Kaiju Fan Confessions

[UltramanGoji]

I'm going to get laughed at for this BUT .... even though Gamera is my 2nd favorite Kaiju, I've never seen his Showa Era Films. I've only see the Heisei Trilogy, The Brave and Rebirth.

I'm a bad fan. I'll go hide now

That's a good thing, they're really bad.

If you think the Showa Gamera films are really bad, I shudder to think how you’d react to filth like Death Kappa, Kaiju Mono, or the Ultraman Zearth films.

Like ok, maybe Viras, Zigra, and the solo movie aren’t that good but Barugon, Gyaos, even Guiron and Jiger? Those are solid little Showa-era Kaiju flicks. I even like Super Monster for what it’s worth: watching it right after the pile that is Zigra endears it to you a little bit.

[Gojira 41mk11]

Gamera confession of my own: I'm one of probably ten people who genuinely likes Gamera vs Zigra. And yes, that includes the scenes with SeaWorld. I'd go so far as to say it's one of my favorites (which is kind of funny, given that it and Jiger and the only the Showa Gamera films I don't own physically).

[Anguirus]

Even though Gamera: Guardian of the Universe and Gamera 2: Attack of Legion are 2 of my favorite movies, I do not care for Gamera 3 at all. Nor do I care for the director's GMK. I'm wondering if that's due to the Japanese folklore being inaccessible to me.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Even though Gamera: Guardian of the Universe and Gamera 2: Attack of Legion are 2 of my favorite movies, I do not care for Gamera 3 at all. Nor do I care for the director's GMK. I'm wondering if that's due to the Japanese folklore being inaccessible to me.

Makes perfect sense to me despite my love for G3 and GMK. Both eschew the science fiction/fantasy elements of the genre as well as a focus on scale, for movies that lean in to Japanese horror fantasy tales and focus more on personal elements.

[edgaguirus]

I'm going to get laughed at for this BUT .... even though Gamera is my 2nd favorite Kaiju, I've never seen his Showa Era Films. I've only see the Heisei Trilogy, The Brave and Rebirth.

I'm a bad fan. I'll go hide now

Showa Gamera is mixed bag, but vs Barugon, Gyaos, and Jiger are the best of the bunch. Do give them a try. Avoid Super Monster, though.

[Voyager]

Ultraman Zearth films.

Watch your mouth mister You could have at least said the clip-show that calls itself a Zoffy movie.

My confession is that I think out of the kaiju Big Three, Godzilla's 90s stuff is EASILY the worst and will be forgotten to time eventually. Both the Gamera Trilogy and TDG are phenomenal, revolutionary pieces of kaiju media and tokusatsu, and then you look over to Godzilla and think "Toho you've really lost your touch, haven't you?" Like, none of it even comes close.

[Logan268]

My confession is that I think out of the kaiju Big Three, Godzilla's 90s stuff is EASILY the worst and will be forgotten to time eventually. Both the Gamera Trilogy and TDG are phenomenal, revolutionary pieces of kaiju media and tokusatsu, and then you look over to Godzilla and think "Toho you've really lost your touch, haven't you?" Like, none of it even comes close.

Although I will also be on top of the hill of people who believe Godzilla vs Mothra 1992 will be forgotten eventually, you lost me as soon as you brought up Tiga, Dyna and Gaia since they have movies which do matter but outright comparing their television shows to the Godzilla movies is just silly. And it's not like Battle For Hyperspace is a genuinely better movie regarding both effects and the human aspect than most of those 90s films to begin with. To me, the exceptions are Godzilla vs Mothra 1992, Most of Yamato Takeru/Orochi The Eight Headed Dragon, The Rebirth of Mothra trilogy in every aspect barring the designs of the Ghidorahs, Godzilla 1998 and 80 percent of Revenge of Iris

[Mechagigan]

Gamera confession of my own: I'm one of probably ten people who genuinely likes Gamera vs Zigra. And yes, that includes the scenes with SeaWorld. I'd go so far as to say it's one of my favorites (which is kind of funny, given that it and Jiger and the only the Showa Gamera films I don't own physically).

Same here, I'm definitely a fan. It's small scale but I really dig the spotlight on the retro Sea World, super cool to see a time capsule of such an obscure attraction. Zigra's a cool monster and I like his strange base, and backstory. Definitely sucks the kaiju stuff isn't a little "more" but I always enjoy the levity of any Showa Gamera.

