I've always found Gamera vs. Barugon to be the best of the Showa series and it's not just because it doesn't have a kid. The cast, special effects, setting, and even story are way above the scale of the 1st and all the other Showa Gameras
I admit this could be nostalgia talking since this was one of my earliest monster movies.
This is the new release from Shout! where it's in Japanese and wide screen and it's awesome. I've always loved that not only did it not have a kid but it was very grim and dark. It deals with stuff like treachery, greed, murder, and eventually redemption. I'd say every scene with Barugon is gold, especially his very appearance in Kobe where he smashes through a building then introduces his battering ram tongue to knock over a tower.
Barugon has a lot more personality than all the other classic monsters of the series. He has history with the natives, He looks simple, and some call him dull, but I like that he looks so mundane and yet his powers are bizarre! He acts like an animal at times, showing confusion, rage, hiding and watching when Gamera first lands in Osaka, and sleeping.
Wide-screen oh wow! The entire scene of Gamera meeting Baragon is so wonderful! Barugon is shooting his rainbow, Gamera comes in, and you watch as this huge set, which can only be done justice with wide screen, is held down by two monsters and even better when they size up each other. Much better than those pan and scan releases!
Also the best Gamera suit from the classic series. Gamera looks mean and really good! Each of the scales on his shell look to be especially carved with great effort. Okay he doesn't have a lot scenes in this one and it's a shame but at least we got plenty of Barugon action. It's so memorable when he gets frozen solid, covered in ice and frost...along with the entire area around him.
A nice touch I never realized how good it is, they show a shelter where everyone is hiding while the monsters are rampaging. Very good actually and I wouldn't mind if a few more monster movies did that.
Also with this cleaned up transfer you can better appreciate a number of special effect shots. When Gamera destroys a dam in the opening, you can tell it's a, the word escapes me, but they inserted a building with people running around while Gamera smashes the dam not too far away. The rampages are so well done in this movie! Even more amazing is a shot where Barugon passes what must have been a motel or something and they actually inserted people running past the windows! It's hard to tell with the grainy transfers of older DVDS and tapes so I assumed all this time those were animated people or tiny figurines on strings. Hell no!
Oh and the commentary is great, we learn more about what this movie was originally going to be, it sounds like ice aliens battling Gamera. And it keeps point out very interesting tidbits and information. Such as when the main human characters arrive in an international airport, I never realized there were a lot of westerns in the crowd, very nice touch, I wish I noticed it sooner. Not only that but it seems all these years the radio man for the air force from the first Gamera movie is in the crowd. Damn this is a great commentary.
I've made this post long enough. I mean I can understand why people say this movie is dull, it does drag at times. And I did say it's probably nostalgia but clearly this is an A-class production, even when it's not compared to the other Gamera films, and this was confirmed via the commentary. Sadly the producers noticed that the kids were getting impatient with the lack of monsters scenes...and from there I think the Gamera series went to hell after this one.
Damn kids! I know when I was a kid I sure hated pretty much every kid character! Especially the one from Gyaos who notices stuff that adults and scientists should have caught. Oh the monster is nocturnal! Oh the monster can't turn its head! I know they were made for kids...serious business!
And if I really don't like the films then why have I already ordered the next few Shout! releases?
While there is a high Kenny factor, I have found all the Gamera movies to be more entertaining than Godzilla movies. I'd like to have a Kaiju fest sometime, I'm remiss in my viewing sinc ethe kiods came along
-Ed
P.S. Nice to see you Dave...Where are you living now? Still in Oregon?
Yep still in Oregon and still going to college.