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Wonderful Movie

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

disgusting, overrated, pointless

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

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.

I must confess that as big of a Gamera fan as I am, I never quite saw what all the ado was about his first movie, which I still regard to this day as lackluster and quite dull. However, I am glad that I stand in the minority on that film, for its popularity gave way to much superior successors and I'm not talking strictly about the 1990s trilogy directed by Shusuke Kaneko. No, the first sequel, shot in color and titled "Gamera vs. Barugon" is a beefed-up, complex, and enormously entertaining sequel that outclasses its predecessor in both content and budget. This is what I call great entertainment.As you may remember, in the last movie Gamera was shot to Mars in a rocket (a climax I was all too happy to laugh off). The sequel spends a little time recapping that, and then reveals to us that the rocket was stopped by a meteor and Gamera returned to earth. Around the same time, an expedition to recover a giant opal in New Guinea results, in ways I shall not reveal for those who haven't seen the movie, in the birth of a giant crocodile-like monster called Barugon, who begins to lay waste to Japan. As the military frets the wraths of both creatures, they do eventually intersect and become locked in a battle to the death."Gamera vs. Barugon" was given a bigger budget than its predecessor and it's apparent in every frame. The special effects are much superior. The miniature buildings are very detailed, as are the monster costumes. In fact, even though the Barugon suit was controlled by several wires, you really have to squint at the screen and lean close in order to spot even one, let alone all twenty-some of them. Gamera looks great and what I really liked, and what I wish new Gamera directors would do, is having him crawl on all fours as well as stand on his hind legs. He's more like a real turtle and there's just something aesthetically pleasing about that. But the most beautiful effect is unfortunately the one that gets laughed at the most for its ostensive absurdity: the rainbow that Barugon shoots from his back. Its an eye-candy, gorgeous piece of effects work but because of the inherent zaniness many people tend to laugh it off and that's a shame. The special effects, save for some rather poor model works used in the last few shots of the movie's climax, are thoroughly impressive.But it doesn't end with the special effects. The acting is quite good, with superb performances especially from Kojiro Hongo as the troubled protagonist, the lovely Kyoko Enami as an omen-speaking native warning of Barugon's rage, and Koji Fujiyama as a greedy, sneering sociopath. The supporting cast also shows class. In addition, the movie was directed by Shigeo Tanaka, whose talents are a whole step above original director Noriaka Yuasa's. But Mr. Yuasa, now director of the special effects, does a fantastic job coordinating the monster battles with terrific inventiveness, wonderful camera angles, and a real sense of how to portray them in an animal-like behavior without them being boring. The musical score by Chuji Kinoshita is an absolute success, much better than that almost entirely forgettable score from the first movie. And there is the much-celebrated fact that there are no little kids in the foreground screaming "Gamera! Gamera!" In fact, the movie is quite gritty with quite a few bursts of violence and human deaths. The monster battles are also quite bloody at many points. This is a movie directed more for adults than children, also with its subtle messages about greed and avarice. These Japanese monster movies seem to do a wonderful job communicating their messages through subtlety while the big expensive ones done elsewhere almost annoy us with their preachiness.If there is anything wrong with "Gamera vs. Barugon" it is the much-noted fact that Gamera is hardly on screen. This will be a disappointment for some, but I liked that tactic. Giving Barugon a lot of screen time so that he can be interesting (and sympathetic in his own way) and yet giving plenty of moments for Gamera in his scenes so that he builds a lot of presence as well. Maybe he could have been on-camera a little more often, but I think the balance between how much screen time the two monsters get is well-managed.This is one of my favorite monster movies. I've watched it about four or five times now and I like it more and more each time I see it. The more I come to appreciate the original Gamera series, the more I come to enjoy this one as well. I'm still sad to say that I couldn't care less about the first picture, but there are many wonderful ones that spawned from it. This is one of them.

