I have been putting off watching because I thought the movie was going to be kinda campy, not worthy of immediate viewing but after reading some rave reviews for this flick I decided to watch it. It was worth it, the movie is very good for a monster movie. There have been the inevitable comparisons to Godzilla, but Gamera stacks up VERY well to the big guy. I've been waiting for the CGI effects to catch up with the ambitious visions of the monster movie makers and it's finally here, although by "normal" Hollywood movie standards the price spent on this movie would not even pay for 1/4 of Tom Cruises salary. I would like to see a big-budget movie made, but then again it might ruin the franchise, maybe the "campiness" and "guy-in-the-rubber-suit" are what defines these flicks. Anyway, Gamera is NO JOKE in this movie. He goes after his enemy, the "Gayous" birds with a single-minded vengeance that is surprising. He hates those things. His powers are so cool also. He has got a fire-breath like Godzilla, except is seems more focused, but his coolest asset is his ability to fly, with 4 jets in his shell sockets. This guy is outrageous, he flies in like a flying saucer, kicked-ass and then jetted out looking like the space-shuttle at full after-burner! You gotta check that scene out! And the night flying scenes with Isis in the cloudy night was amazing! The CGI effects with Gamera at full after-burn is priceless! The story is pretty decent and the special affects are great, albeit a little sparsely used. I kinda like Gamera a little more than Godzilla, he was so tough that in one scene he got impaled by Isis, then to get free he burns his own arm OFF!! This Gamera film is said the be the best of the 3 and that's true, much better special effects. Good film, recommended.
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zv30023 March 2006
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ebiros210 October 2005Until this movie came along, in my opinion the original Godzilla ('54) had the highest production value in terms of reality of the monster. Gamera 1999 sets a new standard in kajyu movies with the new level of believability it brought to the monster's character. The fight scene in Shibuya is absolutely believable, and integration between CG and live humans are tight. Cinematography is beautiful, and there's no artificial quality to the scenery.
If I had complaints about this movie was that special effects director Shinji Higuchi seems to like to design monsters that are metallic looking and doesn't have a mouth (Legion, Iris). I think mouth is one thing that express monster's feelings and there was total lack of communication about the aggression Iris had towards Gamera. Legion at least had eyes, but Iris only has one light bulb inside the head. It looks a bit like a robot which took away from the involvement two monsters had for each other.
They brought back Nagamine (Shinobu Nakayama) to the story which was the right move, but neither she or Asagi Kusanagi (Ayako Fujitani) was at the center of the story. The girl Ayana wasn't strong enough actress to carry the lead and once again, story lacked a focal point as it did with Gamera Attack of Legion.
The '90s Gamera series gets darker and darker as the series progresses and this one is the darkest of them all with Gamera being total engine of destruction. It made the movie authentic but at the same time took something away from the Gamera character. It had no involvement with the human beings. I wish they would make Gamera 4 with plot line returning to like that of the first '90s Gamera movie with strong casting of characters. -
kevinxirau26 October 2011Everyone's favorite flying, fire-breathing turtle is back, this time facing a threat unlike anything this world has ever seen. Old faces return alongside strange new ones in this dark, epic climax to the Gamera trilogy.
Plot: The Gyaos have returned, newly evolved and multiplying like crazy around the world. As if that isn't bad enough, a new foe has emerged, one who has been bred by the hate of a teenage girl who harbors a grudge against Gamera for accidentally killing her parents in the first film. This new creature is called Iris (named after the girl's deceased pet cat), a mysterious armored, blood-sucking squid creature with immense destructive power and a genetic link to the Gyaos. With the military once again hunting Gamera, will all this be too much for the Guardian of the Universe?
The stakes are raised and so is the severity of the violence. Tons of people are laid waste as the monsters battle each other for supremacy, destroying everything in their path. It's great. Gamera looks really fearsome, looking as if he will stop at nothing until all his monstrous enemies are destroyed. He even has some new tricks up his giant sleeve. Iris is a fascinating creature, bringing a sense of both awe and dread to his presence, especially when he's flying. In fact, he reminds me of an Angel from "Evangelion". It's nice seeing some of the old cast in this one like Gamera's human companion Asagi, who has really grown as a character. Some the new characters are interesting while others are strange, which is why sometimes I feel that this film may appeal to goths. The star here is Ayana, whose backstory and hatred for the turtle and backstory allow her to stand out from the rest of the cast.
I do have problems with this one. I didn't like how some people, military included, now want Gamera dead again. Come on, the Gyaos, certified man-eaters, have returned and yet their too busy complaining about the damage Gamera causes while he's trying to kill them. Even a fortune teller believes Gamera is some evil spirit. What evil spirit saves people? Furthermore, this causes Ayana's hatred to blend in with theirs, which, given the main conflict, should not be the case; the film would've been better served if she was the only one with a serious grudge. Plus, once again Gamera takes quite a bit of punishment. I'm tired that. At this time, he should be dishing out lot more damage to his enemies, especially with his trademark fire breath.
