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Gammera, one of the most famous Japanese monsters to hit the big screen in the 1960s makes his debut in this zero-budget, politically charged monster thriller. It is interesting to consider the tensions that were taking place between certain nations at the time that the movie was made, especially between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. There is no effort made to disguise the animosity that existed between the two, more than likely since that bitterness was needed as a catalyst to bring Gammera back from 200 million years of hibernation. The U.S. shoots down a suspicious bomber, which turned out to be Russian, over the arctic region. As is to be expected from those sneaky Russians, the bomber was loaded with hydrogen bombs which, upon impact, explode with sufficient force to not only thaw but also infuriate the sleeping Gammera. Lots of havoc is wreaked upon poorly constructed models of cities and airplanes and landscapes and such, and there is some strange subplot about a little boy obsessed with turtles who wants to expose Gammera for the gentle creature that he really is. Inspiration for the Iron Giant, maybe? The special effects are astonishingly bad, but there was no budget and in the movie's defense, I have to say that the people involved in making it knew that they had no budget but they took very seriously their task of doing as much as they could with as little as they had.

Classic Japanese monster fare.

Gammera is almost as fun as the famous Godzilla - it's not quite as good as Godzilla but it is a blast to watch. Silly looking special effects that will get you to smile, over-the-top story, the dialogue is sometimes hilarious but that is what makes a film like this one so much fun. And the theme song is so laughable... "Gammera! Gammera!"The film is watchable if you are into the "big monster" type of flicks.

If you liked Gammera the Invincible or Godzilla then you might like to make this movie a double feature with another fun Japanese film called Monster from a Prehistoric Planet (1967)... it's on the same wave-length as the other two films.

5/10

It is very easy to sum up this movie, Godzilla turns into a turtle.The end.I was slightly familiar with Gammera but was a little surprised his origin is almost a shot for shot re-make of the first Godzilla movie.There is basically no plot.Some kid doesn't want Gammera to get hurt.Is that the plot?Weak.There are a couple good things about this movie.The best is that they totally rip-offed the Batman TV show theme song and just changed the one word to "Gammera".It's lame that they stole it but you will be singing it before you get to the end.The other good thing is that there is a Japanese Colonel Sanders(I think he was in a few Godzilla movies but I've seen so many bad movies that they all just run together).I almost forgot, Dick O'Neill is in this movie.Who is he?Go to his IMDb page and you will know who he is.He's that guy that was in everything and you never knew his name.Not bad for a monster movie, give it a shot.

The original 1965 Japanese film "Gamera" http://pro.imdb.com/title/tt0059080/ was essentially an updating of the darker, less kid-oriented Gojira (Godzilla)for 1960s sensibilities. Gamera, of course, is a giant, flying, flame-throwing turtle who literally consumes energy - not quite as big as some versions of Godzilla, but generally similar in most ways.

This version of the original film was edited and recut by the notorious Sandy Frank. And just like the Americanized version of Godzilla ("Godzilla King of the Monsters"), "Gammera the Invincible" gets more than just the spelling wrong. The American scenes are not nearly as ludicrous and annoying as those added to the great Gojira, but don't really add much to the story either because there is little follow up on them.

The film starts off promising, there are a few scenes worth of character development, and there are enough personalities to create some tension outside of the main plot. Once Gamera appears, however, the film begins to descend into a fairly run-of-the mill kaiju film.

The acting is good enough- even the American add-ons are OK. The directing is pretty good for this period and genre, and the special effects are not bad at all for their time (all miniatures). Some of the sets and backdrops are actually very good.

The biggest problem here, of course, is that there is little to nothing original about this film. Gamera, however, develops a much more unique personality in his later films - most of which are worth watching if you are a kaiju fan.

This movie was in a sci-fi 50-pack a friend of mine got me for Christmas. It is very similar to the first Gozilla movie, and like that movie, has scenes with American actors inserted for no real reason. One interesting thing about the inserted scenes is that there's a Cold War tension portrayed between America and Russia. Like in Godzilla, Gamera is awakened by an atomic explosion and rampages across the world, paying close attention to Tokyo because no big monster movie is complete unless Tokyo bites it. All in all, this is an okay movie. Some of the scenes involving Gamera, particularly the scenes in Toly, are quite spectacular and have special effects that were pretty decent at the time. If you like Japanese giant monster movies, you'll really get a kick out of this one. I give it a 4 out of 10. Had this been the unedited Japanese version that I watched, it probably would've gotten a 5.

