The Gamera Trilogy Blu-Ray Review
Starring: Tsuyoshi Ihara, Akira Onodera, and Shinobu Nakayama
Released in: 1996
Ratings:
Guardian of the Universe 7.5/10
Advent of Legion 6.5/10
Revenge of Iris 8/10
With Pacific Rim in theaters and the hopes of an actual good American Godzilla movie it seems that the Kaiju genre that died in the early 2000s in North America is slowly making a gigantic comeback. While being a big Kaiju fan growing up and not really enjoying Pacific Rim that much I decided it was time to go back and watch some old Kaiju films and some that I haven't seen.
Godzilla was my favorite growing up but Gamera was a close second, my love for turtles and of course Gamera’s love for children really helped with my connection to the character. However I had never watched the Hiesei Gamera Trilogy, now before people try to crucify me I quickly rectified that mistake by ordering the entire trilogy on Bluray. The collection includes all three films in the trilogy, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, Advent/Attack of the Legion and Revenge of Iris. The Revenge of Iris disk includes the special features for all three movies which include trailers, behind the scene features and a creating the monsters feature. I personally did not expect that many special features with this collection but it really packed a punch and all the movies come with both Japanese audio and English dub which is an even better add on. Now onto the movies themselves.
Guardians of the Universe
Now Guardians of the Universe is one hell of a good movie, so good in fact it even rivals the original Godzilla movie which is really hard to do. Now what this movie accomplishes better than most Kaiju films is that the Human characters are interesting. You actually care for them as the movie progresses, and the designs for the Gyaos and Gamera are really outstanding. Some of the effects are obviously dated but this movie still looks incredible and the blu-ray transfer is amazing.
Now this movie (like other Heisei films) have given Gamera a new origin story, a story that is closely tied to his enemy the Gyaos, I won't spoil it because I think the movie is really good so don't expect many spoilers. The movie is also shot at a very interesting perspective during the Kaiju scenes, (director) Kaneko said that he wanted to film the movie as if we were observing the Kaiju battles, they are not confusing in your face like fights in the Transformer series, these battles are very clear and give each battle and encounter an epic scope.
This movie is highly recommended even on it's own and is actually a good watch even for children, the other two films are a different matter as the tone quickly shifts into darker territory.
Attack of Legion
Now Attack of Legion didn't really do it for me, I don't know if it was because the main characters suddenly vanished other than Asagi or because the tone was changed. The movie plays out like a horror movie at parts and there is some blood thrown into the mix as well. I personally thought the story was weak and that this movie seemed more like filler and didn't really have a place in the overall story (somethings do get cleared up in the third movie but not enough to raise my rating).
The Legion is a very interesting a cool monster and was my favorite part of the entire movie. The creature has a very intricate and cool design and the fights were picked up an extra notch with one hell of a final showdown. The movie also excellently portrayed a Japan in panic showing all sides from the military to the general public.
Revenge of Iris
Revenge of Iris is amazing, the only Kaiju movie that I will admit made me cry and is a fitting and perfect end to the trilogy. The movie wraps up plot lines from the first and second films while giving Gamera an enemy that not only is the ultimate threat to mankind but you could also sympathies with. Gamera has a complete makeover in this movie and instead of looking like the turtle we love from the first two he gets a more grungier and vicious appearance.
The movie also shows the damage that would be caused if two Kaiju decided to fight in the middle of a city. Most Kaiju films really don’t show what Revenge of Iris does. When Gamera decides to fire off a gigantic ball of fire at a Gyaos you see people get caught in the chaos and get incinerated. People in buildings are killed and the military begins to consider the fact if Gamera really is on our side.
Cgi is used more in this installment than the other two but it doesn't detract from the movie, I was still invested the entire way through. Iris is a very cool monster and almost resembles Valfor from Final Fantasy X. Also some of the cast from the first movie return and we learn where the hell they were during the Legion attack in the second movie. But the real heart to this movie lies in a little girl whose family was killed during the Gamera/Gyaos fight in the first movie. It shows the perspective people have on Gamera and what happens when you lose someone close to you even if it was for the greater good of mankind.
Kaiju films hardly ever go to the levels of complexity that the Gamera trilogy has. Although the subtitles had some errors (which is a shame since I would expect that on a fan sub) these movies are still a great collection of films.
I rate the entire trilogy as a whole a
9/10
Yes its a high rating but these movies are really spectacular and are even better than most Godzilla movies. If you are a fan of Japanese cinema and Kaiju films go check these out you wont be disappointed.
