El robot gigante

This is a weird one, from back in the late 60s you have this Japanese import, about a kid, a Casio-watch controlled 100 foot flying robot, a guy in a real bad Squid/jellyfish papier-mache mask who shakes a trident alot(he's the evil villain, Emperor Guillotine!), fakey rubber suited monsters, a group of terrorists who shoot plastic machine guys, and intend to take over the world with their 9 inter-changeable members, a '58 Bel-air and some godawful monsters.

You have to see it to believe it-the dreaded Nuclion, a bowling ball/landmine/baby toy from outer space(!!) which rolls downhill and crushes an onslaught of plastic tanks before being hauled up by Giant Robot, who then drops it onto the '58 Belair that the 'Gargoyle Gang' have helpfully piled into(actually, the last guy diving for cover dives UNDER the car...oh its a scream...)...

You have these villains...fanger, silver-faced DrBotanus, who is some kind of Evil Plant wiz, a panther-griffin cross who likes eating toy trains whole, a giant eye Opticus(oh that one is a scream!), and this short guy with a peg-leg, who is sposedly a master of disguise(!?)...God, WHAT were they thinking??

Guys get killed and come right on back without explanation. Take 'Beatnik Man'-one of the head Gargoyle Gang guys. Has the shades, bad greasepaint beard(troweled on by the looks...) and beret. I think he winds up quite dead at least 4 times-shot up by a plastic machine gun, caught in an atomic cherry bomb explosion(don't ask), flattened by Nuclion, etc. At the end, he is now wearing a goatee, but its our guy, Beatnik Man in the flesh...

Bad models, bad acting, bad dubbing--and as a kid, I loved every minute of it! People Do remember it, not from its name but from the content, of seeing Giant Robot(who looks like a silver George Washington in a King Tut get-up...),who flies, shoots missiles outta his fingers, etc.

It is kinda fun in a MST3K way, but not more than that.

I give it *** stars outta **** on the hilarity scale, *1/2 in the actual quality scale. Its a hoot. Yes! See it if you can or dare.

If you like Godzilla, Giant Robo, Ultraman or any other big monsters that fight and save the world then this is the best best. Sure it's old and campy...but it's a lot of fun. I have old tapes that I pull out every once in a while. Still enjoy the show. Sure they didn't have the greatest special effects but who did back then? Everyone complaining about how the monsters or explosions look shouldn't compare the show to present day shows but others from the same period. This is good.

A fun show that I grew up with as a young kid. It influenced my life and I fell in love with monsters since that day. Any DVD companies looking for new ideas. PUT THIS SERIES ON TOP OF YOUR LIST!!!!!!!

OUT OF 10 STARS (10 BEING BEST)

I GIVE "Jaianto robo":

10 STARS:

**********

Aah, childhood, those halcyon days, all those memories associated with them are indelible. I was five years old, and our neighbors had just got a new television. In India, we had only one TV channel then and the programs were more related to news based items or were culture oriented. Watching a Egyptian mummy faced robot fighting monsters was a dream for me as well as for every other kid I knew. I remember how hard I cried when the giant robot lost his eyes and also during the episode where he was beaten badly, I envied Johnny so much. Today I know the special effects are much much better and there are a plethora of new sci- fi based programs but they cant even hold a torch to good ol' Johnny and his robot.

For the people of my generation this is as good as gold. C'mon Johnny quit playing games, come back. I miss you.

This had to be one of the weirdest shows to ever come from the Land of the Rising Sun. If anyone today were to try to promote a show featuring a ten year old kid and his flying robot, that person would either be thrown out on his ear or have the guys in the white coats come and pick him up. However, this was an enjoyable show featuring not only some crazy action, but some of the wildest monsters ever created for the whole kaiju eiga genre. The only thing that undoes this show are the poor special effects. However this show is still a cult classic and for the life of me I don't know why this isn't shown on television anymore.