Due to the inability of America and the Soviet Union to get along, nuclear disaster strikes, unleashing the titular turtle! GAM(M)ERA THE INVINCIBLE is yet another Japanese monster film with new, westernized footage wedged in to appeal to American audiences. Admittedly, some of the inserted material is pretty good, especially the TV panel show, humorously discussing the giant turtle phenomenon. Very funny!

Of course, some of the original story is equally absurd, including a young boy with a "disturbing" turtle obsession. As for the Great Shelled One himself, he's awesome! This is where the titanic terrapin first proves that he's both "the friend of all children" and "the potential doom of all mankind". Can the brilliant Plan Z stop him?

BEST SCENES: #1- Gammera's assault on the nuclear power plant! #2- His fiery escape from certain death! #3- The -rather cramped- UN meeting, apparently held in someone's garage! #4- The band playing the Gammera theme song, in spite of impending annihilation! #5- The Tokyo demolition scene! Oh yeah! #6- The full implementation of Plan Z!

Gammera shows why he's a suitable rival of that OTHER giant reptile from that OTHER studio!...

With the rising popularity of the now iconic Godzilla series, like with any hit cinema event, there was inevitably going to be a crowd of imitators trying to cash in on the success on the big lizard. With Godzilla came the dawn of a rising popularity of the kaiju (giant monster) genre. Many sought after success; a few gained it. One of the few that not only profited, but garnered popularity was Gamera, a giant turtle that could breathe fire in and out and fly by spewing flames from the sockets in his carapace as a means of jet propulsion. But unlike Godzilla, Gamera was marketed as a friend to all children, later fighting other monsters to save kids in peril, and thus Gamera became very popular amongst the kiddies. Unfortunately, that's about the only audience mainstream that the original Gamera series will have any appeal to. While the new Gamera movies directed by Shusuke Kaneko are marvelous, revolutionary monster movies, the original series, including the original, is nothing special.

The first Gamera movie, titled in Japan as "The Giant Monster Gamera" was clearly a Godzilla want-to-be. Even though the movie was produced in the era of color films, it was shot in black-and-white. Why? To imitate the first Godzilla movie from the 1950s. Gamera also attacks Tokyo. Because Godzilla attacked Tokyo in the first movie. I don't know much about the Japanese version, for the version I am familiar with the Americanized version, where scenes were cut and new footage with American actors were inserted (is it coincidence that the same thing happened with the first Godzilla film?) Now whether this adds or takes away from the film, I cannot say. But "Gammera the Invincible" is really nothing more than a ponderous bore that just plods along like the big turtle himself.

"Gammera the Invincible" is a very routine-orientated movie. The characters are from a stock of science-fiction standards, the story is inane, the monster has no real motive for attacking civilization, the acting is laughable, and so on and so forth. The only thing that differentiates it from the Godzilla series is the ending of the movie, but that's also a detractor since the plan that eventually halts Gamera's rampage is completely phony and ridiculous. Now the rest of the movie and many other entries in this genre also fit that description, but this is a direfully stodgy monster movie.

And although Shusuke Kaneko would later transform Gamera into an interesting monster with his trilogy in the 1990s, in the original series, Gamera was not an attractive screen presence. He was neither scary nor sympathetic. He just waddles around like a toddler, swaying with each step, and knocks miniature sets over. As usual, everybody wants to destroy Gamera except for a little kid (Yoshio Uchida who was lazily left out of the credits though he plays a 'central' role) who thinks Gamera is a nice turtle.

Most movies in the genre that "Gammera the Invincible" is a part of are easy targets for criticism and this one is subject to extra pressure. Even in the company of many other Godzilla-imitators, this Gamera film is not a particularly good entry. And as far as my cinema experience goes, the rest of the movies in the series are either just as boring or worse. Like Godzilla, Gamera would be filmed in color and go on to fight monsters. And like Godzilla, he'd get cheaper and cheaper with every film until it was time to revive the series and make him serious again.

