Superhero Media: Gamera - Guardian of the Universe

Oddly, I'm pretty sure I saw Gamera - Guardian of the Universe after I saw Gamera 2 - Attack of Legion, despite that being the reverse order. The only real time Gamera got a reboot, this series of films from the 1990s is, to date, the only time Gamera would surpass Godzilla, both in Box Office and public regard. When scientists start mysteriously disappearing whilst investigating rare birds, Inspector Osako leads research scientist Mayumi Nagamine to discover the horrific Gyos, giant ancient creatures that feed on human flesh. Meanwhile, Yoshinari Yonemori and his crew discover a large floating mass of the coast of Japan, covered in metal objects, including a massive plate of indiscernible hieroglyphics. When a plan is hatched to capture the Birds in a Tokyo stadium, the roof breaks open to reveal Gamera, Gyos' natural enemy. People are stunned and confused until Asagi, Yoshinari's daughter, claims to be in mental contact with Gamera; he is the protector of the Earth and here to fight Gyos. 

Probably what I like best about Guardian of the Universe is that it's just a solid action film with a good cast where the hero and villains happen to be in big rubber suits. The pacing is good, the cast is solid and even the updated Gamera Theme on the soundtrack is pretty banging. As always, the scale-model sets that Gamera and Gyos wrestle over are beautiful, and, as far as I can tell, around 1/32 scale, so the detail is superb. With some CGI effects laid over the top, the Kaiju fights are a sight to behold, especially as any earthly happenings, like lightning and explosions, are still practical. There's nothing overtly political or deeper in what's happening in Guardian of the Universe, but it's still one of the best Kaiju films ever made, in my own estimation, mostly because all of the pieces putting it together are well-crafted. I think the sequel, Attack of Legion is even better, and probably my favourite Kaiju film, but Guardian of the Universe would make any theoretical "Top 10" I were to do, though probably lower than Shin Godzilla and Godzilla II - King of the Monsters. 

As I mentioned, my girlfriend has been watching snippets of some Gamera films with me and mostly poking fun at how dumb they are; I made her sit down and watch all of Guardian of the Universe, which she ended up enjoying, even if she's in no mad rush to see more classic Kaiju. I think I'll be keeping Guardian of the Universe in my "back pocket", so to speak, for showing people who haven't seen any Japanese Kaiju and need to eased into it, because it's a solid film even before being a great monster outing. I bought the entirety of the Gamera series on DVD, but I'm honestly not sure where you can go to see these unless you track them down yourself; though they're probably online somewhere if you know where to look. I'd gush more, but I need to save some fanboy squees for Attack of Legion. Seriously though, go see Guardian of the Universe.