User reviews

No one goes into the old Gamera movies expecting brilliance. In fact, most watch them fairly openly to delve into the schlock, whether as a guilty pleasure or to enjoy mocking it. I am somewhere in the middle of these two. I have a massive high tolerance for "badness", especially when it is done in the spirit of earnest fun, but there was a couple of times where I just wanted to shut this one off.

The first reason was the flashbacks to which many viewers allude. Not only is there a roughly fifteen minute scene composed of much too large chunks of "fight" scenes from earlier movies, but there are at least two "major" scenes that are taken from the first and second movie and then played off as freshly happening. It is so poorly done, that the scenes from the first one are left in black and white, despite the rest of this movie being in color! The second reason was the utter illogic of this one, in places. A genius kid is one thing, if almost always annoying at times, but this one went above and beyond. Not only is the kid allowed to tamper with various things with almost no repercussion, but him and his friend are given far too much freedom in the middle half of the movie. It is almost like this is a kid's happy dream, as opposed to an abduction by a vindictive life force.

And the climatic decision...egads! All in all, I stuck with it, and finally just started laughing out loud at it machinations. The final scene has some really good moments, as well, including some really well staged smashes and jabs. I give it a solid five stars, I enjoyed it once my brain switched over into its mode of handling things.

The veering of the Gamera series towards the younger generation began with the fourth film, "Gamera vs. Viras" released a speedy three years after the original hit Japanese theaters in 1965. Even though the previous movie, the gleefully entertaining "Gamera vs. Gyaos" was also geared mostly toward children, it still had an element of terror and dread in it. That is gone here and "Gamera vs. Viras" is an unsuccessfully endeavor. However, that it is hardly due to the fact that it is being directed at little children and those who are still able to find the child deep within themselves (a la moi). The problem with this picture is, despite its wonderful beginning and wonderful ending, most of the middle is just shameless, lazy jigsaw-construction of its predecessors. In other words, it's mostly just stock footage reels.

The opening is very promising. A spaceship venturing for a conquest of Earth is interrupted by Gamera, now fully evolved into the friend of all children. Before the vessel is destroyed, it sends a signal back to its home world and a second one is dispatched. Upon the new one's arrival, the aliens use their technology to determine Gamera's weaknesses and take two boy scouts (Toru Takatsuka & Carl Craig) hostage. Now implicating a mind-control device, they use Gamera to destroy civilization. The thin plot becomes thinner before it ultimately leads up to the titular conflict between the giant terrapin and a slimy extra-terrestrial cephalopod.

The movie is so wonderful at first. Both Gamera and the two boys are very entertaining. The latter are portrayed as witty, audacious, and thoughtful individuals...despite the occasional prank or two. And a scene involving them inside of a submersible racing Gamera underwater brought a smile to my face. But the movie starts crippling itself at the moment where the aliens start searching Gamera's past. It's stock footage from the previous movies, each reel lasting roughly five minutes. The aliens quote that their process takes fifteen minutes and it literally does. There's hardly any narration or trimming of the stock footage; it's just reused. (Frighteningly enough, for the U.S. version, the stock footage reel was increased to a mind-numbing twenty-five minutes!) When this ends, there is some relief, but then it becomes just more reused footage from the previous movies. Sequence upon sequence. And most jarring of all is when they decide to once again show Gamera attacking Tokyo as he did in the original film "Gamera the Giant Monster." Now if you will recall, that movie was black-and-white. This one is in color. Eyes squinting yet? Colorization was not around at the time this picture was made and yes, they still integrate colorless footage into a color movie! Just a slight bluish tint, that's all. And sadly, this drags on and on seemingly without end and wore me out. All of a sudden, even the whim and charm of Mr. Takatsuka and Mr. Craig, both of whom are very good in the film, seems unimportant.

Now the movie does pick up a little when the final battle does arrive. And it's satiatingly lengthy, but even with that, by the time it was all over, "Gamera vs. Viras" had exhausted me and left me feeling a thirst for a lot more. The stock footage it so abundant that if there had been more, it could have been a "Best of Gamera" show instead of a continuation to the series. And as far as I am concerned, a low budget should not be an excuse for ham-handed filmmaking. There are some good things here, including a leading performance by that wonderful actor Kojiro Hongo (who was in the previous two Gamera movies and would later play a small part in Shusuke Kaneko's marvelous "Gamera: Guardian of the Universe" almost thirty years later) but there are also a lot of bad things here too.