For all its problems, Gamera 3 is still worth the watch. It's a shame it ended the way it did and that its low-budget sequel that ended the storyline never made it to theaters and an American release. Check this flick out if your a monster movie fan. Or a goth lover. -
rsaintj15 April 2002Yes, simply the finest daikaiju eiga made since the original Godzilla. Not only a film that can make you take Gamera seriously, but one that makes you take giant monsters seriously as well. Great story, fine acting, clever script and story, excellent directing, brilliant special effects.... this is the only one (so far!) that has it all.
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deaconsjohnson20 April 2004I THINK THIS WAS ONE OF GAMERA'S BEST FILMS EVER.Let's face it he is the new King of the monsters.My only problem were the battles only occurred during the night and Gamera wasn't in the film that much.But when he was,he was awesome.Second to much time was spent on Gyaos.Iris seemed like a backup opponent that got killed way to quickly.Gamera was on a serious mission in this film.It gave fans what kaiju movies have never did before,A monster attack without warning.Gamera was so powerful in this film and his new streamline look gave him a menacing appearance.The midair dog fight between Gamera and Iris could have lasted longer if it wasn't for the butting in of the military.over all this is a really good movie that I highly recommend.
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chrichtonsworld5 March 2007When I was young I watched a lot of Chinese and Japanese movies! I didn't understand much but I always loved the action! I can remember seeing this movie about a giant turtle fighting other monsters where he was assisted by women who were from outer space! Now I know that this was Gamera Super Monster! Most reviewers say that Gamera Super Monster was one of the worst Gamera movies! But for me it was very enjoyable! It was entertaining has hell! It was all about the action! Who cares if the special effects were cheesy! Expecting a far superior Gamera movie with Gamera 3 I was a bit disappointed! The special effects were excellent and the story was more than solid! But where was the action! Gamera is engaged in battle only two times! The focus was more on the story and the characters! A movie like this should be about giant monsters fighting each other and destroying a lot of stuff! In that aspect Gamera 3 fails! I am not denying this is a solid movie! But for me monster movies should be full of action and fun!
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Irys24 June 2010Gamera 3 is simply put, the best Gamera, and possibly the best Daikaiju eiga, ever. It finally puts to rest the cheesy, campy, child-friendliness of the Showa series. This movie has everything the early Daikaiju eiga (specifically Gamera) didn't have, development of characters, depth, and emotion of the monsters, and bloody awesome special effects! Although I haven't seen Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, I know enough about it to go along with the plot.
The movie starts out with Miss Nagamine, yes from G1, finding a dead Gyaos who has eaten a child and another person. After that some scientists find a graveyard of Gameras, where that went, God knows. Then they show some clips from G1, along with some newly filmed footage of a guy, a gal, and a cat getting killed, accidentally, mind you, by Gamera. this is all told n a dream by a girl named Ayana, of Hirosaka, they kept mixing it up, I couldn't tell. Anyway, she hates Gamera and wants some revenge, so she is constantly surly throughout the whole movie, God, why won't she just SMILE!. So she is bring bullied by some girls at her school, they tell her to go get a rock from some cave with a Ryushedo, guardian of the South. She goes to her adoptive brother, and he days something about some Chinese legend, why does he care about the Chinese? He tells her that if you can convince Ryushedo, Irys, that Gamera is the enemy, it will destroy him. Her "friend"'s grandmother says none should touch the stone, so, naturally, she does, an egg comes and thus, Irys is hatched. Moribe, the "friend", has a dagger his Grandmother gave him, he is supposed to kill Irys, should it ever hatch, but he has to kill when it's Small, he dosen't. Idiot. So Irys bonds with Ayana, and she is nurturing it to take revenge on Gamera. Gamera, meanwhile, is off killing Gyaos in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, killing 15-20,000 people, so the Defense Force declares Gamera a threat and orders him destroyed, bad idea. Irys now fuses with Ayana and becomes big. He kills a few people, Moribe then cuts Ayana from Irys, Irys gets angry, and kills half a village. He then gets very big. And very mean. The JSDF tries , in vain, to destroy Irys, but it wiped out a whole platoon, and flies towards Kyoto, where Ayana is. Why is Ayana in Kyoto? Because two boffy government agents have stolen her, Kurata Shinya, and Miss Asakura something or other, they kidnap her, and want to do something. I don't know what exactly. So Irys fights with Gamera in the air, but the JSDF shoot Gamera down, another bad idea. Irys lands in Kyoto, Kurata says one pf the best lines in the movie, and Gamera comes, let the bloodshed begin. Gamea and Irys engage in a rather bloody fight, and Gamera is left for dead. Irys now needs to complete the bonding, so it absorbs Ayana. Ayana now sees that her hatred for Gamera drove Irys to think of him as the enemy, so she doesn't want to bond with Irys, so Gamera rips her free of Irys, much to its dismay. So Irys stabs, and pins, Gamera's hand to the wall of the train station, then begins sucking the life force from Gamera. Seeing that he said losing his life force, he blasts off his arm, and the Irys fires a few fireballs at him, which he moulds into a sort of fist shape, ah, you thought they forgot about is fire controlling ability, did you? Well, ha they didn't! Anyway, Gamera plunges the fire fist into Irys, decimating it. Now he gives Ayana to Nagamine and Asagi, who try to revive her, but fail miserably. Gamera then roars and revives her. The JSDF now receive word of "lots"of Gyaos descending on Japan, and Gamera, with only one hand, goes out to challenge them. The movie ends with Gamera roaring a challenge to the sky amidst the flaming ruins of the Kyoto train station.
