Gamera
|
|
Gamera (ガメラ) is a giant, tusked, flying turtle from a popular series of tokusatsu kaiju films produced by Daiei Motion Picture Company in Japan. Created in 1965 to rival the success of Toho's Godzilla during the first "Kaiju Boom" of the mid-to-late 1960s, Gamera has become the other famous Japanese giant monster.
| Contents |
Origins
Regardless of the film series he appeared in, Gamera's origins were tied to the lost city of Atlantis. In the Showa version, Gamera was created to protect and befriend children (as children represent mankind's future). In the Heisei version, Gamera was a guardian of the Earth.
Specs
- Gamera is 60 meters tall and weighs 80 tons. (In the Heisei Series, Gamera is 80 meters tall and weighs 120 tons)
- Gamera is powered by both atomic energy and fire, thus he eats fire and atomic energy as well as being able to shoot fire from his mouth.
- Gamera pulls his head and limbs into his shell, and from inside, atomic jet propulsion fires from the holes where the limbs used to be, and he flies, spinning like a top. In some instances, he was mistaken for a UFO! Sometimes, Gamera can just fly forward, with his head and arms still out of his shell, and the rockets are fired from the holes where his hind legs are. Gamera's flying speed is Mach 3 (3.5 in the Heisei version).
- Gamera's swimming speed is 150 knots (180 knots in the Heisei version).
Gamera Background
Showa Era
Gamera made his first appearance in 1965's Daikaijû Gamera. The films, most of them directed by Noriaki Yuasa and written by Nisan Takahashi, quickly became a big hit with children during the first "Kaiju Boom". Gross mismanagement of Daiei, however, put the company in bankruptcy, and the Gamera films were forced to cease production after seven films. After Daiei was purchased by Tokuma Shoten in 1974, the new management wanted to do a new Gamera film in 1980, so Gamera: Super Monster was produced. While the majority of the film used stock footage (with limited new scenes of Gamera flying around), it was considered a nice "recap" of Gamera's history. However, Yuasa and Takahashi felt that they have done all they could with the monster, so they respectfully killed off Gamera at the end of the film.
Through the years, on both sides of the Pacific, fans of Gamera or Godzilla have always debated, sometimes bitterly, which monster is better. The latter was considered better, in that Godzilla was considered to have "higher standards" than Gamera, who was just a monster for kids. The giant turtle thus often became the object of ridicule, especially on the American TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000, which lampoons B-movies.
However, 6 years after the beginning of the Heisei Era in Japan (1989), Gamera got the last laugh . . .
Heisei Era
It was 1995 when acclaimed film director Shusuke Kaneko put his filmmaking power to the test. A lifelong kaiju fan, he had always wanted to direct a Godzilla film, and even asked to direct a Godzilla film in 1992, but Toho wouldn't let him, as had nothing to show for it (Kaneko did not direct a Godzilla film until 2001, when he directed the highly-acclaimed Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack). Then, in 1994, the Daiei Motion Picture Company had contacted Kaneko, asking him to direct their planned new Gamera movie. Although he was not a Gamera fan (he always liked Godzilla more), he did his best to stay true to the spirit of the classic films, but come up with a fresh, edgy feel to appeal to today's audience. Thus, 1995's Gamera: Guardian of the Universe was the result. Although it was not the huge box-office success it hoped to be, it was met with huge critical acclaim on both sides of the Pacific, dramatically outperforming the Godzilla films made during the same period (not to mention being made at only a fraction of the budget that said Godzilla films were made for). This called for 2 more sequels to be made, and each was bigger than the last.
Now, another series begins anew in the Heisei era of Gamera. Scheduled for release in 2006 is a new film in pre-production, tentatively titled Tiny Heroes: Gamera, which returns the giant turtle to his Showa-era roots, but with a modern twist.
Filmography
Showa Era
- Daikaijû Gamera (1965)
- Gamera vs. Barugon (1966)
- Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967)
- Gamera vs. Viras (1968)
- Gamera vs. Guiron (1969)
- Gamera vs. Jiger (1970)
- Gamera vs. Zigra (1971)
- Gamera: Super Monster (1980)
Heisei Era
- 90s Trilogy
- Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995)
- Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1997)
- Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys (1999)
- Tiny Heroes: Gamera (2006) In Production
External Links
- Gamera Official Homepage (Japanese) (http://www.gamera.jp/)
- Shrine of Gamera (English Fansite) (http://www.shrineofgamera.com/)