Following up on the success of Gamera vs. Barugon, Daei Studios wasted no time in keeping audiences glued to their new giant monster franchise. However, research showed that the growing theater patrons were kids, not adults. Bored by the lengthy human drama, Daei created Gamera's next film around Gaos (pronounced G-ow-s), cutting much of the human element out in the process.
If there's one thing someone could learn from this third film in the series, it's that the writers and monster designers had plenty of imagination. Gaos is a wild design, with an angular head, glowing ears, and a beam weapon that splits anything cleanly in half. Like the first film, a child is the key character here, an obvious result to the market research.
The elaborate and completely ridiculous means of trying to eliminate Gaos are another effort to appeal to their newly realized fans. Thought up by the child, the apparent scientific community and military are clueless. Believing that building a massive spinning structure would make him dizzy, forcing him to stay out in the sun long enough to kill him (the giant critter dies when exposed to the sun) would actually work is incomprehensible. For all the wild and entertaining goofiness the film brings with it, it somehow adds to the charm.
Gamera vs. Gaos also carries over a problem from the last effort, and that's a short-term involvement from Gamera. While the two beasts struggle often, it's generally brief, and the military spends the majority of the film performing various methods to dispatch of Gaos. Gamera simply flies in when they're all but defeated.
The budget here is definitely cut (said to only be $165,000), settling on forest fights than cities to trim down on the miniature work. The Gamera suit loses its meaner edge of the previous film, now with gaudy yellow, huge eyes and rounder face. Matte work, rear projection, and blue screen effects work effectively where used. The few miniatures that are used are spectacular, including a classic scene of Gaos's beam weapon splitting a passenger helicopter in mid-air and the stunning destruction of a rail yard. Other effects, like Gaos flying completely immobile, are inexcusably bad.
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