Viras has to be one of the best monsters that the Japanese ever created. I'm hoping and praying that Daiei Studios brings him back if they ever make another Gamera movie. A gigantic space squid with a cool looking face, creepy yellow eyes, and who's roar sounds like screeching metal just simply rocks! The problem with this movie however(next to the fact that two kids are the main stars) is that it's padded with huge amounts of stock footage. We get to see Gamera's origin and attack on Tokyo (in black and white!!) and his early fights with Barugon and Gyoas all from the first three Gamera films! This ruins the overall movie. But next to that it's pretty fun. A spaceship that looks like it's made with 5 black and yellow striped ping-pong balls, Viras decapitating his useless subordinates, and the giant Viras bloodily impaling Gamera with his sharp pointy head are the standout scenes in this flick.

Gamera steps in repeatedly to stop evil aliens from taking over the Earth. Frustrated but still determined, the aliens search for a weakness in Gamera's armor finally deciding to use Gamera's fondness for children against him. Capturing two boy scouts Gamera had recently befriended and threatening to kill them unless Gamera follows their commands, the aliens succeed in implanting a mind control device into Gamera. Now they threaten to have Gamera wreck havoc and destruction upon the world unless humanity bows to their demands. And if their plot involving Gamera doesn't work out, the aliens have yet another monstrous surprise all their own named Viras at their disposal.

While I quite enjoy that portion of the film that actually features new footage of Gamera and Viras in action, a third of this movie seems to be made up of stock footage from previous Gamera films and the way the footage is used is disappointing, one action sequence after another after yet another to the point it really grinds the movie to an halt. It's really too bad as the alien footage features some neat albeit shocking images much more gruesome than is usual for this type of kids' movies and the final battle with Viras just has to be seen to be believed. All in all, this is good fun that should appeal to those young and young at heart but still, that third featuring stock footage is tough slugging.

In this, his fourth outing, Gamara finally hits stride as a children's hero, complete with his cheesily heroic (albeit memorable) theme music. The film follows a pair of irritating boy scouts (Maseo and Jim) who are kidnapped by aliens to act as human shields against Gamera, now established as Earth's guardian turtle. The UN does some careful 'cost: benefit' analysis and decides to surrender the entire planet in exchange for the boys' safety, but fortunately the Maseo's prankish ingenuity gets the better of the somewhat credulous aliens and the resourceful pair manage to turn the tables on our would-be overloads. A budget offering, the middle third of the film consists of lengthy clips taken from the first three films as the aliens examine Gamera's memories for a weakness. The movie is saved from absolute bottom-of-the-barrel status by Maseo's cute girl-guide sister, some inventive spaceship effects, the imaginative hexopod kaiju, and a somewhat Freudian impalement scene. For kaiju aficionados or the most undiscerning viewers only. I watched an English-dubbed, poor quality DVD version, which may have contributed to my low opinion of the opus.

1968's "Destroy All Planets" ("Gamera tai Uchu Kaiju Bairasu" or Gamera vs. Outer Space Monster Viras) was the 4th Gamera entry from Daiei, furtively retitled by AIP-TV to confuse the unwary into believing it to be Toho's festive "Destroy All Monsters" (also made the same year). One might almost be tempted to think it was for at least the opening minutes, featuring an alien ship made up of five circling globes sending a message back to the planet Viras that a certain flying turtle must be defeated if they're to conquer the earth. It was director Noriaki Yuasa's intention to make this entirely child friendly, using two boy scouts as protagonists and little new monster action until the final reel, his task made easier by using an incredible 23 minutes of stock footage from its three predecessors to pad out the running time to an almost unbearable 90. Toru Takatsuki as Masao and Carl Craig as Jim are the pranksters in a troupe of boy scouts, switching controls on a minisub to make them look smarter than the operators, joined by Gamera beneath the waves for some relaxation before the invaders return. Once the tots are taken prisoner aboard the space craft they are able to force Gamera to do their bidding or risk the boys' lives. The only destruction shown is Gamera attacking a dam, taken directly from "War of the Monsters," plus some building stomping in black and white, otherwise his battles with Barugon and Gyaos are crammed together at the midway mark, the scouts using their wits to make fools of their captors by again reversing controls, watching the space squid Viras duke it out with Gamera for the climax. Impaling a turtle on its belly would seem to be a fool proof method to dispatch the pest, yet Gamera is able to use its flying abilities to reach new heights by freezing this less than formidable foe, to the tune of the instrumental theme that would be heard for the rest of the seven film series. Were it not for the long unseen finale "Gamera vs. Zigra" this might easily rank at the absolute bottom due to its repeat of past glories in such a way that future efforts could never top it, yet as a film designed for the young at heart one must grudgingly admit that it gets the job done (curiously enough, it was Yuasa's personal favorite).

