Gamera Vs. Jiger

May be speaking too soon, but this is the best one so far with the kids.

Again, pretty damn shocked how good this was. Thankfully it takes a departure from aliens and sci-fi and gets back down to Earth, as we meet another japanese-american double act of kids where they learn about the really real 1970 Expo where a relic is uncovered and in classic horror fashion a monster is awakened after the relic is taken, leading to destruction as Gamera gains another adversary. Quite a few good things to say again so let's talk production. Apparently each subsequent Gamera movie had less and less of a budget but this movie looks gooood, it actually seemed to have money behind it from the sets, monster effects, the film stock looks better, it looks like a true competitor to the Godzilla movies that were kind of winding down by this decade. But I was very impressed with the visuals and like we get a lot more focus on the monsters throughout. It's like if they took elements from Barugon and Gyaos and mixed it with the kid centric light entertainment of the past two movies, leading to a very entertaining and balanced story. I know not everyone is a fan of children being the main story aspect of the Gamera series, but even I must admit I have seen more competent and good child actors from Japan more than here in the States before the new millenium. Plus it was just interesting seeing this Expo showcased as this brand new event which was true at the time in 1970, and I'd honestly go to one today if I had the opportunity. Now for the kaiju, I feel as if the Gamera suit got updated and beautifully so, and also they got a new suit actor which might explain why it looks different. Jiger is more on the normal side, or as normal as Gamera villains get with a brown reptilian design complete with Spinosaurus fins on the back, and the abilities he has are both new and old. Able to fire needles from it's horns, it has Barugon's death beam sans the magnificent colors, I think it flat out has telekenisis and can fly, so it's a formidable opponent. Needless to say I appreciate going back to the kaiju having a strong stance throughout, even if they aren't on screen they still have bearing and weight on the plot just like in Gyaos. And just to throw it out there, outstanding work on the set design when we see Gamera's internal systems, just the fact we see the walls pulse and move in his lungs like he was breathing was proper good set design. Top notch work found here man. It breaks from the overly goofy and weird stuff for the most part and gets grounded again which helped my enjoyment a great deal, and I actually hold it high up on the ranks like Barugon and Gyaos. So I give it 3.5 stars, 7.5/10, could we end on a high note as we cap off the original series? I hope so at least.

Gamera Vs. Guiron

Okay, I was pleasantly surprised.

For the fifth movie in this series, I was kinda shocked how much I liked this more than Viras. Which is really bizzare to say cause the plot isn't terribly different, two young boys discover a spaceship and are stolen away to the alien's home planet where they try to survive and come face to face with their monster Guiron, a four legged reptile with a literal blade as part of his skull, while Gamera makes the trek to the planet to save them. And I actually have a fair bit to talk about than last time so I just hope I remember all my points. So let's talk about the fun random stuff first. I cannot believe even in this version they still retain the line "A world without wars and traffic accidents" which has become an in joke to the kaiju community at large which is repeated once, twice, three times a space girl so I got a good laugh out of that. We meet policeman Kon-chan, or as we effectionately call him Officer Corn-Job who I believe we will see again in the next movie. And we get my favorite version of the Gamera song, along with a true Olympic display of acrobatics and poise. I think I was just in a grumpy mood yesterday, because the child like mentality and absurd monster stuff actually worked for me quite a bit this time. I again give major credit to the designers of the aliens and their "star" (Yes they did it again.), with the world looking like something straight out of the original series of Star Trek mixed with some Lost In Space set design. The aliens are wild, helmets with antennae, super short capes, Kamen Rider style belts, it's a sight to behold. However, the actors playing the aliens are excellent being able to give more subtle moments of interaction and never go truly over the top while still having a tiny bit of threat. The monster fights I feel are the best yet, with exaggerated and humorous emotions, awkward but highly entertaining hits, and just a weird fun tone to it all. You know guys, it just dawned on me how kinda weird these films are, they're kinda goofy. It's rather interesting seeing this as a time capsule movie, they bring up the Apollo moon mission several times and it really puts it into perspective the time these movies were made. It took until movie number 5 for man to land on the moon, and space craze was in full swing. I don't mind our child actors this time around, and I'm not sure I brought this up last time but we have a japanese kid and a caucasian kid but what's fascinating about that is, both speak in japanese there's no dubbing or japanese subtitles filling in the english dialogue. That's...never happened much, even Nick Adams was dubbed in Astro-Monster, you really don't see white american actors speaking the native language. It's cool, I like that, but it's a rare anomaly for these types of pictures. All in all, it's silly but fun kid's entertainment and a nicely done entry in the Gamera series. 3 stars, 7/10, and we only got 2 more to go.