Leofwine_draca Following on from the newly-revitalised '90s GODZILLA films made by Toho, Gamera, the waddling, cuddly but still pretty deadly giant turtle (from a rival series of '60s monster bashes made in Japan) found himself undergoing a face lift, a makeover and even given a budget for his new late '90s trilogy. The first of the films to be made, GAMERA: GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE, is a rip-roaring adventure yarn that somehow manages to be pleasingly old fashioned and clichéd while exploiting modern special effects and story lines along with it. The story moves along at a fair old crack, taking various cues from JURASSIC PARK as a team of scientists uncover a family of nasty, prehistoric reptilian birds, known as the Gyaos, living on a remote island. The Gyaos have a habit of eating the local islanders and, when the food supply runs low, they travel to downtown Tokyo to have a small snack.At this point Gamera enters the fray, smacking one baby bird into an electricity pylon and generally kicking backside all round! The military, dumb as they are, want to study the Gyaos and see Gamera as the threat, so launch a military attack against our big green turtle saviour. After lots of action, stock footage of military vehicles and aeroplanes, and poorly-dubbed antics from the unnecessary human cast, Gamera and Gyaos return to Tokyo to wreak havoc in a climatic slug-fest that will have any kaiju fan jumping in their seats in appreciation. The various fight scenes in this film are really dynamic, with excellent miniature sets (that explode when knocked over!) and some cool costumes for the guys in rubber suits to don.An interesting plot point is in the inclusion of the character Agasi, daughter of a policeman and played by Ayako Fujitani, apparently the daughter of Steven Seagal although you couldn't really tell. Fujitani has a psychic link to our hero Gamera which means that when he gets wounded, she gets wounded! A pretty gruesome idea which is exploited to the full and only adds to the excitement of the fight scenes between the two monsters. The computer animation used in the film is excellent, especially the deadly laser breath and fireballs that the monsters fire at each other during their battles. Many parts of the film are hilarious with Gamera plummeting out of space like a football and there is a sense of fun and wonder all the way through. My favourite scene is where Gamera first turns into a UFO to the astonishment of the crowd who can't believe their eyes. Neither could I.My only complaint with the film is that Manga have seen fit to incorporate an unnecessary techno-soundtrack over the real music in the film. Thus scenes of dialogue and exposition are ruined with a loud, thumping beat which is totally out of place and only detracts from the experience. Why do people have to mess around with foreign films so much instead of letting us watch the original versions? Despite this niggle, GAMERA: GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE is a highly engaging and enjoyable monster fest, with ten times the effort of a similar American production from the period, which never lets up the fun factor from start to finish. A whole lotta fun.

winner55 I was never a fan of the original Gamera series - most of it was slow, cheap, and made for kids. In fact, it took me quite a while to get around to the new trilogy because I thought, 'heck, why would anyone want to resurrect that turkey?' well, I guess they wanted to because they saw the full potential of the big turtle that the original Gamera team somehow missed. The big turtle is interesting at all because he is not anywhere near as fearsome as his older rival Godzilla, yet he can never be anthropomorphized the way Godzilla was in the sillier early Toho films. He is always a little strange and unexpected. His very existence is an absurdity, yet in the right situation, he's exactly the kind of turtle you want fighting on your side.If that makes sense at all, then the Gamera revival trilogy is for you. This first film is big daffy fun, filled with big explosions, moments of horror, and annoying human beings who need the Tokyo Tower to be twisted into a huge vulture's nest before they get the sense of the real danger they face. And of course there's our much misunderstood turtle hero, bravely fending off a flock of giant vampire bats with over-developed tonsils. Add to this just a bit of late-20th century pop mysticism, and you have the perfect party treat.Of course they wouldn't have gotten away with it if they hadn't decided to use state-of-the-art special effects - the film looks good, and moves along quite well. As professional as the worst entries of the original series were amateurish.So if you like big daffy sci-fi monster fun, forget whatever you thought of the old Gamera, take a good look at the new, and have a good time.

Lance Let it be said that I do not understand why everyone raves over the quality and production values of this film. It certainly isn't any better than the Godzilla films being made at that time. It's a lot better than the original Gamera films when it comes to production values, of course, but after seeing the film I wasn't sure what all the fuss was about.I've heard people exclaim that this may very well be the ultimate kaiju film and in my eyes it's anything but.It's not any better nor is it any worse than the typical kaiju film. But if you're a fan of the genre like I am you will definitely consider it a solid kaiju film.Some of the battle scenes are really fun and Gyaos has always been my favorite Gamera foe.I look forward to finally seeing the sequels, which are hailed quite highly too. I just hope that those live up to the hype.

funkyfry This one should please fans of old school monster movies. Very similar to the classic "Gamera" films (for those not in the know, Gamera is a giant mutant turtle who can fly in the process of defending the earth from other giant mutants). A lot of humor, good movie for kids, decent special effects.Nothing too memorable, but definitely worth it for fans of the genre.Better than Toho's new "Godzilla" films, which all feature that annoying psychic girl.Gamera films are made by a competing film company and it is good to see they are still at it.