Ranking the Gamera films

[Legion]

I prefer a few of the Showa films over the Kaneko stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah...just shut up.

Here's my list, in terms of favorites...

Gamera vs Guiron
Gamera vs Gyaos
Gamera vs Jiger
Gamera 2
Gamera, Guardian of the Universe
Gamera vs Barugon
Gamera Supermonster
Gamera 3
Gamera vs Zigra
Gamera vs Viras
Gamera, the Giant Monster
Gamera, the Brave

[Ultra T-Rex]

[MekaGojira3k]

I, too, am scratching my head at the high ranking of Super Monster.

[jellydonut25]

I can't understand how someone can like Showa Gamera and hate Gamera the Brave...


or how someone can enjoy Super Monster even to a TINY degree.

[klen7]

Gamera, Guardian of the Universe
Gamera, the Brave
Gamera vs Barugon
Gamera 2
Gamera vs Guiron
Gamera vs Gyaos
Gamera 3
Gamera
Gamera vs Viras / Gamera vs Zigra / Gamera vs Jiger
Gamera Supermonster

[king_ghidorah]

[Alpha OTS]

[klen7]

[tbeasley]

I like the first three Showa films, the Heisei trilogy and Gamera the Brave. The rest of the Showa series is a little hit-and-miss. I sort of enjoy Viras, Jiger and Zigra. Guiron and Super Monster don't even feel like movies to me.

[Ultra T-Rex]

[H-Man]

Gamera: Guardian of the Universe
Gamera 3
Gamera 2
Gamera vs. Gyaos
Gamera vs. Barugon
Gamera the Brave
Gamera vs. Jiger
Gamera vs. Viras
Gamera (1965)
Gamera vs. Guiron
Gamera vs. Zigra
Gamera, Super Monster

Italics for films that are essentially tied.

[Psycho Soldier]

Still haven't seen GtB, but I finished all the Showa films last night, so I'll give this a shot anyway:

Gamera 3
Gamera: GOTU
Gamera 2
Gamera vs. Barugon
Gamera vs. Jiger
Gamera vs. Zigra
Gamera vs. Guiron
Giant Monster Gamera
Gamera vs. Gyaos
Gamera vs. Viras
Gamera: Super Monster

[tbeasley]

[jellydonut25]

Original thanks to kiryugoji for the Preference Revealer...I stole it from his FB page...

Gamera 2: Advent of Legion
Gamera: Guardian of the Universe
Gamera vs. Guiron
Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris
Gamera the Brave
Gamera vs. Barugon
Gamera vs. Gyaos
Gamera
Gamera vs. Jiger
Gamera vs. Viras
Gamera vs. Zigra
Gamera: Super Monster

I'm not so sold that Gamera/Jiger/Viras are ranked correctly. Asking me to pick between those movies is like asking to pick between shaving with a disposable razor and no water/soap/shaving cream, and having all the hair on my legs waxed...one might be masochistic and one might be sadistic, but at the end of the day, various parts of my body will feel like they're on fire and I'll be bleeding slightly.

[klen7]

[lhb412]

[klen7]

i may have been overly harsh on G3 (i'm due for a rewatch) but my list remains pretty much the same. I should probably rewatch Jiger since it seems to have moved up lhb412's list

[lhb412]

^The kids go inside Gamera with a mini sub and Gamera kills his opponent by stabbing her with a whistle!

According to Yuasa, most problems can be solved with mini subs.

[Benjamin Haines]

At the top of my list would be the 1990s trilogy. They're three of the best monster movies ever made, they're all unique in their own ways, and I enjoy all three of them equally.

After that, Gamera vs. Gyaos and Gamera vs. Jiger are the top of the Showa Series for me.

I like Gamera vs. Guiron, Gamera the Brave, and the original Gamera. I must admit that the generic monster roars for both Gamera and Toto really damper my enjoyment of Gamera the Brave. If they had utilized the classic Gamera roars, or at least something less cliched than the Kong'76/Bowser/other video game creature vocal sounds that they went with, Gamera the Brave would probably be one tier higher for me and I would rewatch it a lot more often.

I like Gamera vs. Barugon and Gamera vs. Zigra well enough but I'm really more likely to watch the MST3K episodes of those two.

The bottom of the barrel would be Gamera vs. Viras and Super Monster Gamera. I rarely watch either of them and I've only sat through Super Monster twice in my life, once with Shout! Factory's DVD and once with Mill Creek's bluray.

[lhb412]

Also, I rate G3 and The Brave about even, but for very different reasons.

[Rodan]

I've never even attempted to do this before. I don't have a lot of love for the '60s Gamera films, and some I've seen only once. That said:

1. Gamera III
2. Gamera: Guardian of the Universe
3. Gamera the Brave (I honestly have trouble ranking these first three -- Brave in particular is probably the best modern kaiju movie on a technical level)
4. Gamera II: Advent of Legion
5. Gamera vs. Gyaos (no question the best of the original run)
6. Gamera vs. Jiger (fun)
7. Gamera vs. Barugon (competent but largely uninteresting monster movie)
8. Space Monster Gamera (I'll defend this as an entertaining kids' movie that makes really charming use of its shoestring budget; there's something endearing about its completely '80s aesthetic and attempt to integrate every media trend Japanese kids would find appealing at the time; a highlight reel also serves the '60s films perfectly well)
9. Gamera (I have basically no fondness for these last four; it's pick-your-poison until bottom-of-the-barrel Zigra)
10. Gamera vs. Virus
11. Gamera vs. Guiron
12. Gamera vs. Zigra (so awful; this is definitely at the bottom of my list; feels like it will never end)

To get the most out of Space/Super Monster, don't watch it after recently viewing the '60s films. It was made nearly a decade after those entries for children who hadn't seen them. It's ... honestly pretty fun, and definitely more enjoyable as an adult viewer than sitting through the entirety of several of the later Showa entries. , which covers his role editing it and its reasons for being made, helps it come across as a bit more charming as well. I saw it probably a year after watching the rest of the series, knowing its background, and wound up having a pretty good time.