The 60th anniversary project for the "Gamera" monster film series is officially underway, with the first event, the "Showa Gamera Film Festival," to be held at Kadokawa Cinema Yurakucho (Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo) and other locations from December 5th. 4K digital restorations of the first film in the series, "Gamera: Guardian of the Monsters" (1965), the second film, "Gamera vs. Barugon" (1966), and the third film, "Gamera vs. Gyaos" (1967), will be produced and screened. Director Shinji Higuchi, who served as special effects director for "Gamera: Guardian of the Monsters," "Gamera 2: Invasion of Legion," and "Gamera 3: The Awakening of Iris," and Shunichi Ogura, who has overseen the 4K digital restoration of many classic films, will oversee the 4K digital restorations of the three films.
Director Higuchi commented, "This film was made the year I was born, so it's almost 60 years old. Ideally, it should have been supervised by someone involved in the production, but as far as I can see, there is no one there. It's a shame. Now, with the help of Shunichi Ogura, a legendary timing man for our generation, and Yoshiaki Abe, a colorist at Imagica who is at the forefront of digital grading, I, the unworthy Higuchi, have humbly accepted this important role as a representative of fans."
"Uncovering the texture of the monsters' skin that was buried in the darkness and hidden by the grain, and unearthing the atmosphere of the scene that was recorded on the low-sensitivity negative film of the time, was like reliving the great achievement of my predecessors who created such wonderful works through trial and error, and it was a wonderful and fulfilling job. In particular, it was shocking to see, as revealed from the timing data, the large number of double-roll composite cuts, where the original negative was rewound for double exposure without going through an optical printer. I am truly impressed by the efforts of my predecessors, who were making monster movies at a time when blue-screen compositing was no longer a common option. I hope you will watch and watch the birth of a Gamera like no other before."
Ogura said, "When I heard about this project, I was delighted because I never imagined I would be involved in the 4K restoration of 'Showa Gamera,' which I saw in the theater as a child. I was also involved in the 'Heisei Gamera Trilogy' at the right time. What you saw in the theater was a print film (positive). This 4K restoration is being done from the negative. As it does not go through a positive, it will naturally look different from how it appears in the theater. Negatives contain a wealth of information, such as details in bright and dark areas that could not be expressed in positives. We restored the film so as not to lose that information, while also striving to recreate the texture that was seen back then. Please look forward to it."
The "Showa Gamera Film Festival" will feature all eight Showa Gamera films, including three 4K digital restorations, as well as a special screening of the masterpiece "Gamera: The Brave Ones," which is full of respect for Showa Gamera.
It was also announced that the three 4K digitally restored films will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc on November 21st. BS12 will broadcast the 4K digitally restored "Gamera" series in November and December, with "Giant Monster Gamera" on November 2nd, "Giant Monster Duel: Gamera vs. Barugon" on the 9th, "Giant Monster Air Battle: Gamera vs. Gyaos" on the 16th, "Gamera: Guardian of the Universe" on the 23rd, "Gamera: Guardian of the Universe" on the 30th, and "Gamera 3: The Awakening of Iris" on December 7th.
Gamera is a monster that appears in the special effects film "Gamera the Giant Monster," released by Daiei in 1965, and is modeled after a turtle. He is a child who protects people from danger to the Earth, a champion of justice, and flies in a circular saucer shape. Since "Gamera the Giant Monster," a total of eight films have been produced as the "Showa Gamera" series, including "Space Monster Gamera." Other series include the "Heisei Gamera" series and "Little Braves: Gamera." In 2023, the anime "GAMERA -Rebirth-" began streaming on Netflix. The series was also broadcast on NHK General TV.
(C) KADOKAWA (C) KADOKAWA 1965 (C) KADOKAWA 1966 (C) KADOKAWA 1967