It's peculiar. Usually I recommend people to stick with the originals and pass on the remakes. But in the case of Gamera, my verdict is just the opposite. I strongly encourage people to watch the 1990s Gamera trilogy directed by Shusuke Kaneko and to skip over the original series unless interested. The new films are inventive, well-made, exciting, and above all, fun. The original series is a long stream of boredom.

I purchased "Gammera the Invincible" at Suncoast Videos for $5.99 plus tax. It was on the sale rack, and I was honestly shocked because I think this movie is a gem to own for those who love monster movies. It's one of those flicks that you watch late at night, with a 2-liter of Pepsi and a bowl of popcorn. Better still, this is the kind of movie you watch on a lazy day after Thanksgiving, with a Turkey sandwich and a Coke.

Anyone looking for serious things from this movie is going to be disappointed. These kind of movies as best enjoyed with an open mind. The special effects for the year this flick was made are actually very decent.

What's that there in the skies? Is it a plane? Is it Superman?? Errr, no… It's a TURTLE!?! See, that's what becomes of the Cold War! Nothing but bad news and other issues! The Americans shoot down a Russian combat plane somewhere over Artic territory and the subsequent explosion defrosts & literally awakens the giant prehistoric turtle-creature named Gammera. He/she is not a very friendly critter as it promptly ensues to destroy everything and everyone on its path. The arguing governments finally decide to kill the ugly bastard with a brand new and super-sophisticated ice-bomb, but Gammera has another surprise in store… The damn turtle can fly! The first time this happens results in a tremendously grotesque and hilarious sequence! Gammera lies on his back looking defeated when suddenly fire blows from his armpits and he skyrockets himself up in the air. How can you not love that? Then there's also a dire sub plot about an annoying kid who's able to telepathically communicate with the monster, but that's just not interesting enough. Flying turtle, people!! There's very little else to write about this Japanese (and American re-edited) Sci-Fi effort, apart from that it's an obvious and totally shameless rip-off of such classics like the original Godzilla and The Beast from 20.000 Fathoms. The effects and monster designs are extremely hokey and, unlike the aforementioned films, it never succeeds in creating an apocalyptic ambiance. Respectable actors like Brian Donlevy ("The Quatermass Experiment") and Dick O'Neill ("Wolfen") seem unaware of what film set they're on and even the original Japanese mayhem-scenes aren't very convincing. Gammera's very own and personalized theme-song is rather cool, though, so it gets one extra point for that.

Gammera the Invincible (1966) is a Gamera classic that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a series of nuclear testing that awakens Gamera and he starts bearing down on Tokyo. Does Gamera plan to destroy Tokyo, teach the human race a lesson or both?

This movie is codirected by Sandy Howard (King of Africa) and Noriaki Yuasa (Gamera, Super Monster) and stars Albert Dekker (The Wild Bunch), Brian Donlevy (Impact), Diane J. Findlay (The Producers), John Baragrey (The Loves of Carmen) and Dick O'Neill (The Jerk).

The models used for this picture are fantastic. I loved how Gamera emerged from the snow to open the movie as well as the depiction of New York City. The toy boats and military equipment are fun and the lighthouse conclusion is fantastic. I'll always complain that the storyline is too close to Godzilla and Gamera looks like a toy turtle, but I still find these movies fun.

Overall, this is another fun Gamera addition to the monster genre that's an absolute must see. I would score this a 5/10 and strongly recommend it.

There's not much to say about this one. Gammera is some kind of fire breathing turtle. He is loosed by a nuclear explosion. He heads for land and begins to destroy building and tanks and other junk (oh yeah, power lines. I almost forgot). At one time, early in the film, he befriends a little boy, and instead of just throwing him away, or squashing him, he places him down on the ground. Safe. From then on we have to watch this chubby faced little twerp show up and run away, show up and run away, show up and run away. For some reason, Gammera is able to hear this kid from 20,000 feet away. Oh, well, the plot is to try to get Gammera to get to a place where he can be put on board a rocket and shot into space. As usual, the monster is lumbering and uncoordinated (a guy in a Gammera suit). The Japanese army (with the help of Americans), uses up enough ammunition and fire power to solve the national debt, and, of course, it does no good. They should know this anyway. We've seen a lot of monsters stomp on Tokyo. Not to put these down because they can be fun, but it's really not very good.

