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Gammera the Invincible
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Manufacturer: Alpha Video
Find all by Alpha Video
Directed By: Noriaki Yuasa, Sandy Howard
Audience Rating: Unrated
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Theatrical Release: December 15, 1966
Average Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
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Retail Price: $7.98
Online Sale Price: $7.98
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Starring: Eiji Funakoshi, Harumi Kiritachi, Junichirô Yamashiko, Yoshiro Uchida, Michiko Sugata
Studio: Gotham (dba Alpha) Release Date: 03/29/2007
User Submitted Gammera the Invincible Reviews
October 3, 2006
Tippy, oh, tippy.
OK, this film was seen on MST3K. So what? I happen to be a fan of the Gamera and Godzilla movies which is one of the reasons I enjoyed watching Joel and the Bots. Gamera The Invincible was made in 1965, in black and white. While being a Japanese movie it has a lot of inserted scenes for the American, English speaking, viewers. Some of these scenes, such as the television debate between two scientists, are funny because in some ways they reflect true life.
Gamera is a fire eating, flying giant turtle from a time before oxygen was used by life. Of course he wakes up from a million (billion) year old sleep by the explosion of an atomic bomb. Dropped by the evil Russians, of course. Anti-war film, anti-atomic weapons, pro-United Nations, pro-turtles, the film can be seen as a support for or against anything. An oldie buy goodie. The first of eight installments. Only eight? How sad. I think he was just as good as Godzilla.
April 19, 2006
If you only see one space turtle movie this year...
...make sure it's the one with the brain lusting space girls! But that one is kinda intentionally comic, this is played as straight as a movie about a flying space turtle can be. Minunderstood monster is unleashed from his artic grave when a Soviet fighter is shot down and boom, we get a mushroom cloud. The studio debate between the Gamera-believing mythologist and the skeptical science writer is priceless! "He called me an ape!" "No, I called you an ignorant ape!" Reminds me of the evening talk shows on the cable news fronts...my, how far we've come that the satire still stings. The contrarian Senator brings to mind some of our finest in Washington today, head in the sand all the way. Brian Donlevy makes a convincing general. Writers (and George Lucas) take note...this is how child characters should be scripted for minimum annoyance. And Gamera himself, well, he looks like a man in a rubber turtle costume, but it works all the way to the ending. A unique ending, I might add, saving the Earth *and* leaving the door open for sequels. All in a day's work for...Nizo Takahashi! Doesn't have the same ring as Mighty Mouse *sigh*
January 25, 2006
I Am Invincible!
A flight of Soviet bombers "accidentally" flies over Alaska. U.S. interceptors shoot one of the planes down, causing a low-yield nuclear explosion. The nuclear explosion wakes a giant prehistoric turtle called Gammera by the local Inuit. Gammera attacks a model ship, flaming it with bad breath for good measure. Fortunately, the crew abandoned ship just in time. What excitement! Did I tell you that this turtle is so cool that it walks on two legs? Clever trick for a turtle.
This movie digresses for a while as Gammera is walking or flying in parts unknown. Various characters, including Brian Donlevy as General Terry Arnold and Albert Dekker as the Secretary of Defense, debate the existence of Gammera. This movie is relatively early in the monster genre because, as any self-respecting scientist of today knows, giant monsters exist and they are nearly all genetically programmed to attack Japan for reasons that scientists have yet to discover. Eventually the scientists and authorities bow to the overwhelming scientific evidence (footprints, sketches by small boys, anonymous phone calls, possibly including one from Kolchak, the Night Stalker) and recognize something must be done about this giant menace!
Gammera rescues a small boy (bless the monster's heart) before going off and frying a bunch of people in a Tokyo apartment building (this is one quirky turtle). To prepare for toasting Tokyo Gammera destroys a geothermal plant and chows down on the flames. I guess Gammera likes hot food. Somewhere around this point in the movie a scientist establishes that (drum roll) Gammera is not like other creatures!
The excitement builds as Gammera lands at a totally cool model airport and then begins to stomp around an excellent model of Tokyo. We catch a bit of a song titled "Gammera" that sounds suspiciously (to me) like the theme from the 1960s television series "Batman." It could be coincidence, or not.
Of course there has to be a plan to deal with Gammera, since all attempts to stop him have failed. Enter Plan Z! Before Plan Z we see model trains and a model laboratory and more models of other stuff, and then we see the Plan Z model. Woo hoo! This stuff is great! Of course, I have to leave the suspense of Plan Z to the viewer to discover.
After the success of "Godzilla," other Japanese studios attempted to capitalize on the monster fad. Modern audiences will find this attempt at giant monster horror more humorous than scary given today's sophisticated special effects. However, the models in the movie are excellent, and the laughs this movie generates for adults is worth a watch. Young children, on the other hand, may find this movie frightening (I know I did way back in the 60s), so just because you may not find the movie frightening, do not assume the little ones won't.
They just don't make movies like this any more. Thank goodness for that!
September 25, 2005
Gammera the Invincible
Watching this movie is a trip back to my youth. I used to watch these monster movies late at night on the local TV stations. It is sooooo corny that it is good. If a person did not grow up watching these movies they may not like them. But for those of us in the know they are just plain fun to watch. It is nice to see it on DVD.