Released in: 1996
Ratings:
Guardian of the Universe 7.5/10
Advent of Legion 6.5/10
Revenge of Iris 8/10
With Pacific Rim in theaters and the hopes of an actual good American Godzilla movie it seems that the Kaiju genre that died in the early 2000s in North America is slowly making a gigantic comeback. While being a big Kaiju fan growing up and not really enjoying Pacific Rim that much I decided it was time to go back and watch some old Kaiju films and some that I haven't seen.
Godzilla was my favorite growing up but Gamera was a close second, my love for turtles and of course Gamera’s love for children really helped with my connection to the character. However I had never watched the Hiesei Gamera Trilogy, now before people try to crucify me I quickly rectified that mistake by ordering the entire trilogy on Bluray. The collection includes all three films in the trilogy, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, Advent/Attack of the Legion and Revenge of Iris. The Revenge of Iris disk includes the special features for all three movies which include trailers, behind the scene features and a creating the monsters feature. I personally did not expect that many special features with this collection but it really packed a punch and all the movies come with both Japanese audio and English dub which is an even better add on. Now onto the movies themselves.
Guardians of the Universe
Now Guardians of the Universe is one hell of a good movie, so good in fact it even rivals the original Godzilla movie which is really hard to do. Now what this movie accomplishes better than most Kaiju films is that the Human characters are interesting. You actually care for them as the movie progresses, and the designs for the Gyaos and Gamera are really outstanding. Some of the effects are obviously dated but this movie still looks incredible and the blu-ray transfer is amazing.
Now this movie (like other Heisei films) have given Gamera a new origin story, a story that is closely tied to his enemy the Gyaos, I won't spoil it because I think the movie is really good so don't expect many spoilers. The movie is also shot at a very interesting perspective during the Kaiju scenes, (director) Kaneko said that he wanted to film the movie as if we were observing the Kaiju battles, they are not confusing in your face like fights in the Transformer series, these battles are very clear and give each battle and encounter an epic scope.
This movie is highly recommended even on it's own and is actually a good watch even for children, the other two films are a different matter as the tone quickly shifts into darker territory.
Attack of Legion
Now Attack of Legion didn't really do it for me, I don't know if it was because the main characters suddenly vanished other than Asagi or because the tone was changed. The movie plays out like a horror movie at parts and there is some blood thrown into the mix as well. I personally thought the story was weak and that this movie seemed more like filler and didn't really have a place in the overall story (somethings do get cleared up in the third movie but not enough to raise my rating).
The Legion is a very interesting a cool monster and was my favorite part of the entire movie. The creature has a very intricate and cool design and the fights were picked up an extra notch with one hell of a final showdown. The movie also excellently portrayed a Japan in panic showing all sides from the military to the general public.
Revenge of Iris
Revenge of Iris is amazing, the only Kaiju movie that I will admit made me cry and is a fitting and perfect end to the trilogy. The movie wraps up plot lines from the first and second films while giving Gamera an enemy that not only is the ultimate threat to mankind but you could also sympathies with. Gamera has a complete makeover in this movie and instead of looking like the turtle we love from the first two he gets a more grungier and vicious appearance.
The movie also shows the damage that would be caused if two Kaiju decided to fight in the middle of a city. Most Kaiju films really don’t show what Revenge of Iris does. When Gamera decides to fire off a gigantic ball of fire at a Gyaos you see people get caught in the chaos and get incinerated. People in buildings are killed and the military begins to consider the fact if Gamera really is on our side.
Cgi is used more in this installment than the other two but it doesn't detract from the movie, I was still invested the entire way through. Iris is a very cool monster and almost resembles Valfor from Final Fantasy X. Also some of the cast from the first movie return and we learn where the hell they were during the Legion attack in the second movie. But the real heart to this movie lies in a little girl whose family was killed during the Gamera/Gyaos fight in the first movie. It shows the perspective people have on Gamera and what happens when you lose someone close to you even if it was for the greater good of mankind.
Kaiju films hardly ever go to the levels of complexity that the Gamera trilogy has. Although the subtitles had some errors (which is a shame since I would expect that on a fan sub) these movies are still a great collection of films.
I rate the entire trilogy as a whole a
9/10
Yes its a high rating but these movies are really spectacular and are even better than most Godzilla movies. If you are a fan of Japanese cinema and Kaiju films go check these out you wont be disappointed.
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