Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995)
Review by Bailey
Film:
DVD:

Written by Kazunori Itô
Directed by Shusuke Kaneko
English Dialogue Written and Directed by Matt Greenfield
Starring Tsuyoshi Ihara, Akira Onodera, Shinobu Nakayama, Ayako Fujitani, Hirotaro Honda

Features:

• Interview with Special Effects Director Shinji Higuchi
  
• Press Conference
  
• Behind the Scenes in Japan
  
• Gamera Promotional Events
  
• Opening Night in Japan
  
• Original Japanese Trailers and TV spots
  

Released by: ADV Films.
Rating: 12+
Region: 1
Anamorphic: No.

My Advice: Rent it so you can watch the extra features.

It's the present day. Our world, a world without monsters. Till now. A freighter carrying one ton of plutonium runs aground in the middle of the Pacific in what should be over six thousand feet of water. Then the atoll the ship runs into floats off into the night. Strange. On an island--a real island this time--the entire local population and a group of visiting scientists disappear. The only message sent before their sudden disappearance is the single word “bird.”

It seems that two old enemies have resurfaced to battle again. In this corner, huge flying reptiles known as the Gyaos and in this corner, a huge flying turtle known as Gamera. The title of the movie kind of tells you who you should be pulling for. We find a relatively novel justification for the existence of these enormous creatures in our world and an equally novel reason for actually having a good guy versus bad guy feel. This is in sharp contrast to the campy way monsters such as Godzilla were portrayed in the late sixties and early seventies in defending Japan and the world. You will forgive me if comparisons to Godzilla abound in this review, but I find it virtually impossible to describe an imported monster movie without them.

The movie follows the tried and true path of the introductions to the monsters alongside ever escalating conflicts that destroy most of Japan and then finally: the inevitable final battle. Along the way we are introduced to some interesting characters, especially the young heroine Asagi (Fujitani) who through the use of an ancient amulet is able to establish a spiritual link with Gamera, a la the original Gamera from 1965 sans the amulet. While this may sound like it has high Velveeta factor (and also sound a bit like Gigantor but with scales and sans a joystick) it actually makes sense inside the scope of the movie and I give them points for keeping an aspect of the original that made it stand out from all the other monster movies of that time...with the possible exception of Mothra. But what's more believable? A giant flying turtle or a giant moth being controlled by two fairies? Exactly, the turtle. Good choice.

There is, of course, the obligatory attack on the elevated train and/or subway. I'm not sure why, maybe it's to give us a sense of scale, but every Kaiju (giant monster) movie must have an attack on a train. The military is confused in this movie as well, attacking anything they don't understand and refusing to believe Gamera might actually be defending them even when it's blatantly obvious. Oh and let's us not forget the message that is part of all Kaiju movies since the original Godzilla: the only reason we are in this mess is because mankind is screwing up the planet and we need to do a better job taking care of the earth or we're all going to be destroyed by our own stupidity. There, I think I got it right.

It's easy to dismiss this as just another Japanese import monster flick, like so many that have come before. I've seen most of them. Sat in the theater for every major Godzilla flick that hit the big screen in the last twenty years. Which isn't many, at least not in the U.S.--and yes, that does sadly include the Sony one. Watched countless movie marathons on AMC, SciFi, TBS and other cable channels. So it's not like I don't have some decent credentials here. If it's got a giant robot, monster or good looking women in it (the latter don't have to be giants BTW) then I can't resist the urge to watch. Just for the record: if Baywatch had thrown in a couple of Kaiju, it would still be on.

This movie is a relaunching of the Gamera characters from the sixties and has led to two sequels. It tries to bring the turtle into the present with not only new special effects technologies but with new abilities. I must admit its been a while since I saw the original, so I may be a little fuzzy on the details. With that having been said I think this one did a good job of tracking fairly close to the original, at least where it counts.

Gamera is a giant turtle. He can, fly, hurl bolts of fireball like energy from his mouth, crush tiny model Volkswagen beetles like they are tiny model Volkswagen beetles and take on not one, not two, but three giant man-eating flying reptiles with one shell tied to his back. His movie seems to evolve out of its typical late seventies/early eighties mentality and move into the modern Kaiju fluck. It starts off with a sketchy premise, the right people meeting in totally unbelievable ways, and then turns into a movie that tries to plug the holes. I'll give you an example. The film starts off not making sense--you ask yourself, “Why would a perfectly sane person have just done that?” Or why do we have a caricature of a politician for this character? By the end of the movie the director, Kaneko, was taking the Tremors approach. He realized that it is not always important to have great answers to the questions the audience will ask--but that you go a long way towards not insulting your audience if you at least ask the same questions on screen. That way the audience knows the characters are living in a world like ours, not one where you just accept giant flying turtles and move on.

So, why isn't this movie another Godzilla? Because Gamera flies. Yep. And if you watch the featurette of Special Effects Director Shinji Higuchi you'll understand even more of what I'm talking about. This interview was easily one of the more attractive features added to the disc, and fairly unusual for a Kaiju DVD. Higuchi gives a great interview. It is part one of a three part series, done after the third Gamera movie, and covers all three films. Parts two and three come on later discs.

This movie, unlike so many of its ilk before it, uses a hefty amount of CG for special effects, including one very impressive aerial battle between Gamera and the Gyaos. The visuals in places were quite good. I'm still a fan of guys in suits and miniatures being crushed and slowing the camera down so a two inch piece of styrofoam looks like a one ton piece of building falling to the street...where it will crush a miniature Volkswagen beetle. One thing you don't have two worry about with miniatures is scale getting all wacky like you do with CG. The film here, however, brings a good balance between traditional miniature techniques, stop motion and modern CG rendering.

I give this movie pretty high marks for a monster flick. I think the DVD delivers excellent features when compared to other monster films--which you'll be lucky to find a trailer on. Pick it up at the local movie rental place if you can find it. Watch the extras on the DVD after the movie. If you enjoy monster movies then this turtle's for you.