This is a radical diversion from early Gamera. Its dark, funny, and satisfying film. The acting was excellent, the directing was excellent, the script was excellent, everything was excellent. The way Mr. Kaneko beautifully transferred from suitmation to CGI, and the CGI was incredible, enough to rival even the big budget Hollywood. The Fight in the air was also really good, the way Gamera appeared from the F-15 pilot's point of view. And Irys was one of the best evil Daikiju ever. However, I can sympathize with Irys, because the only reason he went after Gamer was because Ayana told him to. My final critique, see it. You will love it. -
fortey17 July 2007I've noticed there are some people who obviously take Godzilla-esquire movies far too seriously. Basically if you refer to them as kaiju and you're not Japanese, you're in too deep. But I digress. I am not one of those people. I just watched Gamera and Godzilla as a kid and they cracked me up.
That said, this movie is clearly the best of either Gamera or Godzilla for one good reason: collateral damage. Some mad genius hatched a story that actually tried to present a giant rubber monster movie in a real world context. There are scenes when fireballs engulf whole city blocks and the tiny, fleeing Japanese citizens are blown away in a storm of chaos. The insane contrast between what is obviously a man in an ungainly, ridiculous turtle costume and thousands of innocent civilians being slaughtered as a result of that giant rubber turtle accidentally crushing a gas main as he levels a few city blocks is, to put it poetically, friggin' great.
There's ambition here. The screenwriter and the director of this movie should be proud of themselves for not flinching despite how obviously ludicrous this movie should have been. It's a flying turtle. A giant one. But dammit, the story is compelling. -
ssvegetable8824 April 2004The only kaiju movie which surpasses this is the original Gojira. This movie has the best Fx of any kaiju movie, rivaling even the big budget hollywood films of that time. Gamera looks better than ever, giving the viewer a sense of fear, but at the same time, you can tell that Gamera is still the good guy. While Guardian of the Universe and G2 were both spectacular, G3 surpasses both of them. This is the definitive kaiju movie. There is one thing I would like to see, though. If at all possible, I would like ADV to advertise this film. Even the mostly anti-kaiju population of North America would enjoy watching this movie. If how well the Tristar film did in theaters is any indication, then a good and well advertised kaiju film can be a blockbuster. The Tristar film did well, and it sucked.
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OllieSuave-00730 May 2014The '90s Gamera returns for a third time in his final second series movie, where schoolgirl Ayana, hungry for revenge against Gamera for inadvertently killing her parents, raises a small monster named Iris and, as the creature grows up, plans to use Iris to exact revenge against the flying turtle. However, the world is threatened again by the Gyaos creatures, pitting them against Gamera once more.
The special effects for the movie were awesome - very sophisticated and detailed - and the monster action was great. The acting was mostly good, with the exception of Ai Maeda as Ayana, whom I thought gave a very wooden performance. It appears that all she could do was to make these solemn and angry faces, showing like she doesn't care for other people or what's going on around her.
The appearances of the Gyaos creatures remind you of continuity in the series and make you wonder how Gamera plans to deal with the creatures for a final time. There is a little tension built-up as the Iris creature grows in size, making you wonder what Iris plans to do when he reaches his adult form.
Despite all the monsters, action and awesome special effects, I wasn't too keen on this movie as many viewers are. I'm probably in the minority in this, but I think this movie lacks the thrills and intrigue of the previous movie (Attack of the Legion). That movie has suspense built-up that keeps you glued to the screen and a fast-paced plot that gains momentum. This movie has too many subplots going on (Ayana's revenge, humankind debating Gamera's allegiance, the cultists, the return of the Gyaos birds), which make the story difficult to follow at times. ***spoiler ahead*** And, the ending with the Gyaos creatures doesn't provide a very conclusive ending to the film and the series, and it leaves much plot-threads hanging. ***spoiler ends***
Again, it's still a movie full of monster action, pretty good acting and great special effects, but it falls a little short in momentum.
Grade C+ -
strong-122-47888523 September 2014Gamera 3 is yet another Sci-Fi/Rampaging Monster flick that, sorry to say, goes over the same, old, tired ground, offering the viewer no real surprises or novel twists to its "been there/seen that" story.
Yeah. OK. At times Gamera 3's scenes of heavy-duty mass destruction and its monster effects were so crazy, wild and over-the-top that they were actually kinda fun to watch.
But, in the long run, I found the creatures were just too goofy looking (and, yes, even sluggish at times) to be viewed as anything else but the most laughable nonsense imaginable.
