Uchu kaijû Gamera

The first film was low-grade and low-budget, but still fairly enjoyable as it was. The second film of 1966 had its own faults, but clearly benefited from more resources and hard work, and it was genuinely good. From there onward, however, the Gamera franchise struggled heavily to be so much as middling: in a condescending effort to directly appeal to children most all earnestness, judiciousness, and careful consideration was stripped from the writing as child actors were centered, and the fundamental execution became all but sloppy and heedless. The seventh film of 1971, 'Gamera vs. Zigra,' was the worst nadir of all. Fast forward to 1980 after studio Daiei had gone bankrupt and was trying to salvage itself, and here comes filmmaker Yuasa Noriaki and screenwriter Takahashi Niisan with another entry in the series. One may well wonder if another installment ever had a real chance in the first place at finding success if it followed the same pattern, but just as much to the point, with the particular approach that was taken here, it definitely did not.

The first minutes aren't filmed footage, but still images with narration over top; the art looks fantastic, sure, but it's an inauspicious start. So is the design of the enemy spaceship, and one of the first glances we get of it, which are both obviously pulled from a certain Hollywood space opera of 1977. The first new post-production visuals we're treated to in this installment are jaw-dropping in their artificiality, being plainly outdated, and many instances to follow are no better. Before ten minutes have passed we're introduced to our young protagonist Keiichi who will invariably have an extra super special connection with Gamera, and like his predecessors in 'Zigra,' Maeda Koichi was clearly instructed to be as cutesy and boyish as possible - often giving off airs of mid-day television for kindergarten kids who only have half days at school. For good measure, add questionable treatment of animals. Though appearing out of the blue for this entry, and curiously exercised, the one interesting idea that this flick had was the "Spacewomen" superheroes who... are powerless to stop the villain.

I feel bad for everyone who got roped into participating in this, but especially Fumiake Mach, Kojima Yaeko, and Komatsu Yoko, who are forced into such small corners as the Spacewomen. From one scene to the next we're commonly subjected to writing and direction that are confounding for how weakly thought out they were. It is, in fact, possible for kids' movies - those centering kids, and those intended to appeal directly to them - to be good. But that doesn't happen by sacrificing meaningful craftsmanship, or by talking down to your target audience, and as with its antecedents, that's what happened in 'Gamera: Super monster' more than not. There are decent notions here for a story, perhaps, but they are not treated well, least of all nearly all footage of Gamera or his kaiju opponents is recycled from the previous features. One sequence seen here is shown to viewers for what is now the third time in the franchise. I can appreciate that Daiei was desperate to pull in some easy revenue with minimum expenditure, but the construction for this piece just feels like an outright insult to viewers. That is, more than the kitschy, ham-handed forebears of 1967-71 already were.

Ninety-two minutes feel inordinately long. Incredibly, however, even as a glorified clip show, this title manages to notably better than expected. Some of the acting is unexpectedly solid; Fumiake, Kojima, and Komatsu are charming despite the limitations placed on them, and the skills of Kudo Keiko and even Maeda do shine through every now and again. Some of the scene writing is surprisingly smart. There are tidbits of cleverness throughout, and it's also worth mentioning that by focusing on what are generally, somewhat, the best aspects of the franchise, the kaiju fights sometimes come across with more vibrancy than they do in the films they're drawn from. The concept of a veritable kaiju gauntlet is not new, and we would see it again in due course ('Godzilla: Final wars' is one of my favorites of that series), but it's splendid all the same, and I wish only that the doing here were more than mere recycled footage. And, hey, overall the new footage boasts strong production values. And still there are too many other examples in the writing and direction that all too apparently did not receive the same attention or care across the board, including the repeated cutaways to Giruge before and after each battle, a preponderance of the dialogue, the most lighthearted scenes with Keiichi, and the abrupt but temporary turn in the plot entering the last third.

