Daikaijû Gamera

It helps to be a kaiju fan if you watch this as an adult. I was able to see the English subtitled version, and found it enjoyable for what it is. It's monster destruction along the vein of Gojira, albeit a cheaper budget, yet more updated special effects. The movie is short so its fairly easy to get through. I love the atmosphere of black and white, and the seriousness of Gamera as a threat to humanity. There is a child present, but he will not totally turn off adults. I'm not gonna pick the film to pieces and tell you what's wrong. It's just good kaiju fun! This movie is as important to the series as the original Godzilla was to his. I recommend it to all true fans of the genre.

It doesn't make sense to give this film a bad rating - but it really doesn't make sense to rate it at all.

Don't assume that means that this film is so ridiculous, it's beyond redemption... well, it IS ridiculous and beyond redemption; but it is certainly enjoyable on its own terms.

If this film is easy to misunderstand, it's because it's really difficult to say what 'it's own terms' really are. It begins clearly intending to compete with the successful Godzilla series; but somewhere about mid-way, it suddenly decides to be about a lonely young boy. In order to salvage its science-fiction credentials, it then comes up with an impossible solution to the Gamera threat to the human race - I can't tell you what it is, but it would take the entire assets of the developed nations of the world to pull off - it might be better to let the big turtle stalk around and just stay out from beneath his feet.

On top of all this wild nonsense, the American release print, which is the only one I know available, adds on some wonderful campy stuff, like the televised debate about the possible existence of the big turtle, and lowest-budgeted attempt to portray a meeting of the UN Security Council you are ever likely to see - even the one in the Adam West Batman movie looks spectacular in comparison.

There is no way to wrap your brain around this one, so don't bother. A guilty pleasure to the max. And one more important point in its favor - unlike most of the other '60s Gamera films, this one moves along at a fine pace and never drags.

So microwave some kettle corn and munch down - you deserve not to take life so seriously you can't enjoy a bit of fluff like this.

In spite of being a fan of these Japanese monster movies, I saw it for the first time (that I know of) less than a year ago. (I'm referring to the "American" version.) It was pretty entertaining in general, but there was one thing that stood out for me, and that was a comedy scene (and I don't mean an "unintentionally funny" one). Early on in the movie, the monster was mistaken for a UFO, and there was a televised debate between an astronomer and a ufologist (a traditional set of antagonists, in and out of fiction). I'm not sure about the astronomer, but the ufologist was played by Alan Oppenheimer (he wasn't in the credits, but there's no mistaking him if you've seen a lot of sitcoms). Anyway, the debate got out of hand in a comical way, with both men getting really frantic to win it (maybe whoever wrote the scene was neutral about the UFO subject), and to me, it was funnier than 90 per cent of those comedy scenes about UFO's that you see now (with their overworked jokes about "probes" and abducted hillbillies and so on). Anyway, that's what the original "Gamera" means to me.

1965's "Gamera: The Giant Monster" is notable for three things: Daiei Studio's Gamera, the giant fire-breathing turtle of Atlantean origin, was the only significant rival to Toho Studios' Godzilla; two, this is the only movie in the "Gamera" series of films in which the titular chelonian does not battle another monster; and three, this was the last Japanese monster movie to be filmed in glorious black & white. Godzilla is my favorite movie monster of all time - "Gojira" (1954) is my favorite giant monster movie, period - since I was first exposed to the badly dubbed Japanese "kaiju-eiga" (Japanese monster movie) series of films as a young kid. Gamera was my #2 favorite monster from Japan. I deeply regret that Gamera never really obtained the same sort of recognition that his other fire-breathing rival did, but that does not mean that the movies were not bad.

Directed by Noriaki Yuasa, "Gamera: The Giant Monster" has a plot ripped straight from the original "Gojira," but with a significantly lower budget and lacking a meaningful social and political subtext or emotional resonance: at the height of the Cold War, American and Soviet bombers in the Arctic Circle clash with one another, leading to a Soviet plane being shot down and thus inadvertently detonating its atomic payload. The resulting explosion revives Gamera, who had been imprisoned in the ice for over 8,000 years. Gamera, who breathes fire and can fly, makes a beeline toward Japan where he soon causes great destruction and finds nourishment in fossil fuels such as gasoline and petroleum, and other rudimentary forms of energy. Since Gamera is impervious to conventional weapons and the so-called "nuclear options" are quickly ruled out, only a brilliant scientist, Dr. Hidaka (Eiji Funakoshi), has the means of stopping Gamera's destructive rampage once and for all.

"Gamera: The Giant Monster" is not a perfect film. I'll say that it pretty much pales in comparison to "Gojira." But that's because the "Gamera" series of films often had significantly lower budgets and one of the most nagging problems with these films were the inclusion of annoying little children as the main protagonists, which helped earn Gamera the nickname of "friend of children" and the films were often marketed as such toward children. (1966's "Gamera vs. Barugon," a direct sequel to "Gamera: The Giant Monster," is noteworthy for being the only film in the series to not feature any children as the main protagonists, and is my favorite film in the series after this one.) And although there is a kid here, an implacable young boy Toshio Sakurai (Yoshiro Uchida), he is at least made useful to the plot and does not become the annoying little nuisance that his successors would eventually become. And he is also sympathetic in some regard since he comes to view Gamera as his only friend (the exact circumstances of this "friendship" are actually quite touching if viewed with an open mind), and likewise we identify with this unique little bond.

Having viewed the film for the first time in its original, uncut Japanese format, I can say that "Gamera: The Giant Monster" is a worthy kaiju film, despite its flawed attempts at a pro-environmentalist subtext and as an anti-Cold War message movie (different nations coming together to face a worldwide threat, etc.) The film marked the beginnings of another great movie monster, one who never really got the popularity that he really deserved. But at least since his movies are getting the DVD treatment and are being released in their original Japanese formats, a new generation of Gamera-lovers has the chance to view Japan's heartiest export next since the mighty King of the Monsters himself, Godzilla.

7/10

What I loved about this movie is that Gamera is treated as a "bad-ass" villain monster out to destroy Tokyo like Godzilla in his earlier films. The rest of the movies turned Gamera into a child loving superhero. The effects were great rivaling and even surpassing most of the Godzilla films at the time. The scenes of American actors that were shot were actually quite well done. It was fun watching the U.S and Soviet ambassadors arguing at the U.N. Gamera looked pretty cool as well with his glowing eyes and elephant-like roar. Loved the psychedelic glowing animated flying sequences. Got to love that "Plan Z" over-the-top ending. And you can't help but dig that cool theme song. Gameraaaa! Gameraaaaa! Yeah!