In 1995 Gamera battled Gyaos and defeated the menace. In 1996 Gamera returned to battle Legion. During the battle with Legion Gamera inadvertently killed thousands of people. Ayana Hirasaka’s parents were two of the casualties. Ayana is now living with relatives. She blames Gamera and nurses a hatred for the monster. In a sacred cave she finds a giant egg. It hatches and Ayana names the monster Iris after her dead pet cat.
The young girl develops a psychic bond with the creature through an amulet found with the egg. As it grows the Iris creature feeds off of her hatred for Gamera and tries to absorb her. She is rescued by her schoolmate Tatsunari Moribe (Yuu Koyama) and taken to the hospital.
While this is going on, Gyaos creatures have returned and are again killing people only now they have evolved into a newer breed called Hyper Gyaos and are appearing all over the world. Ornithologist Mayumi Nagamine (Shinobu Nakayama) is helping the government figure out how to handle the Gyaos problem.
Gamera shows up in Tokyo to defeat some Gyaos that attacked the city. He defeats them but leaves a trail of destruction behind him. That makes many believe that Gamera is a menace that needs to be destroyed. Iris tries to fly to Kyoto to get to Ayana when Gamera intercedes. The JSDF (Japanese Self-defense Force) attacks Gamera.
There is also a covert government agency that employs Mito Asakura (Senri Yamazaki) who believes Gamera is a spirit that protects the Earth whether it’s from Gyaos or humanity. Her minion, Shinya Kurata (Toru Tezuka), is a little on the strange side. Their purpose is opaque and they seem to have an agenda that is different than what the government hired them for. They kidnap Ayana and take her to Kyoto. Asakura wants to use the girl to summon Iris.
“Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris” was released in 1999 and was directed by Shusuke Kaneko. It is the third in the Gamera Heisei trilogy reboot and the eleventh in the Gamera franchise. It is also the last to be produced by Daiei and distributed by TOHO.
Ayako Fujitani reprises her role as the girl with a spiritual connection to Gamera, Asagi Kusanagi, from Gamera 1 and Gamera 2. Shinobu Nakayama returns as Ornithologist Mayumi Nagamine from Gamera 1. Yukijiro Hotaru returns as the former Inspector Tsutomu Osako from both Gamera 1 and Gamera 2.
Higuchi, the special effects director used sand as rain when filming the monster so that the scale would be appropriate. He also used dry ice to create the breath of Gamera.
One of the cool toys in the movie is the Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye. It is an American all-weather, carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. The twin-turboprop aircraft was designed and developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s by the Grumman Aircraft Company for the United States Navy.
The movie was excellent. There was a big ass fight in Kyoko and a great cliff hanger at the end. The movie is very adult with some spectacular special effects and lots of explosions.
The combination of Kaiju monsters and Japanese religious history adds an element to the film that gives the story extra dimension. To also have the final fight in Kyoto increases that dynamic. Kyoto was once the capital of Japan and is steeped in Japanese culture and religious history. In addition there are the various aspects of the Earth itself, humanity, Gamera, Gyaos and Iris that are all in conflict with each other that are reflected in the story. There is also still the connection of Gamera and children as well as Iris and Ayana in the film as well. It’s a nice combination of science fiction and fantasy.
English dubbed
Japanese subtitled