Gamera Heisei Trilogy Review

[@opal817]

The music in these Heisei films is some of the best I've heard in the genre.

[@GSTE_]

what about the heisei godzilla music or even the original godzilla music

[@jaygee6738]

"Also a few images of monster violence and yucky stuff." Jerome, thank you so much for your reviews. The level of cuteness in this review is what this world needs in the raging dumpster fire floating in a river of poop year of 2020. Personally, they have helped because 95% of what you cover is right in my wheelhouse. I am so looking forward to what you publish in 2021. More yucky monster stuff!!!

[@Weiselberry]

Aw, thank *you*!! :)

[@Godzilla-tu2cd]

We need her to make 2020 more lively.

[@gavinortega4529]

no but for real she is the most wholesome kaiju reviewer i've ever seen

[@ronnieburton1312]

I sympathize fully with your experience trying to watch the movie. Three hours! I couldn't help grinning at the cry of frustration! And, I loved your comment about the twerpy guy!

[@Paladin12572]

Wonderful review. I appreciate the time you clearly invested in preparation for sharing your thoughtful perspective. I have never seen any of these films, but your excellent video makes me want to change that.

[@Weiselberry]

Thank you!

[@japants8566]

I am always amazed with your extensive knowledge of kaiju and deep affection to Japanese Kaiju films. I love your review very much. Gamera is one of my favorite "heroes," because he is always a friend and a guardian angel of children. It is very sad that kaiju has become less popular among children in Japan lately, probably due to TV games. I remember the impact when I first saw kaiju films: Godzilla was so terrifying; Gamera was so cute; Mothra was so beautiful; and King Ghidra was so sensational that Ghidra instantly got the first place in my favorite kaiju list

[@markmedina1003]

This is the best review I've seen of Gamera 3, you put words to what I couldn't quite grasp I didn't like about it. It's just talked up so heavily in Kaiju circles but no one mentions how flawed it is in comparison to even the previous 2 films. Like, what was with that Dreamcast scene?

[@andreyzhuchkov1882]

Gamera 3 flawed hm. Come on guys. Actually the comment section is a breath of fresh air. Every other comment section about Gamera trilogy is complimetrary. This one is quite another piece of cake. Congratulating the person on making a video and not being overly enthusiastic about Gamera. Interesting

[@ernestsauter8093]

What a nice New Year's Eve surprise! I am thoroughly in agreement with your assessment that Legion is the best of the three, and appreciate that's you don't let a few flaws distract from your enjoyment of the movies. Your honesty and lack of hyperbole make you one of my favorite critics. Have a great New Year!

[@Weiselberry]

Thank you!

[@davidbrubaker5146]

Thank you for the review. I always enjoy your comments and thoughts. You express them with a degree of clarity and depth that makes them enjoyable. It makes me interested in your thoughts on any movie. Happy New Year!

[@justinplayfair4638]

"Lovecraftian-Pokemon Figure"....yes, I'll never be able to un-hear that now! And I thought Iris was weird as it was! Thanks for this long-awaited set of reviews...a nice way to start off 2021!

[@patrickrossetti7109]

Good review to wrap up the year. Happy New Year and thanks👍!

[@sumo0172]

Congratulations! You managed to do what many friends have tried and failed to do. Convince me to watch a Gamera. 2 in fact. Thank you for that. After watching your reviews I decided to check out Gamera The Brave and Gamera 3: Revenge Of Iris. And I agree with your assessments. I enjoyed both movies but neither made me Gamera fans. At some point I may try to watch the others but for now I'm good.

[@panchovilla7769]

Thank you and happy new year! Looking forward to the bloopers part 2.

[@Weiselberry]

It's coming!! :D

[@scottjo63]

Good video, Happy New Year. Loved your long description at 15:44, very award winning description I think to remember. Oh I can't wait for your what u watched in Dec 2020 and your New Years special present, BOOPERS. No I meant FLOOPERS, arghh, BLooPerS.