This has to be the hardest Gamera film to find, in these post NAMBLA days. It does have a whole bunch of recycled footage, but since it was my introduction to the character, it didn't bother me, until I saw the films it was swiped from, later on. After I saw this a whole bunch of times on KTLA, I became a serious fan. Yeah, it's cheesy, but I didn't care, and I still don't. The dubbing was supervised by Bret Morrison, a post-Orson Welles voice of "The Shadow" on radio, and he was pretty astounded when I asked him about it at a late-70's Multiple Sclerosis fundraiser. It's good cheese, and I wouldn't be without it! Also, this and "Super Monster Gamera" (even worse, for much the same reasons) are the two Gamera films that didn't get worked over by Mystery Science Theatre 3000.

Pax!

--Judex.1--

Having been a Godzilla fan for many years, Gamera was to me a cheap knockoff to capitalize on the success of Toho's #1 kaiju star. ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS was for me at the time (1975) an almost painful viewing experience.

Last weekend, I attended the annual Godzilla fest, known as G-FEST, where Carl Craig, one of the stars of GAMERA vs. VIRAS, made an appearance. Of course, they featured this movie. It was one of the most hilarious bad movies ever made. Of course, you have to be in the right frame of mind to watch it. In one scene, for example, the boy scouts held prisoner on board the alien space craft manage to escape by distracting the not-too-bright aliens. When they realize they"ve been duped, one of them says, "That's funny...I think those kids lied to us." Not even PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE can boast that kind of dialog.

This may not be GODZILLA or even GAMERA 3, but this one is a decent enough time waster, if you watch it in the right frame of mind.

However, if you want top quality kaiju entertainment, check out the recently released GAMERA 3.

Rating: **1/2 out of *****

I don't know what to say about this film. But it's still a decent entry in the Gamera series.

The special effects are good as always in a Gamera movie, but the giant fight scenes are in slow motion. It looks like they shot it on the moon. But it's still very entertaining. I love it when Gamera starts slamming Viras against the ground repeatedly, it's hilarious. It's also very funny when Viras throws Gamera into the rocks on the beach.

A weird thing about this film no one points out are the tonal shifts. The movie starts playing the happy and jolly Gamera theme and it's just the two boys running around on the beach, and then later it shows people getting their heads cut off and it still plays the Gamera theme. It's sometimes disturbing too, there is also a scene where Gamera gets stabbed in the stomach with Viras's pointy head. It can be a little gruesome for the sensitive viewers.

The acting is pretty good, and the child characters are not as bad as people say they are.

But the characters are a little dry which downgrades the movie a little bit.

Also the movie spends eleven minutes looking at stock footage from different Gamera movies, they could've shortened it down or not have it in the movie entirely.

But this movie is not as bad as IMDB says it is. I enjoyed it!

More of a Frisbee like turtle with fangs that go up like a wart hog. More battles with people in bird suits that look like people in bird suits. A ping pong ball space ship. Two naughty boys who know how to do everything, including getting on board the space ship. More tiresome music. More "Gamera is the friend of children" stuff. I remember when Godzill and Rodan came out. The movies were a lot of fun because the monsters were actually a threat to people. Now they are just a parade of silly costumes with very little behind them. The adults are all ridiculous and moronic. Like in American sitcoms, the kids are the bosses (when in reality they couldn't think their way out of a paper bag). These monster movies must be the Japanese means of partonizing these little snots. Above all, however, is that after seeing three of these movies (with the same plot over and over; check the stock footage), the ultimate conclusion is that they are boring. If you haven't see this one, don't bother.

Viras (a sort of space squid) and a shipful of aliens who dress like surgeons attempt to take over the Earth, two Boy Scouts at a time. Along comes Gamera... Suddenly, the movie grinds to a halt: we're treated to ELEVEN MINUTES of miscellaneous footage from the first three Gamera movies. Once the movie gets going again, we find Viras has implanted a mind-control device in Gamera's neck. He sends our hero turtle off to wreak havoc. This time we get to see even MORE footage from the previous movies: the dam attack scene from "Gamera vs. Barugon" and -- here's the kicker -- black and white footage from the original "Gamera", spliced in with no concern for continuity. The rest of the movie features some astonishingly gruesome images, including disembodied floating arms and Gamera getting impaled on Viras' pointy head. Basically, it's a cheap, cheap thrill for eleven-year-olds and immature adults like me.

