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Gamera: The Guardian of The Universe

Gamera: The Guardian of The Universe

List Price: $24.98
Your Price: $22.48
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome Kaiju!!!
Review: This movie rocks!!! It brings me back to my childhood where I would stay inside on Saturday afternoons and watch Godzilla, Gamera, Kung Fu movies and just about anything that was dubbed. Gyaos is a great adversary. I like how they re-did Gamera's origin. Godzilla is my favorite monster, but this has better special effects than any Godzilla film. Gamera is catching up. I can't wait until they release Gamera 2: The Advent of Legion. Gamera has come a long way!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A spectacular upgrading of Gamera
Review: This is definitely not your parents' Gamera. Completely gone are the cheesy, low-budget SFX of the Daeie 60's. Quite simply, the new suitmation techniques flat out blow the Godzilla Heisei series out of the water...and this is a die-hard Godzilla fan saying that. The new effects are positively magnificent...a lot of Hollywood SFX artists who are going CGI-happy should take a long , hard look at this film, as well as its two sequels ("Gamera 2: The Attack Of The Legion" is also available here in the States)...they would learn a LOT. Both Gamera and his arch-rival Gyaos look positively terrific, and their rampages of destruction are first-rate. And a funny surprise is Steven Seagal's Japanese daughter as Asagi, the girl who psychically links with Gamera...she has ten times the acting talent of dear old Dad. This is a must-see for sci-fi fans of all sorts.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Gamera is back!!!
Review: Despite the Gamera in the 60's that was aim towards kids this turtle is back!!When i first saw this I was Blown away I mean The SPX effect are ten times better the Newer godzilla films.
This suits and all were just Damm thats look cool.I mean who ever created this new gamera environment had the right idea and Meen damm he did a good job.All i have to say this on the other 2 Gamera films are a 5 star in my book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Gamera is back, and better than ever!
Review: This movie is the first of the three new Gamera movies and it is great. First of all, the special effects are awesome. They are way better than in any of the new godzilla films. The acting is also better than you usually see in Kaiju films. This is the best monster movie made yet.(At least what I've seen) It is better than the new Godzilla 2000 and is up to Hollywood standards. I highly reccomend watching this movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Not Your Father's Gamera
Review: Before I review the importance of this film, allow me to digress.
Why is a film that incorporates CGI considered to have "better special effects" than effects done using minitures and costumes? To this point, within a couple frames:

a> You can tell "immediately" if a creature is done in CGI.
b> You can tell "immediately" if a creature is a costume.

In both cases, the effect is ineffective in that you know it's a special effect. Something either looks convincing, that is "real" and you can't identify the technique used to create it, or it does not. It's a boolean thing. Having said that, the Japanese effects >tradition< of using minitures and costumes is as equally unconvincing as CGI - however, the live action style is more vivid, and interesting. I prefer the elaborate minitures, costumes, and physical effects and find them far, far, more entertaining than something produced on a laptop with a 3D software package.

Secondly, realize that most Japanese kaiju flicks are done on a 10 million dollar budget. It was amazing in the 60's as it is now that an effects film can be realized at all with such a paltry budget. The shooting schedule of this films is also break-neck.

The reason this Gamera film is important is that it re-defined a genre. Many films and filmmakers try, few succeed. It's "The Unforgiven" (western) or The Excorsist (horror) of kaiju.

Most negative reviews of this film cite effects techniques and dubbing (it's nearly impossible to accurately dub english/japanese it's a different language, of course the lips won't synch...) These reviewer are xenophobic.

In summary, Gamera is an IMPORTANT film as it redifined an entire genre. Critics who point to effects technics and dubbing are xenophobic. Long live minitures and rubber suits! The Japanese (not the US) make the best anime and big bug, saturday matinee sci fi from the 50's to today.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Not Your Father's Gamera
Review: Before I review the importance of this film, allow me to digress.
Why is a film that incorporates CGI considered to have "better special effects" than effects done using minitures and costumes? To this point, within a couple frames:

a> You can tell "immediately" if a creature is done in CGI.
b> You can tell "immediately" if a creature is a costume.

In both cases, the effect is ineffective in that you know it's a special effect. Something either looks convincing, that is "real" and you can't identify the technique used to create it, or it does not. It's a boolean thing. Having said that, the Japanese effects >tradition< of using minitures and costumes is as equally unconvincing as CGI - however, the live action style is more vivid, and interesting. I prefer the elaborate minitures, costumes, and physical effects and find them far, far, more entertaining than something produced on a laptop with a 3D software package.

