Gamera

Gamera's debut film and the rise legendary rival of Godzilla as the King of Japanese monster cinema. I'm going to say this right now, but I'm not much of a fan of Gamera's early films. There were a few interesting ones, like "Gamera vs. Gyaos" and "Gamera vs. Barugon", however, the original series went to sh*t at a much faster rate than the showa Godzilla films. 1968's "Gamera vs. Viras" is a staple to that statement and of course the series would only get worse till the 80s film "Gamera: Super Monster". This film isn't as good as "Gamera vs. Gyaos" and "Gamera vs. Barugon", but is far superior to latter entries.

Positive notes, well for his debut, Gamera looks pretty awesome. The city stomping scenes are well done, of course Japanese studios by 1965 having had lots of practice. The pacing is brisk and believe it or not doesn't drag. Most kaiju films have interesting finales and if you haven't seen this one you'll either laugh or sit in awe. Either way good fun. And the score is far from Akira Ifukube quality, with wildly switching moods, but it hold together.

Bad points, eh, too much borrowed from other monster movies. A monster emerging from the ice, obviously lifted from "Beast from 20, 000 Fathoms" and the black and white look of the film is borrowed, if you will, from the original 1954 Gojira. I suppose that's what happens when you come in that lame in the game. Plus the child character kind of grated on my nerves, a true turtle lover all right. The movie takes itself rather seriously with notions of the Cold War as opposed to the 1965 Toho release "Invasion of Astro Monster" which was light-hearted but more memorable. That film had awesome colorful cinematography, the likes of three monsters (Godzilla, Rodan, and King Ghidorah!!" and a fun and yes zany plot. Plus it was scored by the maestro Akira Ifukube. Comparing it to this film isn't really fair, but Godzilla for the win this round.

However, I still highly enjoy the vintage sci-fi and I recommend the movie to classic sci-fi lovers.

Sure the film is silly if you're not a fan of the Japanese monster movie genre. But if one catches the right version of this film, which is the original American dubbed version, and not the grotesque Sandy Frank re-dub that's been deservedly sent up on MST 3000 many times, then you'll end up watching instead a credible entry in the "kaiju" genre that was the first effort by Toho rival Daiei to come up with their answer to Godzilla.

The original Japanese version (and the Frank redub) has some particularly horrible scenes involving American Air Force personnel in the opening, including among others a would be actor playing the general who looks and sounds like he's auditioning to replace Curly in a Three Stooges short. The original US version thankfully replaces all of these scenes with more credible looking ones featuring some professional actors, especially Dick O'Neill ("The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three") as the general who is so good you wish he'd been in the rest of the movie instead of over the hill Brian Donlevy who plays the US general in charge of the operation.

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.

Gamera himself looks great, but the rest of this film is proof positive that Americans should NEVER be allowed to re-edit foreign films to make them more 'palatable' for US audiences. All it does is pad the running time unnecessarily, clutter the plotline, and highlight what is truly some of the most wretched acting I have ever seen on the small screen, never mind the silver screen. Who did they get to play the naval officers?? And did they get it all in one take? I have a big spot in my heart for the giant flying turtle (after all, he DID become the protector of small fry everywhere only a few years later) but he's not seen to best effect in this, his freshman outing.

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!