With the announcement that a new Gamera project is in the works, I thought it might be interesting to do a ranking of all twelve Gamera films. This is quite exciting for me since I’ve recently become enamoured with tokusatsu but have been finding it difficult to get my hands on various important series and franchises. However, Gamera was the first tokusatsu franchise that I was able to watch in its entirety so it makes sense that my first ranking of tokusatsu be the Gamera films.
12. Gamera vs. Viras
If you’re familiar with the Gamera films then it might be a mild surprise to see Gamera vs. Viras ranked at the bottom but I can honestly say that, while watching the twelve Gamera films, Gamera vs. Viras was the only truly miserable experience I had during this franchise. Most of the film follows two young boys who are trapped on a spaceship who are insufferably irritating as they awkwardly provide humour and outwit these supposedly highly intelligent aliens. The worst crime that I think this film commits though is making the titular battle between Gamera and Viras so uninteresting. If I ever watch through the twelve Gamera films again, this’ll easily be the one I dread most.
11. Gamera: Super Monster
If we’re looking at which Gamera film is objectively the worst then there is no doubt that Gamera: Super Monster is the worst film in the franchise and should theoretically be at the bottom of this ranking. Daiei Film had the gall to cobble together an awkward storyline about superhero alien women fighting against an enemy that reuses all six of Gamera’s foes prior to this film and when I say reuse I mean they literally use the same footage present in the previous movies. So having said all that, why do I like it more than Gamera vs. Viras? While the main storyline is horrible, I do get some amusement from how over the top and cheesy it is and the reused footage does mean that we essentially get a best of when it comes to Gamera fights. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a terrible film but I found myself more offended by Gamera vs. Viras than with Gamera: Super Monster.
10. Gamera vs. Zigra
Gamera vs. Zigra is a very odd film to me. I do really like Zigra’s design, there’s some amusing twists and turns in the story and the fight between Gamera and Zigra is decent. However, the children are once again quite annoying to watch and there are some truly confusing and frustrating bits in the movie with my best example being a scene where Gamera is sneaking up to Zigra to recover something, ideally without being noticed, and for some reason throws a rock at him! I have absolutely no idea why he did that!
9. Gamera vs. Jiger
This is where we begin to transition from films that I struggled to enjoy to ones that I actually did. Jiger is actually quite an interesting kaiju with a surprisingly diverse range of abilities, making for some decent battles between her and Gamera. The main plotline also has some decent surprises that help to shake up the Gamera film formula. The children border on tolerable and, while the pacing can drag in a couple of scenes, this results in Gamera vs. Jiger actually being a decent film.
8. Gamera vs. Guiron
Gamera vs. Guiron commits several of the same sins as the worst films in the Gamera franchise with annoying kid protagonists, bumbling and incompetent villains and awkward humour (looking at you policeman!). However, there’s several reasons why Gamera vs. Guiron sets itself apart and actually ends up being quite an enjoyable film. For one, I love Guiron’s design and the battles between him and Gamera are actually quite interesting to watch. Additionally, the shift to an alien environment is quite refreshing and provides some humour that, surprisingly, actually works. While Gamera vs. Guiron isn’t a particularly great film, it’s one that I can actually derive a surprising amount of enjoyment from.
7. Gamera, the Giant Monster
The original Gamera film that setup the franchise is a decent kaiju film which introduces us to Gamera and most of his abilities and, while a bit too derivative of Godzilla here and there, provides plenty of enjoyment. In fact, this film would be ranked much higher if it wasn’t for possibly the most annoying character in the entire franchise, Toshio. The reason I find him so frustrating is that he goes against the emotions felt by all of the other characters in the film and, worst of all, the audience. In this film, Gamera is definitively a villain who is causing mass death and destruction to the people of Japan and Toshio does his best, which isn’t very much, to counter the efforts to subdue or get rid of Gamera. I truly despise him as a character and he drags the enjoyment of the film down dramatically.
Be sure to check out “My Ranking Of The Gamera Franchise Part 2“!
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!