Fun fact: did you guys know that studio Daiei originally wanted to make a movie called Nezura, about giant mutant rats? It completely failed because they bought thousands of LIVE rats for the set, which led to a total sanitary nightmare, fleas, and yada yada yada… The miniature city sets were already built, the money was spent, and then while flying in a plane, Nagata saw a cloud shaped like a turtle and thought: “Turtles live long, they’re popular in mythology. Let’s make a flying, fire-breathing turtle!” And that’s how we got Gamera.
Ah, Godzilla and Gamera… one embodies Japan’s national tragedy, while the other is pure popcorn and a business plan. 🙂↕️
But! I’m not one of those fans who ranks one above the other. Even though this movie was made simply because Daiei was jealous of Toho and wanted a slice of that kaiju pie, Gamera still turned into a great franchise of its own.
It’s definitely unusual for me to watch a kaiju film not made by Toho, but I found myself quite enjoying this. Black-and-white monster movies are my absolute jam! That gritty, even accidental atmosphere, and those shots where a massive Gamera peeks out from behind buildings? Hell yeah!
While I didn’t find any deep philosophical meaning here like I’m used to in Ishiro Honda’s films (trust me, I tried), I can totally see how Gamera becomes a solid “Friend of all Children.” The way he saved little Toshio warmed my heart. And lmao, he’s a real fucking fan! The way he glazes Gamera the entire movie and even gets himself a little pet turtle.☝️🐢
Gamera himself is strong as fuck. Nothing works on him. Not fire (well, obviously, cuz he literally breathes fire), not electricity, not even a freeze bomb! The only possible way to defeat him was to ship our bro off to Mars in a giant rocket!! Hello??? That’s a hell of a kaiju right here, guys!
This definitely hooked me, and I’m super excited to check out the next movies with this guy.
P.S. That fucking iconic moment when they flip Gamera on his back and think they won, but he’s just like “Hell nah” and straight-up flies into the air with fire shooting out of all his shell holes? WTF??? Fucking amazing.
Fun fact: did you guys know that studio Daiei originally wanted to make a movie called Nezura, about giant mutant rats? It completely failed because they bought thousands of LIVE rats for the set, which led to a total sanitary nightmare, fleas, and yada yada yada… The miniature city sets were already built, the money was spent, and then while flying in a plane, Nagata saw a cloud shaped like a turtle and thought: “Turtles live long, they’re popular in mythology. Let’s make a flying, fire-breathing turtle!” And that’s how we got Gamera.
Ah, Godzilla and Gamera… one embodies Japan’s national tragedy, while the other is pure popcorn and a business plan. 🙂↕️
But! I’m not one of those fans who ranks one above the other. Even though this movie was made simply because Daiei was jealous of Toho and wanted a slice of that kaiju pie, Gamera still turned into a great franchise of its own.
It’s definitely unusual for me to watch a kaiju film not made by Toho, but I found myself quite enjoying this. Black-and-white monster movies are my absolute jam! That gritty, even accidental atmosphere, and those shots where a massive Gamera peeks out from behind buildings? Hell yeah!
While I didn’t find any deep philosophical meaning here like I’m used to in Ishiro Honda’s films (trust me, I tried), I can totally see how Gamera becomes a solid “Friend of all Children.” The way he saved little Toshio warmed my heart. And lmao, he’s a real fucking fan! The way he glazes Gamera the entire movie and even gets himself a little pet turtle.☝️🐢
Gamera himself is strong as fuck. Nothing works on him. Not fire (well, obviously, cuz he literally breathes fire), not electricity, not even a freeze bomb! The only possible way to defeat him was to ship our bro off to Mars in a giant rocket!! Hello??? That’s a hell of a kaiju right here, guys!
This definitely hooked me, and I’m super excited to check out the next movies with this guy.
P.S. That fucking iconic moment when they flip Gamera on his back and think they won, but he’s just like “Hell nah” and straight-up flies into the air with fire shooting out of all his shell holes? WTF??? Fucking amazing.
