Gamera
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gamera (ガメラ?) is a giant, flying terrapin-like creature from a popular series of daikaiju eiga monster movies produced by Daiei Motion Picture Company in Japan. Created in 1965 to rival the success of Toho Studios' Godzilla during the kaiju boom of the mid-to-late 1960s, Gamera has gained fame and notoriety as a Japanese icon in his own right.
In the United States, Gamera attained prominence during the 1970's due to the burgeoning popularity of UHF television stations featuring Saturday afternoon matinee showcases like Creature Double Feature and later in the 1990's when several of his movies were featured on the cult television program Mystery Science Theater 3000.
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[edit] Appearance
Gamera's size rivals that of his other famous daikaiju counterpart, Godzilla. Unlike any other species of turtles, Gamera has the habit of walking bipedal rather than all fours, though he occasionally walks quadrupedally in his first three films. His mouth is filled with teeth, unlike any living modern turtle (several types of extinct prehistoric turtles were toothed, however), with a pair of large tusks protruding upward from his lower jaw. Gamera is also usually seen with very large human-like eyes, adding intelligence to his overall appearance.
[edit] Origins
In the Shōwa era films, Gamera was an ancient species of gigantic tortoise who protected and befriended children (as children represent mankind's future). In the Heisei era films, Gamera was a guardian of the Earth created by Atlantis to combat Gyaos, which Atlantis had created as well.
[edit] Capabilities
- In the Showa series, Gamera fed and fueled on fire and atomic energy. He could breathe intensely hot streams of flames from his mouth when caught in a more serious situation. The Heisei version, on the other hand, could blast off mighty plasma fireballs from his mouth, usually very quickly, and with varying accuracy. They were highly explosive. The Heisei version could also absorb a great deal of "mana", or the living essence and energy of life on earth, and release an extremely powerful stream of pure plasma and fire from an opened, organic "cannon" in his chest. In the final film of the Heisei series, Gamera demonstrated that he could temporarily gain a spectral plasma fist if he lost his hand and the stump was struck by fire. This, along with his apparent death and rebirth from a huge explosion in the first film of the Heisei series, showed his affinity to and manipulation of fire. In the Showa series, Gamera was shown to be attracted to sources of heat, such as a forest fire and Barugon's Rainbow Ray.
- In the Showa series, Gamera pulls his head, limbs, and tail into his shell, and from inside atomic jet propulsion fires from the holes where the limbs used to be, and he flies spinning like a top. In the Heisei series the propulsion jets came from openings beside his limbs. In addition to this method of flight, Gamera also has the ability to fly forward like a hypersonic jet fighter. In this 'mode', his head and arms remain out of his shell (although the arms expand to become wing-like in the Heisei films)and his rear legs retract, allowing for the atomic exhaust release. This acts as propulsion.
- Gamera's shell is extremely resilient and strong. Missiles and other weaponry merely bounce off it, along with most of his opponents' attacks. There have been a few times where his shell has faltered, most notably when Guiron hammered at the same spot several times and began cutting through. Gyaos' Sonic Beam and Zigra's Paralyzing Beam cannot penetrate Gamera's shell, shown in the films when he withdraws into his shell to avoid the attacks. Gamera's stomach, however, is softer and not as resilient, as he has been cut and gouged in his stomach to the point of bleeding.
- When seriously or gravely injured, Gamera can enter a coma-like state in order to heal. This often fools his opponents into thinking that he is dead, as in Gamera vs Guiron when he entered the coma and the two Terran women believe he is dead because his eyes no longer glow (in the Showa series, glowing eyes indicated a living monster; when the eyes went out, the beast was dead). This ability has been used in almost every film Gamera is in.
[edit] Film history
[edit] Shōwa era
Gamera made his first appearance in 1965's Gamera, which was also the only Gamera film to be in black-and-white. This film also was the last 'giant monster' movie to be in black and white. Subsequent films, usually directed by Noriaki Yuasa and written by Nisan Takahashi, quickly became a big hit with children, who loved watching Gamera fight monsters Barugon, Gyaos, Viras, Guiron, Jiger, and Zigra. Gross mismanagement of Daiei, however, put the company in bankruptcy, and the Gamera films were forced to cease production after six sequels.
After Daiei was purchased by Tokuma Shoten in 1974, the new management wanted to do a new Gamera film in 1980, so Gamera: Super Monster was produced. While the majority of the film used stock footage (with limited new scenes of Gamera flying), it was considered a nice "recap" of Gamera's history. However, Yuasa and Takahashi felt that they had done all they could with the monster, so they respectfully killed off Gamera at the end of the film.
