Gamera contre Jiger

This is a children's movie. Is it a great children's movie? No.

But, it is an enjoyable children's movie. Sure Gamera looks like he was constructed at the last second out of an old shopping bag; and, Monster X looks like something that you pulled out of a Salvation Army drop-box. But, this movie has children as the main characters, doing the bulk of the heroics and making the bulk of the sound decisions...

There are a tremendous number of plot-holes in this movie; but, if you've got children, and a little patience, you can enjoy ninety minutes of pig-headed adults, brave children and flying turtles...

Also, there is a certain resemblance to the science fiction novel Blameless in Abaddon...anyone else notice?...

This is less camp than the previous film but equally entertaining. Some of the story barely makes sense. They have built a great set though but they don't smash enough of it. They are still not using low angles to give a better scale to the kaiju. Jiger is a cool monster but less memorable than Guiron. Overall I wasn't bored but I also wasn't impressed.

This is less camp than the previous film but equally entertaining. Some of the story barely makes sense. They have built a great set though but they don't smash enough of it. They are still not using low angles to give a better scale to the kaiju. Jiger is a cool monster but less memorable than Guiron. Overall I wasn't bored but I also wasn't impressed.

This film is pretty much a formula Gamera film that follows the same plot as every other film. A giant monster threatens to destroy a Japanese city and just when things look bleak, in comes Gamera to save the day. However, Gamera usually loses at least one or two battles with his adversary before he finally defeats him. However, the one thing that makes this film different is the fact that usually in a Gamera film, Gamera is the one who saves any children that are in trouble, but in this film it is up to two young boys (one Japanese and one Caucasian) to save him from a parasite that was injected into his body. Even with this plot twist, this is still the typical Gamera film. But as I have said in my other commentaries about films in the Gamera series, these films are pretty much a way to introduce children to the world of kaiju eiga.

This was the first feature I had seen in the kaiju genre. I was familiar with the television show Ultraman, but I had not known that movies about monsters had also been made.

This one is fun! One aspect of the genre that Daiei was better at than Toho is in the depiction of quadrapeds. Jiger looks like a four legged creature, not a person crawling on his knees, as several of the Toho characters were known to do.

Some of the dialogue is hideously bad. I recently saw this one again after twenty years, and had a good time adding a few comments of my own. At one point the two boys are inside Gamera's lung, walking around, when one says, "What are we looking for?" The other replies "Anything unusual."

I piped up, "We are in the lung of a 200-foot turtle, but we are still looking for anything unusual."

Still, this one has several interesting scenes. Unusual footage of a surgery on an elephant, x-rays of Gamera, a neat minisub, and cool communicators. It is a fun ride!

Gamera vs. Jiger (1970)

** (out of 4)

An American behind an expo in Japan takes a large statue away from a mountain side and this unleashes Jiger, a large lizard like creature who can spit toothpicks from his mouth. Gamera comes to the rescue but gets beat up pretty badly and also gets pregnant to where he must carry Jiger's egg (I'm not kidding). A couple kids eventually help Gamera overcome his new pregnancy and he heads out to destroy the monster. This is certainly a kid's movie but it's mildly entertaining throughout all of its major goofiness. As is to be expected, the special effects are downright laughable, the performances even worse and the American dubbing will leave you scratching your head. The one big bonus is that the monsters are constantly doing battle with various forms of cardboard towns being blown up and ripped apart. The fight sequences are pretty good even though it appears Jiger can come up with new things out of nowhere. If you want a quality movie then you're going to be disappointed because every aspect of this movie is cheap. If you want a childish good time than this film might be your cup of tea as long as you don't expect too much.