[@13down13]

I’m glad that you reviewed these movies. I didn’t have any expectations about your reviews, I was just hoping you would like them. Your reviews are always well done, so no need to worry. I only wish that you would have broken them down into separate reviews because there is so much to talk about. These are three of the best kaiju movies ever, in my opinion. I can’t really compare these to the three Godzilla movies as you did, because I love the Heisei Godzilla series and view it as a continuing narrative that lasts over all the films. I also have a different perspective on Gamera. I was a fan of Gamera since the 70’s since they were part of my childhood. I grew up with both Gamera and Godzilla at the same time. I like Godzilla overall better, but it’s hard to top these three films - especially when the series is viewed as a whole. A couple of things that you left out is that the director, Kaneko, directed GMK and the SPX man, Higuchi, co-directed Shin Godzilla. Kaneko wasn’t a Gamera fan and didn’t know what to do with the film initially. He debated making a comedy - glad he changed his mind about that. He always wanted to do Godzilla, but was turned down for years. His background was in erotic films, so that might explain the weird scene in the third film. Japanese have their thing for tentacle-creatures. As a series, it broke some new ground in Kaiju films. The horror elements throughout were new. These films really do a good job showing the impact that these monsters make on human lives. People die. Gamera’s not trying to kill people - he actually seems to help people - but they just get in the way. Either because of how large he is or by trying to protect the earth from Gyaos. The third movie really shows the impact of monsters would have if they existed in the real world. Ayana’s family just got caught in the crossfire. Her anger is understandable. And I really believe that if you watched these movies again later, you would enjoy them more with each viewing. There is a lot here. Of course, there is more to say, but this is already an essay, so I’ll just finish saying that you may be right about the second film being the best, but all three are great. Don’t give up on the third one yet, it is a pretty good series end.

[@13down13]

@@SJHFoto Yeah, I know. Besides Gamera Supermonster, there is actually things to like in those movies. They can be fun if you go into them with correct frame of mind. If you watch those movies expecting quality, you're gonna be let down. I do thing that G vs. Barugon is actually on par with some of the cheesy Godzilla movies and definitely best of the Showa Gamera series. I also have a soft spot for G vs. Gaos because I believe it's one of the first giant monster movies that I saw. By the way, here's some info for all you Gamera fans. They are releasing special edition Blu-rays of all the Gamera movies. Saw it on Amazon - and reserved my copy. Split into 2 sets - 1 has all 8 Showa movies, the other has the final 4. There are extras too including interviews and commentaries. Can't wait.

[@13down13]

@@SJHFoto Even is the SW Trilogy used old footage, it's not like what Super Monster did. No I don't where it is. The only Super Monster has going for it is the four beautiful actresses. I did have these on tape when I found them. The 5 that were on MST3K are the Sandy Frank ones and where on VHS. The other two (didn't want Super Monster), I had to get bootleg copies. The main problem with these movies is the American dubs, so I was always looking for original Japanese versions. For Godzilla too. Eventually, everything's been released in America, but for awhile I was relying on bootlegs that were subtitled. The Gamera Blu-rays do have plenty of extras. Check out the Amazon listings for the two boxsets. The extras are listed. I am fortunate to have my job and my health at this time, so I have pre-ordered them. Should come in two weeks. I also have the MST3K DVD boxset. Not officially available now, but can be found on Ebay for a high price. Luckily, I believe that they are still on KZbin. Even though I like the original movies. These are easy to make fun of, so I enjoy the MST3K versions too. The two Godzilla episodes are good, but they are harder to find. You were lucky to have a friend into this also. My older brother and sister never really got into these and haven't really known anybody that into these movies either. I have to go here for my monster talk.

[@andrewmcdonald9603]

I'm a bit late but hey I'm very glad you reviewed this trilogy. As for me I'd rank these below Godzilla vs Destoroyah, vs Mechagodzilla II, and vs Biollante, but like them better than the other four. Also Kow Otani is great. Composed a handful of anime soundtracks (Gundam Wing being the most notable) but aside from Gamera 1-3 and GMK, his biggest achievement without question is Shadow of the Colossus. Honestly I think he is the best "kaiju" film composer behind Ifukube. His music strengthened the tone, which is probably why Revenge of Iris was memorable for me.