Anyways - If some time you find yourself with about 90 minutes to kill, then Gamera 3 might not be such a bad choice of movies to watch in order to throw that time away. (You can either do this alone or with some of your like-minded mates) -
edgoji22 February 2005All too often, fans of giant monster movies have to explain their opinions on their favorite films with the caution, "but I admit so-and-so wasn't so good", referring either to the special effects or the story or some aspect of the production. Gamera 3 finally affords the fans of giant monsters a chance to dispense with the apologies. Those looking for cheesy fun will have to look elsewhere.
Director Shusuke Kaneko, sfx man Shinji Higuchi, writer Kazunori Itoh and a highly talented staff manage to pull off one of the toughest jobs imaginable...making people take a giant, flying and fire-breathing turtle seriously. No mean feat considering that the original Gamera was successfully conceived for an entirely different target audience, making the name Gamera synonymous with kiddie entertainment.
***Potential Spoilers***
Gamera 3 builds on the events of its two predecessors, culminating with what will be Gamera's final battle against Irys, a mutant strain of the Gyaos. Irys melds with a human girl, Ayana, who wants revenge on Gamera after witnessing her parents' death when Gamera fought the first Gyaos. This unholy union provides Irys the advantage over Gamera, the psychic link with a human, which Gamera had when it fought Gyaos years earlier. Oblivious to the terrible things that her help is enabling Irys to do, Ayana must ultimately depend on the one she hates to save her. The human and monster stories are so interdependent as to make one pointless without the other. This finely crafted story, with solid performances all around, makes Gamera 3 compelling viewing.
This film shows better than any other giant monster film what would truly happen if giant monsters fought in a populated city. The results are grim, yet wisely not graphic, the realism taking the viewer's breath away. The sfx crew manages to create both realistic and beautiful effects, with an endless string of money shots, particularly impressive for its paltry $6M budget, shaming films with budgets many times the size of this one. Creative, imaginative, innovative. In a genre where quantity and size of sfx scenes are often the goal, this film turns such conventions on their ears. The sfx scenes are economical, and the climax takes place inside the confines of a huge train station, the monsters' lack of mobility actually creating a final standoff with palpable tension.
A vote of 10 out of 10 should not be given easily, but Gamera 3 earns it. Simply put, Gamera 3 attains the goal that every film maker should be striving for--it is a good movie. Not just a good monster movie, but a good movie. No apologies necessary. -
Sterno-216 March 2001Teenage angst must be a terrible thing in Japan. Here, teens listen to various rock bands, pierce their bodies, color their hair in odd shades, or take an unfortunate turn into drug abuse. However, I venture to say that no American teenager has lost their parents to Gamera.
Poor Amaya watches in horror as Gamera destroys her family's home in 1995 during the great Gyaos attacks. Now, being that Gamera is a friend to children everywhere, I'm sure it was an accident. Unfortunately, Amaya doesn't see it that way. She's bent on revenge.
Amaya is sent to live with her aunt and uncle, who seem more concerned that she take their last name. Anyhow, she stumbles upon a neighboring family's cave that it has been guarding for a long time. The reason that the family guards the cave is due to its hibernating monster, which can be awakened by moving a stone; talk about your light sleeper! This monster (named Iris) is nurtured by Amaya to hate Gamera and to seek its destruction. This little dysfunctional family is headed for serious trouble, since Iris eventually seeks to fuse Amaya's DNA with its own.
Complicating matters is the fact that that Gyaos have returned, and Gamera pretty much levels a city trying to destroy them. Japan's parliament of the week decides it now hates Gamera, and will do what it can to kill him. When Iris comes along, she is seen as the solution to the Gamera "problem".
Overall, this is a much better Gamera movie than those versions from the 50s, which were just awful. There is a haunting realism to seeing massive number of people die as a result of kaiju fighting. This stands in contrast to many of the Gojira films where no one seems to die. One problem I had was that my version was in letterbox format, and coupled with the many night scenes, I didn't get to see as much of the kaiju as I would have liked.
Sterno says stand up for Gamera 3. -
BA_Harrison14 November 2021This time around, the enemy is a tentacled creature called Iris, raised by schoolgirl Ayana Hirasaka (Ai Maeda), who intends to use her 'pet' to take revenge on Gamera, who she blames for the death of her parents. Ayana develops a symbiotic relationship with Iris, but the girl finds herself in danger from the creature as it reaches adulthood, and only Gamera can save her.
With only one Gamera movie left to go, I've given up hope of seeing a really good film featuring the giant jet-propelled turtle. I had hoped that the '90s trilogy, of which Revenge of Iris is the last, would do the trick - it seems to be fairly well regarded by most kaiju fans - but I wasn't impressed: the special effects are great, but the plot is unnecessarily convoluted and there's not nearly enough monster action. Too much time is spent on the bland human characters when we should be watching buildings topple as the monsters duke it out. As with the previous films in the trilogy, the potentially fun action is frequently interrupted by cutaways to army personnel doing meaningless military stuff, as if anything they could do would have any real impact on Iris or Gamera.
