One of the absolute best giant monsters not named Godzilla or King Kong, Gamera introduced himself in 1965, 11 years after the debut of Gojira, and it didn’t take long for him to stand apart. Even in the first film, which is for the most part a typical monster storming Tokyo movie, we see that Gamera is different from Godzilla. Gamera is more tender-hearted, especially when it comes to children. He’ll go out of his way to remove a child from the path of falling debris from a lighthouse. And that’s not the result of a character arc, that’s who Gamera is in the first act of his first movie. For the sake of comparison, there’s a scene in Gojira where a sobbing woman huddles with her children in her arms and tells them that they’re going to see their deceased father soon. And, while we don’t see the rubble crush them, we get the gist.
If there’s any kaiju fans have long wanted to see take on Godzilla, it’s the friendly, fire-spewing turtle. And while that is an enticing prospect, it’s unlikely to ever happen. If it were to happen it would have happened in the Heisei era, when Toho was releasing not just Godzilla but Gamera films as well. Speaking of the Heisei era, those four films are now streaming on Prime Video, as are the eight Shōwa era films. The only thing missing is the 6-episode series Gamera Rebirth, which you’ll need a Netflix account to watch.
The Shōwa Era
The Shōwa era of Gamera movies walked a very specific tonal tightrope and, frankly, not all that well more often than not. But the fact that they bounce around between outright goofiness and monsters spurting gallons of blood so haphazardly is just part of their charm.
The first seven installments of the Shōwa era were released on a yearly basis from 1965 to 1971. The final installment, which killed off Gamera in the end, was a stock footage-stuffed cash grab that was pushed out way later in 1980.
In order, Gamera, the Giant Monster, Gamera vs. Barugon, and Gamera vs. Gyaos are all pretty straightforward monster movies. The first is his introduction, where we get to see him spew fire and duck himself into his shell (and fly). Interestingly enough, it’s the only Gamera movie in black and white, as Gojira and the rushed-out Godzilla Raids Again were the only black and white Godzilla movies (until they re-released Shin Godzilla and Godzilla Minus One in black and white, that is).
Then Gamera vs. Barugon has him go up against a horned monster (not unlike Toho’s Baragon, who was introduced the year prior in Frankenstein Conquers the World) that came from a stone and shoots rainbows out of its back. As for Gamera vs. Gyaos, its title adversary would swiftly become the Gamera saga’s King Ghidorah, and for good reason, as people don’t like regular bats. Make it a kaiju bat and it’s nothing to be trifled with.
From here, the Shōwa Gamera movies start to really show their budgetary constraints, but the opposing kaiju clashes continue to be pretty fun. The fourth movie is Gamera vs. Viras, which has him go up against a goofy squid, while the fifth is Gamera vs. Guiron, gives him an intimidating adversary in the knife-headed Guiron (who could be seen as this franchise’s Gigan). As movies these two are mostly middling.
Things rebound in a big way with Gamera vs. Jiger, which has the title opponent lay an egg in Gamera’s lung. Then, in true Gamera franchise fashion, it’s not doctors who hop into a little submarine to remove the infant Jiger, but rather a pair of children. It’s all ludicrous but a nice change of pace.
Unfortunately that then leads us to Gamera vs. Zigra, which has a neat shark villain but really shows its threadbare budget at every turn. However, it looks like The Godfather compared to Gamera: Super Monster. It was made exclusively to get the saga’s distributor, Daiei, out of debt. It didn’t work. The film is 92 minutes long and over 90% of it is stock footage. There couldn’t have been a worse way for Gamera to go out. At least, for a while.
The Heisei Era
When it came to Godzilla, the franchise’s Heisei era was excellent, but it wasn’t a night and day improvement over the Shōwa era. With Gamera, however, that was exactly the case. To use an irritating term that has become commonplace, Gamera got a glow up.
The production values of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, and Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris are arguably even better than the Godzilla movies at this point (1995-1999). The narratives are also infinitely more engrossing. It was impossible to take any of the Shōwa era seriously, but even if you’re not a kaiju fan you’ll end up looking at these as actual movies with actual character developments and genuinely present stakes. There’s also a nice cyclical nature to the trilogy, considering Gyaos is a major presence in both the first and third installments.
Admittedly, Gamera the Brave, which was released seven years after Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris feels unnecessary (and its new baby Gamera was never used again), but it’s fun enough. Even still, it too is on Prime Video and is worthy of your time if you’ve enjoyed your Gamera binge up to that point.
What are your top three Gamera movies? Let us know in the comments.