[@winterburden]

Thank you for these fun reviews, happy new year! 😀🎉

[@chrisdigitalartist]

Such fun reviews. You can write your own Book on movie reviews. Haha. Happy New Year friend! Have a fun and safe holiday!

[@Chase0420]

Another excellent review. Keep them coming PLEASE. Have a safe and happy New Year

[@charliedavidarnott1537]

Your videos are great! I'd love to see some more H.G. Wells reviews from you :).

[@feslenraster]

It had been so long since I've seen these, but the attack on the dog by Ga-Ois (I think) brought back memories...bad ones. great reviews Ms J.

[@moonbeam_base]

I love the Gamera trilogy. I’m partial to some fantasy in my monster films :)

[@trekzilladmc]

Next to the Heisei Godzilla, Gamera's roar is my favorite!

[@GSTE_]

I kind of like the original gamera's roar a little more, it sounds a little different and like a loud monsterous screech more than heisei gamera.

[@damianstarks3338]

This is my favorite version of Gamera childhood memories god I miss the 90s.

[@hankw69]

Gamera is really neat, he is full of turtle meat...hooray, hooray for Gamera!

[@ls-420stoner6]

@5:05 I always thought they looked like Rodan after having an anvil dropped on his head Looney Tunes style.

[@Monstermania101]

I’ve been in a really rough and dark place lately and thank you for the cute and fun reviews, you rock and hope you and your family are healthy and safe

[@Weiselberry]

I'm so glad my videos could help brighten things up. I hope whatever you're going through gets better very soon. :)

[@Monstermania101]

@@Weiselberry awe thank you for the reply and love ! Ps I’m binge watching all your Godzilla reviews 😋

[@Weiselberry]

@@Monstermania101 Haha, have fun with that! :D

[@bartolomeuomacduibheamhnad6855]

Slimy and drippy kinda describes my Christmas dinner, come to think of it our Turkey also looked a bit like the dried out gout from the third movie lol, I'd like to congratulate the gout on his graduation and on his diploma in sliminess and drippiness, it does look like a graduation hat on his head 🎓lol, I'm excited to see the trilogy because they seem like a lot of fun, another excellent and entertaining review. ~ Thank you Ms Weiselberry ~

[@dusterrant9332]

One thing I really love about the Gamera trilogy over the Godzilla Heisei series is the cinematography. The Gamera trilogy gets really inventive with their camera work while I feel like the Godzilla series overall is kind of lazy in that regard. Gamera's final attack in the second movie against Legion is actually him gathering mana from the Earth to use as an attack. This depletion of mana from the Earth is what ends up causing the events of the third movie, as that mana depletion is what awakens many of the Gyaos around the world. The only other kaiju movie I would like to see you cover is Kong: Skull Island, if just because it's part of the entire Monsterverse WB built, and kind of feels incomplete if you cover both of the new Godzilla movies and not the new Kong movie, seeing as they're all part of the same continuity. Regardless, super glad to see you finally cover the Gamera Heisei trilogy!

[@jacobclark6002]

I know Guardian of the Universe's Japanese title is usually translated as "Giant Monster Midair Battle" but I think a much better translation is "Giant Monster Aerial Showdown" which puts emphasis on the tone and the gundraw/duel conclusion. "Giant Monster Dogfight" is also another way of translating it in fewer words.

[@robertrodriguez7087]

Weiselberry reviews kaiju movies: the greatest Christmas present of all! Actually, my brother got me a Godzilla ramen bowl, so...one of the greatest Christmas presents of all, at least! I pretty much agree with your assessment here. I think these movies tried a little too hard to add depth, and became a bit muddled in the process (especially the third one). Sometimes simpler is better. I do like all the cool imagery, and I think Otani Koh's scores for these were much better than what he did with *GMK,* which had a score that didn't match the movie at all in my opinion. For that matter, the effects are also much better than *GMK* (director Kaneko lamented the fact that Toho's production schedule did not afford the time his effects collaborator on these movies, Higuchi Shinji, would have required to do the effects for that movie, so he had to go with someone else). As far as Gyaos goes, it's pronounced kind of like "GYAH-OS." In Japanese, "gya" is regarded as one 'mora,' which is kind of like a syllable in English, so you can think of it as one blended sound, maybe what you would say if some Gyaos blood got splashed on you while you were watching a Gamera vs. Gyaos fight in person: "GYAH!" I know you were half-joking about it, but in regard to the plural of Gyaos, in Japanese, singular and plural isn't really a concept (expect in pronouns for people, sometimes, like 'we' or 'they'). If you say you have 1 apple, or 3 apples, the word for apple doesn't change. If you don't specify a number, it could mean you have one, or many apples. So the answer is...even knowing Japanese wouldn't help you know what the plural of Gyaos would be in English. Hmm... Thanks for another fun review!