Gamera the Invincible (1966)

** (out of 4)

The stupid American government drops an atomic bomb at the North Pole and soon the gigantic turtle named Gamera is set free. He flies across the world before landing in Tokyo to destroy the city. I'm not a huge fan of these Japanese monster films but this one works….a little. Some of the special effects are nice including one scene where Gamera destroys a chemical plant but there's some laughable moments as well. I watched the English dubbed version, which gets a few more laughs due to the silly track.

This is the American version of the very first Gamera movie, where an atomic explosion awakens the fire-breathing turtle monster from his hibernation and causing him to go on a destructive spree on Tokyo. U.S. footage with American actors were inserted and I couldn't tell if they contributed to the plot or not since I at the time of this review haven't seen the original. However, I do recall that most of those scenes involving endless meetings of the authorities in how to deal with the monster was boring because it distracts from the monster action.

The special effects were decent as you can see a good dose of Gamera stomping on buildings and setting them on fire. And, you have a simple plot of the humans trying to think of a plan to stop this horror. Other than that, I thought this was pretty much a below average monster movie, one that precedes just over a half-dozen very childish and kid- oriented Gamera movies with recycled alien-invasion plots. Somehow, this first Gamera movie doesn't have that charm, riveting monster horror and intrigue that most other Japanese monster films, especially those made by rival movie studio Toho, have. From what I can see for just the American version of the film, it is a very typical and basic monster-on-the-loose flick.

If you want to see more exciting and sophisticated Gamera movies, check those from the 1990s era.

Grade D+

Japanese monster movie "Gamera" is re-edited into US-Japanese monster movie "Gammera" about a giant, fire-eating prehistoric turtle that wreaks havoc across the globe after it's awoken by an atomic explosion. US and Japanese co-operation manage to corner the beast, but attempts at its defeat prove unsuccessful. Amid all the chaos, a turtle loving pre-adolescent Japanese boy finds a soft spot for the misunderstood turtle after Gamera saves him from death.

Brian Donlevy and Albert Dekker are the principal American actors in the re-edited version, playing Pentagon top brass sitting around a boardroom table, debating foreign policy and protocol, while Dick O'Neill has a meaty role early in the picture barking orders at his military comms unit that includes burly John McCurry in an early role, and TV actor John Baragrey among less familiar faces. Alan Oppenheimer has an hilarious cameo as an over-zealous zoologist open to initial speculation on the identity of the giant, flying turtle despite professional ridicule.

Gamera gets the pop-culture treatment in one scene where nightclub revellers ignore warnings to evacuate, instead preferring to get down and boogie to the hit song "Gamera" (rhymes with camera), until Tokyo crumbles down around them. As with other Japanese monster movies, there's some clown in a rubber suit, stumbling about like a drunk, tripping over miniatures and getting angry with train sets that should make you laugh, but despite a heavy-heaping of political metaphor, "Gamera" remains mostly light and uninhibited. Probably one for fans of the sub genre only.

Back when I first watched Gamera, I thought I was watching the Americanized version. I now know that wasn't the case - I was watching the original Japanese film from 1965. Regardless, that movie is still a bad movie. This one, however, with the American shot scenes wedged into the film, dialogue and plot changes, and an added "m" in the title, is a much more enjoyable film. The 1966 Gammera the Invincible is one whacked-out movie.

All the problems I had with the original Gamera are still here - bad special effects and miniatures, Kenny, and the ridiculous finale. But in the 1966 version, it comes off as more entertaining because it's all so silly. Of all the scenes and dialogue changes made for this film, my favorite bit has to be the added NORAD (I think it was NORAD) scenes. I'd like to see an entire movie based on these people. There's a fantastic 60s vibe to this part of the film that really worked for me. And what about the cabinet meetings where Gamera is discussed. Brian Donlevy is a hoot to watch. You can tell how silly he thinks the whole thing is. Good stuff.

So, while I gave Gamera (1965) a deserved 4/10, I'm rating Gammera the Invincible (1966) a 6/10. It's just a more entertaining experience for me.