The second of the Gamera Films is one that is different from most of the rest of the series.In this film Gamera is released from his rocket prison and returns to Earth, destroying a dam. Then an expedition takes place to a tropical jungle where a group of guys finds a rare jewel. It turns out that it is really an egg. This egg is exposed to a heat lamp and a giant monster is created as a result. This monster, Barugon, goes on a violent rampage throughout the city. Soon Gamera shows up to battle Barugon, Barugon employing his freeze blast to stop Gamera cold in his tracks. With Gamera frozen humans try to stop Barugon but nothing seems to work. Soon Gamera must come to the rescue to save humanity from Barugon.As the second Gamera film this is the first one with color. Gamera is not really a good guy yet, he destroys a dam after returning to Earth and probably only fought Barugon because he was bored. To be honest Gamera is not in this film all that much, he shows up in the beginning and after an hour shows up again to fight Barugon. After this fight it is another half hour until you see him again. This leads to another monster being the lead, Barugon.First to clear things up, this is not the same monster as "Baragon" from the Toho Series of films. I do not know how they were able to use the name Barugon in this film, even if it is spelled differently. To be honest though this Barugon is much different than Baragon. I hope you are not confused after reading this paragraph.Barugon is a giant lizard/crocodile monster with a chameleon tongue, sharp horn on his nose, and a really long tail. He makes a repetitive hissing roar and is able to emit a freeze ray from his tongue and also can shoot a rainbow ray out of his back. ?????????? Actually the rainbow ray is really powerful and Barugon also can use his freeze ray to considerable advantage. Barugon is pretty good monster, definitely one of the best from the Gamera series. He is a good monster to be a villain in a film like he is in this film. Even if you are disappointed by how little Gamera is in it, Barugon is interesting to watch.This is a good Gamera film in that there are no annoying little kids with really short pants on. That is the main reason this is one of the best. This is the most serious toned of all of the Gamera Films. It has some gory parts in it but I think that both Gamera vs Guiron and Gamera vs Gaos are more gory.Now some flaws. It takes a while for action to get going and the plot moves slowly at the beginning. Its about an hour until you get some good monster action. The plot is good enough without the monsters for a while but as a kid I remember having to wait forever to see Barugon and Gamera.Also the whole idea of Barugon's weakness being the water is kind of odd because he looks like a crocodile. But I guess that every monster needs a weakness and I guess water is what they wanted to go with. Kind of odd. Also how did a lamp create a monster like Barugon? I'll be careful not to leave my pets underneath lamp light for too long.The fight scenes between Barugon and Gamera are kind of slow. In the first fight there is a lot of standing around and then merely exchanging of their super power weapons. Then in the second fight it is mainly just Gamera having his way with Barugon. THis does kind of make sense because Barugon had just been hit by his own rainbow ray and was in a weakened condition. The main thing I guess that I will remember from the fights is how Barugon froze Gamera alive, the rest of the fighting is nothing memorable.This definitely is one of the best, along with Gamera vs Gaos. No annoying little kids makes this one the most serious and that is good. It is worth watching. I recommend it.

This is the first Gamera movie I have watched. I remembered when I was a kid I rented a VHS copy of this film. Being a kid, I was pretty weary of certain scenes in this kaiju film, like the main villain's evil tactics. This is the first Gamera movie to feature him doing battle with another monster, named Barugon. While Gamera started out as a villainous monster, Barugon proved to be an even more menacing creature, threatening to destroy everything in its path. As a kid, I enjoyed the film, and when I wanted to rent it again, the VHS copy wasn't available anymore, so I was pretty bummed out. But, years later, this film was shown on TV and, to my delight, I have decided I have got to watch it again and remembered I was entertained by it. The plot about dueling explorers trying to get their hands on an opal from an island while the natives warn them about dire consequences that follow if they take away the gem is pretty intriguing. The special effects were serviceable but the monster battles were decent and Barugon's tongue and rainbow weapons were a pretty cool effect. The Barugon suit looked like it was made out of cardboard and the monster itself wasn't portrayed as menacing enough - I would have liked to see a little more city destruction scenes. The second half of the movie just consists of the military attempting to destroy Barugon - pretty basic, but a little thrilling nonetheless. Overall, it's a pretty good Gamera movie that ends up being the best in the first series. It is also the only one in the original series not to feature a kid as the main character. The rest of the Gamera films were very much aimed for youngsters and are too childish and corny for my enjoyment. If you would like to see Gamera in action, check out this movie, skip the rest in the series, and catch the newer ones made in the 1990s. Grade B-