God bless the Thais. First they turn Hindu mythology into video games. Then they turn it into a B-grade creature feature with Vishnu’s winged mount Garuda facing off against a supernatural special ops team, Ghostbusters gone commando. Check out Garuda (2004), directed by Monthan Arayangkoon:

… a mysterious fossil is discovered deep beneath Bangkok, prompting a commando team specializing in supernatural incidents to be called in… We soon learn that the fossil is that of the evil Garuda, seen being imprisoned at the film’s beginning. Inevitably, the creature awakens, and begins killing anyone it encounters, all the while heading for the surface… [Link]

Or, don’t:

… a single handgun hurts Garuda, but several automatic weapons don’t. And there’s the battle hardened combat unit that is easily wiped out, but an unarmed female manages to survive… Novel ideas like a supernatural black ops team are never truly developed… [Link]

The garuda is also the national symbol of Thailand and Indonesia. Odds are you’ve seen the classical image of the garuda gracing some form of art one or twice. However, in this film, Garuda is nothing but a big, evil monster, with little motivation beyond killing whatever members of the cast he comes across… Perhaps our Garuda is just pissed off and homicidal because he’s been stuck in a cave under Bangkok for hundreds of years….

… completely lacking in either artistic or camp value. [Link]

Hmm, yes, the animation looks convincing:

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