6/10

This "clever" film was originally a Japanese film. And while I assume that original film was pretty bad, it was made a good bit worse when American-International Films hacked the film to pieces and inserted American-made segments to fool the audience. Now unless your audience is made of total idiots, it becomes painfully obvious that this was done--and done with little finesse or care about the final product. The bottom line is that you have a lot of clearly Japanese scenes and then clearly American scenes where the film looks quite different. Plus, the American scenes really are meaningless and consist of two different groups of people at meetings just talking about Gamera--the evil flying turtle! And although this is a fire-breathing, flying and destructive monster, there is practically no energy because I assume the actors were just embarrassed by being in this wretched film--in particular, film veterans Brian Donlevy and Albert Dekker. They both just looked tired and ill-at-ease for being there.

Now as for the monster, it's not quite the standard Godzilla-like creature. Seeing a giant fanged turtle retract his head and limbs and begin spinning through the air like a missile is hilarious. On the other hand, the crappy model planes, destructible balsa buildings and power plant are, as usual, in this film and come as no surprise. Plus an odd Japanese monster movie cliché is included that will frankly annoy most non-Japanese audience members, and that is the "adorable and precocious little boy who loves the monster and believes in him". Yeah, right. Well, just like in GODZILLA VERSUS THE SMOG MONSTER and several other films, you've got this annoying creep cheering on the monster, though unlike later incarnations of Godzilla, Gamera is NOT a good guy and it turns out in the end the kid is just an idiot! Silly, exceptional poor special effects that could be done better by the average seven year-old, bad acting, meaningless American clips and occasionally horrid voice dubbing make this a wretched film. Oddly, while most will surely hate this film (and that stupid kid), there is a small and very vocal minority that love these films and compare them to Bergman and Kurosawa. Don't believe them--this IS a terrible film!

FYI--Apparently due to his terrific stage presence, Gamera was featured in several more films in the 60s as well as some recent incarnations. None of these change the central fact that he is a fire-breathing flying turtle or that the movies are really, really lame.

"Gammera, the Invincible*" was Daiei Studio's chelonid answer to Toho Studio's popular Godzilla series. The film was targeted at a younger audience than contemporaneous Godzilla movies and one of the main characters is a young, turtle-loving boy. The monster design is on par with the late Showa-era Godzilla characters, although making a turtle look menacing is challenging. The film opens with the accidental detonation of a nuclear bomb, which releases Gamera from his 200,000,000 year icy hibernation. This is a one-monster-show, so most of the action revolves the shelled-kaiju's destruction of cities and power plants, and the JDF's various fruitless attempts to destroy him. The dubbed version I watched had a lot of tedious, cheap-looking English footage added (including, among others, Brian Donlevy), primarily cold-war tinged discussions about what to do about the situation). In keeping with his later appearances, Gamera is child-friendly, catching young Toshio (Yoshiro Uchida) when he falls from his lighthouse home (unfortunately, as the kid turns out to be an incredibly annoying character). Even by Showa-era kaiju films, the 'science' that explains Gamera's evolutionary history and current existence is ridiculous, as is the cunning plan devised to get rid of him. While silly, the black-and-white film is much more somber than later entries in the series (noticeably absent is the cheerily infectious "Gamera theme") and resembles the original Godzilla (1954) in style (although the Toho film is substantially better). Some of the matte scenes are reasonably well done, as are the miniatures (esp. the thermoelectric plant), but the gigantic, tusked, bipedal, flying turtle pretty much strains 'suspension of disbelief' beyond the breaking point. Kaiju fans will want to include the towering turtle's debut on their life lists but other than fans of 'camp' (who will probably prefer the MST3K annotated version), I can't imagine a modern audience showing much interest in the movie (although the Japanese version may be better that the 'westernised' version I watched). *The American title of the film seems to be the only instance of the "Gammera" spelling.

An atomic explosion awakens Gammera--a giant, fire-breathing turtle monster--from his millions of years of hibernation.

Enraged at being roused from such a sound sleep, he takes it out on Tokyo.

This is so believably done that you'll be on the edge of your sleep.

The igloos are extraordinary. So life like.

The fighter jets too are so real you'll think you're there.

Even the over dubbing is superb.

And when the turtle gets down to business, you will be besides yourself.

A wild and crazy ride in Black and White.