Spectacle screened Shusuke Kaneko’s 1990’s Gamera trilogy all month long in September. On episode #21 of Marquee Mixtape, Steve MacFarlane visited the show to tell us why he felt NOW was the time to resurface the giant turtle kaiju. At the same time, the world celebrates Godzilla’s 70th anniversary. We also talked about his journey to becoming a Programmer over the years and where his obsession with creature features and kaiju films started. He’s a Guest Programmer at BAM right now for The Baffler Presents: Facing the Future — a week-long rep series that examines the use and abuse of the “emerging majority” in political life around the globe. Hurry and catch a screening before it ends on 10/24!
My guest on this episode is my good friend, Joann Syrek. We saw the Gamera trilogy and went to Spectacle together to watch Attack of Legion. Check out this audio clip I captured from Steve’s live introduction to our screening.
After finishing the final part in the trilogy, Revenge of Iris, it finally hit me why Steve chose these Gamera movies from 1995-1999 to be re-examined on Godzilla’s 70th birthday year. This mid-late 1990s kaiju era is significant in the 70-year history of the genre because at the time CGI was this new state-of-the-art technology that was reshaping the industry and the US was getting into the business of making their own Godzilla movie. This Gamera trilogy was pushing the limits of physical creature FX while incorporating a hybrid of CGI animated elements, too. I was also happily surprised by the screenwriting ambitions. Each movie in the trilogy makes a tonal shift and has it’s own distinct voice. The technical craft of every department improved after each movie.
My real gateway to kaiju was probably Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers but the creatures in this Gamera trilogy were reawakening another childhood obsession of mine: Pokemon. I never considered Pokemon as kaiju until I realized Gamera and Blastoise look so alike! Legion reminded me of the legendary Pokemon, Giratina, from the Pokemon: Platinum box art. And Iris in her baby form was giving Dragonair. Also, the stone necklaces that created telepathic bridges between human children and kaiju reminded me of Digimon. Those video games and anime series were incredibly popular at the time these Gamera movies were being released so it made sense they leaned into their global viral sensations.
Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995), Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (1996), and Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999) are all available to stream on Arrow Video Player and Amazon Prime Video. They’re also available on physical media through Arrow Video.
🎟️ Get your tickets to Steve MacFarlane’s latest rep series at BAM — The Baffler Presents: FACING THE FUTURE!
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Credits: Produced by Alec Rodriguez, original artwork by Cristina Montes, original music by Jeremy Bullen.
NEXT ON THE POD: Samm Dieghan visits the show to talk about her new book Revolution on 35mm: Political Violence and Resistance in Cinema from the Arthouse to the Grindhouse, 1960–1990 !
Ep. 025: GAMERA TRILOGY, Pt. 2 with JOANN SKYREK