MovieChat Forums > Chiisaki yûsha-tachi: Gamera (2005) Discussion > Anyone think this is going to hurt the f...

Anyone think this is going to hurt the franchise?

posted 19 years ago by godzilla179
25 replies | jump to latest

I've read the reviews, saw the trailer and read bits of the storyline in articles and feel this new movie might be going the wrong direction. I was hoping for a continuation from Iris, but since this new film has a different timeline from the 90's films I doubt there will ever be a 4th film from that series. When I first saw the new Gamera, the first thing that popped into my mind was baby Godzilla from the 90's. Big eyed and way too cute to take seriously. Most of the people involved with the new film have never been involved in a kaiju movie and that is not too re-assuring.

However, there is alot of good things going for the film. A huge budget, fan anticipation for another good Gamera film and new blood could produce good results.

But I just cant help pointing out the obvious. Kids taking the staring roles like the original Gamera films. I'm tired of Kenny's. Gamera now looks like a pokemon. I cant wait to see it, but I'm not getting my expectations up. If this movie bombs, it could be the end of Gamera films for quite some time as kaiju films have fallen out of favor in Japan (according to SciFi Japan). I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[–] BoredGamer 19 years ago

There's really no need for a sequel to Iris. The end pretty much sums it up: Gamera, the Guardian of the Universe. It pretty much says that Gamera wins no matter what. Because of that, any sequel we see would pretty much be beating a dead horse.

I will still agree, though, that taking a more family oriented approach may not have been the best decision, especially since that's what nearly killed the franchise to begin with.

---
"It's like a koala crapped a rainbow in my brain!"

[–] gideon0 19 years ago

Never mind a sequel to Gamera 3 (much as I would love to see it) When are we ever going to see Gamera vs Godzilla????

[–] STEVE-1559 19 years ago

Actually, the end of Gamera III doesn't sum anything up; it just leaves the audience hanging while the movie is entirely unfinished.

Funnily enough, I saw the film at a screening where a representative for a U.S. distributor was in attendance. Afterward, he said the botched ending (which leads us to expect a final battle with the swarm of Gayos that never arrifes) was what made him decide to give it a pass.

If ever a sequel were needed to fix an obvious mistake in a film, this is it.

[–] UltramanZero 19 years ago

I disagree. I find G3 final the best of any monster movie.

[–] lanced-2 18 years ago

That was the best way to end the movie. The distributor obviously missed the whole point of the ending. The ending was about Gamera and the fact that he won't give up protecting the Earth, not whether he succeeds against the Gaos or not.

Besides, I think we can safely assume that the beginning of this movie, where Gamera sacrifices himself by taking the Gaos with him, is how the sequel to Iris could be.

[–] negadon 18 years ago

There was a 4th movie if you count Hayashiya's G4.

[–] lanced-2 18 years ago

What movie was this?

[–] Chrislowski 18 years ago

G4 is Gamera 4: The Truth, it's a fan made movie by Shinpei Hayashiya, apparently quite good although I haven't seen it myself. If anyone knows where to get a copy let us know!

As to the original post, I don't know if Gamera the Brave will hurt the franchise. I haven't seen it yet although I am a bit worried. With no more Godzilla in the forseeable future I was kind of banking on Gamera to fill my kaiju needs, but now they've gone and made Gamera all cute and cast a kid as the lead.... But who knows? Maybe this will be really really good and secure the future of Gamera, at least for a while. I certainly hope so anyway!

[–] thesnuffpunk 18 years ago

I just watched Gamera: The Brave. While It's not the greatest movie, I don't feel it's really going to hurt the franchise.

Without trying to spoil anything, the kids theme plays a big part in this movie, but there's still violence and blood(both human and monster). The effects are decent. Zedus looks great and by the end of the movie Gamera looks very similar to himself in Kaneko's first movie, albeit a little less menacing and lighter in color.

In my opinion, the opening sequence was the best part of the movie, and if it would have stuck with that tone, it would have made this a great movie. While not on par with "Legion" or "Iris", the future of this series definitely has potential.

