MonsterVision99 Gamera vs Barugon, its one of the most grounded and darkest entries in the Gamera series, and its also one of the better made ones.The film takes a while to get things going, the monsters appear rather late into the film, but its not a big issue because the rest of the film its actually pretty well made.You start to care about the main characters, something that many other monster movies don't have, you also learn to hate its villain, who has a rather satisfying death scene.It starts as an adventure film, then it turns into a crime movie, then it finally turns into a monster movie, it uses very typical elements of this kind of monster movie, its nothing new, but its very entertaining.The monster fights are a little bit off at times, but they are mostly intense and really fun, actually, there are only a few monster fights and they are kinda of far in between.The film has a message about the human greed and about leaving nature alone, but that's just a side note, the real reason you want to watch this film its because of the monsters, the monster Barugon its a rip-off of another monster from the Godzilla series, called Baragon, just one letter away, in fact much of this film its very similar to Godzilla Raids Again (1955).Even with some flaws, the film manages to be engaging and entertaining and not in a cheesy way but a genuine way, this is one of the most grounded entries in the Gamera series and also a very good one.

gavin6942 A giant monster that emits a destructive ray from its back attacks Japan and takes on Gamera.While I am not terribly familiar with the Gamera series, or giant monsters in general, this one was mildly amusing and somewhat confusing. I thought Barugon was a good monster, and his frozen breath was pretty cool. But then the rainbow beam... that was more than a little strange, and I presume it was only in the film to show off their new color cameras.Different versions of this film probably exist, but the one I saw had ten minutes or less of Gamera. I thought for a film called "Gamera vs. Barugon" there would be a lot more of the title creature, but I guess not.

Aaron1375 This movie follows the original Gamera film and is the first Gamera film to feature an opposing monster for the giant turtle to fight and it is the only Gamera to not feature a kid or kids in a predominate role. However, I scoff at some of the other reviewers claims that this film is darker than the previous film or even the next film. The first film featured a scene where Gamera uses his flames to roast fleeing people. That is pretty dark! Then in the next film, the monster Gaos eats people, once again that is pretty dark. Just because there is a deranged child (Kenny from the first film) cheering Gamera on does not minimize the destruction the beast caused. I would say this film is not really more dark than the two Gamera films I mentioned, but it is more somber as there is a sad tone to the film that permeates it. This one is actually pretty good too, more so than the first film which was just a carbon copy of the first Godzilla film. I saw it featured on the riffing show Mystery Science Theater 3000, and while I think the jokes they made were good, it helped that the film was not too bad to watch. I actually like films they riff that I would find enjoyable without them because it just means you can listen to their jokes or watch the film.The story starts up by showing us that the Z plan enacted in the first film pretty much failed right away as an asteroid frees Gamera who immediately comes back to Earth. Considering he can get back to Earth so quickly makes me think even if he had landed on Mars he still would have come back. Of course, he does not look up Kenny to see how his number one fan is doing, but rather he trashes a dam and then disappears for a while. During his absence, three men go to an island to find an opal. The villagers beg them not to go to the cave where it is stashed, but they do so anyway and one of the men promptly turns on the other two. One of them dead, the other rescued by the villagers. The one who escaped with the opal heads home, where a monster emerges from the opal as it was actually an egg! This beast immediately goes on the rampage! The man who was rescued by the villagers accompanies one of the villagers who tries to help defeat the beast, but it seems everything they try fails! The only hope may be the beast that once terrorized Japan, himself...Gamera! This made for a good episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 as I enjoyed the movie and the jokes. Gamera is not in this much, but I am sure the first time he appears there is a bit more of a fight between he and Barugon than what MST3K showed. Still, he is not in this one much considering he is the top billed monsters. He destroys a dam, fights Barugon and gets beaten and then returns for a quick fight at the end. Still, there is plenty to riff just watching Barugon do his thing and the humans do everything they can to stop it! So, not a bad movie in my eyes, though my favorite film of the Gamera films during this era was the next film where Gamera fought Gaos. There were three films I did not see as they were never featured on MST3K which I can kind of understand as eight films in a series would kind of be overdoing it. Though two of the films would have probably made for good episodes, the final Gamera film would simply be kind of a compilation film where the battles of Gamera's previous films would be shown with some weird extra footage thrown in to make it look like a new film. After Gaos, the films did become more light than before and kind of goofy, but despite what others have said I do not really consider this one the darkest of the films, but it is the most somber.

bensonmum2 A would be jewel thief thinks he's made it big when he gets his hands on the biggest opal he's ever seen. Unfortunately for the thief (and everyone else in Japan), it's not really an opal. Instead, it's a monster's egg – Barugon to be exact. Barugon hatches and begins a reign of terror across Japan. Different theories on how to stop the creature are tested, but to no avail. Just when things seem their bleakest, Gamera shows up and takes care of the situation.A number of comments on IMDb proclaim that Gamera vs. Barugon is the best of the early Gamera films. While I agree, it's a bit like saying I prefer a tooth ache to a root canal– neither is something I want to experience on a regular basis. In all seriousness, it's not a bad movie, it's just not a very good one. Even with their best effort, Daiei could never match Toho. Daiei's monsters look cheap and clumsy compared with Toho's. And what's up with Barugon shooting a rainbow ray out of his butt? Completely ridiculous. And the final showdown between Gamera and Barugon is way too short. Toho would have been sure this fight scene took up the major portion of the movie.Still, like I said, Gamera vs. Barugon is better than the usual Gamera offering. Why? Well, for one thing, Gamera is really more like a bit player in the movie. I never cared for Gamera's design so the less of Gamera the better. Next, Gamera vs. Barugon is actually a reasonably intelligent movie with a somewhat interesting subplot involving the jewel thief. I realize intelligence in a Gamera movie is relative, but at least this one doesn't include the usual gaggle of small Japanese kids exclaiming, "Gamera is the friend of all children!" I never quite understood how a monster that destroyed half of Japan goes on to be every child's best friend. Finally, I actually enjoyed some of the acting in Gamera vs. Barugon. Both leads, Kojior Hongo and especially the striking Kyoko Enami give nice performances.For what it's worth, a 5/10 is the best I can do.