Gamera The Brave (2006)

[Rando Yaguchi]

Can we talk about how damn good this movie is? A kid's film, for sure, but one with satisfying character work and some weight to its themes. It's a coming of age story disguised as a kaiju film, though it absolutely succeeds as both. It's what the Showa Gamera should have been, and is a good example of what can be achieved in this genre when a screenwriter puts a little extra care into the story.

[eabaker]

Yup, I'm a big fan of this one as well. It's a sweet, engaging story with some strong special effects to back it up, and I am absolutely in love with the "relay race" sequence trying to get the stone to Toto at the end. I love how the children just understand what is needed of them.

[Lesko]

I thought this entry was very mediocre. As stated above it definitely feels like a Showa film done better than the Showa films, but that style was never really my favorite for kaiju movies. Not a fan of the overall kid theme or much of the human drama for that matter. However with all of that said there are very good moments here. The different origin for Gamera/Toto and the beginning Gyaos fight was great. Zedus is also a mean antagonist in its own right. The kaiju action is nothing like the Heisei series where it is top notch, but still entertaining. In fact this entry is as far from Heisei Gamera as you can get. Some may find this to be a good thing but for me nah.

[H-Man]

I think it needed to be a bit tighter--some of it drags in between the two big monster fights. But on the whole it was a really good entry in the franchise and I love the Relay Sequence. Zedus was a cool monster, too.

[Ryanosaurus]

So along w/ the Gamera trilogy, I also watched this flick a few months ago for the first time. While I'd say Brave didn't quite leave as strong of an impression w/ me as its 3 predecessors, there is still a lot to love about this film. For one, it's certainly the most humorous (I legit guffawed at the Guiron reference). Also, the relay scene just might be my favorite sequence from this era. Where it falters a bit for me, however, is that--despite the fact the film involves huge monsters battling one another--I didn't feel the same sense of urgency as the trilogy; Brave never quite shifted gears to that next level that I got from Kaneko's films.

Still though, I enjoyed this flick quite a bit... also kind of regret only purchasing the Heisei trilogy and not the Heisei Era collection

[LegendZilla]

Gamera's design (or in this case Toto) Has been a deal-breaker for me. I have never gotten around to actually watching this film and have been hesitant since.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Gamera's design (or in this case Toto) Has been a deal-breaker for me. I have never gotten around to actually watching this film and have been hesitant since.

Your loss.

In the time you spent whinging about the movie, you could have watched it and (hopefully) enjoyed it. Even if the Gamera design isn't for you, it's still an above average tokusatsu movie with some good monster action and heart.