Gamera the Brave [DVD]

An interesting mix of Showa cheese with Heisei effects give us Gamera the Brave, the final Gamera film of the early 2000s (and currently the final Gamera film created, hopefully that will change soon). A fast plot synopsis: a young boy named Toru finds a Gamera egg and takes it home, it grows into a full sized Gamera, and fights Zedus, a nasty human-eating Dilophosaurus-covered-in-spikes monster that's been terrorizing the locals.I would recommend any fan of Gamera films needs to add this one to their collection. The plot feels right at home with the early 60s films but with the more modern tokusatsu styles we see in the Heisei Gamera trilogy. The only parts I was disappointed with this film was the soundtrack was rather weak compared to Kow Otani's scores and a few parts were so cheesy my lactose intolerance was maxed out. Otherwise, a fun campy Gamera film that works as a weak sequel but a better reboot standalone.

In the 1990s Japanese studios began making new Kaiju films using famous ones from the 1960s. Thus there were a series of Gamera films with this one coming out in 2006. The franchise remained aimed at kids as the main character was a middle school student who finds a turtle who turns into Gamera and saves a town from a giant sea beast. Daiei who owned the rights to Gamera finally put in the money after 40 years to make it a decent flick. The monster Gamera goes up against Zedus looks real good. Gamera on the other hand looks nice and cuddly with big eyes again to appeal to the kiddies. Still it comes out as a decent Kaiju flick.

Competently made, but nowhere near as good as the marvellous Gamera trilogy made in the late Nineties. This movie reverts to the old (and to me, tiresome) theme of Gamera being a friend to children. The kids call him "Toto", and by the end of the movie I felt that if I heard one more kid yell, "Toto!" I was going to tear my hair out by the roots.Nor is the redesign of Gamera himself (he has a blunter, rounder snout, which gives him a juvenile appearance) particularly flattering. His opponent Zedus, however, is a pretty good piece of design, menacing and scary.In my opinion, for completists only. The Nineties trilogy were probably the best kaiju movies ever made; it's just disappointing that the studio found themselves unable to make a compelling followup.

I love this movie!! It's just so heartwarming, just what I needed lately.The movie starts out with a freaking sweet Gamera fight scene where he dies, but then they fast-forward to some kid with problems finding a Gamera egg and the adorableness takes off from there. I dunno how they got that little baby tortoise to be so cute, but he follows the kid around like a puppy and I LOVE HIM.This movie came out in 2006, which is well within the dark ages of CGI crap taking over, but I'm happy to say that they used almost exclusively suitmation in this one, and it looks AMAZING.There are parts in this movie with some blood and minor gore (Gamera gets stabbed pretty badly in the side at one point) so it might not be as kid appropriate as one might first think, but good grief, I can't recommend this movie enough. Five stars.

I had never seen a Gamera movie before - hell, I hadn't even heard of then, but them I am old and out of touch with modern kids' movies. Anyway, I thought this movie was okay. In some places it was absurd. The kid breaks away from his dad and the two almost come to blows (actually the dad slaps the kid at one point) because the kid is so intent on getting some magic stone to the Gamera, his bosom buddy. After all the haste, he stands in front of the trapped monster/pet and gives a soliloquy - four or five minutes worth. That was absurd, totally absurd. However, it did not ruin the movie for me. It didn't help it, but it didn't ruin it. Would I watch another Gamera movie? According to some reviews, the earlier movies were better, so, I think I would give one of them a try.

Order arrived in timely manner. I'm holding off watching it until my son is home on leave. I've been a Godzilla/Gamera fan for years. When this particular movie was released, I kept an eye out for it online for a while, only to be let down when I couldn't find this particular movie to add to my collection. I was thrilled to see this movie for sale (finally!) and I grabbed it up. I notified my son who is away on deployment. He's just as happy as I am that I finally found a copy. Saving the movie watching until he can enjoy the movie with me! Thank you for making two people very happy that this movie was made available!