I picked up this movie not too long ago with decent expectations. All I can say is that 60s Gamera was not 60s Godzilla. This movie came out the same year as "Destroy All monsters", and anybody who knows kaiju knows that's not even a debate. To say this film lacks the character, charm, art, graceful music and over all atmosphere of Honda's work is an understatement. Now, this film had many a problem that even for a giant monster fan were just hard to sit through.

The camp is pretty horrendous, and the human characters are completely dismal. Same old annoying kids, in a world where youngsters are held hostage by aliens who then let them wander their ship which has a machine that can produce ANYTHING they desire. As far as idiotic plots, they could almost take the cake with this one. All along accompanied by a score I just do not care for.

oh and did I mention that if you haven't seen "Gamera vs. Barugon" or "Gamera vs. Gyaos" you get to see like almost ten minute-each flashbacks of each of those films? These flashbacks go on for quite a bit of time, I suppose to give the appearance that this is a feature run-time flick. When I first saw it, I was surprised. About more than half of this movie's action sequences are stock-footage. For Godzilla's sake, don't use stock footage from a black-and-white movie in the full-on color one; someone's bound to notice you know? However, after 90% of the film being completely pointless and redundant, there is pretty entertaining fight at the end. Too bad it was too little too late. Viras is a squid-like alien kaiju, who I suppose to some extent would provide inspiration for Irys in the 1999 film "Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys", but it's a much simpler concept design. I tracked this film down pretty much for the adventure of watching all the Gamera movies, but by no means is this one of the best, not by far. "Gamera vs. Barugon" and "Gamera vs. Gyaos" are far better made, hell even "Gamera vs. Guiron" improves on this one. Watch if you dare!

This film is such a shift in tone from the previous 3 films. It's embraced the comical aspects to such an extent it feels more like a Carry On film. In a similar vein to Bond where the first 3 films are the Gamera equivalent to Sean Connery. Gamera vs. Viras goes full on Roger Moore with it's wacky antics.

The worst part of this film is that so much of it is taken up with re-used footage recapping Gamera's previous battles, a huge chunk of runtime for an 81 minute film. This choice felt really unnecessary as it impacts the overall flow of the film. Its a shame considering this is the first time they introduce a really engaging and well developed human character in the form Masao whose a lovable mischievous tech genius. Its such a missed opportunity on the film makers part as this could have been truly brilliant.

GAMERA VS. VIRAS is the fourth in the series and only really marred by the inclusion of stock footage from previous GAMERA movies. This footage consists of our hero fighting various monstrous foes and lasts for around fifteen minutes, which I found really annoying. The rest is typically fun and feels different to previous Gamera movies, with the villains aliens who ride in a wacky-looking UFO. The glowing eye FX are fun and the child heroes, one Japanese and one American, are quite endearing. The second half of the film features some good monster put-downs and the inclusion of a giant squid adds to the enterprise.

"Gamera, the giant flying turtle returns to save humanity when an alien spacecraft approaches Earth intent on world domination. Gamera destroys the alien ship, but a second craft captures two boy scouts to shield them from Gamera. The aliens then place a control device on Gamera to make him attack Tokyo. The boys foul their plans when they manage to reverse the controls and Gamera confronts the squid-like beings in a climactic battle," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis. Re-titled "Destroy All Planets" for American consumption, this is a bad mix of ideas from other films, action sequences from previous "Gamera" movies, and the usual formulaic children.

** Gamera tai uchu kaijû Bairasu (3/20/68) Noriaki Yuasa ~ Toru Takatsuka, Carl Craig, Kojiro Hongo, Junko Yashiro

It must be remembered that the Gammera movies, like many of the first-series Gozilla films, WERE in fact aimed squarely at kids. Little Kenny and his cohorts are living out the daydreams of the kids in the audience: they get to run around and play with top-secret stuff while the adults stand by and allow it; they get to cavort with monsters, and even when the bad guys enter, they are never in any real danger.

Perhaps the first Gammera film is an aberration because the child DOES get punished and IS put into danger, but the rest of the series is pure wish fulfillment.

As one critic said, these aren't failed adult movies but successful kid's movies.

Viras, a giant alien squid, takes his ping pong ball spaceship to conquer Earth. Who could come but Gamera, the big turtle and friend to all children, to save Earth. In order to defeat Gamera, the aliens scan into his past (about a half hour of stock footage that we have to sit though) and find out that he is friend to children. So they hold two boy scouts for ransom and put a transmitter in his brain. Now Gamera does what they want now and destroys Tokyo, but the boys have tricks up their sleeves. This is silly but a lot of fun to watch.