Gamera 4: Truth (2003)

Gamera 4: Truth Directed by Shinpei Hayashiya Producer Shinpei Hayashiya Written by Shinpei Hayashiya Music by Kow Otani, Tadashi Yamanouchi Budget $2,500 Running time 45 minutes (estimated) Rate this film! 4.36 (11 votes)

Gamera 4: Truth (駕瞑羅 (ガメラ)4 真実,   Gamera Fō: Shinjitsu) is a Japanese Gamera fan film written, directed, and produced by Shinpei Hayashiya. Though non-canonical, it presents itself as a sequel to Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris and received approval from Gamera's then-rightsholder Daiei. It has never been released on home video and has rarely been shown in public since a series of free screenings in Japan in 2003.

Plot

Disclaimer: As Gamera 4: Truth remains unavailable for home viewing, this synopsis is derived from a 2011 blog post by Anneko made shortly after the film screened at the 23rd Tokyo Student Film Festival in 2011. Many details are corroborated by other accounts of the film.

The JSDF rushes to confront the swarm of Hyper Gyaos invading Japan. Squadron after squadron of fighter jets fall before the monsters. A wounded Gamera takes off from the burning ruins of Kyoto to join the midair battle in Rotating Disc mode, where his physical attacks and Plasma Fireballs fell several Gyaos but cannot stop him from being overwhelmed. He rallies by spinning to form a tornado, then obliterates the Gyaos inside with Ultimate Plasma. The survivors are then joined by the Albino Gyaos, a more powerful, all-white version of the Hyper Gyaos. The flock takes aim and fires their supersonic beams at Gamera, causing him to plunge downward to a watery grave.

Shortly afterwards, the JSDF explore the depths of Ryugu Cave and discover the Albino Gyaos feeding on other Gyaos eggs. Before they can attack it, however, it escapes into the night.

Gamera’s body later washes up on Ajigaura Beach. The Prime Minister calls Masaaki Saito, Deputy Minister of the Environment, and discusses covering up Gamera's death by quickly disposing of his corpse and lying to the media. After this call ends, Saito phones ornithologist Dr. Mayumi Nagamine, summoning her to the Tokyo Defense Academy. Tsutomu Osako is rudely awakened from a nightmare about Gamera fighting Gyaos by Nagamine, who invites him to accompany her the next day.

At the academy, Saito, Nagamine, and Osako meet up. Though Saito does not plan to tell the two about Gamera's death, they overhear it from a JSDF member anyway. The three discuss a new variant of eggs discovered at Ryugu Cave. After the meeting, Osako and Nagamine visit Ajigaura Beach to pay Gamera their respects.

The JSDF lose track of the Albino Gyaos, but later find it over Aokigahara, deploying a large force of tanks, rocket launchers, and helicopters to fight the monster. All are destroyed by its ultrasonic scalpel. As it flies out to sea, it demolishes Atami Castle as well.

Later, Osako is drinking beer after a bath at his hotel when the Albino Gyaos attacks. Only his driver's license is found in the rubble. Saito relays this to Nagamine, leaving her in disarray. He goes back to Fuji to request the use of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's experimental new weapon, the SGPM-2 Plasma Cannon.

The Albino Gyaos wreaks havoc in Yokohama. One of the ancient Gamera skeletons off the coast of Okinotorishima is given mana power from the Earth and regenerates into a new Gamera. Landing in Yokohama Bay, this Gamera destroys everything in sight. He is declared an enemy by the JSDF—whose headquarters are nearby—and is attacked by plasma cannons alongside the Albino Gyaos. Saito protests this, but the JSDF kick him out.

The two monsters engage in a climactic battle, with the Albino Gyaos deploying an energy shield and Gamera unleashing a pair of plasma sabers. Saito mopes outside the headquarters before Gamera strikes it with a stray blast of energy. The building crumbles into smoldering ruins, crushing Saito underneath.

Gamera eventually prevails over his arch-nemesis, yet does not return to the sea. Instead, he continues his rampage, destroying and burning everything from Yokohama to Shinjuku. The JSDF fire even more plasma cannons, but Gamera shrugs them off. Tokyo Tower is demolished in his wake, and it collapses into Nagamine's hotel while she is on the phone, killing her. A huge explosion erupts from Gamera, and central Tokyo is reduced to rubble.

Afterwards, Osako turns up alive in Okinawa, wondering how he always manages to survive such calamities. As he hobbles away, a news broadcast mentions that the new Gamera opened a crater 1 kilometer deep and 40 kilometers wide in the center of Tokyo. The Japanese and U.S. military have found many unclassified prehistoric eggs deep within the crater.

Staff

Note: Names and positions sourced from the film's poster.

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

• Directed by   Shinpei Hayashiya
• Written by   Shinpei Hayashiya
• Supervised by   Hirokatsu Kihara
• Produced by   Shinpei Hayashiya
• Stock music by   Kow Otani, Tadashi Yamanouchi
• Cinematography by   Taka Arai, Nobuyuki Yamasaki
• Visual effects by   Kazuya Hayashi

Cast

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

• Yukijiro Hotaru   as   Tsutomu Osako
• Unidentified actress   as   Mayumi Nagamine
• Shinpei Hayashiya   as   Mr. Saito
• Kazuo Yagi   as   Gamera

Appearances

Monsters

• Gamera
  • New Gamera
• Hyper Gyaos
  • Albino Gyaos
• Mysterious eggs

U.S. release

The only known screening of Gamera 4: Truth in the United States was a 2014 invite-only event held on the final day of G-Fest XXI in Rosemont, Illinois. Director Shinpei Hayashiya, a guest at the convention, introduced the film.

Gallery

Main article: Gamera 4: Truth/Gallery.

Video

Excerpts of Gamera 4: Truth shown on Japanese television Full TV interview with Shinpei Hayashiya

Trivia

• According to Shusuke Kaneko, Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris was originally meant to include an epilogue which he described as similar to Gamera 4: Truth. In it, Gamera would have wiped out the Hyper Gyaos in Kyoto with an ultimate attack which also reduced the city to a smoldering ruin. Kaneko has additionally commented that, if given the chance to direct a sequel to Gamera 3, he would likely begin it similarly to Gamera 4: Truth.
• Despite not sharing continuity with the Heisei trilogy, Gamera the Brave is sometimes referred to as "Gamera 4." The Japanese Heisei Gamera 4K Digital Restoration Blu-ray Box abbreviates it as "G IV".
• At least one 2003 showing of the film in Japan was preceded by three animated shorts called "Gametaro", parodying both Gamera and the Hamtaro franchise.
• The Gamera suit created for this film was reused as the turtle monster Onigames for the 2004 independent tokusatsu film Seikan Tokusou Assaultman. The newly-grafted head for the suit does not disguise Onigames's resemblance to Gamera, however, which is comically commented upon by one of the protagonists during the monster's arrival.
• The unfinished documentary Kaiju Gaiden would have included interview segments with Shinpei Hayashiya and footage from Gamera 4: Truth.
• Most of the film's soundtrack is taken from Kow Otani's Gamera scores, with a track from Tadashi Yamanouchi's Gamera the Giant Monster score playing during the giant turtle's Tokyo rampage.

External links

• 2003 review of the film by Alan Colosi
• Review of the film and account of the G-FEST XXI screening by Steven Sloss

References

This is a list of references for Gamera 4: Truth. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: ^[1]

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