I think the must-sees of the Gamera Showa era are Vs Barugon, Vs Gyaos, and Vs Guiron. Super Monster sucks but in its defense it's a solid clip show, sums things up pretty nicely - and, as mental as the Space Women cast is, it's entertaining for its stupidness. It's worst issue is the God awful English dub that sounds like it was recorded underwater. What other movie features Gamera taking on a literal Star Destroyer

[edgaguirus]

I will confess that GSM does have a good music score, but the rest is very forgettable.

[o.supreme]

To me, the level of "goofyness" of the Showa Gamera films is almost a perfect incline. I mean the first film had a Kenney, then Barugon (my favorite) was the most straight an serious of the bunch. Gaos gets back to the kid aspect again, although it still has a bit of seriousness to it. But from Viras on (starting with the obligation to have at least one American child actor and one Japanese child in each film) it goes up from there. I think most peoples complaint against Viras is that is is just boring, I get that; but in terms of sheer LOL goofiness It starts with Viras and goes up from there all the way to Super Monster being the ultimate Goof fest.

Not saying I don't get some sort of pleasure in watching those later show films, but there are a lot of laughs to be sure.

[Mechagigan]

Barugon's definitely my favorite of the Showa Gameras but I think Gyaos is probably the perfect middle ground Gamera. It's got that light adventurous spirit but still takes its plot (and monsters) about as serious as necessary, for what it is. The goofiest it gets is probably Gamera saving the little boy, but you've sort of signed up for that type of fun by watching a Showa Gamera in the first place, lol

Barugon is really underrated - I feel like there was a consensus in the past that it was the "Most Boringest", which totally isn't fair. Super memorable plot and characters, awesome cinematography, and really distinct creature design. Barugon and Gamera both look really sharp in this unique unreal way.

[JAGzilla]

Yeah, GvB has some really unique and memorable visuals. The lighting of the Kobe rampage is cool, and the image of Gamera's flying saucer form ramming into Barugon's rainbow is bizarre in the best way.

[Titanodon]

I don't care for Minus One's soundtrack. The Godzilla themes carry it

[Jetty_Jags]

Yeah, GvB has some really unique and memorable visuals. The lighting of the Kobe rampage is cool, and the image of Gamera's flying saucer form ramming into Barugon's rainbow is bizarre in the best way.

I think I like everything in vs Barugon except for the actual fights, i find them fairly boring and uninspired.

[edgaguirus]

It was the first monster fight for Gamera, and they may not have been sure how a giant turtle would fight. The fights in G vs Gyaos have the benefit of experience.

[LSD Jellyfish]

As good of a time I’ve had living in Japan, I’m starting to get serious FOMO with G-Fest. Executive Hamster told me he had a blast there, and was surrounded by “his people”. I completely got what he meant, and suddenly felt like I’ve been missing out.

When I first moved to Japan, it was neat being able to easily get a ton of the toys, and being able to see Godzilla Minus One early, but that’s really it. It’s a different ballgame than 20 years ago, when people were lucky to see some of the millennium stuff far in advance.

I think it’s neat that things are so accessible from the western side of things now, and in fact, there’s a lot of “American exclusive” stuff there too.

[mikelcho]

Ultraman Zearth films.

Watch your mouth mister You could have at least said the clip-show that calls itself a Zoffy movie.

My confession is that I think out of the kaiju Big Three, Godzilla's 90s stuff is EASILY the worst and will be forgotten to time eventually. Both the Gamera Trilogy and TDG are phenomenal, revolutionary pieces of kaiju media and tokusatsu, and then you look over to Godzilla and think "Toho you've really lost your touch, haven't you?" Like, none of it even comes close.

My guess is that you do like the two 80s Godzilla films, however.

Btw, what's TDG?

[Voyager]

Btw, what's TDG?

TDG is the 'trilogy' of Ultraman shows Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Dyna and Ultraman Gaia that aired from 1996-1999.

[edgaguirus]

Tiga is one of the better Ultraman shows, but I have yet to see the other two mentioned.

[JAGzilla]

Are Tiga, Dyna, and Gaia very accessible to people (me) jumping into '90s Ultraman with no experience with Ultra material beyond Ultraman Ace? I wanted to watch the whole franchise in order, but... there's a lot of it... and I'm starting to prefer the idea of jumping around to the high points instead.