April 6, 2005
DUMB!! But really funny in parts.
The first Gamera/Gammera movie with added American actor scenes. I was bored with the story but not the unintentional laughs. There are some real burst-out-laughing BAD dialogue and crazy scenes in this movie. My fav has to be when the Father orders his son to let go his pet turtle and the Father says,"I know it may seem cruel. It is. But it's for your own good". Thanks for the cruelty Dad! Or when they drop an H-bomb in the artic and free a jet propelled turtle from the dinosaur era, "a missing link to the leather back". Huh?? Ah yes back when turtles flew. Or when they drop an H-bomb in the artic and don't bother to tell the Eskimos anything. They just turn to the Chief and say, "Take care Chief" and they walk away. Maybe they should tell him not to go over there? Only he stops them and gives them a rare Eskimo carving dating thousands of years old depicting a giant turtle and some wavy lines. They look at the rock and babble widly at what the wavy lines mean, only they can't figure them out finally one guys says, "Lets ask the Chief" who's been standing there the whole time and he doesn't know. Sometimes we look back at old movies like this and think, "thats not bad for 1965". Until you remember that DOCTOR ZHIVAGO came out in 1965. I mean GAMERA IS BAD!! BUT in all fairness some of the miniature and monster scenes look great especially in black and white, like the attack on the nuclear power plant is very well done. It's the first ("American" version) of Gamera and therefore collectable. The nineties Gamera films are a 100 times better (although they have their problems too) and I would say forget the old Gamera movies and go with the nineties versions but this is the very first one and on Alpha Video its a very cheap way to pick it up. DVD quality is good enough.
March 27, 2005
The Best Rip-Off of Godzilla!
A H-Bomb test releases a prehistoric turtle named Gamera from ice and like all over monsters he blows Tokyo with his atomic ray. I couldn`t believe two critics gave this great movie only 1 star! The special effects are great. I suggest you buy this movie!
September 7, 2004
Gamera the Orginal
At least this movie is good! Gamera can still be beaten easily by Godzilla's foot
August 17, 2004
GAMERA!!! THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT. KNOW YOUR GAMERA.
THERE ARE THREE VERSIONS OF THIS FILM. DON'T GET CONFUSED!!!!
#1 The first version is the japanese original GIANT MONSTER GAMERA.
#2 This version (the second ) is the first version released in America in the 60's.
The dubbing (By SPEED RACER's Peter Fernandez) is excellent and new
scenes with American actors Albert Dekker (DR. CYCLOPS) Brian Donlevy
(CURSE OF THE FLY) and Allen Oppenheimer (The voice of Skeletor) were added. Very entertaining and well produced.
#3 The third version was the SANDY FRANK version released on video in 1987.
it is a straight dub of the japanese version, but the voice acting is inferior to the
#2 version. This is the version that aired on Mystery Science Theatre 3000 and
should be avoided. Buy the above version instead.
July 3, 2004
Unidentified Flying Turtle
Out of all of the Japanese giant monsters that inevitably sprung up after Godzilla's massive popularity, one of the more fondly remembered is Gamera. Gamera, a giant flying turtle, really didn't star in any good movies until the mid nineties, but the late sixties-earlier seventies films were fun in a sort of goofy way. This first one, "Gammera [sic] the Invincible," is perhaps the dullest and most slow moving one, but hard-core Japanese monster fans will no-doubt find pleasure in it. In addition, this DVD features the not-very-good American version, with inserted American scenes (some of these are pretty funny in their sheer technical incompetence).
This DVD, from Alpha, isn't really worth buying. The print is very scratchy and faded, and is in the pan-and-scan 1.33:1 instead of the intended 2.35:1 ratio. The only plus side is a mildly diverting gallery of publicity stills and posters.
April 4, 2004
Visions Of Terrapins Float Through The Sky
It's hard to believe that I was already in college when this came out. And that I had to sneak away from the local art theaters to watch this at a downtown Saturday kid's special. Yes, as the dust of an atomic squabble between the US and the USSR settled and a man in a giant turtle suit climbed out of the ice, I was stuffing my mouth with popcorn - with real butter in those days.The basic film is pretty simple minded. Japanese scientists investigating Eskimos witness an atomic accident that releases a giant turtle. After a short flying tour of the world, Gammera descends on Japan and Tokyo for an extended lunch. An irritating young boy names Toshio races about telling everyone not to kill the terrapin from hell. Which is moot, since nothing can kill him. Does the Earth get saved? Or is the turtle toast? I'm not telling, but anyone who has ever watched a Japanese monster movie should have no trouble guessing. What I missed in my adolescent popcorn days was that Gammera is about 60% biting satire about scientists, news writers, and politicians (both US and international). It makes you wince a bit to realize that the filmmakers had no delusions about how silly we all are. And how many double standards we have. There were moments when I wasn't sure if I was wincing at the humor or the acting. The latter is classic Japanese sci-fi - awful. The transfer is nothing to sing about, unfortunately. It looks like a copy of a copy. Which is probably exactly what it is. Even so films like these have a certain timelessness, like bomber jackets and BurmaShave signs. So, if you to once had a mouthful of popcorn on the Saturday matinee, I salute you. Some things never change.
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