[–] OrlandoEastwood 18 years ago

I liked the Gamera in the Opening of the film, which was in 1973. It was good movie. I gave it a 10, for the new start of the Gamera saga, it was really good.

Transmission - 2009

[–] eatmepapi 18 years ago

I totally agree that the opening sequence was the best, but that's probably cuz I'm an adult and I have seen the 1st three. This film is an obvious ploy to create appeal to a much larger (meaning family) audience, much like the ones from decades ago. The previous films were darker with more violence and not so compassionate to children, and their more emphasis on action. Gamera '06 was a bit too cutesy for me. I kinda wanted the baby beast to finally grow into the fearsome monster that actually killed (accidentally or not) some of the denizens of Nagoya as in the other films. It ultimately resembled a giant toy with it's big doe eyes. The violence is restricted mainly to tongue stabbings and tail whipping, and was obviously intended for a PG rating (or it's equivalent in Japan). Even the scene where the enemy beast eats live people is merely hinted at since it's hidden behind a pile of debris.
As a family film, it's pretty solid on all levels with a traditional story line that's easy for kids to comprehend. Well shot with better than average city sets, and the acting is appropriately lively and overwrought (the main kid is excellent). It's fun but instantly forgettable.
Will it hurt the franchise? I don't know if anyone has official figures of it's box office, but I assume this new direction was taken because the B.O. of the other films was dwindling (?). It'll either make or break the series.

At least the new Gamera films are still better than the last few Godzilla movies (including the overrated Final Wars).

[–] muvaphuka 18 years ago

I agree with you completely,

The intro to the movie was the BEST .... THE BEST I tell you, I think the background music really gave it the edge and the cuts they during the fight vs. the look on the child face being flashed by the light house where power.

But that self destruct sequence was the real topper, I have no problem if Gamera is cast as an anti-hero just as long as he's our own anti-hero. I can understand why they like to feature the relationship between Gamera and humans and even if the whole series goes darker or lighter as long as they show how dependant we are on him and he is on us that’s okay either way.

It would also be nice if they feature a lot more of us riding shotgun for Gamera, these days we have some pretty advance weapons if we could act more like interference once and awhile while the Gman delivers the killing blow that would be awesome.

Perhaps an orbital cannon ion strike ala Command and Conquer would go far astray either. :-)

[–] liutenantsalt 17 years ago

>>There's really no need for a sequel to Iris. The end pretty much sums it up: Gamera, the Guardian of the Universe. It pretty much says that Gamera wins no matter what. Because of that, any sequel we see would pretty much be beating a dead horse.<<

You know he's going to win no matter what in EVERY movie. That logic makes no sense.

[–] lm362 (341) 3 years ago

I don't think the family friendly material is what nearly killed the franchise. it was the lack of funding for better lighting, special effects. People who are saying the "Gamera, Friend of Children" material of the first movies nearly killed the franchise and were not good are the type of people who don't appreciate family friendly movies and just want violent and constant monster fights with little human drama. Thankfully those making the Gamera films never listened to them.

I loved the rebooted series of films and liked how they retained the thought that Gamera was friendly to mankind and that even children liked him. I'm hoping the new films will not be another reboot. Too many reboots turn off fans. Just ask some Godzilla fans and they'll tell say that same thing.

[–] pinoyartist99 18 years ago

"The Brave" feels like a combination of the Showa's kid friendliness and the Heisei's dark tone. I guess the first movie will start as the Showa's kiddy gamera, but will end with the dark Gamera we saw in the Heisei series just the way the story presented itself.

[–] curl-6 18 years ago

While I haven't seen the 3 highly-regarded Heisei Gamera films yet, I have seen this film, and its kid-centric approach and lame new Gamera do drag it down somewhat. While it's a whole cut above the Showa nightmnares from the 1960s and 70s, it can't begin to compare with films like 2001's GMK.
If the 90s films are as dark and excellent as they're said to be, then yes, this film will very likely hurt the franchise.

