Happy Summer, folks! It’s been a scorcher here in Maine – we don’t usually see temps in the 90s until July, if at all. Luckily, the basement is cool and dry, and that’s where I tend to watch stuff for Fear Flashback. This week we keep Kai-June rolling with the first two-thirds of a trilogy of classic kaiju eiga from the Heisei era.
Godzilla inspired a ton of imitators, but probably none are as famous as Daiei Film’s Gamera. Created as a direct response to the success of Toho’s Godzilla films, Gamera has always been something of a joke. A giant turtle who flies like a spinning top with jets coming out his leg holes? Despite his initial destructive appearance in 1965’s Gamera, the Giant Monster, the googly-eyed, tusked terrapin with the sub-par special effects became a big hit with kids who enjoyed a slightly less menacing monster. One that could safely be cheered on as a “friend to all children.” Gamera defended the earth against all comers for 8 films before the series finally petered out with Gamera: Super Monster in 1980.
In 1995, seeing the success of the Heisei Godzilla films and with the 30th anniversary of the first Gamera film approaching, original studio Daliei teamed up with Godzilla’s parent studio Toho to distribute a new film – Gamera: Guardian of the Universe – with Shusuke Kaneko in the director’s chair.
The new film – with a darker tone and emphasis on (for suitmation) better special effects – was a hit, resulting in two more films in a loosely connected trilogy that features aliens, giant creatures meant to destroy humanity, giant creatures meant to save humanity, psychic kids, ancient civilizations, and very gory kaiju battles – including one in which Gamera severs his own arm. Despite some dodgy 90s CGI, the budget and monster design quality increases over the course of the series, culminating in Gamera: Revenge of Iris, which boasts some of the best special effects of any kaiju film of the Heisei era, Godzilla films included.
I’ve never been a fan of the classic Showa era Gamera films. He just looked so damn goofy (even compared to some seriously goofy Godzilla iterations). I don’t think I’ve even seen one all the way through. At some point I picked up a collection of the first four films, but I’ve only ever dipped into it – mostly to see the original version of Gyaos (a major monster antagonist in the Heisei trilogy). Gamera, to me, was always just an inferior Godzilla knock-off and one I could safely ignore. When I finally gave the Heisei era films a chance – probably at the urging of some fan at the comic shop where I worked – I had low expectations.
I enjoyed the hell out of that first film. Somehow the filmmakers (director Shusuke Kaneko, writer Kazunori Itō and special effects director Shinji Higuchi) made a giant, flying turtle… not exactly believable, but absolutely enjoyable. I immediately sought out the second and third films, and the trilogy has since become one of my favorite series of kaiju eiga. About a damned giant turtle. Who would have thought?
The Medium
I have the Arrow Heisei Era collection from 2021. The films look great and are a major improvement over the 2011 Mill Creek release. There are a ton of extras, including a couple of comedy dubs/commentary tracks. If you can afford it, this is the way to go. (That aforementioned Mill Creek release can usually be found for fairly cheap, and is serviceable.)
For streaming, all three films are available for subs on Amazon Prime, Screambox, Arrow Video and Midnight Pulp, as well as for free (with ads) on Tubi, Pluto and Cineverse. They can also be rented or purchased at the usual online vendors.
The Movies
Gamera: Guardian of the Universe
The first film in the Heisei Gamera trilogy starts off with some classic monster introductions. First, we see a ship run into a mysterious object in the middle of the ocean – some kind of floating atoll that is covered in mysterious orichalcum objects and a stone slab with runes. Soon the atoll reveals itself to be a giant, turtle-like creature – observed by Coast Guard officer Yoshinari Yonemori (Tsuyoshi Ihara). Meanwhile, ornithologist Mayumi Nagamine (Shinobu Nakayama) goes to a remote island to investigate the disappearance of the entire human population (and her mentor). She finds human remains in a giant bird pellet, and then three giant, bird-like creatures.
Ships running afoul of something mysterious at sea and remote islands being attacked by monsters is standard kaiju film stuff, featured in the very first Godzilla film. It’s a nice nod to the classics.
In order to prevent further attacks by the carnivorous “birds,” Nagamine organizes (with government help) a trap at a baseball stadium that has a moveable dome. The idea is that the “birds” will descend on bait (a pile of cow carcasses) and be tranquilized. All goes well at first – until the giant turtle monster shows up and starts wrecking the stadium to get at the bird monsters. It manages to kill one, but the other two escape.
Nagamine and Yonemori work with a scientist, Naoya Kusanagi (Akira Onodera), to translate the runes found on the stone slab. This reveals that the giant turtle is named Gamera, while the bird creatures are called Gyaos. Over the course of the film it’s postulated that Gyaos was an ancient threat and that a previous civilization created Gamera to battle them. Kusanagi’s daughter Asagi (Ayako Fujitani) touches one of the orichalcum objects and somehow forms a mysterious bond with Gamera.
Japan’s government believes Gamera is the main threat, however, and launches a major attack to try and destroy the creature. The Gyaos take advantage of this to also attack Gamera, and the turtle retreats to the ocean, badly injured. In the aftermath, a single surviving Gyaos grows to massive size, and attacks Tokyo. It eventually builds a nest in the ruins of Tokyo tower, surviving all attempts to destroy it.
