Gamera vs. Barugon

Gamera Films
← Gamera	Gamera vs. Barugon	Gamera vs. Gyaos →

Gamera vs. Barugon Alternate titles Giant Monster Duel: Gamera Against Barugon (1966) War of the Monsters (TV 1967) See alternate titles Directed by Shigeo Tanaka Producer Masaichi Nagata Written by Nisan Takahashi Music by Chuuji Kinoshita Distributor DaieiJP American International TelevisionUS Rating Not Rated Budget ¥80,000,000 Running time 100 minutesJP (1 hour, 40 minutes) 88 minutesUS (1 hour, 28 minutes) Aspect ratio 2.35:1

Gamera vs. Barugon (大怪獣決闘 ガメラ対バルゴン,   Daikaijū Kettō: Gamera Tai Barugon, lit. Giant Monster Duel: Gamera Against Barugon) is a 1966 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Daiei Motion Picture Company and a sequel to Daiei's previous giant monster movie, Gamera, making it the second entry in the Gamera series. It was released to Japanese theaters on April 17, 1966.

Plot

A meteorite collides with the Z Plan rocket transporting Gamera to Mars. Gamera, now freed, returns to Japan, destroys Kurobe Dam and takes off. Meanwhile, a mysterious group of travelers visit an island in the South Pacific. They plan to steal huge jewel from a cave protected by a local village. Eventually, they journey to the cave and find the opal. Traveling back to civilization, the only thief to survive the "heist" leaves the jewel beneath an infra-red light while playing poker. The light ends up incubating and hatch a giant monster from the opal, Barugon. Barugon emerges from the ship as it comes into Kobe harbor, destroying it. Barugon then attacks Osaka, freezing large parts of the city with a freezing tongue ray, and destroying a missile strike with a rainbow ray. Gamera, attracted by the rainbow ray, arrives on the scene. Barugon and Gamera fight. Gamera does well, until Barugon uses the freeze ray. Gamera then gets frozen solid and falls inert onto the ground. Victorious, Barugon departs Osaka for the next large urban target. Keisuke and Karen find Onodera, and wrest a confession about Kano's death from him. In the ensuing fight, Keisuke beats up on Onodera and ties him up. Keisuke and Karen then go to the Japanese defense ministry. There Karen outlines the "Diamond Lure" defense. This plans uses the giant diamond of the Black Tribe to lure Barugon into a lake to drown. The plan is effected but fails to move Barugon out into the lake. Afterwards it is theorized that the infra-red radiation has made Barugon immune to the effects of the "Diamond Lure". Another plan, the "Infra-red Diamond Lure" defense is hatched. This would involve putting the Black Tribe diamond in an infra-red generator and using the resultant ray to lure Barugon to a watery death. Karen reveals that rain weakens Barugon and the Japanese military keeps Barugon doused with artificial rain. The "Infra-red Diamond Lure" defense is put into effect. Onodera, however, gets wind of the plan and resolves to steal the Black Tribe diamond. The plan is executed and this time Barugon follows the lure without hesitation. Just as Barugon is about to be drawn into heavy water, Onodera bursts on the scene and steals the Black Tribe diamond. Barugon approaches the boat carrying the infra-red generator and destroys it. Barugon then eats Onodera - and the Black Tribe diamond. Having failed, the Japanese military keeps Barugon sedated with rain. In dejection, Keizuke and Karen visit the site of Barugon's attack on the missile battery and discover an anomaly, everything but glass has been destroyed. From this comes the theory that Barugon's infra-red beam can be reflected. With this information, the "Reflect attack" plan is hatched. A giant mirror is constructed and put in front of Barugon. Barugon is then goaded into firing the rainbow ray. The mirror reflects the ray back upon Barugon, but the monster stops firing before the ray can be lethal. This exchange again attracts Gamera, who has thawed out after last battling Barugon. This time, Gamera overcomes Barugon, and eventually manages to drag Barugon into deep water, where the monster drowns. The threat vanquished, Gamera flies away without causing any further destruction.

Staff

Main article: Gamera vs. Barugon/Credits.

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

• Directed by   Shigeo Tanaka
• Written by   Nisan Takahashi
• Produced by   Masaichi Nagata
• Music by   Chuji Kinoshita
• Cinematography by   Michio Takahashi
• Edited by   Tatsuji Nakashizu
• Production design by   Atsuji Shibata
• Assistant directing by   Segawa Masao
• Special effects by   Noriaki Yuasa

Cast

Main article: Gamera vs. Barugon/Credits.

