Gamera vs Barugon, its one of the most grounded and darkest entries in the Gamera series, and its also one of the better made ones.The film takes a while to get things going, the monsters appear rather late into the film, but its not a big issue because the rest of the film its actually pretty well made.You start to care about the main characters, something that many other monster movies don't have, you also learn to hate its villain, who has a rather satisfying death scene.It starts as an adventure film, then it turns into a crime movie, then it finally turns into a monster movie, it uses very typical elements of this kind of monster movie, its nothing new, but its very entertaining.The monster fights are a little bit off at times, but they are mostly intense and really fun, actually, there are only a few monster fights and they are kinda of far in between.The film has a message about the human greed and about leaving nature alone, but that's just a side note, the real reason you want to watch this film its because of the monsters, the monster Barugon its a rip-off of another monster from the Godzilla series, called Baragon, just one letter away, in fact much of this film its very similar to Godzilla Raids Again (1955).Even with some flaws, the film manages to be engaging and entertaining and not in a cheesy way but a genuine way, this is one of the most grounded entries in the Gamera series and also a very good one.

"War of the Monsters", which is the version I have(still the same film)is an entertaining movie that picks up where the original Gamera leaves off. Gamera was sent to Mars but a meteor destroys the rocket and Gamera returns to earth. He first destroys a dam then takes off. Later, a group of men forge passports and pose as sailors on a merchant vessel to go to an island where a huge ruby is hidden. The ruby turns out to be an egg of a giant monster, Barugon. A infrared heat lamp accidentally shines on it and hatches it. It grows to full size by the time the ship reaches port. One of the men returning with the ruby double-crosses the rest of his partners. This is a nice murder/suspense sub-plot which enhances the destruction caused by Baugon and Gamera. Not quite up to par with Godzilla but a fine film nonetheless.

This is the first Gamera movie I have watched. I remembered when I was a kid I rented a VHS copy of this film. Being a kid, I was pretty weary of certain scenes in this kaiju film, like the main villain's evil tactics. This is the first Gamera movie to feature him doing battle with another monster, named Barugon. While Gamera started out as a villainous monster, Barugon proved to be an even more menacing creature, threatening to destroy everything in its path. As a kid, I enjoyed the film, and when I wanted to rent it again, the VHS copy wasn't available anymore, so I was pretty bummed out. But, years later, this film was shown on TV and, to my delight, I have decided I have got to watch it again and remembered I was entertained by it. The plot about dueling explorers trying to get their hands on an opal from an island while the natives warn them about dire consequences that follow if they take away the gem is pretty intriguing. The special effects were serviceable but the monster battles were decent and Barugon's tongue and rainbow weapons were a pretty cool effect. The Barugon suit looked like it was made out of cardboard and the monster itself wasn't portrayed as menacing enough - I would have liked to see a little more city destruction scenes. The second half of the movie just consists of the military attempting to destroy Barugon - pretty basic, but a little thrilling nonetheless. Overall, it's a pretty good Gamera movie that ends up being the best in the first series. It is also the only one in the original series not to feature a kid as the main character. The rest of the Gamera films were very much aimed for youngsters and are too childish and corny for my enjoyment. If you would like to see Gamera in action, check out this movie, skip the rest in the series, and catch the newer ones made in the 1990s. Grade B-

Shigeo Tanaka directed "Gamera vs. Barugon" in 1966, the second film to feature the giant fire-breathing turtle Gamera. I'll be the first to give "Gamera vs. Barugon" a fair review. This second entry into the original seven-film series is probably my favorite, simply because it doesn't feature any annoying Gamera friends; you know what I mean, kids. "Gamera vs. Barugon" is the only movie in the series to not feature annoying adolescents who can communicate with the monster. In this second feature, greedy fortune hunters head to New Guinea where they believe a priceless opal was hidden during the Second World War. Alas, they find it, but one of them is greedier than the other two and kills them both off (well, one of them is stung by a poisonous scorpion, and the other, the hero of the story, survives the attempted assassination). What the greedy man doesn't know, is that what he has in his possession is not a jewel at all, but a monster's egg, Barugon's egg. The infant monster, once exposed to infra-red heat rays, grows to its mature size and begins attacking Japan. Gamera interferes but is defeated quite easily by Barugon's freezing vapor. Meanwhile, the hero and a village girl travel back to Japan, using the ancient legends (combined with modern scientific technology) to try to defeat Barugon once and for all. When these plans fail miserably, it appears that only Gamera stands a chance of bringing Barugon's reign of terror upon Japan to an end. I'll understand this film's low rating, but believe me, as a Gamera fan (and Godzilla too), this is probably the best film in the series. Gamera is off-screen for the most part, and the new monster Barugon takes center stage laying waste to Japan. Forget the bad dubbing for once, too. The musical score is pretty exotic and atmospheric, almost comparable to anything featured in the "Godzilla" series of films. Still, for a movie that was made in '66, the effects hold up surprisingly well, even if it is easy to find the many faults with them. Believe it or not, I actually like the older kaiju films much rather than their special-effects/CGI-laden, modern-day counterparts. For these reasons, "Gamera vs. Barugon" gets a five out of 10 from me.5/10