The sad fact of the matter is that no matter how generous we wish to be while watching 'Gamera: Super monster,' it's not very good. It's not fully rotten. In light of what it does well, I want to like it more than I do; a short fight scene in the third act is an unlikely but welcome highlight. Given its most ignominious troubles, on the other hand, including decidedly forthright storytelling and plot development, maybe I'm being much too kind as it is. There is truly more strength in this picture than I would have ever assumed, all told - which just makes its sorriest qualities all the more vexing. No matter how you look at it this can't possibly be said to even rise above "below average" when all is said and done, and while there are worse ways to spend your time, there's just not enough lasting value to make this especially worthwhile. I suppose if one is immensely curious, or a completionist, this is just passable enough to provide mild entertainment for a quiet night. That's about the best that can be said for 'Gamera: Super monster,' however, and this is a movie best left in the archives of cinema history.

If you missed out on the other seven Gamera movies leading up to this 80s release, this is the perfect chance to see all of them at once. If you've seen "Godzilla's Revenge", then you have seen nothing yet. This movie is about 92% stock-footage, with absolutely no new monsters and sparse new effect shots. By the time of this movie's release the studio Daiei was at death's door and so I'm confused as to why they even bothered to puke this one out. It had nearly been a decade since "Gamera vs. Zigra" in 1971, and by then I think any rational businessman could assume the series was done for. The only reason I rate it at the very least two stars is because the writers actually had the mordacity to actually kill Gamera off by kamakazing himself into a Star Destroyer. That's right, a Star Destroyer from the Star Wars series. That's how you know the writers had clearly told themselves, "F8ck it."

Gamera Super Monster is a strangely enjoyabe film, especially since it is just a bunch of old footage re edited into the story of a kid and his pet turtle, and good female aliens vs. bad female aliens. Die hard fans of the genre have something against the campy and cheesy, when the fact is not every giant monster movie is supposed to portray a grim message about nuclear weapons, or interfering with nature.

This movie is joyful through and through, never taking a break from action and (mis)adventure, with characters that are very fun to watch. The little boy, who most would find annoying, has a certain goofiness to his character. Remember people, this is a film for the children. This movie shows how cheap it is, but you aren't able to realize it because it gets you so caught up in the fantasy. This is one of the greatest escapist fantasies out there.

From the first battle with Barugan all the way to the destruction of Zigra, all Gamera's greatest fights are highlighted in this nonstop action packed adventure for the whole family. Also, watch for the anime characters! And if that is not enough, the enemy space ship may seem a little familiar to you....

Well I finally saw it. I finally watched GAMERA SUPER MONSTER released in 1980. I remember being a kid in 1980 and thinking great! A brand new Gamera film, there's hope for the Gamera franchise. Not so. This film is so bad that I don't know which one is better GAMERA VS. ZIGRA or this one. I think it's a tie, they're both equally bad. It took 9 years for this movie to come out and it was not worth the wait.

The vast majority of the movie is stock footage from all of Gamera's past movies, no new monsters to battle in this film. Even the Gamera image in this movie looks cheap and ready to throw away after the movie is done.

The story has a group of "space women" living on Earth trying to prevent Earth from being taken over (what else). A young irritating boy is once again the focus of this movie besides the alien women and the boy dubbing in particular is especially bad. The movie is cheap and INCREDIBLY BORING.

Nothing but a bunch of rehashing old movie scenes with a very weak story.

NO STARS.

Gamera, what a movie........ My mom and my brother took me to watch this film when I was very young and it has never left my psyche since! For me, it was one of the best films I've ever seen. Not just with the mindset of a child from the 80's, but also because I believe that you gauge a good movie by assessing how much it affected you....... In my case, It started a whole new genre for me in being a great fan of Japanese movie making and writing. No matter how cheesy the script was back then, Gamera and the 3 hero chicks in that movie instilled in me a fascination that only a true blue child fan would absorb, a lifetime of fantasy! Thus, all I have to say is, lucky are you few to know of such a movie.......... You are not alone.