Gamera vs. Guiron

Gamera vs. Guiron
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Noriaki Yuasa
Produced by	Hidemasa Nagata Sandy Frank Masaichi Nagata
Written by	Nisan Takahashi
Starring	Nobuhiro Kajima Miyuki Akiyama Chrystopher Murphy Yuko Hamada Eiji Funakoshi Kon Omura
Music by	Kenjiro Hirose Shunsuke Kikuchi
Cinematography	Akira Kitazaki
Edited by	Eli Haviv
Production company	Daiei Film
Distributed by	AIP-TV
Release dates	March 21, 1969 (1969-03-21)
Running time	82 min
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Gamera vs. Guiron (ガメラ対大悪獣ギロン, Gamera Tai Daiakujū Giron, Gamera vs. Giant Evil Beast Guiron, released in the U.S. as Attack of the Monsters), is a 1969 kaiju ("monster") genre 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 ginzu knife—emerges from an underground lair and attacks the Space Gyaos. The Gyaos emits a beam that reflects off the new creature's blade-shaped head and cuts off its own leg. After a short battle, the knife-headed creature lunges and chops off one, then the other, of the Gyaos' wings. The creature cuts the helpless Gyaos' head off and brutally cuts the body into smaller pieces and then retreats back to its lair.

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 have 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 and its soft spot for human children. It is revealed that the Terran women are cannibals that plan to feed on the boys' brains. In preparation to extract Akio's brain for their nourishment, the women shave the child's head. On a rescue mission, Gamera lands on Terra in search of the boys. The women deploy Guiron to attack the giant turtle. Guiron planned to sever Gamera in half, but Gamera grabs one of Guiron's front legs and chomps onto it. Guiron tried to shake off the towering tortoise. Wrapping his tail onto a monolith, Gamera throws Guiron into a canyon, causing his ginzu-head to be stuck. Gamera used his flamethrower on Guiron. Guiron used his shurikens to penetrate Gamera's cheeks. Gamera tried to heal his wounds by grabbing ice-like boulders. Guiron used his shurikens again. This time, Gamera used the longest boulder to ricochet the shurikens into Guiron's own body. Guiron trudges away while Gamera tumbles into a lake unconscious and on his back.

Tom manages to free Akio, but, in the process, unintentionally releases Guiron. No longer under the aliens' control, Guiron rampages through the Terran city — even attacking its own mistresses as they attempt to flee to Earth. The knife-headed creature slices the spacecraft in half, mortally injuring Barbella; Florbella kills Barbella as she relates that useless members of her society are euthanized. While Guiron attacks the base where the boys are imprisoned, Gamera awakes and renews his assault on the alien creature, ultimately ramming Guiron's head into the ground. Florbella attempts to flee on a rocket, but the vehicle is sliced in half by Guiron and she dies as a result. Gamera catches half of the rocket and spears Guiron into his shuriken base. Gamera uses his flamethrower on Guiron where the rocket was; the rocket explodes, severing Guiron in half. Gamera uses his flame energy to weld the alien spacecraft back together and carries the ship and the two boys back to Earth. On Earth, the boys are returned to their mothers and they all say goodbye to Gamera as he flies off into the night.

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 green 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 ground) then igniting a missile that had gotten stuck in his circular indents, killing him. In an American TV release of the movie, part of the fight between Gyaos and Guiron, mostly the scene where Gyaos is chopped into pieces, was deleted.

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
• Version: Features the American version of the film, Attack of the Monsters.

Mill Creek Entertainment

• Released: 2005
• Version: Features the American version of the film, Attack of the Monsters.
• Note: Part of a 5-disc set, Monsters containing 19 other films.

Shout! Factory

• Released: September 21, 2010
• Versions: the original Japanese version of the film with English Subtitles, English dubbing by AIP Productions and Sandy Frank Entertainment
• Supplements: Publicity Gallery on Production Stills.
• Note: The disc also includes the 1970 film Gamera vs. Jiger

Shout! Factory: Mystery Science Theater 3000, Volume XXI

• Released: August 2, 2011
• Version: MST3K episode 312-Gamera vs. Guiron
• Supplements: So Happy Together Featurette, Gamera Obscura Featurette, Gamera vs. the Chiodo Brothers, MST hour wraps, Japanese Trailers, and 5 mini-posters
• Note: In addition to the Gamera vs. Guiron episode, the set came packaged with four other MST3K episodes: Gamera, Gamera vs. Barugon, Gamera vs. Gyaos, and Gamera vs. Zigra

Mill Creek Entertainment

• Releasted: April 29, 2014
• Note: Part of the 4-disc set, "Gamera Legacy Collection", which features all 11 Gamera films made from 1965 through 1999.

References

• Wingrove, David. Science Fiction Film Source Book (Longman Group Limited, 1985)

External links

• Gamera vs. Guiron at IMDb
• Gamera vs. Guiron is available for free download at the Internet Archive
• Gamera vs. Guiron at AllMovie
• Gamera vs. Guiron at Monster Shack Movie Reviews

Mystery Science Theater 3000

• 'Mystery Science Theater 3000 Gamera vs. Guiron (TV episode 1989) at IMDb
• Episode guide: K08- Gamera vs. Guiron