[@Weiselberry]

Love your explanation for the pronunciation: "GYAH!" indeed. :D And thanks for making me feel a little better about the pluralization question. I try to make my inevitable mistakes as inoffensive to Japanese speakers as possible, and it's reassuring to know that on that point at least, there isn't an exact answer.

[@moviemaniac1838]

Awesome review! Subbed!

[@Weiselberry]

Thank you!

[@ConstantineFurman]

Gaos/Gyaos is properly said as "Gow-s", said like "cow" as in "Taos, NM." It is said as "Guy-os" in some of the dubs, but that is incorrect. "Gyaos" refers to one monster. "The Gyaos" would refer to multiple monsters. The whole "queen" thing with Legion is something American fans made up. In Japan, the last form of Legion is merely called 'Dai Region"-- "Giant Legion." It is not meant to be female. Most Americans say Irys' name like the eye part "iris," but it should properly be said as "Ee-russ." If it had been meant to be said like "iris", the Japanese name would be spelled "Airasu," which it isn't. "Irys" is also the original spelling of the name that Daiei was using when the movie was new. I am not certain how the name became "Iris" in English.

[@Kaiju-bm4ts]

Dude no one cares about your word policing

[@hermanmueller153]

Happy New year from germany Love your Reviews

[@HyenaMan]

Great video. I’m a big fan of kaiju movies so I subbed to you

[@Weiselberry]

Thanks!

[@HyenaMan]

@@Weiselberry your welcome

[@gavinortega4529]

I love these movies.

[@aluminumfence]

Good Morning Jerome, you're movie today is yet another in the Gamera series of films. Frank send them the movie. WE'VE GOT MOVIE SIGN!

[@josedeluna2245]

Wishing you a happy new year! I have enjoyed your content! Stay safe out there

[@BradLad56]

Fun fact: The corpses of the baby Gyaos were made from cleaned chicken bones that the crew had for lunch earlier.

[@Videogamelover58]

Happy new years eve Jerome! The Gamera Heisei trilogy was amazing!

[@darkwolf9253]

I really like these movies for the most part, the first one in particular. The third one is maybe a little too dark.

[@Godzilla-tu2cd]

This is a awesome trilogy. And some of the best kaiju movies ever. Great video as always Jerome and happy New Year. 22:47 well yes but Gamera did killed a bunch of people while fighting the gyaos.

[@Weiselberry]

As I was editing the third part of the video I found myself thinking, "You know, Gamera's kind of a jerk here." Definitely the third film goes out of its way to emphasize the sobering reality of the... collateral damage.

[@Godzilla-tu2cd]

@@Weiselberry 😆 your adorable. But yeah maybe

[@BradLad56]

@@Weiselberry it's less of Gamera being a jerk and more the fact that he's so focused on killing the Gyaos that he doesn't care how much much damage he causes at this point as long as he kills them. It's the somewhat cliche of the hunter becoming so obsessively focused on he's hunting that the only thing that matters is the next kill, just with a giant flying, fireball shooting turtle.

[@brownhulk2344]

Gamera Guardian Of The is good. It's a big step up from the original series. I liked Attack of Legion better as a whole. I had to get used to and make sense of the enemy monster though. Revenge of Iris though comes last. I still dont understand/dont like the design of the monster. Also I watched it about 3 times and dont get why everyone loves this one and puts it at the top of the trilogy. I don't care for it.

