Weekly Kaiju Movie Viewing Thread #2 (5/19-5/20)

[MekaGojira3k]

[Benjamin Haines]

[MekaGojira3k]

[klen7]

[MekaGojira3k]

[Alpha OTS]

[king_ghidorah]

Tim you rock!!! Gamera vs. Gyaos for the win!!!

[MekaGojira3k]

Yeah, looks like Gamera vs. Gyaos got it (still some time, but I doubt another tie is coming) *waits*

I just wish I had a better copy of the movie.

[Timz]

well I will go with whatever you all want. I voted for the GvsG film. Yet I like all of those and have those except Latitude Zero. Unless someone else votes, then I will go with whatever the group really wants to do.

[MekaGojira3k]

You should just go with what you want to watch Tim.
It's official: Gamera vs. Gyaos is the film!

[Alpha OTS]

[MekaGojira3k]

[Timz]

[Alpha OTS]

[MekaGojira3k]

Oh I know what I'm missing, it's just it's been a bit lower on my list of priorities. I'm watching a terrible public domain copy. Sandy Frank dub too
Expect terrible screencaps.

Yep a 20th vote. A little too late, though.

TERRIBLE SCREENCAPS HO!




I generally like Gamera vs. Gyaos. I kind of consider the best Showa Gamera film to be vs. Barugon, and my favorite is probably vs. Guiron. Gyaos is a decent balance of quality and fun. I've always liked Gyaos' design.

Those two screenshots are from one of my favorite moments in the film. When the guy is all relieved then realizes he's screwed before being snacked on by Gyaos.

[king_ghidorah]

[Legion]

[MekaGojira3k]

[Alpha OTS]

Just started watching. Gamera vs Gyaos is the headliner over Gamera vs Viras, don't you know. I've chosen "English Dub 1", which I think is the good dub. I'll know for sure shortly.



It's the good dub. I'm going to write random comments as I watch and then post the whole lot in one post once finished.

"Is Gamera storing heat energy released by volcanic action, or is he already cremated?"

Gotta love the facial expressions on the two bumbling workers. Yes, definitely out of Hidden Fortress.

Ichy sounds like a girl! "You're a reporter, aren't you? I'd be disloyal to our villagers if I decided to help you out!" Hrmm, but if Gamera might be up there, Ichy will sell out his villagers in a heartbeat.

Ichy running in front of Gyaos's lair with Gyaos looking on, great and colorful perspective shot.



Round one! Fight! Gamera, do you want your arm cut off? Just hold your arm right there, don't move, and Gyaos will comply. Gyaos wins!

I promise I will not screencap Ichy riding on Gamera's back. "Gamera, this is fun!" Not seeing any embedded talismans on the shell.

"You refer to the new monster as Gyaos, did you not?"
"Mmm....I named it that cause....that's the type of noise it makes."
"Illogical." Did I hear that right? It must have been "logical", but I listened a few times and it certainly sounds like "illogical".

I like how they inform the viewer of the Gyaos rules. The tuning fork analogy and how he makes his beams, which the viewer then surmises is why his head is shaped like that. Between the zoologist stating how he has two spines and two throats, and the military guy responding that then Gyaos can't turn his head making his back a blind spot. As well as Ichy sharing his Gyaos log which shows that he only comes out at night, and therefore Gyaos hates light.



Round 2! Fight! Oh, no, poisonous yellow vapor! I thought I knew the Gyaos rules! Gamera: "Got your foot, Gyaos!" I like the vampire vibe here with the sun coming up, and Gyaos's ultraman signal on his head. Gamera wins!


I didn't want to do another screencap, but I really liked this perspective shot too with Gyaos eyeing his lunch.

Minor nitpick with the suits. I think they'd look a lot better if the teeth on both monsters weren't so pearly white. A little off-white would have done wonders, I think. Although Gamera was eating lava eariler, I think....

"No spins? That might just work! The way to immobilize Gyaos is to make him so dizzy that he can't move!"

And between the sketch on the wall making Gyaos look like a giant bat and the blood bird bath plan, they're going full vampire here. Gyaos is even sucking it up! Spin, spin, spin! But don't let go! "How long until sun rise?" "Three minutes."

I genuinely like all the human characters in this. Between the villagers trying to make big money on their land, the construction workers wanting to save their work site, and the scientists and the military personnel wanting to save the world, they're all acting believably making this a little more than a typical monster movie plot. Ichy is the link between all of them and the monsters, spurring ideas, and keeping the narrative moving along. The kid is a bit annoying, but he isn't front and center stage the entire time either.

Round three, fight! Now this is a fun monster fight! Green and purple blood! Tail trip! Gamera's on Gyaos's back! That's the weak spot to attack him from, just like the military guy theorized! "The end of the monster Gyaos." Gamera wins!

This is a good Gamera movie. Like Son of Godzilla last week, it finds a good blend of serious but not too serious. I think I appreciate the various subplots more each time I see this flick. This is probably the best bunch of actors they ever had in a Gamera movie. I still like Guiron more than this for sentimental reasons, but this is definitely the better kaiju movie.

[MekaGojira3k]

[Alpha OTS]

[king_ghidorah]

As a kid I thought Gyaos owned Rodan's butt and as an adult I only think this more so...

[Alpha OTS]

[Benjamin Haines]

This is my favorite Gamera film of the Showa Series, and it's the one I've watched the most since I collected the Shout! Factory DVDs. It's well-paced, colorful and fun with a great cast and lots of monster action.

Gyaos is a wonderful villain of a monster, happily munching on people and thwarting efforts to stop him at every turn. The spinning bloodfeeder birdbath is one of the best anti-monster tactics of any kaiju movie, and like so many others it fails gloriously. You can see how much Gyaos hates Gamera every time he shows up.

There's definitely no environmentalist angle to the proceedings here. The villagers resist the expressway construction but only because they want more money for their land, and it's good old-fashioned deforestation (complete with fire) that brings Gamera to save the day.

Noriaki Yuasa seemed to really like composite shots of monsters flying overhead with people in the foreground.

42:57


43:02


1:04:35


1:22:32


There are shots like this in some of the other movies too.

[MekaGojira3k]