Gamera vs. Gyaos Talkback

[king_ghidorah]

The Basics: The building of a new highway accidently awakens an ancient, carnivorous bat-like monster who threatens to devour all of Japan! Thankfully, Gamera, newly taking up the mantle of "The Friend of all Children" is here to save everyone...with the help of some insanely odd science/ blood bath merry go-round.

The Plot:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamera_vs._Gyaos

Acting: The real stand-out for me here is once again Kojiro Hongo. This guy should be in every Gamera movie ever!


Kaiju:

Gamera: Ah, this is pretty much the classic Showa Gamera. A little softer looking than in the previous film but still menacing ish. He's not really as cute as he is later in the series. The 67' suit I think is THE Showa suit.

Gyaos: One of my favorite kaiju!! This guy is awesome (cooler than Rodan ) and deviously evil! I love it .

Spfx: Great! Not very many minatures but it's a practical buffet compared to the next film. The effects used to bring both kaiju to life are excellent and in my mind...a highlight of the Showa era.

The Other Stuff:

-I wonder if anyone will ever use Gyaos' mist/ powder retardant spray again in a film? I think it's pretty cool and creepy, I imagine it suffocates the fire by taking O2 out of the air...so it could be used against people as well.

-One of my favorite Gamera films. The film's message about leaving the forest alone combined with the more childish elements makes me think of a Miyazaki film.

-I love the scene where Gyaos is growing back his toes and the rock falls on his wound..his reaction is priceless. You don't see things like that in Godzilla films (not a bad thing, just different)

-I love the score...in particular the scene where Gamera is flying to boy back to his parents early in the film...it's both a happy song as well as sad...seems to say without using anywords that Gamera's existance is a lonely one...

-Blood Bath Merry Go-Round FTW!!

[canofhumdingers]

[Legion]

[king_ghidorah]

[heroforhirerob]

[Xenorama]

[MekaGojira3k]

[MouthForWar]

[Benjamin Haines]

[Dr Kain]

[kidnicky]

[Tyler E. Martin]

[MekaGojira3k]

So I'm watching the Shout Factory DVD of this for the first time. I LIKE THIS MOVIE SO MUCH MORE. I like Gyaos well enough, and I generally consider it to be better than Gamera the Invincible but not as strong as Gamera vs. Barugon (unless my memory is being incredibly lame). It's still the last Showa Gamera film I enjoy AND consider to be an okay film. I have fun with Guiron but there's really nothing good that happens after this film...if you can consider the first three to be good.

Still, this transfer does a world of good for the film.

[king_ghidorah]

Something really fasinating about this film is that it's kind of atypical of Japanese films in the way that it depicts urbanization. The traditionally "greedy capatilists" are actually the good guys in this film. They're trying to make improve Japan by building a new road, while the farmers that are trying to impede the new road, are doing so because they think they can milk more money from the company. Essentially, the farmers are the greedy ones in this film.

Also, the two comedic characters, Kojiro Hongo's helpers, really remind me of similiar comedic characters from Kurosawa's films. They pretty much exist as surrogates for the viewer, middle men, caught up in a larger than life story. (Granted, for this analogy to be perfect, the two comedic characters would be featured more prominently so it kind of comes across as half-baked and odd).

Still, between the Kurosawa like characters, and the depiction of average citizens as greedy...I kind of get a feeling either Yuasa or the screenwriter were fans of Kurosawa.

[lhb412]

Just watched this in Japanese for the first time - again, Shout did great by these DVDs. If I was just shown the image I might assume it was a Blu-Ray, not the best Blu-Ray, but dang great for a DVD.

This is probably the best Showa Gamers film. I've complained that these films are perfectly passable 45 minute mini-features filled with foam peanuts to make it normal feature length, but with this one it feels like there's an adequate amount of stuff to fill the runtime! It's a humans vs. monster-on-the-loose film with a Gamera assist like vs. Barugon was, but this time the monster and the attempts to destroy it are more engaging (and don't get monotonous!) and Gamera's supporting role is much meatier.

The visuals in this film are also pretty interesting. Everything looks flatter and less textured than in a Toho film, but they pull off an interesting, different look.

It's not a match for Toho, but it's a diverting substitute.

[davezilla]

I love this movie. It really helps me stomach some of the other bad Gamera films because it's just so solid. Sure we're back to a kid at center of the story and omg yes one of the most annoying (in a fun way), but it's still such a solid picture. I love the cast in this film. Great personalities and solid acting. Gamera is great in the film and it really introduces one of his most terrifying villains yet in Gyaos. All the monster battles are great and violent to boot. Gyaos has a great creepy introduction. I remember when I first saw this as a kid on Creature Feature it terrified me. Gyaos soaking up all that blood. Crazy! It's a little more serious than pictures still come. I can watch this anytime and be entertained!

[jellydonut25]

This is a solid entry into the Gamera series. I think my only real complaint with it is that the "Gyaos hates sunlight" thing doesn't really go anywhere, because Gamera just pulls Gyaos into lava in order to defeat him. This is a good blend of the VERY kid-oriented stuff of Gamera and the more adult-oriented. It also is pretty indicative of just how WEIRD and gory and graphic Gamera can be at times with blood fountains and Gamera being sliced up by Gyaos's beam, and Gamera throwing a rock with precision accuracy into Gyaos's mouth...

While not my favorite, this is probably a good first Gamera film, because it kinda samples everything the Showa era of Gamera brings to the table.

[EricDent]

I think it was more of Mt. Fuji eruption that woke up the monster.
The highway guys just happened to be in the area.

Still one of the better Gamera movies.
Though the little kid does get a bit annoying in this.
Watched it via Blu-Ray (Mill Creek) recently.