(1965)
Dir - Noriaki Yuasa
Overall: MEH
Daiei Films jumps on the "over-sized reptilian on a rampage" kaiju wagon with the unremarkablely derivative Gamera, The Giant Monster, (Daikaijū Gamera, Giant Monster Gamera, Gamrea the Invisible). The first in a many-deep series of films which kicked off what is commonly referred to as the Shōwa era, it was made on a relatively modest budget after the studio's failed project Giant Horde Beast Nezura was shut down for health reasons. Plagued with production issues, the results are a mixed bag as far as the special effects are concerned. The only Gamera movie to be in black and white, this is a partial saving grace as the dark cinematography actually disguises the primitive model and suitemation work for more atmospheric effect. The flying, fire turtle title creature looks better than would be expected in this regard, but sadly the plot structure features a steady combination of the genre's most annoying cliches. It is all doctors, scientists, and military people concocting plans to stop Gamera in its tracks, none of which work of course until the very end as not to wrap things up too quickly. Worst of all though is a prominent joint story line involving an obnoxious little kid who has no friends and is obsessed with turtles, a kid that inexplicably gets himself in close proximity with all of the action while whining "Gamera!", "Nooo!", and "Put me down!" more than enough times that the audience will just pray for him to be fed to the humongous beast already.
(1966)
Dir - Shigeo Tanaka
Overall: MEH
Quickly put into production after the success of Gamera, the Giant Monster, Gamera vs. Barugon, (Daikaijū kettō: Gamera tai Barugon, Great Monster Duel: Gamera vs. Barugon, War of the Monsters), is just as "giant monster movie by numbers" as its predecessor. The film was shot in color and given an A-level budget, with the previous director Noriaki Yuasa handling the special effects sequences and Shigeo Tanaka stepping in behind the lens, making this the only kaiju work on his resume. After a quick recap, things get right to the fun stuff with the title beast attacking the Kurobe Damn and spinning around like a lit-up UFO in the sky to find more bright and shinny sources of energy. Sadly, the human drama then takes over for a prolonged amount of time before the other title beast Barugon hatches from an opal and terrorizes everyone, including Gamera who he puts into a frozen coma due to the ice blasts that he can propel from his tongue. Thankfully, the plot largely forgets the non-monster characters after awhile and the suitmation/toy puppet mash-em up sequences are hilariously stupid enough to forgive the overall textbook formula, even if the cinematography is often too murky to properly take advantage of the color format.
(1967)
Dir - Noriaki Yuasa
Overall: MEH
Things get back on the kid-friendly track with Gamera vs. Gyaos, (Daikaijū kūchūsen: Gamera tai Gyaosu, Giant Monster Midair Battle: Gamera vs. Gyaohe, Return of the Giant Monsters), the third entry in the Gamera series. Original director Noriaki Yuasa was delegated to merely handling the special effects sequences in the previous Gamera vs. Barugon, but he is back at the helm proper here with regular screenwriter Niisan Takahashi still in charge of the screenplay. Unfortunately, this also entailed the decision to have yet another slightly annoying child protagonist who is enthralled with the title monster for some reason. The script goes as far as to have him relay obvious information to the grown ups that help them combat the nocturnal Gyaos, a creature that was pitched by Yuasa as a vampiric/Dracula kaiju answer to Toho's giant Frankenstein in Frankenstein Conquers the World. They ended up going with just another goofy looking dinosaur with a pointy head who only comes out at night and shoots yellow lasers from his pointy-teethed mouth. The battle scenes between the two over-grown beasts are of the usual hilariously dated variety, no more or less absurd looking than any other such movie getting regularly churned out at the time. Even Yuasa was not a fan of stock human characters breaking up the action, yet they are still a fixture here with a story revolving around protests to the construction of a highway, all of which provides the bare minimum of a contemporary backdrop for more monster smashy scenes.
(1968)
Dir - Noriaki Yuasa
Overall: MEH
Daiei's own kaiju series continues on with Gamera vs. Viras, (Gamera tai Uchū Kaijū Bairasu, Gamera vs. Outer Space Monster Viras, Destroy All Planets), the cheapest and dumbest entry yet. Due to financial woes for the studio, the budget was limited here which resulted in a significant amount of reused footage. Far more annoying though is the asinine story which pits two boy scouts against an alien race that is hellbent on conquering the earth. These two brats manage to not only rewire a US military submarine, but also thwart the extraterrestrial spaceship's controls by effortlessly bamboozling them. Such "Bah, who cares?" plot contrivances and jaunty music both set the tone squarely in the kid-friendly zone, plus the absolutely abysmal special effects further heighten such silliness. The other giant monster of the title reveals itself to be a big, floppy squid-like creature that is as hilariously awful looking as any kaiju creation ever was. There are plenty of embarrassing shots featuring the two of them duking it out in the finale, plus both the interiors and exteriors of the spaceship are equally bottom-barrel. At least the inconsequential human drama is largely eliminated and there are some amusing elements regarding the glowing-eyed aliens that are visually memorable.
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