***     Movie about a Giant Fire-Breathing Turtle That Flies!

Toho's Godzilla (Gojira) series was a complete success. Obviously, there were people who copied the formula, hoping that they will be successful to. One of the few ones that did become a success was Daiei's Gamera. This was the first one of a surprisingly successful rip-off.

A plane from unknown origin is shot down in the arctic. For unknown reasons, it was carrying atomic weapons. It exploded, and woke up Gamera, a fire-breathing turtle who could fly around like a flying saucer! He wondered around, destroyed a research vessel, saved a kid from a lighthouse that he bumped into, blew up a power plant, and attacked Tokyo (where else?). The military shoots at him, electrocutes him, freezes him, blows him up, flips him on his back, and does a bunch more plans that don't work. Finally, they use the Z-Plan. They lure him to an island with fire, shove him in a huge rocket, and shoot him off towards mars (yeah, right).

Even one of the more serious Gamera movie is still silly. Please, like we are suppose to believe that all this is possible? But still, it is quite serious, for a Gamera movie. Daiei has always been known for their good human side, and this is no exception. The humans at least are believable. The plot is quite good. They do what you think people would do in those strange situations. However, like most early Gamera movie, there is a whiny brat of a kid. He runs around throughout the movie wining about how Gamera is a good turtle, and they should let him live. And we are suppose to think this is cute? He's so annoying that you almost wish that Gamera would have squished him instead of set him down. Still, he does act like a realistic kid, and the kiddy appeal of the Gamera series was successful enough for Toho to copy it (ever heard of "Godzilla's Revenge"?). Luckily, the kiddy side of the story is a fairly short part of the plot as a whole. The plot flows well, but gets a tad boring at times. But it's a good relaxing boring, not a "when will the torture end?" type boring. The American version isn't much different from the Japanese version. Just a slight rearrangement of the scenes (for the better I think), and new scenes added to the start. Unfortunately, the new scenes involving the US military include some of the worse actors on the planet! I didn't think people could act this bad, but I was proven wrong! Still, it adds to the beginning some more explanation on what is going on, but not enough to solve the beginning mystery. What those planes are doing there I don't know!

The Gamera series wasn't known for their great special effects until 30 years latter. But, actually, the special effects are pretty good in this one. Sure, it's obviously a guy in a rubber suit trashing a plaster-and-chicken-wire city, and sure, the boats look very fake, but the rest is pretty good. The starting scene with the planes looked really good (except for that one frame where you can see a wire). Most giant monster movies show people running away from the monsters, which are about a mile away in the background. This one actually shows the people on the same scale. The boat trashing scene show a bunch of little figures of people running away from Gamera, and in one scene, Gamera looks into a building that he tore the roof off, seeing a people running around inside. Good superimposing work is one of the highlights of the movie! Plus, you got fire, lots of fire! Fire and explosions! The movie looks like a pyrotechnic maniac made it! Cool! And who doesn't like explosive destruction? This movie was made in black and white. Probably to save costs, but it also makes the special effects fit in better, so it really is a good point.

This is the first Gamera movie, and definitely not the last. Gamera movies are the second most successful series, behind Godzilla of course. Later ones will delve into the kiddy appeal, but at least the first one doesn't go to far. Enjoyable for the whole family! It certainly isn't the best movie, but there isn't much to make it a bad movie at all. Just plain good. A must for any Gamera fan (duh, it's the first one)!

Great Plot

Good special effects

Good human side

Black and white does it good.

BOOM!

Far-fetched

Dull at times

That annoying brat!

Just what are those planes doing there anyways?

That's suppose to be a boat? Looks like a model to me!

Just how big is that rocket anyways? Yeah, uh huh, sure.

Sure kid, Gamera is a nice turtle. That's why he's causing billions of dollers in damage and killing thousands of people.

Credits