One of the things I enjoy about Heisei era kaiju films in general is the return to using detailed miniatures, and the Gamera series is no exception. After the Showa era films eschewed expensive miniature sets for bland, but cheap, “plains” where monsters could wrestle without causing much damage to infrastructure, it’s a treat to see them stomping and falling through recognizable landmarks again, causing huge explosions and exacting a massive toll in collateral damage. (Something that will be picked up on in the third film.)
Gamera eventually heals, and there’s the requisite giant monster battle with setbacks, unlikely human connections that turn the tide, and the inevitable return to the sea after the bad guy is defeated. While the adults wonder what will happen if Gyaos or another monster appears, Asagi asserts that Gamera will return if that happens.
She is, of course, absolutely right.
The Bottom Line
Gamera still looks a little goofy, and the Gyaos effects are pretty basic by modern standards, but Gamera: Guardian of the Universe is a giant step forward from the kid-friendly pablum of the original series. Fantastic miniature sets, decent man-in-suit monster effects, above average performances from human actors, and an interesting alt-history backstory elevate the film above most kaiju eiga. It would have been a great one-shot film, but Shusuke Kaneko and his crew weren’t done.
Gamera 2: Attack of Legion
Set a year after the events of the first film, Attack of Legion is the most straightforward film of the trilogy. A threat arrives from space, Gamera re-appears and – after some fairly major defeats – manages to repel the invasion. Just because it’s a basic plot doesn’t mean it isn’t fun, though!
A meteorite fall in northern Japan is followed by a strange series of events – the meteorite itself seems to have moved in flight, fiber optic cables disappear, and something attacks a brewery, dissolving the glass bottles and leaving the beer behind. (This scene reintroduces a minor character from the first film, Inspector Osako (Yukijirō Hotaru) – who has quit the force in the aftermath of having to deal with giant monsters and become a security guard.) Science Center curator Midori Honami (Miki Mizuno) and SDF Colonel Yusuke Watarase investigate.
The events turn out to be the result of a colony of creatures that attack a subway car in Sapporo before constructing a towering “flower” that erupts out of one of the downtown buildings. Honami and her friend Obitsu (Mitsuru Fukikoshi) theorize the aliens are feeding on silicon and using the “flower” to launch a seed pod into space. Obitsu calculates that the explosion resulting from such a launch will destroy everything within a six mile radius – including the location where they’re conducting the calculations. Obitsu suggests they run. Honami points out there’s no point – they can’t get away fast enough to escape the blast.
Which is when Gamera shows up. He destroys the “flower,” but is then overwhelmed by thousands of the alien creatures. An observer quotes the bible, calling the creatures “Legion,” and the name sticks. The creatures are distracted by a nearby electrical and Gamera manages to escape, bleeding from multiple wounds.
The special effects work in Attack of Legion ranges from dodgy to amazing. The CGI monsters are fairly bad at times, serviceable at others. It was the early days of CGI and it, unfortunately, shows. The miniature work is much more impressive, and Shinji Higuchi elevates his craft to new heights. The detail work on the cities is incredible. He even puts a camera in a miniature jeep that trundles through the city as Gamera stomps by, creating a sense of verisimilitude missing from standard blue screen or rear projection effects. As Gamera spins by, severely wounded, splatters of green blood spray across the face of a building.
When Legion reappears, this time in Sendai, the “flower” grows much faster than previously. Gamera again arrives to intervene, but he is delayed by a larger creature (referred to as “Mother Legion” on fan sites and just as “the big one” in the film itself). The monster severely wounds Gamera before leaving him for dead. Struggling to move, Gamera arrives at the flower too late to prevent it from launching, though he is able to knock it on its side. Gamera takes the brunt of the explosion, which still devastates Sendai, leaving an apocalyptic wasteland with Gamera’s ash-covered body in the center.
This film also sees the return of Asagi, the girl with the connection to Gamera. With her talisman and, seemingly, the prayers of many children keeping vigil over Gamera, the giant turtle returns to life – completely restored.
Yes, this is every bit as corny as it sounds. It does look cool, though.
Gamera is forced to once again confront the giant version of Legion while his human allies attempt to distract and destroy the swarm. Overmatched in almost every way, Gamera calls upon the Earth itself for support, causing waves of energy to converge on the giant turtle and giving him the energy needed to finally destroy Legion for good.
In the aftermath, Honami states that she believes Gamera is fighting for all life on Earth – not just humanity. Which prompts Obitsu to wonder what would happen if we keep on our current path, and humanity continues to threaten all life on earth.
The Bottom Line
Somehow less satisfying than the original film, despite having more giant monster battles, the special effects are both the high and low points of The Attack of Legion. When the practical effects are at the forefront, it’s an amazing spectacle, with fantastic detail and quality. The CGI on the other hand, is more of a mixed bag. Some of the computer effects are quite good, and others are not. The human story is of less interest than the previous installment, but everyone does a decent job with what they’ve been given. It’s still a high-quality kaiju film, it’s just not quite as good as the first movie in the series.
We’ll continue with the final installment of the Hesei Gamera trilogy, The Revenge of Iris, early next week!