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

• Kojiro Hongo   as   Keisuke Hirata
• Kyoko Enami   as   Karen
• Yuzo Hayakawa   as   Kawajiri
• Takuya Fujioka   as   Dr. Sato
• Koji Fujiyama   as   Onodera
• Akira Natsuki   as   Ichiro Hirata
• Yoshio Kitahara   as   Professor Amano
• Ichiro Sugai   as   Dr. Matsushita
• Bontaro Miake   as   Self-Defense Force General
• Jutaro Hojo   as   Self-Defense Force Commander
• Kazuko Wakamatsu   as   Sadae Hirata
• Yuka Konno   as   Onodera's Lover
• Eiichi Takamura   as   Governor of Osaka
• Kenichi Tani   as   Lee
• Koichi Ito   as   Metropolitan Police Superintendent-General
• Hikaru Hoshi   as   Awaji Maru Captain
• Osamu Abe   as   Awaji Maru Crewman
• Jun Osanai
• Yoshihiro Hamaguchi   as   Awaji Maru Crewman
• Joe Ohara   as   Karen's Father
• Tsutomu Nakata   as   Hayashi
• Yuji Moriya   as   News Announcer (voice)
• Shinji Kawashima
• Gai Harada   as   Kishimoto
• Kazuo Mori   as   Awaji Maru Crewman
• Shin Minatsu   as   Awaji Maru Crewman
• Takehiko Goto
• Toichiro Kagawa   as   Man at Observatory
• Nobuko Shingu
• Hiroko Nishi
• Michiyo Hikari
• Takashi Masuda Dance Company
• Teruo Aragaki   as   Gamera

Appearances

Monsters

• Gamera
• Barugon

Weapons, Vehicles, and Races

• Type 61 Tank
• M24 Chaffee Tank
• Lockheed F-104 Starfighter
• Bell 47 helicopter
• Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw
• Giant Parabolic Mirror

Gallery

Main article: Gamera vs. Barugon/Gallery.

DVD and Blu-ray Releases

Shout! Factory DVD (2010)

• Region: 1
• Discs: 1
• Audio: Japanese (1.0 Mono)
• Special Features: Audio commentary by August Ragone and Jason Varney, booklet, original movie program

Mill Creek DVD (2014) [Gamera: Legacy Collection]

• Region: 1
• Discs: 4
• Audio: Japanese (1.0 Mono)
• Special Features: None
• Notes: Packaged with Gamera, Gamera vs. Gyaos, Gamera vs. Viras, Gamera vs. Guiron, Gamera vs. Jiger, Gamera vs. Zigra, Gamera: Super Monster, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, and Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris.

Mill Creek Blu-ray (2014) [Gamera: Ultimate Collection, Volume 1]

• Region: N/A
• Discs: 2
• Audio: Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0)
• Special Features: None
• Notes: Packaged with Gamera, Gamera vs. Gyaos, and Gamera vs. Viras.

Videos

Japanese Gamera vs. Barugon trailer Japanese trailer for Daimajin and Gamera vs. Barugon All shots from Gamera vs. Barugon removed from War of the Monsters Sandy Frank Film Syndication Credits Sandy Frank Film Syndication End Titles Gamera vs. Barugon on Commander USA's Groovie Movies Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode 304 - Gamera vs. Barugon Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode 304 - Gamera vs. Barugon

Trivia

• This is the only Showa Gamera film not to feature a child protagonist.
• This is the first Gamera movie to feature another monster.
• This is the only Showa Gamera film not to be directed by Noriaki Yuasa
• The film's plot was later adapted into a manga by Kadokawa, which aimed to place it into the Heisei timeline.
• Gamera vs. Barugon was theatrically released in Japan on a double-bill with Daimajin.
• The international dub of Gamera vs. Barugon, as released by Sandy Frank Film Syndication, was featured on Season 3 of the movie-mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. It was also the first Gamera movie riffed on the show during its original broadcast on the Minneapolis-area station KTMA.
• Gamera vs. Barugon was one of a record six giant monster films to be released theatrically in Japan in 1966, the others being War of the Gargantuas, Ebirah, Horror of the Deep and the Daimajin trilogy. The television shows Ultra Q and Ultraman also aired in 1966.

References

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