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Gamera vs. Guiron

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Gamera vs. Guiron
Theatrical release poster
Directed byNoriaki Yuasa
Written byNisan Takahashi
Produced byHidemasa Nagata
Sandy Frank
Masaichi Nagata
StarringNobuhiro Kajima
Miyuki Akiyama
Chrystopher Murphy
Yuko Hamada
Eiji Funakoshi
Kon Omura
CinematographyAkira Kitazaki
Edited byEli Haviv
Music byKenjiro Hirose
Shunsuke Kikuchi
Distributed byAmerican International Pictures
Release date
  • March 21, 1969 (1969-03-21)
Running time
82 min
CountryTemplate:Film Japan
LanguageJapanese

Gamera vs. Guiron (ガメラ対大悪獣ギロン, Gamera Tai Daiakujū Giron, Gamera vs. Devil Monster Guiron, released in the U.S. as Attack of the Monsters), is a 1969 kaiju film, the fifth entry in the original Gamera series. It was one of five Gamera films to be featured as episodes of movie-mocking television show Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Plot

While scanning the skies through their telescope, two young boys, Akio and Tom, spy a spaceship descending into a nearby field. Stunned, bewildered, and bemused, they tell Akio's mother what they have seen, but she dismisses their story as childish nonsense. The next day, the two boys—with Akio's younger sister, Tomoko, in tow—bicycle to the site to investigate. Enthralled, Akio and Tom manage to steal into the spaceship. But then, without warning, the ship takes off, leaving Tomoko behind. It soars into outer space...toward a field of asteroids, which sends the boys into panic. However, Gamera (obviously aware of the boys' plight) appears and clears a path for the ship through the asteroids. The spaceship, flying near the speed of light, leaves Gamera behind and transports the boys to an unknown planet, where it lands on the outskirts of an alien city. Suddenly, a silver "Space" Gyaos appears, menacing the ship and the two young boys. Just before the creature attacks, a second, bizarre monster—whose head resembles a knife—emerges from an underground lair and attacks the Space Gyaos. After a violent battle, the knife-headed monster kills the Gyaos by chopping it into pieces.

Akio and Tom explore a portion of the alien city and meet the planet's only inhabitants: two beautiful women, named Barbella and Florbella, who explain that their planet, known as "Terra," orbits the sun directly opposite the earth, which is why it has never been discovered by earth's astronomers. Furthermore, Terra is facing extinction; not only is the planet growing old—and cold—the Space Gyaos race has targeted it for occupation. The knife-headed monster, which the Terrans call "Guiron," is their last defense against the Space Gyaos.

Barbella and Florbella suddenly turn on Tom and Akio and put them into restraints. Using their super-technological devices, the alien women probe the boys' minds, in the process learning about Gamera—who, they discover (again via stock footage), has a terminal soft spot for human children and is hurtling toward Terra on a rescue mission. The Terran women turn out to be cannibals and plan to feed on the boys' brains. In preparation to extract his brain for their nourishment, the women shave Akio's head. Now, however, Gamera lands on Terra in search of the boys. The women deploy Guiron to attack the giant turtle, and after a brief battle, Guiron renders Gamera helpless, sending it into a lake...unconscious and on its back.

Tom manages to free Akio, but, in the process, unintentionally releases Guiron. Out from under the aliens' control, Guiron rampages through the Terran city—even attacking its masters as they attempt to flee to Earth. The knife-headed creature slices the spacecraft in half, mortally injuring Barbella...who then dies at the hands of her own companion. Guiron attacks the base where the boys are imprisoned, but Gamera awakes and renews its assault on the alien creature. Gamera finally rams Guiron's head into the ground, and, using a missile launcher they have retrieved, the boys fire a missile at Guiron, slicing it in half and killing Florbella. Gamera uses its flame energy to weld the alien spacecraft back together, so that Akio and Tom can use it to return to earth.

Guiron

Guiron is an alien monster who normally traverses on all fours, but can also assume a bipedal stance. He is an unusual looking creature, with tough gray skin, a small mouth, sleepy looking eyes and a low, groaning bellow. The most unusual feature Guiron's anatomy, however, is the gigantic blade that he sports on his head, which is nearly as long as his body.

Guiron is mostly a melee oriented kaiju, attacking opponents with his blade. Indeed, this blade is so sharp that it can even cut through Gamera's shell. The blade also has a reflective surface that can send an enemy monsters's beam attacks back at its opponent. In addition, there is a circular indent on either side of the blade. Housed within are shuriken that it can apparently launch with some kind of psychokinesis.

Guiron acted as the guard dog of two brain-eating space women, the last of a dead civilisation on the planet Terra. The aliens guided him with a mind control device. Guiron proved his combat prowess by effortlessly defeating Space Gyaos, reflecting the flying creature's sonic beam and literally slicing it to pieces with his blade. Guiron later fought Gamera, and nearly killed him. Gamera eventually managed to defeat Guiron by flipping him upside down (his blade stuck in the earth) then igniting a missile that had gotten stuck in his circular indents, blowing his head off and killing him. In an American TV release of the movie, Guiron is only stuck into the earth, his head being blown off being cut for violence.

2010 DVD Release

Shout! Factory released the film on DVD September 21, 2010 as a double feature with Gamera vs. Jiger.[1] The films include the original Japanese dialogue with English subtitles. It also includes two different English dubs, the original AIP-TV English dub and the Sandy Frank dub (which was dubbed by Corporate Communications Ltd. in Hong Kong, who also dubbed all of Toho's Godzilla films from the 1970s and 1980s)

Trivia

  • Space Gyaos was not to be featured in the film; a new kaiju was, but due to time and budget limitations, the original Gyaos prop from Gamera vs. Gyaos was simply painted silver.
  • In the AIP-TV US release, the scene where Space Gyaos is mutilated by Guiron was removed for its graphic content.

DVD releases

Alpha Video

  • Released: November 18, 2003
  • Note: Features the American version of the film, Attack of the Monsters.

Shout! Factory

  • Released: September 21, 2010
  • Note: Features the original Japanese version of the film with English Subtitles, English dubbing by AIP Productions and Sandy Frank Entertainment, and a Publicity Gallery on Production Stills.

Mystery Science Theater 3000, Volume XXI

References

  1. ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003NHMYJC
  • Gamera web archive (Japanese)
  • Wingrove, David. Science Fiction Film Source Book (Longman Group Limited, 1985)
  • "ガメラ対大悪獣ギロン (Gamera tai Daiakujū Giron)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-07-18.

Mystery Science Theater 3000

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