Gamera: Guardian of the Universe

1995 "A great duel of supersonic speed."
6.7| 1h36m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 11 March 1995 Released
Producted By: Daiei Film
Country: Japan
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

A ship runs aground on a mysterious atoll leading to an investigation by insurance representative Kusanagi, who discovers an ancient bead that he gives to his daughter Asagi. Meanwhile, ornithologist Nagamine investigates reports of a new species of large bird named Gyaos. As the Gyaos begin to attack, an ancient guardian with a bond to Asagi emerges.

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Director

Shusuke Kaneko

Production Companies

Daiei Film

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Gamera: Guardian of the Universe Audience Reviews

ThiefHott Too much of everything
Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
Eric Stevenson This is a great reboot of the Gamera franchise. It is a reboot, right? Please don't down vote this review if I'm wrong! Anyway, Gamera was notable in having more of its movies featured on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" than any other film series so it had a pretty bad reputation. This film on the other hand starts off a start new for Gamera as we get everything just about as realistic as you'd imagine. This movie doesn't waste too much time on the human stories. They are still good especially the girl who seems to have some psychic link with Gamera.It starts off with three flying monsters appearing along with Gamera. What's great is that two of them are in fact defeated by the humans and it really does make you glad that they take time to focus on the people because it can be so distracting with the monster fights either way. There really isn't an attempt to do anything too special or flashy. It's just a basic story that has everything you could want in Gamera. The final fight is very well paced and we get a great epilogue too. Glad to have Gamera back and better than ever. ***
JLRVancouver "Gamera: Guardian of the Universe" is a good example of suitmation at its very best. Sure, even the most willing suspension of disbelief can't mask the fact that Gamera is a person in giant turtle suit but the miniatures are excellent, as is the destruction and pyrotechnic collateral damage that accompanies giant monsters even when they are on our side and this newer spin on the Gamera saga has the big guy squarely on our side (although the army is a bit slow on the uptake). He establishes a mystical connection with a young girl (kind of a 'new-age mutant turtle'), takes a few for the team, and fights Gyaos (ancient, giant, predatory, genetically engineered birds). The movie is much more graphic and grim than the old series: Gyoas just don't fly off trailing smoke when smote by Gamera's radioactive breath, they explode spectacularly; and, there are a number of scenes of young people on a train wearing bright green jackets, shards of which are seen hanging from Gyaos beak after some messy eating. While some of the special effects are substandard (e.g. the missiles in flight), others are extraordinary (e.g. the sunset shots of the Gyaos perched on the wrecked Tokyo Tower). The film makes an attempt at "vérité", making good use of stock military footage and has numerous reporters commenting on the events (including of the impact of monsters on the Dow Jones Industrial Average). As I have opined before in reviews, genre films like this need to be rated both internally and externally – if you are into kaiju movies, this is a solid 9; if not, it's an OK Japanese guy-in-a-suit monster movie, so maybe a 6.
Thanos Milios My involvement the last time with the Godzilla films, on the occasion of the new movie that came out in theaters a few days ago, I revealed another kind of film, a sub-genre in fantasy or science fiction, if you will, that of kaiju. Accurate translation of the term kaiju, is "strange creatures" and has been associated with giant creatures with features usually animal-like. In the kaiju flicks therefore, the case is always simple: a giant creature attacks a city and destroys it, as is most common, two of these creatures fight each other, with one being usually with the side of people. The most famous of kaiju remains until today Godzilla, with dozens of films to his credit, animated series, comic books, action figures and anything else you can imagine. Somewhere in the 90s, Godzilla meets a powerful opponent, who makes his reappearance in the cinema after fifteen years and after a series of films in the 60s and 70s, not particularly successful. The name of the kaiju that soured his omnipotence Godzilla is Gamera. Gamera is a creature that is actually a giant turtle with tusks, which can fly using jet thrusters, shown in place of the rear legs (spiteful say that there is not his legs ...). Gamera never had the glamor of Godzilla but with the trilogy he gained in the 90s, for many is what best in Japanese cinema of kaiju. So I decided to take a look at the Gamera trilogy, starting from Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe. The first encouraging sign, even before the movie was the name of the director, Shusuke Kaneko, who is the man who directed the best of the series of Godzilla movies, I've watched, GMK. Second positive element, very good theme music, we hear from launch title, which exudes a seriousness and "creates" something interesting. And the truth is that the Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe, evolve with interesting and entertaining way. Good action scenes, with high quality (for 1995) special effects and a script, which is more or less the standard kind of movies (it's never their strong point). The first film in the Gamera trilogy entered dynamically in the arena of claiming the crown of the best kaiju film. Remains just under GMK, but we have two sequels to follow, which indeed they have received better reviews than the first part of the trilogy.
Woodyanders A vicious trio of giant nasty flesh-eating reptilian birds called the Gyaos awaken and start preying on hapless human beings. It's up to gigantic flying fire-breathing prehistoric turtle Gamera to stop them before it's too late. Director Shusuke Kaneko, working from a smart script by Kaznori Ito, treats the story with commendable seriousness and maintains a constant brisk pace from start to finish. This film further benefits from solid and credible acting from an appealing cast, with especially praiseworthy work by Tsuyoshi Ihara as brave, eager, likable naval officer Yoshinari Yonemori, Shinobu Nakayama as tough, gutsy ornithologist Mayumi Nagamine, Akira Onodera as shrewd agent Naoya Kusangi, Ayako Fujitani as Naoya's cute, sweet psychic teenage daughter Asagi, Hirotaro Honda as sniveling cowardly wretch Mr. Saito, and Hatsunori Hasegawa as the hard-nosed Colonel Satake. Moreover, the first-rate special f/x are often stunning, the guy-in-a-rubber-suit beasts are genuinely gnarly and impressive, the elaborate mondo destructo scenes deliver the pulse-pounding goods, and the exciting monster fight sequences are staged with considerable aplomb. Ko Otani's spirited score really does the rousing trick. Junichi Tozawa's glossy, dynamic cinematography likewise scores a bull's eye. Why, we even got a pertinent ecological message tossed in for good measure. A very neat and immensely entertaining winner.