Gamera, with MST's original human riffer, Joel, is one of the best entry points into the classic Mystery Science 3000 series for the uninitiated. A delightfully and laughably awful movie monster, terrible movie dubbing and special effects, plus great riff jokes, quotable lines, and silly and singable original songs - a terrific combination. The personalities of Joel and the robots really shine in this installment, which helps make it a great starting point for someone who is new to the MST universe. Just a fun movie for popcorn and nacho night!
3 Reviews
Without the Robots it's Just a Guy in a Rubber Turtle Suit
mephotography200127 November 2013
This movie is utterly unwatchable if you don't see the version with robots making smart-ass remarks during the movie. This movie teeters on the edge of so-bad-it's-good, but it never quite makes it over that edge. It took MST3K to figure out these movies were made for children, and I feel sorry for Japanese kids of the 60s. This first Gamera film introduces the character and is the only movie in the series where Gamera is the bad guy, although the annoying Kenny continually points out that Gamera is good (he destroyed a lighthouse and at least one whole city, you know, like all good guys do). We learned that the million-year-old giant sabretooth turtle consists on flames as it's primary diet. Flames. And we learned that in the old days, the world powers could work together and construct a rocket capable of firing a 100' turtle monster to Mars in a matter of days. Good times.
For the Kaiju Lover in All of Us!
TitusYorick25 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I was raised on Godzilla movies since I was a kid, though I'm not old enough to have seen the Saturday morning creature features. No, my craving for kaiju movies started on the marathons once aired on the Sci-Fi Channel (before it was changed to Syfy). I thought they'd prepare me for the Gamera movies, but it turns out I was dead wrong.
Don't get me wrong, the Gamera series stands on its own as decent enough movies, but they've got one unfortunate element none but three of the Godzilla movies had - rotten annoying brats with Level 5 security clearance to EVERYTHING on the planet. If what I've heard is correct too, we've got no one but Sandy Frank to thank for that.
And who do we have in this first Gamera movie? Why, we have Kenny, a lonely, deeply disturbed, emotionally indifferent, turtle obsessed ne'er-do-well. I wanted to shove that brat's head into a toilet and hold it there well after he'd drowned so much, that I was so pleased at the part with Crow and Tom when they were beating up on Kenny through the use of Joel's Jim Varney doll. Why is it that Kenny got away with every single thing he did in the movie? He sabotaged attempt after attempt for people to at least repel Gamera's rampages for crying out loud! Seriously, anybody got any Ritalin for this kid? If I'd been Gamera seeing Kenny dangling from that lighthouse, I not only would've let him fall but squashed him flat on the pavement for being the demonic little Anti-Christ he was.
And Joel and the Bots didn't let up on that fact at all, and I thank them deeply from the bottom of my heart. The episode wouldn't have been half as good without their constant bashing on that horrible kid.
Mike Nelson's portrayal of Gamera when he visits the SOL was great, that and let's not forget Tom's sweet serenade to Tibby the turtle (whom he miraculously obtained between the movie and the movie break). Honestly though, watching that poor turtle spinning on the turn table like that made me dizzy, and I could only imagine how dizzy Tibby was getting. The introduction and the invention exchange could've been a little better, but the rest of the movie definitely makes up for that.
Don't get me wrong, the Gamera series stands on its own as decent enough movies, but they've got one unfortunate element none but three of the Godzilla movies had - rotten annoying brats with Level 5 security clearance to EVERYTHING on the planet. If what I've heard is correct too, we've got no one but Sandy Frank to thank for that.
And who do we have in this first Gamera movie? Why, we have Kenny, a lonely, deeply disturbed, emotionally indifferent, turtle obsessed ne'er-do-well. I wanted to shove that brat's head into a toilet and hold it there well after he'd drowned so much, that I was so pleased at the part with Crow and Tom when they were beating up on Kenny through the use of Joel's Jim Varney doll. Why is it that Kenny got away with every single thing he did in the movie? He sabotaged attempt after attempt for people to at least repel Gamera's rampages for crying out loud! Seriously, anybody got any Ritalin for this kid? If I'd been Gamera seeing Kenny dangling from that lighthouse, I not only would've let him fall but squashed him flat on the pavement for being the demonic little Anti-Christ he was.
And Joel and the Bots didn't let up on that fact at all, and I thank them deeply from the bottom of my heart. The episode wouldn't have been half as good without their constant bashing on that horrible kid.
Mike Nelson's portrayal of Gamera when he visits the SOL was great, that and let's not forget Tom's sweet serenade to Tibby the turtle (whom he miraculously obtained between the movie and the movie break). Honestly though, watching that poor turtle spinning on the turn table like that made me dizzy, and I could only imagine how dizzy Tibby was getting. The introduction and the invention exchange could've been a little better, but the rest of the movie definitely makes up for that.
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