Gamera contre Viras

I saw this when I was a kid growing up in Michigan, watching 'monster week' on the 4:30 movie on channel 7. Just recently I purchased a DVD release from Diamond Entertainment called 'Japanesse Monster Movies' that contains four Gamera movies altogether. I used to like this particular film so I was interested in seeing this again.

For starters, a lot of the sets and I believe even some of the props and costumes have been taken directly from 'Gamera vs Guiron'. But at least 45 percent of this film is composed of stock footage from older films. Perhaps the funniest scene in the movie is when they show footage from the original Gamera film- a black and white movie- and try to pass it off for something that is happening in the present, even though this film was shot in color.

The kids in this film take charge of the situation and try to help Gamera out when the adults are content to do little or nothing. There's a lot of Kiaju 'gore' in this film, a funny yet kind of cool alien invader and stupid, stupid henchmen who get their heads knocked off )!) before the mutate into other squid-like creatures.

This is actually less boring than the previous films. Since the aliens are studying the previous Gamera fights in order to defeat him, the film is full of fairly cool monster battles. The final battle against Viran is a good one!

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Noriaki Yuasa; Produced by Hidemasa Nagata, for Daiei Studios; Released in America as "Destroy All Planets" by American-International Pictures. Screenplay by Niisan Takahashi; Photography by Akira Kitazaki; Edited by Shoji Sekiguchi; Music by Kenjiro Hirose. Starring: Kojiro Hongo, Carl Craig, Toru Takatsuka, Michiko Yaegaki, Peter Williams and Mary Morris.

Japanese monster film for kiddies, in the tradition of "Attack of the Monsters". The only good moments are in the use of first-person camera giving the aliens' point-of-view, a technique which is quickly discarded. A new low in absurd plots: title is false as aliens merely seek planetary takeover. They temporarily take control over Gamera (He's back!) and kidnap a couple of Japanese boy scouts. Before saving the day with the kids' help, Gamera unwittingly destroys Tokyo, and in the most unbelievable plot device in many years, the UN decides to surrender the Earth to the aliens rather than risk the lives of the two scouts!

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.

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--

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.