The GAMERA TRILOGY review/retrospective!

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[Music]
in the 1960s tor Godzilla movies were
all the rage in Japan so it’s only
natural that someone would eventually
say hey let’s do one of these show this
someone would be Toho’s rival die a who
in 1965 presented to the world giant
monster Gamera
a movie about a giant fire-breathing
reptile born from radiation that comes
out of the sea to lay waste to Japan in
one of the most blatant ripoffs in
mainstream media that makes you wonder
how the hell did in Toho took those guys
to court the first Gamera movie was a
success that prompted the Japanese
studio to put out another half dozen
flicks is tearing the beyblade spinning
jetspeed flying turtle in increasingly
dire situations over the following years
because you see in many ways Gamera was
a Captain Marvel to Godzilla Superman in
the sense that he is a blatant copy of
the original character with a more
fantasy oriented edge and a bigger
affinity with children the biggest
difference would be that even in its
heyday Gamera was never able to outshine
the big Gipp maybe that explain why
there was no lawsuit so you can see why
in the early

1970s the franchise faded
away sooner than its rival and a
particularly awful move in the nineteen
eighties notwithstanding it stay pretty
much dormant for decades this change in
1995 when the character’s 30th
anniversary prompted iho once again
follow-on Toho’s footsteps and give the
giant turtle its own dark and edgy
reboots no really
directed by should connect written by
Kazunori – with special fact by shinji
higuchi
a soundtrack bicode tiny and actually
distributed by toe
of all people they got merit trilogy as
it will later become now would be
collectively praised as the absolute
best thing since garlic bread and the
films are fine at all but there’s only
so much I can talk about the silent
movie before it starting to sound
repetitive so instead of making a single
video for each one of these I’ll be
covering all three in one swing so here
we go
warden of the universe takes off from
the premise of Gamera being a
genetically engineered monster created
by the Atlanteans to fight the gels a
race of also genetically engineered
people eating monsters created by the
Atlanteans that got out of control and
started attacking its own creators
Gamera managed to eventually control the
gels but it was too little too late and
its creators had already been extinct so
the turtle entered a long slumber
waiting for when the world needed him
again fast forward several thousand
years and it just started wizard facing
near Japan prompting a Mara to come back
for a second round against his old
rivals oh and this time his magically
bound to this girl that always looked
either high or constipated sometimes
both she’s actually not really important
for the pot or anything I just wanted to
make the joke despite exceedingly
fantastical premise and Gamera is still
being well chimera the movie is most
certainly compromised in giving the
franchise a more down-to-earth approach
thanks in no small part to the plot
having a very nice crescendo that gives
the whole thing a trilling sense of
urgency they stakes keep on growing
until we reach a climatic final battle
between America and unnormal super gels
where everything is going to be decided
this is by itself already a major
departure from the light-hearted and
carefree shower movies another departure
from the franchise roots is its
production values which are surprisingly
high given the relatively tight budget
of the flick
margin was made with about half as much
money as a Godzilla flick from the same
period but it’s not as you can tell the
special effects are pretty top-notch and
mostly on par with the ones from the
other franchise mostly and that is
honestly the best compliment this movie
can receive it is just as good as
Godzilla an impressive feat by its own
right considering the franchise had
always held a very distant second place
– it’s pure suddenly Gamera was not a
joke anymore and people and ironically
liked the character which meant the
filmmakers had to follow suit with
sickles just as good as the first one
and they eventually would but just not
with the follower release one year after
garden of the universe attack of Legion
is easily the worst of the trio I mean
saying like that it sounds like this is
a god-awful movie which is far from the
truth from a technical point of view
this one is just as competent as its
predecessor making for a really
entertaining piece of media it’s even
the closest thing of a big monster
versus the smaller monsters movie I’ve
been wanting to see since Godzilla vs.
megaguirus it is just 32 stories like
him first start the plot is basically
rehash of the previous one once again we
see the earth being attacked by a swarm
of relatively small sized people winning
monsters which here are aptly named well
legend that eventually give place from
much bigger and more dangerous creature
with the intention of procreating and
taking over the planet but unlike the
previous movie the sense of urgency a
looming dread feels pretty artificial
here Gamera accidentally nukes an entire
city not halfway through the flee but
everyone moves on like nothing had
happened you know for comparison it
takes him doing much less in the
following film for the army to decided
enough is enough and he should be
destroyed moments like this feel very
inconsequential as if they were there
for the simple reason of the
we’ll be trying to one-up its
predecessor it’s almost as if they knew
this movie had nothing new to offer
moreover Gamera feels oddly disjointed
from the main action it’s not like the
monster isn’t there obviously the
problem is more like that he’s just kind
that there were both the villain and the
hero had intertwined journeys in warden
human aiding in an unavoidable final
confrontation a Texas giant turtle doing
what it does only because his protector
of the earth I know it’s pretty weird to
ask for better character motivations in
a monster movie but bear with me that
the previous installment already had a
more fleshed out relationship between
the two creatures so this film feels
like a step down it meetly attack of
legions biggest problem is exactly this
having to be compared to the first movie
it feels kind of flat and have hardly
put together when compared to warden of
the universe which mostly hurts the
perception of what is not a bad movie at
all in its own right thankfully any
mistakes this film might have made will
be more than rectified by the third
installment of the franchise since the
second Gamera movie fell short of
meaning diease financial expectations
the studio took its time in developing
the follow-up when it finally came out
in 1999 everyone was pretty much blown
away by it
revenge of virus is where the trilogy
