I was confused about that line too, but what I got from it was that he was talking to Asakura, because she was like some kind of priestess or something and tried to fuse with Iris and all that. Like she thought that she would be able to because of her family's position and relation to Gyaos/Iris or whatever, but she couldn't. I don't know. I just remember being confused about it too.

[bananaoil]

don't take my word for this since it's been a while since I watched it and I was confused about that line too, but what I got from it was that he was talking to Asakura, because she was like some kind of priestess or something and tried to fuse with Iris and all that. Like she thought that she would be able to because of her family's position and relation to Gyaos/Iris or whatever, but she couldn't. I don't know. I just remember being confused about it too.

That seems the most likely option, and for the time being that's what I think happens in that scene. Unfortunately, either the subs fail to convey to whom Kurata is speaking, or the editing makes it too vague, or a little of both. If someone can confirm what's going on there I would appreciate it.

But yeah, a talking head with feminine mannerisms doesn't equal a well rounded character. With a little clever editing, cg, and audio work, you could remove him entirely and we wouldn't miss anything.