4.5/10, generously rounded up to 5 for the part where Gamera using his fireball breath to sever his hand, which has been pinned to a wall by one of Iris's pointy tentacles -- that was cool! -
kaneko26 September 1999This movie took my breath away as no other ever has. I'm sorry most Americans will never get to see this on the big screen, because it's awe-inspiring. Even on video, this film is astounding. Possibly the best special effects movie ever.
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notyep0517988 April 2004This movie, being the last of the Gamera saga, is the best of the bunch. Not only are the effects top-notch, (particularly the scenes in which Gamera and Gaos birds are fighting over the city with no particular regard to human life), but the story of loss and vengeance with a young girl tied to one the first movies in the series brings a more darker theme to the genre. It's not necessarily required to watch all of the movies to catch up, but it couldn't hurt. The newer design for Gamera is the best design for him yet. He should have always been this way, however, since his appearance has changed in all three movies, they never explain how or why that is. I gather that they expect us to believe that he has always looked that way, especially since a flashback scene from the first Gamera movie features his new design instead of the one he had for the movie. The ending is a very clever touch to have fans gasping for more. If you're a giant kaiju fan this movie i would highly recommend.
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Announcer: ... and this just in from Paris, a major nuclear catastrophe wiping out the entire Kingdom of Great Britain. But now we go to the big news of the day, that the recently retired King of Monsters, Godzilla, has brought to court a suit of plagiarism against longtime rival, Gamera, the flying turtle. And we are fortunate to have Godzilla and Gamera in the studio with us today. Godzilla, what made you decide to bring this suit to court so late in your career.
God.: Well, I put off watching "Retard of Iris" for a long time, but one day, Rodan and me were having a few beers, so we popped it in and long before the movie ended, I realized i was watching pretty much the whole of my "Heisei" period distilled into some school-girl fantasy of what a Kaiju film might be.
Gam.: Hold on there, lizard breath. We kaiju are a special breed. unfortunately that means there's just so many things we can do, then we have to do them all over again. How many times have you stomped Tokyo? How many ways are there that Tokyo can be stomped. I mean, let's be honest.
God.: Honest?! There hasn't been a single movie you made that didn't steal something from one of mine - what about that monster of yours with the same name as one of mine, Baragon?
Gam.: My monster's name is BarUgAn. In Japanese, inflection is everything. And then you had the gall to name some kid's rubber-suit fantasy bully directly after me in "Godzilla's Revenge".
God.: I didn't make that movie! Honda took some of my home movies and patched them together, that material was not for public viewing.
Gam.: Most of your films are not for public viewing, I mean they are SO bad! God.: Some of your later '60s stuff is such a mess, I couldn't make heads or tails of it. All those silly ten-year-old kids - are you a pedophile by any chance, shell-head?
Announcer: Gentlemonsters, please - our audience!
Gam.: Old nuke-for-brains here just doesn't get it - we are all made for children, that's why we're so lovable.
God.: "Loveable"?! I'll have you know that when Ghidrah and me destroyed Tokyo in my last film, the audience held it's breath to see if it was still alive.
Gam.: If that made sense, it would still sound stupid. Besides, didn't you think my fisting the bad-thing in "Revenge (that's REVENGE - you're the only retard here!) of Iris" in order to pull the girl out of its gut - now that's pretty darn awesome, if I do say so myself.
God.: well, you're the only one who would say that. The fact remains that the Iris bad-thing is a direct rip-off of my enemy Biolante.
Gam.: So who would know? That film bombed at the box-office. Besides, all that romantic mushy stuff - look, kids want to see kids; having a kid form an empathic connection with a beastie....
God.: is a direct rip-off of my Heisei series, but also of my big last battle with the "Terror of Mechagodzilla" in the Showa series. Admit it, I had your formula down to a science before you were ever born!
Gam.: At least I WAS born, you keep getting 'created" by one human mistake or other. That's why kids like me - I'm really THERE, I mean, I have a heart, a soul, some kind of intelligence....
God.: Yeah, and you light your farts to fly! Gam.: You cheap dinner for lizard-mites! You tried to convince the world you killed me off in "Tokyo SOS"! Well, I got the last laugh, I think. You destroyed the world in "Final Wars", whereas I been born again in "The Brave" (2006).
God.: See that's your problem - "born again" - religious hypocrite! The only thing born again about you is that all my ideas get born again in your movies!
Gam.: If you ever had an idea, you wouldn't know what to do with it! At least I got the guts to risk doing it over and over again - I love the children in my audience, they're great fans, and they deserve a turtle hero; we all do.
God.: It's "heroes" like you make my stomach turn. Tokyo is for stomping; saving it is an embarrassing display of something nearly (UGH!) human.
Gam.: So that's what it comes down to! You just don't like people, do you?!
God.: The earth was made for monsters!
Gam.: and if that's the case, I deserve my place on it too.
Announcer: Mr. Godzilla, Mr. Gamera - I see we've run out of time, thank you for stopping by. One last question, this from a member of the audience just phoned in: Mr. Godzilla: bottom-line for "Revenge of Iris" - is it worth watching at all?