peaked but what is it that makes this
film so special well for one it takes a
very dark and cynical approach on the
giant monster genre taking a nose dive
into the deconstruction territory
whereas most kaiju films treat the
destruction of the monsters just
seriously enough to justify them being
the main conflict of the movie revenge a
virus analyzes the toe this kind of
disaster happening over and over again
would have on people three years after
the events of the last movie everyone
has had enough of Gamera
who keeps leveling entire towns in his
against the jobs which keep on popping
all over the world due to global warming
or something as a response to all the
destruction he has caused Gamera is
declared public enemy number 1 with his
destruction becoming a priority for
Japan’s and forces also full of hate for
the monster is the young Ayana here–is
akka who saw her whole family being
stomped by him during the battle against
super jaws now living with her uncles
and cousins in a small village Ayane
never forgot what chimera did to her
becoming a brooding loner tormented by
the local bullies for her reclusive
personality that is until the fateful
day when she stumbles upon a mysterious
creatures he nicknames
iris after her dead cat and soo
establishes a connection with it that
goes beyond just the emotional with the
choose Shari some sort of psychic link
what in other movies will be the start
of an awesome adventure between a girl
and a giant monster here is a living
nightmare as iris channels out the
hatred inside Ayana going after the
target of the girls content and feeding
on the entire village where she lives
including her buddies and her family the
monsters you’d make go of being of
course to grow big enough to be able to
tackle the giant turtle himself and get
rid of him for good all this really
depressing stuff helps drive home the
point of how complicated is gamers
relationship with humankind basically
the monster is identified here at the
protection of the earth but doesn’t seem
to care much about humans this places
him in a fuzzy gray area of morality
sort of like a necessary evil or a
destructive Savior
what marked his movie as an interesting
evolution of the trilogy previous films
making for very dense and thoughtful
film the like of which I don’t think
I’ve ever seen before while there have
been serious kaiju movies before none of
them trying to give a closer look at the
very nature of this sort of story but
this is not you mean the flick is out to
get you depressed
not just the press there are a lot of
fun to be found in what is absolutely
the climax of the filmmakers craft and
ingenuity when it comes to special facts
diction scenes here are absolutely
spectacular but the highlight goes we’ll
enough to one of the least flashy
moments of the flick in its final
moments the movie takes Gamera and a
fully grown I reached inside an airport
terminal
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a giant
monster fight taking place indoors and I
think it’s because everyone thought just
like I did that it will look lame but it
doesn’t it’s great probably the most
memorable part of the movie most likely
because it really sells this.k of the
creatures something that even the others
said had difficulty doing revenge of
virus and with an exalted Gamera having
won the battle against his enemy but
there is no time for recovering a
massive flock of Giles is heading toward
Japan and only the giant arrow can stop
it so he heads into the danger ready to
fight more less time for the future of
the world as this movie to world fall
short of Dyess expectations we never
received a fourth installment so we were
left hanging but I think it’s ok does an
impactful conclusion that really sells
everything that trilogy was trying to
complete and I honestly can’t think of a
more fitting empty
your marriage trilogy has a very odd
legacy to it on one hand it wasn’t
capable to move the same numbers
Godzilla did during the same period or
even change the characters overall image
among the larger public although to be
fair
neither did hazy godzilla on the other
handle it’s undeniable the long-lasting
impact these three films had in the
genre
first start they brought into the
spotlight directors of the two best
Godzilla films of this century in the
eyes of many these films have elevated
this type of flick from mere spectacle
to something much more thoughtful and
provocative as proven by the fact that
all the three of them were nominated for
an even one Awards previously never
recognized two films like this and more
than anything else these three
installments of the chimera franchise
will shape the future of monster movies
which got much more or at least even
more grounded afterward most sometimes
anyway if you want definitive proof of
the everlasting effects of the trilogy
look no further than legendary pictures
incarnation of Godzilla an ancient
monster with ties to long gone
civilizations who rise from the bottom
of the ocean to hand out and note enemy
awakened by human action before it can
procreate and take over the world
humans are not sure this should or not
trust this creature but they really have
no choice
add to that very similar set pieces and
plot pits and why I’m not saying these
movies are Godzilla name only you can
see how the Gamera trilogy was one of
the biggest if not the biggest influence
to the American Godzilla more so than
its namesake
even Gamera would receive one more movie
a few years later this time completely
unrelated to the previous three but that
was it there was a short five minute one
film screen
the 2015 comic-con has both a
celebration of the characters fifth
anniversary and a proof of concept for a
new Gamera movie but nothing ever came
of it
there hasn’t been any fear of the
franchise in almost 15 years and in all
honesty it’s unlikely this book changed
anytime soon due to it having me proven
unprofitable and the main character
hardly a box office pool so in a way the
giant turtle faded as soon as it peaked
but the impact of what should connect
when those others did in the late 90s
lives on in the memories of all who saw
it they treat a chimera with the respect
its friends Alice thought it deserved
and in turn managed to make the turtle
really cool for everyone and that’s what
really matters
owns a second grade Godzilla Club the
friend of all children was now respected
character among the half a few monsters
a movie legend in its own right and that
no one was going to take from him all
eyes to watch it Mystery Science Theater
2000 in which case Gamera will always be
a joke
[Applause]
[Music]
Canaveral is really nice camera still
with me we’ve any digamma okay enough of
monster movies for now next time I’ll
try something different let’s see how it
turns out
[Music]

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