Runtime: 81 minutes
Directed by: Noriaki
Yuasa/Shigeo Tanaka
Starring: Kojiro Hongo,
Toru Takasuka, Carl Craig, Michiko Yaegagi, Mari Atsumi
From: Daiei
What a deeply, profoundly stupid movie this is, even if it features Super Catch Rays:
I know I saw this movie before, as a
kid; damn if I could remember a single thing about it before revisiting
this last night, to be frank. Presumably, this was so stupid it was a
deliberate action on my part to forget this nonsense was ever viewed!
The movie follows two boys (one Japanese, the other American, presumably to make foreign sales of this easier) and among other things, they reverse the controls on a two person submersible, as a gag on someone; believe it or not, this factors into the plot later. They are kidnapped by aliens and they are used to control Gamera; now the giant reptile is controlled by said aliens; much stock footage is used. At first, there is a TEN minute stretch where they try to find his weakness via “reading its mind.” Then, Gamera's attacks on Earth is actually footage from the first three films. Note that the original film is in black and white... and that footage is presented in black and white instead of being colorized! For some reason, I doubt audiences were convinced there
.
Then, there is how the two boys alternate between acting smart and stupid, which is better than I can say for the Viras aliens. The way that the children hoodwink and escape from the villains is amazingly dumb. A giant kaiju monster finally appears, and it's an octopus thing. The final battle... in several aspects it makes zero sense, although during this befuddling contest, I was happy that this cheap piece of crap was finally concluding. Not even the debut of the Gamera theme song and a minute of pathos where the two leads are willing to sacrifice their own lives in order for the world to attack the spaceship and thus save the planet... not even that nor some psychedelic imagery befitting of the late 60's make this movie worthwhile.
The movie follows two boys (one Japanese, the other American, presumably to make foreign sales of this easier) and among other things, they reverse the controls on a two person submersible, as a gag on someone; believe it or not, this factors into the plot later. They are kidnapped by aliens and they are used to control Gamera; now the giant reptile is controlled by said aliens; much stock footage is used. At first, there is a TEN minute stretch where they try to find his weakness via “reading its mind.” Then, Gamera's attacks on Earth is actually footage from the first three films. Note that the original film is in black and white... and that footage is presented in black and white instead of being colorized! For some reason, I doubt audiences were convinced there
.
Then, there is how the two boys alternate between acting smart and stupid, which is better than I can say for the Viras aliens. The way that the children hoodwink and escape from the villains is amazingly dumb. A giant kaiju monster finally appears, and it's an octopus thing. The final battle... in several aspects it makes zero sense, although during this befuddling contest, I was happy that this cheap piece of crap was finally concluding. Not even the debut of the Gamera theme song and a minute of pathos where the two leads are willing to sacrifice their own lives in order for the world to attack the spaceship and thus save the planet... not even that nor some psychedelic imagery befitting of the late 60's make this movie worthwhile.
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