Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995) Gamera daikaijû kuchu kessen (original title)

Director:

Shûsuke Kaneko

Writers:

Matt Greenfield (dialogue)
Kazunori Itô
(more)

Release Date:

16 April 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

A hibernating species of giant carnivorous bird is awakened on a Japanese island shortly after the Japanese military encounters an unidentified mass moving beneath the water off-shore.

Plot Keywords:

Gamera | Tokyo Tower | Product Placement | Pollution | Helicopter

Awards:

6 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Tsuyoshi Ihara	...	Yoshinari Yonemori
Akira Onodera	...	Naoya Kusangi
Shinobu Nakayama	...	Mayumi Nagamine
Ayako Fujitani	...	Asagi Kusanagi
Yukijirô Hotaru	...	Insp. Osako
Hatsunori Hasegawa	...	Col. Satake
Hirotarô Honda	...	Mr. Saito
Akira Kubo	...	Captain of the Kairyumaru
Kôjirô Hongô	...	Captain of the Nojima
Takashi Matsuo	...	Taxi driver
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Carol Amerson	...	Various (voice: English version)
Tiffany Grant	...	Dr. Mayumi Nagamine (voice: English version)
Yuhmi Kaneyama	...	Gyaos
Gene Kato	...	Helicopter Pilot (voice: English version)
Jason Lee	...	Miltary Helicopter Pilot (voice: English Version)
Tristan MacAvery	...	Mr. Kusanagi (voice: English version)
Naoaki Manabe	...	Gamera
Paul Sidello	...	Inspector Ohsako (voice: English version)
Jun Suzuki	...	Gamera
Sue Ulu	...	Reporter (voice: English version)
Brett Weaver	...	News Anchor, Scientist (voice: English version)
Amanda Winn Lee	...	Asagi Kusanagi (voice: English version)

Directed by
Shûsuke Kaneko

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Matt Greenfield		dialogue
Kazunori Itô
James Shanks		UK version

Produced by
Matt Greenfield	....	producer (US dubbed version)
Hiroyuki Kato	....	executive producer
John Ledford	....	executive producer (english version)
Shigeru Ohno	....	producer
Yasuyoshi Tokuma	....	executive producer
Tsutomu Tsuchikawa	....	producer
Seiji Urushido	....	producer

Original Music by
Kô Ôtani

Cinematography by
Kenji Takama
Junichi Tozawa

Film Editing by
Shizuo Arakawa

Production Design by
Hajime Oikawa

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Shozo Katashima	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Yasuo Hashimoto	....	sound

Special Effects by
Shinichi Fushima	....	editor: special effects sequences
Tomo'o Haraguchi	....	creature creator
Hokoka Hayashi	....	special effects lighting
Shinji Higuchi	....	special effects director
Makoto Kamiya	....	special effects assistant director
Hiroshi Kidokoro	....	special effects photographer
Toshio Miike	....	special effects art director
Kenji Sugata	....	special effects crew

Visual Effects by
Takashi Kawabata	....	digital effects artist
Hajime Matsumoto	....	visual effects

Other crew
Junko Kawashima	....	script girl
Mahiro Maeda	....	creature designer
Atsunori Sato	....	computer graphic artist
James Shanks	....	adr director (UK version)

Production Companies

• Daiei Studios
• Hakuhodo
• NTV Network

Distributors

• Toho Company (1995) (Japan) (theatrical)
• ADV Films (1997) (USA) (subtitled)
• Cult Movie Entertainment (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)

Special Effects

• Kikkosen
• Marbling FineArts (miniature effects)

Also Known As:

"Gamera daikaijû kuchu kessen" - Japan (original title)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:PG | South Korea:All | Australia:PG | USA:Unrated

Company:

Daiei Studios

Trivia:

The gayos creature was performed by a female actress so that it would convey more 'feminine' like behavior. Apparently this was the first time a kaiju was ever performed by a woman.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion (1996)

Terrapins Rule!

It's nice to take a break from Godzilla and still have the same formula, except that the hero is a Terrapin.

We don't get too far away as the director, Shusuke Kaneko, is a Godzilla (Godzilla,Mothra and King Ghidorah) writer and director, too, as well as director of two more Gamera movies.

One of the main characters, Shinobu Nakayama, was also featured in Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, or Godzilla and the Transformers as I like to call it.

The special affects were fantastic, and the military blows it again by fighting the wrong monster as Gamera is a friend.

The evil monsters, no not Florida State, but the Gyaos, huge birds, are defeated. of course. and Gamera can safely go back to the sea until Gamera 2.