Secondly, realize that most Japanese kaiju flicks are done on a 10 million dollar budget. It was amazing in the 60's as it is now that an effects film can be realized at all with such a paltry budget. The shooting schedule of this films is also break-neck.

The reason this Gamera film is important is that it re-defined a genre. Many films and filmmakers try, few succeed. It's "The Unforgiven" (western) or The Excorsist (horror) of kaiju.

Most negative reviews of this film cite effects techniques and dubbing (it's nearly impossible to accurately dub english/japanese it's a different language, of course the lips won't synch...) These reviewer are xenophobic.

In summary, Gamera is an IMPORTANT film as it redifined an entire genre. Critics who point to effects technics and dubbing are xenophobic. Long live minitures and rubber suits! The Japanese (not the US) make the best anime and big bug, saturday matinee sci fi from the 50's to today.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The monster hit that redefined kaiju.
Review: When director Shusuke Kaneko and screenwriter Kazumori Ito revived the kiddie kaiju hero Gamera, they also revived the kaiju genre itself. The pair reached back beyond the day glow colored kiddie slug fests of the late 60s and 70s, stretching all the way back to the genres golden era, the 50s and early 60s. Rather than treat the flying turtle as a joke, they drafted an intelligent and mature monster story that builds to the city crumbling battles every fan of the genre knows and loves. This is the movie to show friends and family who think watching man in suit monster movies is strictly for kids. Highest recommendation.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Big Turtle vs. Bat-Lizard
Review: Gamera is reborn, complete with his spinning shell of disaster! A ship carrying enough plutonium to make the whole planet glow, runs aground on a mysterious, moving atoll. Some time later, a research team finds the tiny island and digs out a bizarre metallic monolith with ancient runes carved into it. The atoll turns out to be Gamera! It seems he has returned after thousands of years to face a threat of biblical proportions. Gyaos, the gigantic bat-lizard has laid eggs on a remote island. They've hatched, releasing three gyaos monsters that start eating villagers and their pets almost immediately! The government, in it's godlike wisdom, decides to capture the gyaos critters in a retractable domed baseball stadium. Well, Gamera arrives, throwing the government's plans into the toilet. The military bombards the big turtle mercilessly, protecting the gyaos babies. Gamera manages to squash one of them, while the military tranquilizes the other two. Fortunately, only one survives, cutting it's way out of it's cage with laser breath. It grows to horrific size, and sets out to obliterate Tokyo. Here comes Gamera again! He's made a psychic connection with a young girl, who suffers when he suffers, and gains strength from her somehow. Together, they face Gyaos in a no-holds-barred final conflict! My 8yo son and I both cheered for the big turtle...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome Movie, Great DVD
Review: This is easily one of the best kaiju movies ever made. Even though I've only seen one Showa Gamera movie (the first one with no American actors in it on TV), but I can tell by reviews on the Internet that the Heisei Gamera is better. The story completely reinvents the turtle, making him the product of ancient Atlantians who were trying to save themselves from another creation, the reptilian, man-eating birds known as Gyaos. In the present day (1995, when this movie was made), Gamera emerges from the sea to eliminate three of the Gyaos. This movie is great! The special effects are among the best ever! It had totally realistic CGI, mixed with the traditional man-in-a-suit (my favorite way of bringing monsters to the screen). Gyaos looks rather puppet-like, but that's okay. Now onto the DVD. When I first bought it months ago along with Tremors and Tremors 2, I popped it in my DVD player, and I was surprised to find it had special features! Another DVD I have, a double feature of Godzilla vs. Spacegodzill and Godzilla vs. Destroyer, had no special features. But this DVD sure did! It's also in widescreen, with the choice of either English dubbing or the original Japanese language with English subtitles! Anyway, this is a must-have for any kaiju fan! Also great are the two sequels, Gamera: Attack of Legion and Gamera: Revenge of Iris.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Godzilla's Got HUGE Competition Now!
Review: I've always loved Gamera as a child. Sometimes it's good to always remember those kind of things. I would consider him Godzilla's competition. But with this new series, he rocks more than ever! I have to say this is one of the best Kaiju movies EVER MADE! Gamera gets ready to rumble again up against one of his most powerful Showa enamies(now looking cooler than ever), Gayos, The Shadow Of Evil. A new storyline, new friends, new villians, and a whole new turtle in this action-packed movie witch is only the beginning of Gamera's troubles!


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