Through the years, on both sides of the Pacific, fans of Gamera or Godzilla have debated which monster is better. The latter would generally be considered the victor, in that Godzilla was considered to have "higher standards" than Gamera, who was just a monster for kids. The giant turtle thus often became the object of ridicule, especially on the American TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000, which lampoons B-movies and featured five of the original seven Gamera films during their third season. (It should be noted though that the series also featured and mocked two Godzilla films a year before.)
However, six years after the beginning of the Heisei era in Japan (1989), Gamera rose up to and exceeded the standards set by Godzilla.
[edit] Heisei era
Following the second revival of the Godzilla series (1984–1995), Daiei Studios drew plans to resurrect its own star kaiju. In 1994 Daiei asked director Shusuke Kaneko, a lifelong kaiju fan, to direct a new Gamera movie. Although not a Gamera fan, (Kaneko preferred Godzilla, and had asked Toho for the chance to direct a Godzilla film in 1992, though he would not have this opportunity until 2001), Kaneko tried to stay true to the spirit of the classic films while taking a fresh, edgy approach to appeal to a more contemporary audience. The result was Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995). While not the huge box-office success anticipated, the film was met with critical acclaim on both sides of the Pacific, outperforming the Godzilla films of the same period at a fraction of their budgets.
Kaneko directed two sequels, forming a "Gamera Trilogy", with each film more successful than the previous. The trilogy transformed Gamera from the "friend to all children" of the Shōwa films to an anti-hero on par with Godzilla, if not more so.
Although the original Showa Gamera writer Nisan Takahashi felt the Heisei Gamera was too dark toned, the second series received critical acclaim, including a "thumbs up" rating from American movie critic Roger Ebert.
[edit] Millennium era
Gamera the Brave returns Gamera to his Shōwa-era roots, but with a modern twist. In the film, Gamera is first seen defending Japan back in the 70's from the Gyaos, but sacrifices himself to destroy them by self-destructing. In the modern day, the child of a man who witnessed that battle finds a turtle egg that hatchs into a baby Gamera he names Toto. When a lizard-like monster named Zedus appears, Toto tries to fight the beast, but ends up being gravely wounded and taken by the military for study. He ends up escaping and growing to a larger size to try and fight Zedus again, this time succeeding against the monster.
[edit] Mystery Science Theater 3000 Appearances
Gamera was a frequent whipping boy on the third season of Mystery Science Theater 3000, where five of the Shōwa era films were mocked.[1] The Satellite of Love crew made up silly English lyrics to the Gamera theme, including lines like:
Gamera is really neat,
Gamera is filled with meat,
We've been eating Gameraaaaa![2]
Show writer Mike Nelson even performed a variation on this song as erudite singer/pianist Michael Feinstein.[1][3]
[edit] Future Plans
- In late 2005, it was announced that Cartoon Network licensed the Gamera character for an animated series, slated to be released in the spring of 2007.[4]
- Many fans have wondered if Gamera and Godzilla may appear in a film together (perhaps similar to King Kong vs. Godzilla), but Daiei Motion Picture Company and Toho Studios have no plans for a team-up.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Season Three 1991-1992". Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Unofficial Episode Guide. The Satellite News. Retrieved on 2006-09-07.
- ^ "Song: The Gamera Song". Ward E. The Satellite News. Retrieved on 2006-09-07.
- ^ Mystery Science Theater 3000, "Gamera vs. Guiron" [312], closing credits.
- ^ "Anime News Service - October 24-31 Anime News". Anime News Service. Retrieved on 2005-10-30.
[edit] External links
- Gamera Official Homepage (Japanese)
- The Shrine of Gamera
- Roger Ebert's review of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe
- The Godzilla Shrine
| Daiei's Gamera Series | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Shōwa Series: | Gamera · Gamera vs. Barugon · Gamera vs. Gyaos · Gamera vs. Viras · Gamera vs. Guiron · Gamera vs. Jiger · Gamera vs. Zigra · Gamera: Super Monster | ||
| Gamera Trilogy: | Gamera: Guardian of the Universe · Gamera 2: Attack of Legion · Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys | ||
| Millennium Series: | Gamera the Brave | Kaiju: | Gamera • Barugon • Gyaos • Viras • Guiron • Zigra • Legion (Kaiju) • Irys • Zedus |
