Gamera the Brave

Starring:

Ryo Tomioka , Kanji Tsuda , Susumu Terajima , Kaoru Okunuki , Shingo Ishikawa

Director(s):

Ryuta Tazaki

Latest on Gamera the Brave

Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 12/30

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Gamera the Brave is out on DVD

Your Reviews

I just finished watching "Gamera the Brave" on DVD, and I have to state that it is most certainly not the best KaijuFilm I have ever seen . . . It's also not the worst either, by a long shot... . Overall, the plot was geared more towards a younger audience than, say, "Gamera -vs- Irys," which was a VERY dark film, with a somber tone which seemed to parallel the original "Godzilla" film of 1954. This film was by no means completely a kids's film, since there were some disturbing images of Gamera/Toto being very badly wounded oncamera, complete with (green) splatter effects and another scene with Zedus(sic), the villain monster seeming to eat people and raising its head with its mouth all slobbered-up with human blood. Actually, those are characteristics I can appreciate, since in reality, such events would certainly NOT be pretty or cute. The gore scenes in my opinion were quite tastefully done: Just enough to get the point across, and going no further. I read several comments left by critics concerning this film, and I tend to agree with the more positive ones. Namely, this project was a "retrofitting" of the Gamera mystique, with the emphasis being a character more relatable to kids. After all, wasn't that what Gamera was about, intrinsically? I believe so. One difference in this film was that the "sap" or "cutesy" factor was actually rather more de-emphasized in the filming, although it was still quite evident in the large, soulful eyes (in a turtle?) of Gamera/Toto. Perhaps the face could have hardened up a bit as the creature grew. The critic(s) who panned this film seem to have gone to this film with a very rigid, preconceived set of ideas about what should/should not have gone into this film, and they inevitably came away disappointed. I went in (as I always try to) with a more open mind, and although there were some hokey moments (the biggest one being in the office, with Gamera/Toto being prostrate and dying, and his human child companion doing what? MONOLOGUING. I would have just heaved the stone at him and shouted "HERE!") these didn't really slow the film down much. I felt that the film wasn't terribly fast-moving, but went at a more leisurely, but very steady pace. For that, I think that this film in the end isn't the end-all of Kaiju cinema or of the Gamera franchise, but it certainly won't hurt to add it to the collection. Full Review

April 25, 2009

Titanicdoug6

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