Gamera daikaijû kuchu kessen (1995)

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.

Director:

Shûsuke Kaneko

Writers:

Kazunori Itô, James Shanks (UK version)

Stars:

Tsuyoshi Ihara, Akira Onodera, Shinobu Nakayama

6 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Yoshihiko Hakamada	...	Michiya
Tomiko Ishii	...	Female Grocery store Owner
Jun Fubuki	...	Housewife with her son in Grocery store
Yuka Sakano	...	Yukino - Asagi's Friend in Aquarium
Sarina Kô	...	Female Newsrepoter on Himegami Island

Storyline

The giant flying turtle is back for this 1995 Japanese feature where once again Gamera's intentions are misinterpreted by the military. All Gamera wants to do is take on his old enemy, Gyaos, the giant prehistoric bird who has nested atop Tokyo Tower.

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Plot Keywords:

environmental issues | giant bird | carnivorous bird | giant turtle | japan | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

16 April 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gamera: Guardian of the Universe

Box Office

Budget:

JPY 5,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Daiei Studios, Hakuhodo, NTV Network

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gamera was being filmed by someone when he was attacking the stadium. Some of the resulting film can be seen and it is in black in white. The original Gamera movie was in black and white in 1965.

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Goofs

The runes on the stone are not from the Pyrenees or Etruria, but are just normal unchanged runes from the Elder Futhark which were used in Scandinavia before and during the Viking age.

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Quotes

Insp. Osako: Doctor, let's come back tomorrow.
Mayumi Nagamine: This creature might be nocturnal.
Insp. Osako: That's an even better reason! Suppose it were to attack us?
Mayumi Nagamine: [Gyaos flies overhead and she starts to follow] It's getting away!
Insp. Osako: We're not equipped for this, and it's out of our jurisdiction!
Mayumi Nagamine: It's looking for food!
Insp. Osako: For food? That'll be us if we're not careful!
Mayumi Nagamine: If it can't find prey here, it'll attack Japan!

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Alternate Versions

The UK version replaces some pieces of the film's original score in favor of heavy metal tunes.

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Connections

Followed by Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999)

User Reviews

A honing of what's great about the genre.

My main reaction was that this was nearly perfect kaiju. I saw Toho's Godzilla 2000, and here's why it wasn't half as good as this: Godzilla was too big. They made him too big, that's all. Gamera here was the right size: just as tall as a tall building, so when he falls over backwards into it, it really crumbles. So beautiful! I actually bought a Gamera figure (1999, Bandai) before I saw this. And I still haven't seen the subsequent two. But this was just great. They took advantage of new digital tech, as Godzilla 2000 did, but also refined what was great about guys in rubber suits clomping around smashing models. Only complaint: some of the matting when they were flying down the street was weak. But then again, part of the fun is knowing deep down that they're guys in rubber suits, so some flaws are exceptable. In fact, I'm sure each kaiju fan has his own pet special effects gaff that really makes it for him. Mine is the street lights. They never look real. Don't know why. But it's just so great that someone came and glued them there onto the miniature sidewalk. Some great long-distance shots, too. Best one: when Gamera and Gyaos are plummeting back down from outer space, and there's one shot that looks just like a sky-diving shot, with the blue Earth below - did they throw a giant turtle out of a plane and shoot that? And Gyaos roosting on the ruins of Tokyo Tower, silhouetted in the sunlight - gorgeous. The big final battle was great. Gyaos' eggs falling on the cars.

Oh, and there were a lot of great laughs. Especially when the plutonium ship captain comes running in and says, "There's a monster coming out of the ocean!" and he's told, "Not now, we're busy capturing giant birds." I saw a subtitled version. Thank god. The pacing was pretty damn good, too, since you're really only interested in seeing about half an hour of the thing. To watch this stuff in the 21st century rocks. It really reminds you how limited CGI is and what movies really are about. Don't mess with the rubber suit!