My biggest complaint about all of these types of movies is always the same, the monster aspect is usually pretty good but then they have to bring in the human part of the story which is usually dull or just plain stupid, In this case it is both. A kid (so typically stupid) finds an egg on an island that used to be Gamera who got beat up by another monster and died and became the island. The egg hatches and starts to grow fast and becomes Gamera but still a relative baby and has to fight a bigger monster and well, yada, yada, you get the picture. If you are a fan of these movies, definitely watch it is not take a pass.

Cute and exciting. My favorite Gamera films are the trilogy in the 90s however this one is right after those. It’s a great mix of cuteness and action without being overly child friendly (there’s some impressive monster carnage and destruction here). Gamera looks great, the origin story is heartwarming, and the diva monster is a great design. I loved this movie.

I loved it! Great fun and just the right amount of old school cheese in it.Don't expect it to win any Oscars, but on its own, great entertainment.D

Gamera The Brave is the first Gamera movie since the mid-1990s reboot series that overhauled the character. While those movies were darker and more adult in tone, Gamera The Brave returns to the series roots, presenting a more family-friendly giant fire-breathing turtle. Kids are the target audience for this movie, but it's not so "kiddie" that older viewers can't enjoy it too. Fans of the 1990s Gamera films might be disappointed though.Gamera The Brave is another series reboot, this time starting off with a young boy who recently lost his mother finding a cute baby turtle, which he raises in secret. Of course this turtle is actually a Gamera, and it soon grows very large. This attracts the attention of the sea monster Zedus who comes ashore and beats down Gamera in a one-sided fight. When Gamera is taken away to a large city by scientists, Zedus follows in an attempt to finish Gamera off once and for all. Gamera will need the help of the children if he wants to defeat Zedus.Gamera The Brave is definitely a children's movie: the main characters are all kids (who thankfully aren't annoying) and Gamera himself looks cute with his big round eyes, and he makes funny squeaking noises like he's some sort of giant squeezable toy. All his sharp edges have been sanded down. The fights aren't as violent as they were in previous Gamera movies, although there is a bit of green blood.Outside of the intro, there are two monster battles in Gamera The Brave: one at around the halfway mark and the climactic fight at the end. The combat looks good, even though there's not as much "epic" destruction as there is in other recent monster films or even the previous Gamera movies. A combination of men-in-suits, CGI, and miniatures bring the combat to life, and the effects are pretty good. The fights take place in daylight and are easy to follow.The Gamera The Brave DVD is decent. The picture quality is good, and the movie is presented in a widescreen format with the option to watch with either English voice-overs or the original Japanese dialog with English subtitles. Subtitles are easy to read.To date, Gamera The Brave is the last Gamera film. Hopefully, that changes soon. Gamera The Brave sits in between the cheap, campy 1960s originals and the well-regarded '90s versions; it's one of the better Gamera films, but definitely not the best.

Der letzte bisher gedrehte Gamera-Film ist ja leider nur in französisch bzw. japanisch mit französichen Untertiteln für Region 2 (Europa) erhältlich. Ist man ein bisschen der französischen Sprache mächtig, läßt sich die Handlung per Untertitel gut verfolgen. Aber bei den Gamera-Streifen gibts ja auch genug "Action", lange Kommentar-Passagen sind da seltener. Die Qualität der DVD ist einwandfrei, Bild und Ton sind in Ordnung. Der Inhalt des Films ist interessant, humorvoll und die Tricks sind super und einfallsreich. Die Story baut sich langsam auf, der Bösewicht des Films "Zedus" taucht erst nach 40 Minuten auf. Für Fans ein absolutes Muss, auch wenn in der Gamera-Reihe als Hauptdarsteller mehr die Kinder im Vordergrund stehen. Diese haben aber anscheinend sowieso eine bessere Antenne zu großen "Tieren" und deren Ideen und Vorschläge punkten eben besser als die starre Vorgehensweise der Erwachsenen.

Hat alles geklappt.

Beau film familial comptant l'amitié d'un petit garçon, orphelin de sa mère, avec une tortue un peu spéciale qui s'avérera être un gigantesque monstre protecteur des Hommes. La détermination des enfants est mise en valeur lors de scènes touchantes, et les effets spéciaux traditionnels des films de monstres japonais (marionettes et comédiens en costumes) sont très réussis. Une belle introduction au mythe de Gamera pour les enfants et leurs parents !