Movies I have voted a 10:

Schindler's List
Pulp Fiction
The Return of the King

[–] eatmepapi 18 years ago

PLEASE see the 3 films and forget that Gamera the Brave ever happened.

[–] HeiseiGameraFan 18 years ago

This has already hurt the franchise. Daei was going to give us a new Daimajin movie with Miike Takashi directing (now that woulda just been one awesome movie) but when Gamera: The Brave didnt do so well, they shelved that project. I doubt we'll be seeing kaiju coming from Daei for a little while. It is a shame though because I know Daimajin would have done well, even if only because it had Miike's name attached. I would like to see the Gamera series continue. If they tried, I think Daei could recover this particular time line in the opposite way the showa Gamera and Godzilla movies went...if they darken it up some more and excise the kiddiness slowly then they could recover this series I think. Of course, the execs at Daei only think in terms of $$$ and that type of transition means they'd have to risk some $$$.

It’s ironic that in this age of “tolerance” we are the most afraid of offending people.

[–] eatmepapi 18 years ago

Do you think it's too late to return to the 90's darker format? If they lost $ on the last film I doubt they're gonna put out any Gamera product any time soon. I would have LOVED to see a new Daimajin movie come out; I liked the old Daimajin films even more than I loved the Godzilla films because of the serious treatment of the subject matter. That sucks!

[–] godzilla179 17 years ago

Oh yeah. This movie bombed in Japan.

In The Host...people eat dried squid.

[–] HeiseiGameraFan 17 years ago

I think we are at a point where the public and fans are just siok of child-oriented kaiju films. I know I am. The Heisei Mothra Trilogy could have competed nicely with the Heisei Gamera films but Toho was cheap and wanted a guaranteed buck from the kiddies dragging their parents...in the end, I think that actually hurt them. Same with Gamera the Brave.

Look at the direction of tokusatsu lately...Garo, Sh15uya, and Ultraseven X...finally we are really starting to see mature forms of the heros/shows we grew up on. The original fan base is grown up now and wants a little more than a goofy kids movie with monsters smashing things. Shusuke Kaneko seems to be the only kaiju director that understands this. I maybe wrong, but wasn't GMK the highest grossing Godzilla film of the millennium so far? You think the studios would learn.

I think Daiei made a mistake. "Gamera: the Brave" is still way ahead of the Heisei Mothra films and showa Gamera films but it is just not good enough for what people today want. Sadly they have decided to pull the plug on Gamera...and perhaps even more tragically DaiMajin...which I think is a big mistake on their part. Its not kaiju that people have lost interest in...it's lame child-oriented kaiju films that people have lost interest in.

Well that's my rant done for now...

It’s ironic that in this age of “tolerance” we are the most afraid of offending people.

[–] godzilla179 16 years ago

Hardly a rant DG, I believe 90% of all kaiju fans over 30 years old will agree with you. You really have to check your brain at the door to enjoy these movies, which I do quite often! I am a fan and a bad kaiju film is better than no kaiju film IMO. I may make an exception to that statement if Banno really does put out his IMAX Godzilla movie. Time will tell on that turd. Cloverfield was the last film in this genre and as far as I can tell, nothing new until Godzilla comes back in 2014. Sigh.

PS. Gamera the Brave is released on US DVD on December 30th, 2008. Enjoy!

I shaved your moms back

[–] The_Keeper_of_Angela_Baker 16 years ago

"I maybe wrong, but wasn't GMK the highest grossing Godzilla film of the millennium so far? You think the studios would learn."

GMK only made the money it did because of Hamtaro. And even with Hamtaro, the take was still nowhere near the returns for the Heisei films.

[–] godzilla179 16 years ago

I collect original kaiju movie posters and cannot find a GMK poster without the stupid Hamtaro border on it. Even the chirashi has it. sigh.

Godzilla against Mechagodzilla posters are the same way.

2012 WILL HAPPEN!!! (Right after 2011 happens)

[–] godzilla179 14 years ago

The Daimajin project has turned into a Japanese TV series. I would have prefered a movie, how long can you keep a TV series going? It airs this year.

Science flies you into space. Religion flies you into buildings.