God.: Well, yeah... it's kind of entertaining; if you like that sort of thing. -
Jesus, one of the greatest monster movies of all time, "Gamera 3: Revenge of Irys", seriously. Directed by Shusuke Kaneko, with incredible special effects by Shinji Higuchi, this film delivers, a true masterpiece. Even my sister, the Godzilla hater, admits this film is THE sh*t!!!! She actually asked me am I going to buy the other two, to which I obviously responded "Hell yeah!!!". This movie shows us a new view of Japanese monster flicks, with a much appreciated darker tone and very complex characters. Although I have yet to see the first two Heisei Gamera films, also by Kaneko, this one alone proves Godzilla may have met his match. Compare this film to the highly disappointing "Godzilla 2000", a huge let down after the American G-film by Roland Emmerich. Don't get me wrong, Godzilla is the unrivaled King, but some of the 200s films have been lacking. "G3" brings alive the monsters with bold and fearsome looks, a great improvement considering the Showa horrors ( the 60s and 70s Gamera films just sucked compared to the Honda G-flicks of the time. The Jun Fukuda ones, still not as bad I guess). Gyaos and Gamera are just bad-ass and beautifully rendered on screen. The best version of both monsters ever!! The Shibuya fight scene was amazing to say the least. I've recently fallen in love with Irys, he's simply perfect: the original design and origin, the deadly cool weapons, and that whale-growl of his. The head has no real eyes or mouth, yet gives off an aura of BAD-ASS-NESS. I haven't been this impressed by a monster since Destroyah. Irys simply looks like a god more than a traditional mutant dinosaur or bug. The battles are astonishingly realistic and don't hold back, a move seen in only a few monster flicks. Gamera severing his own hand was an extraordinary plot idea, showing his sacrifice for mankind. Great character moment, really.
The CGI is astonishingly good, myself loving the air battle sequence. This movie brings a seriousness to the aftermath of these monster rumbles that puts the film on a older audience, although I doubt kids will dislike all the superb action. "G3" shows that with the proper director and a big enough budget, Japanese monster films can stand up to the American Hollywood titans. Also, Koh Otani's music is excellent and is a key ingredient in the movie. Otani's music can be horrific, tragic, mystical, heroic and even comedic, basically anything Kaneko needs it to be. The score for "Godzilla 2000", excluding the Ifukube themes, was terrible. This film really is a landmark for the monster industry. Looking at the equally beautifully made "GMK", one can see Kaneko truly can handle a G-film with the same great quality. The only millennium Godzilla movies to even compare to Kaneko's impact on both Godzilla and Gamera is "Godzilla vs. Megaguirus" and "Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S." Taking a glance at Tezuka's work as well, one can see the horrible mistake of allowing Ryuhei Kitamaru direct Godzilla's 50th Anniversary film. Having Kaneko directed it we could have had another masterpiece instead of a choppy-fast paced- non artistic- rock/ tech no score style of the wreck.
Now that that's said and done, the only other thing that bothers me is the quality of the DVD....it's INCREDIBLE!!!! I would of preferred a serious commentary though, but whatever. Japanese theatrical trailers and TV spots, an interview with Shinji Higuchi, behind-the-scenes- footage, and MORE!!!! This movie is packed with interesting bonus material, and it wasn't even released by a mainstream distributor, considering I've never heard of ADV films. Sony-Tristar, come on, at least give us interactive menus!!!! Anyways, a great film, on my Top 15 list for sure, "Gamera 3: Revenge of Irys" is a film to remember. -
zetes18 August 2005Often considered the best kaiju film ever made, or at least second best after the original Gojira. I would perhaps concur, though I myself don't consider that title to be particularly difficult to win. But Gamera 3 does have a script that goes a bit deeper than all the others, and the special effects are almost as good as those found in American action movies. And thankfully the monsters themselves are only ever partially created by CGI. They are mostly puppets, I think (maybe there are guys in suits). Gamera is the savior of Earth. Unfortunately, he is so big, and his enemies are so big that their fights cause a huge amount of collateral damage. The story concerns a young girl whose parents were killed by Gamera when he was defending Earth. A few years later, she discovers a baby monster, which she names after her cat Iris (also killed by that bastard giant turtle), and attempts to raise it with the hope that it will someday rival Gamera. Unlike any other kaiju film I've seen, Gamera 3 doesn't glimpse over the fact that if anything actually happened like this, many real people would die horribly. During one scene, we see corpses launched by a huge explosion. I suppose that's an interesting angle, but, honestly, I don't think this genre really needs to take itself so seriously. Sure, Gojira was invented as a symbol of nuclear weapons. But the genre it spawned quickly lost any meaningful subtext. They were cheap to make and cheesily entertaining. Every kaiju film I've watched as an adult has looked lame, but I really did enjoy them as a kid. Gamera 3 doesn't make me feel particularly guilty for enjoying Godzilla stomping on an obviously fake Tokyo when I was a lad. The deaths that it shows rather graphically are somewhat counterproductive. This stuff never really happens, after all. As for flaws in the film-making, the story is somewhat convoluted. There are some annoyingly clichéd characters notably the psychic woman and the dandy fop who philosophizes that Gamera and his enemies keep the Earth in balance. The worst thing is that, like most kaiju movies, most of the scenes not involving monsters are extremely boring. This one drags a lot during its first half. I nodded off at least once. But those are just some complaints. Overall, I rather liked the film.