[@jacobclark6002]

You bring up that the military keeps planning on how to attack Gamera instead of Gyaos, almost as if that was a knock against the film. It was very intentional that the military strategizes how to kill Gamera and largely ignore Gyaos. Gamera is larger than the young Gyaos of course, and the government thinks they have an easy advantage over the Gyaos because of its weakness to light (before it grew). But the big reason being that it's an intended decision made to dig at the actual government, which so often values property over human lives. While Gyaos has eaten people, Gamera has only caused mass property damage, yet they target Gamera. And technically the military then had no reason to believe the large lack of casualties from Gamera by comparison was because he was actively trying to protect us.

[@kaylanash3588]

Is your 2020 blooper video coming out sometime today?

[@Weiselberry]

I'm working on it! :D

[@ChristopherElli-cc1ly]

Gas bag explosions. Gamera has always been bloody and more violent then Godzilla. A fantastic series. Gamera 1 is good. Gamera 2 is great. Gamera 3 is superlative.

[@varanid9]

"Does anyone else see the resemblance or is it just me?" It's just you.

[@BossNerd]

You must see "Big Man Japan" - - it is the strangest thing I have ever seen! If anyone out there has seen it - please comment.

[@scorpiod2235]

Just saw the first one (Gamera: Guardian of the Universe) on Prime Video. One of the better Kaiju movies out there.

[@orinanime]

I always pretend that the Gamera, all weary and busted, at the end of this movie going off to fight a group of Gyaos - is the Gamera we see at the beginning/prologue of Gamera the Brave. I know that it isn't. But in my headcanon/fanon, it is.

[@Weiselberry]

Ooh, I love that idea!

[@HydraSpectre1138]

Gyaos is pronounced Gya-Os, you must pronounce Gya as one syllable similar to the Kyo in Tokyo.

[@analysisofscifi6051]

I personally like the second one but the first one is pretty good also the third one is not the best in my opinion

[@ninetyZeven]

HppNuYr, @Jer !

[@jetgoldranger]

Yeah, I'm not fond of the whole Gamera defends the Earth NOT humanity angle. For one thing, it's a really crappy, cynical take, and that's the sort of thing I get into these type movies to avoid. My personal take is Gamera was created to defend humanity, but requires a link to it to fulfill his duties properly. With his link to Asagi broken in "Legion," he's still defending humanity, but without the necessary empathy or heart. Hence, the seemingly mindless "collateral damage" we see at the beginning of "Iris." Later, as he rediscovers his link to humanity, he once again acts as a proper defender. Or that's how I see it.

[@Kaiju-bm4ts]

Dude gamera DOES defend humanity AND earth as a whole, asagi literally says gamera is fighting for all living beings. He still cared about humans even in gamera 3, but inevitably had to be more reckless due to the amount if gyaos reproducing worldwide so he had to constantly move fast, kill some gyaos and move onto the next ones. He had no time to avoid causing collateral damage to any of his surroundings. Gamera 3 just shows he still cares humans regardless of his actions

[@jacobclark6002]

Gamera is God in Gamera 3. No like literally. Narratively, Gamera is the big G. The theme of the film is faith. Gamera wins against all the Gyaos of the world converging upon him because we have faith he will, and then he's literally declared "The Absolute Guardian of the Universe" aka God. As you know the biblical comparison began in G2 (technically the international title of G1). It was just expanded here. Asagi gets called "Gamera's priestess" for example. Ayana hates Gamera because he lets, or hell, even causes bad things to happen, but unlike Gamera, she doesn't understand the bigger picture. Every single young Gyaos will eventually grow into a larger one. On top of that, we and Gamera know they reproduce asexually. No matter how many thousands of human lives it costs, not one single Gyaos can remain or the cost will be ALL human lives.

[@macrosense]

Geese

[@JAMES51990]

Sometimes, I like to Fill UP my Bathtub with Milk, lay in the Fetal Position and pretend that I'm a Cheerio.

[@GODCONVOYPRIME]

Miss Jeremiah, might i suggest a content creator by the name of Brandon Tenold? He is most. Entertaining. Most. Entertaining.