Product Details

• Actors: Tsuyoshi Ihara, Akira Onodera, Shinobu Nakayama, Ayako Fujitani, Yukijirô Hotaru
• Directors: Shûsuke Kaneko
• Writers: Matt Greenfield, James Shanks, Kazunori Itô
• Producers: Hiroyuki Kato, John Ledford, Matt Greenfield, Seiji Urushido
• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Section 23
• VHS Release Date: November 11, 1998
• Run Time: 96 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304672128
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #253,799 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Gamera, Japan's favorite jet-propelled giant flying turtle, was Daiei's child-friendly answer to Toho's Godzilla franchise. This decidedly juvenile staple of the 1960s became a modest success, but those early features, with cut-rate special effects and gooey child stars, rate little beyond camp nowadays. With such a legacy, his 1995 rebirth Gamera, Guardian of the Galaxy, is a delightful surprise. Now taking over the franchise, Toho comes through with an old-fashioned giant monster adventure in candy colors with excellent special effects and an attitude that straddles serious science fiction and outrageous spectacle. Gamera, still a hero of the people, is given a mythic back-story and a foe of apocalyptic dimensions, the flying people-eating lizard Gyaos that the government, in all its misguided wisdom, decides to protect while attacking the misunderstood Gamera. There's romance (featuring the best come-on line ever: "Someday I'd like to show you around a monster-free Tokyo"), bureaucratic satire, and a well-meaning environmental message, but that's all gravy to the movie's meat: giant monsters battling it out in the traditional Tokyo war zone, laying waste to acres of lovingly detailed miniatures. That's what Japanese monster movies are all about. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gamera Comes Back, January 13, 2000

By 

C. Serafini "Gamer" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gamera - The Guardian of The Universe [VHS] (VHS Tape)

First, you must be a fan of this Genre'. With that understood, this new take on the old "Gamera vs. Gaos" movie is truely a 5-star effort.

The special effects were suprisingly good. Still using rubber suits and beutifully detailed models, this movie keeps the old charm. And now, the tasteful use of Digital effects for Gamera's Fire Ball Breath and Jets, brings this movie into the nineties.

It is enjoyable and fun for kids young and old. I recommend it highly to all fans.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gamera: Guardian of Kaiju Credibility, July 3, 2004

By 

Esc - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gamera - Guardian of the Universe (Custom Art Box) (DVD)

Long ago, back when there were plenty of Godzilla-ripoffs, there was one series that stood above the rest: Gamera. Gamera was the most popular of these, most likely because it appealed largely to children (outside of Gamera vs. Barugon, which may have been the best of the older series.) By and large, the Gamera series was a joke. With cheap, often-poorly designed costumes, poor and predictable plots, and an over-reliance on Gamera, "Hero of the Children," it's amazing it went on for as long as it did.

In 1995, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe was released, with a completely different approach. This new Gamera, directed by Shusuke Kaneko, abandons the old plotline, as Godzilla 1985 did with the Godzilla series, and brings the audience into a new, darker Gamera, relying on myth rather than children.

The story begins when a Japanese vessel carrying radioactive material runs aground in the middle of the sea. A mysterious floating atoll has been found and is heading towards Japan. On an island elsewhere, Dr. Nagamine has discovered a giant species of "birds" that have eaten the entire population of the island and one of her fellow scientists. Back at the atoll, a science team led by Professor Kusanagi finds many comma-shaped stones on the atoll, as well as a large 2001-esque monolith buried in it. When the professor's assistant touches the monolith, it breaks apart, as does the atoll. Back with the "birds", the Japanese government stages a plan to capture them as an endangered species, but their efforts are thwarted when Gamera, the creature within the atoll, arrives to destroy the creatures himself.

The beginning of the movie is very disjointed, thus the shaky plot summary. However, once the two halves meet, the rest is solid, involving the confused Japanese government trying to capture the birds and defeat Gamera, Gamera's origins as a bio-weapon in Atlantis, and professor Kusanagi's daughter, Asagi, who provides a human link to Gamera and an homage to the giant turtle's earlier role.

If it's different from the older movies, then it must have better special effects, right? At the point of this film being made, Gamera had never looked better (though the sequels continued to improve his look.) His "flying saucer" flight looks spectacular with CG flames, though his half-jet flying won't look good until the next film. The suit is also a bit fatter than in the old series, which is good, since turtle's don't have flat shells. The birds are based on the old Gyaos from the old series, and while they look very good, they're still clearly hand-puppets and marionettes. There are also several other effects with missiles explosions, and the Gyaos's laser.

The music is good as well. While a little hokey at times, the main theme fits wonderfully with Gamera.

While the movie itself manages to reach Godzilla's level of achievement, the DVD far surpasses it. Most Godzilla discs are complete bare-bones; some don't even have chapter-stops. ADV has included making-of featurettes, videos of opening night, a Japanese language track with subtitles (as well as the dub), and a multitude of other goodies. It's everything a fan could want. And there happens to be this box set out. While it's a little more expensive than the movie by itself, it's nice to have a small case for when you get all three films.

And after seeing this one, you will want the rest. A very good kaiju film , high above Gamera's usual standards, and the best is still to come.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best Japanese monster movies..., March 23, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (DVD)

To me, with a lot of the 90's Godzilla movies, the special effects and especially the miniatures don't look as good as they did in the classic 60's Godzilla movies. But with the 90's Gamera, EVERYTHING is better. The FX, the miniatures, the pacing, the story, the action--it's all excellent. If you have any affection at all for Japanese giant monster movies, then you will definitely enjoy Gamera, Guardian of the Universe. And, this ADV release is widescreen, has optional subtitles and is full of extras and behind the scenes stuff. Highly recommended.