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drngor29 June 2000This movie goes down as the most powerful, haunting, well-scripted, and compelling kaiju film since the original Gojira. This film has well-defined, three-dimensional characters that actually develop over the course of the film. The special FX are truly awesome and even surpass the best of the Godzilla series (Godzilla vs. Biollante and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II). Iris is a cool looking design for a villainous monster. The monster scenes are sparse, but realistic and memorable. The fights are among the most brutal kaiju battles ever filmed. The plot of the movie revolves around a young girl who hates Gamera and wishes to seek vengeance against him for the death of her parents. She finds Iris, raises it, and even begins to fuse with it. There are many classic sequences in this film: the fight in the air between Gamera and Iris, the battle in the train station, and the destruction of the city during a battle with the Gyaos. There are only two aspects of this film that prevent it from being the perfect kaiju film: the kaiju fights are not that long and the roles of Asakura and Kurata in the film are confusing and out of place. However, this movie is still one of the greatest, most well-made kaiju films ever.
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DustinRahksi15 October 2013I was surprised about how much people praise this film, I just finished viewing it, and I'm not that impressed. "Well you just didn't get the superb plot". Oh I got it, I just think it's stupid. Ayana somehow lifts a immovable stone, which causes some tentacle monster to hatch. So she raises it with the intent of sending it after Gamera. Was I supposed feel some sort of emotion when the characters and story progress. One, Iris looks cool, but frankly isn't a huge threat. Maybe for a little kid Iris will stir up some tension, but I didn't see any danger. And I was right, because he just gets his stomach ripped open in one punch, and is down for the count.
The plot was very sub par for a trilogy final. This film pretty much goes like this: 40 minutes of set up, 1 hour and 20 minutes until some thing happens, and 1 hour and 47 minutes of MEH-NESS. Seriously, you wait almost an hour and a half for like 2 minutes worth of monster fighting. What's the point of them putting three different monsters in this film, and have no fight scenes. It feels almost like they wanted to make a good movie, instead of a monster movie, I watched this to see monsters blow sh-t up, not some BS revenge story that is completely ridiculous.
I feel as if I should address the scene where Ayana offers herself. It's like some Japanese hentai. Let me repeat her words " Iris, I'm so hot(as she opens her blouse), what...HAHAHAHAHA? Then Iris grabs her with his tentacles. What was the deal with that, HAHAHAHAHA, I can't stop laughing. Oh yeah, the subtitles for this film are atrocious, you miss half of the dialogue because it doesn't even show up on the screen. But it is nowhere near as bad as the Godzilla vs. Megalon DVD, they pretty much just changed the dialogue for that.
I may not think to highly of this film, but that doesn't mean it's bad, it's actually very well made for a monster movie. But other than the quality, the 90's Godzilla films are much more enjoyable and fun to watch. This film is very violent, I would compare it to Godzilla vs. Destoroyah with the amount of carnage, but this film goes more into graphic detail, which is surprising.
I didn't care about any of the characters, the plot was just fine, there was no action, and it was genuinely unpleasant. But I still recommend watching it you like monster movies. -
In the final installment to the Gamera trilogy, we have high school girl Ayana, played with cold assurance by Ai Maeda, grieving for her dead parents (inadvertently killed in the first Gamera movie and you can call that collateral damage) and hungry for revenge.
As it turns out, in a cave she finds an egg which, legend says, will hatch into a demon. She nurtures the egg, it bursts open, and a cute little monster appears. She decides to name it Iris after her pet cat, also killed in Gamera's first attack. They develop a psychic link with one another and no small amount of affection although one's idea of affection is another's idea of dominance, but I digress.
Meanwhile, giant birds (Gyaos) have decided to invade Japan yet again and Gamera makes its first appearance in Shinjuku and what an appearance it is. He literally drops out of the sky, toasts the entire area with fire, kills a few of the Gyaos...and a lot of the citizenry at the same time. He does save a little boy, though, so that sort of balances things out.
We also have appearances by a shadowy agency monitoring Gamera and the other monsters. It seems that the government still doesn't trust Gamera no matter how many times its helped save the world. You can't really blame the government, though, as they have to consider the ordinary people. There is also a lot more death, and a few genuinely creepy moments, especially when Ayana literally bonds with a partially grown Iris. She opens her shirt, says "It's hot" and it verges on wish fulfillment by some unsatisfied middle-aged dudes who get their jollies out of looking at partially clad (or less) teenage girls. Verges on, but(IMO) never crosses over.
In the climactic showdown between a fully grown Iris and Gamera, the giant turtle comes to the aid of humanity in a thrilling battle at a superbly constructed (and miniaturized) Kyoto Station. While the outcome is never really in doubt, getting there is half the battle and it's a thriller all the way.
The pluses of this film are many. The music is excellent. It conveys menace and suspense. When Gamera first appears, the music underscores its arrival as if to say "Gamera is going to kick major butt". (And it does). The direction is also crisp and sure. Mr. Kaneko (director) understand the source material, uses a number of cinematic techniques showing the action from all participants, and keeps things moving. This is one of those rare kaiju movies where something is always happening.
The acting is fine. Shinobu Nakayama as the lead scientist is as talented as she is pretty, Ayako Fujitani returns to help Ai Maeda understand what's involved when psychically linking up with a monster, and the other parts are also well handled. Ai Maeda, steely-eyed for the majority of the picture, shows how revenge can damage someone in more ways than one.
I have to say that the special effects (models, CGI, people in rubber suits) are all used to their maximum advantage. All in all, this is probably THE finest monster mash ever made and worth seeing.
The only drawback was the script occasionally verging into muddled territory when exploring the government's incompetence (a common theme in the Gamera trilogy) but that's relatively minor. This is one flick you should see. -
jamesrupert201423 April 2017This time Gamera, who is still channelling a young woman, takes on Isis, an immense tentacled monster who also has a psychic connection to a young woman. The resulting fights, especially the climatic showdown in the Kyoto train station are spectacular but overall, the film starts to get a bit repetitive towards the end. The whole Gamera as some sort of 'Gaia guardian' story arc is starting to wear thin, as is the magical pendant sub-plot. Isis (named for a cat who was a collateral fatality the last time Gamera saved humanity) is somehow connected with an ancient religious site and a magic stone. As well, there is an annoying, pretentious sort-of-Goth guy who drones on about the end of mankind. Most of the pseudo-spiritual backstory made little sense to me and (IMO) contributed nothing to the film (which at its core is a monster movie). I also didn't much like the realisation of "Isis", which was not particularly well done in some of the flying scenes and in general, looked too much like a crossover from the 'mecha' genre. Again, lots of good 'army mobilization' footage as the JDF is once again recruited to futilely shoot at the rampaging Kaija. Overall: OK (probably good to very good for fans) but (IMO) the weakest of the three Heisei Gamera offerings.
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MlleSedTortue21 August 2020Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris is quite unlike any other kaiju film ever made. It sees the filmmakers taking the lessons learned from their previous experiences and delivering what is possibly the most satisfying conclusion one could ask this epic trilogy.
Revenge of Iris takes the story full circle. It has the greatest strength any monster film could have, a compelling human story. This one taking a look at the impact the genre's larger than life creatures have on the world around them. Ayana and her monster Iris serve has the perfect foil against Gamera. It's a spiritual film that ultimately asks one to have faith. To have faith in Gamera and what he represents, a force of good that will never surrender no matter what.
The special effects are absolutely marvelous. I highly recommend you get a hold of some behind the scenes footage because the sheer effort and creativity at display is simple fantastic. The film has a interesting mix of cgi and practical effects that, while might not always be perfect, nonetheless delivers a sense of wonder and awe. It may have less monster action then the previous films, but the exchange is some of the most exemplary and intense monster spectacle out of any kaiju film.
Gamera 3 is a testament to the talent of its filmmakers. While they may have had smaller budgets and less resources than the Godzilla films of the time, their work on this trilogy exceeds them by far. Kaneko's trilogy is one of the most unique and well done monster films you'll ever have the pleasure of seeing. -
Pmust-328 March 1999Gamera is back... For those of you who liked the US version of Godzilla (I hope there aren't too many), this is a movie that you definitively won't like. It is indeed way closer to the original monster movie Spirit than the Emmerich superproduction is. A young girl, whose parents where killed by Gamera when he first fought Gyaos in 1995, finds an egg of a creature (which she names "iris", therefore the title) and raises it in order to kill Gamera. Although nice-looking, Iris is a blood fed creature, and quickly turns to be a danger for Humanity. Fortunately Gamera is still here... I was fascinated by this new Gamera. The special effects are impressive, the destruction scenes are astonishing (the first fight in Shibuya is incredible, but wait to see the Kyoto Station sequence), but in spite of this, the special effects are not the core of the movie (contrary to Emmerich's Godzilla). The human characters are as important as the monsters themselves. Although some are really "cliche" (especially the Dreamcast programmer, though funny, is pretty "useless"), the 2 heroines are well developed. The directing is quite common, nevertheless the flying sequences look very good. If you see it with the eyes of a common US movie goer, you'll hate this movie, as it may look ridiculous in a first viewing. However, the importance of the characters (the "fusion" of the girl with Iris appears to me as the discovery of her own sexuality) and the fact that the monsters are so closed to the natural calamities that strike Japan regularly (just like during the Kobe earthquake, it takes a quite long time for the Japanese government to react, and it's even more striking in Gamera 2) is more relevant that the rubber suit aspect of some closeups. Although it is not a new idea, this new Gamera flick deserves to be seen if you like monster movies and if you have not seen any, it's a good starting point.