Buy Gammera the Invincible Movie. Watch online or Download
Genres: Sci
Starring: Alan Oppenheimer, Albert Dekker, Dick O'Neill, Brian Donlevy, Mort Marshall, John Baragrey, Bob Carraway
Director(s): Noriaki Yuasa, Sandy Howard
Country: USA
Year: 1966
Available Quality: DivX
IMDB Rating: 4.6 out of 10 (393 votes)
An atomic explosion awakens Gammera--a giant, fire-breathing turtle monster--from his millions of years of hibernation. Enraged at being roused from such a sound sleep, he takes it out on Tokyo.
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Gammera the Invincible (DivX) | Resolution: 512x384 px | Total Size: 702 Mb |
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Visitors Review
rhinocerosfive-1 (25 May 2012)
like early-onset Alzheimer's for about 86 minutes
The American distributor thought an American audience would not believein smart people from anyplace but America. The job they did reflectsdoubtfully on their reasoning. What can be said for a hatchet-job thatgoes so far as to misspell the monster's name in the title? Oh, right,we did that with Gojira too. At least we only gave Gamera an extra M. One might assume that Japanese scientists, by 1965, were among the mostqualified in the world to deal with gigantic reptiles. However, thoughof course aided by some nifty electronics, they are once againincompetent to the task. In what must be the tiniest office in New YorkCity, a guy in a fez and an unspecified African in a dashiki indicatethat we are at the United Nations. This small meeting in a closetbravely but silently tries to help out with the 200 foot fire-eatingturtle, when fortunately a white person starts talking.Veteran Caucasian Brian Donlevy stars from a chair as the voice ofreason. A military man in a corset that constricts his breathing, anddentures that slur his speech, he rattles off arcane theories about thecomposition of the earth's atmosphere 200 million years ago, and offersthe startling opinion that animals alive at the time breathed sulfur.Only in a rubber monster movie would he not be placed in restraints;only in a World Entertainment release would he be placed in charge. TheUnited Nations votes for joint action, but, typically, remains seated,implicitly detailing the Japanese to deal with Gamera themselves. Afterall, rubber monsters only attack Tokyo, right? Then Donlevy, or the Japanese, or the entire world - it's hard to tellin the American version - come(s) up with Plan Z. This plan iswell-named, as it is the very last thing I would think of. It consistsof setting a refinery on fire, feeding Gamera all the flaming gasolinehe can stomach, luring him into the first space capsule ever launchedfrom a missile silo, then sending him to Mars in a rocket that lookssuspiciously like a personal vibrator. So that's why every alien abduction comes complete with an anal probe -it's Gamera's revenge.
Coventry (24 May 2012)
The Flying (Teenage?) Mutant (Ninja?) Turtle!
What's that there in the skies? Is it a plane? Is it Superman?? Errr,no It's a TURTLE!?! See, that's what becomes of the Cold War! Nothingbut bad news and other issues! The Americans shoot down a Russiancombat plane somewhere over Artic territory and the subsequentexplosion defrosts & literally awakens the giant prehistoricturtle-creature named Gammera. He/she is not a very friendly critter asit promptly ensues to destroy everything and everyone on its path. Thearguing governments finally decide to kill the ugly bastard with abrand new and super-sophisticated ice-bomb, but Gammera has anothersurprise in store The damn turtle can fly! The first time this happensresults in a tremendously grotesque and hilarious sequence! Gammeralies on his back looking defeated when suddenly fire blows from hisarmpits and he skyrockets himself up in the air. How can you not lovethat? Then there's also a dire sub plot about an annoying kid who'sable to telepathically communicate with the monster, but that's justnot interesting enough. Flying turtle, people!! There's very littleelse to write about this Japanese (and American re-edited) Sci-Fieffort, apart from that it's an obvious and totally shameless rip-offof such classics like the original Godzilla and The Beast from 20.000Fathoms. The effects and monster designs are extremely hokey and,unlike the aforementioned films, it never succeeds in creating anapocalyptic ambiance. Respectable actors like Brian Donlevy ("TheQuatermass Experiment") and Dick O'Neill ("Wolfen") seem unaware ofwhat film set they're on and even the original Japanese mayhem-scenesaren't very convincing. Gammera's very own and personalized theme-songis rather cool, though, so it gets one extra point for that.
mage360 (20 May 2012)
Yet another kaiju movie with unnecessary American scenes inserted...
This movie was in a sci-fi 50-pack a friend of mine got me forChristmas. It is very similar to the first Gozilla movie, and like thatmovie, has scenes with American actors inserted for no real reason. Oneinteresting thing about the inserted scenes is that there's a Cold Wartension portrayed between America and Russia. Like in Godzilla, Gamerais awakened by an atomic explosion and rampages across the world,paying close attention to Tokyo because no big monster movie iscomplete unless Tokyo bites it. All in all, this is an okay movie. Someof the scenes involving Gamera, particularly the scenes in Toly, arequite spectacular and have special effects that were pretty decent atthe time. If you like Japanese giant monster movies, you'll really geta kick out of this one. I give it a 4 out of 10. Had this been theunedited Japanese version that I watched, it probably would've gotten a5.
Chris Gaskin (19 May 2012)
More monster thrills from Japan
Gammera the Invincible was the first of the Gammera movies form Japanand I found this great fun.A nuclear bomb which explodes in the frozen wastes of the Arctic wakesup the giant turtle Gammera and he starts a trail of destruction. Hedestroys a ship, lighthouse (echoes of The Beast From 20,000 Fathomshere), power station and then heads for Tokyo. The military try theirbest efforts to kill him but don't succeed. They get rid of him in theend by shipping him off to Mars in a rocket. But that is definitely notthe last we will see of Gammera...Like Godzilla, Gammera is played by a man in a monster suit.The cast includes Albert Dekker (Dr Cyclops) and Brian Donlevy (TheQuatermass Experiment, Quatermass 2).This movie is a must for all monster fans out there. Fantastic.Rating: 3 stars out of 5.
vtcavuoto (17 May 2012)
Godzilla's Cousin
This film pretty much plays out like any Godzilla movie. This was thefirst in a series of films featuring a giant turtle that flies.Thething that stood out to me was the American inserts which I think addeda good deal to the story. Many times American distributors will addinserts to modify the story to make it marketable in the U.S. Theysucceeded here. I love when Gammera starts spinning and flies away! Thedubbing overlaps in some spots which can be annoying. The models lookpretty realistic and the acting isn't too bad. This has to be the onlymovie in which the monster has it's own theme song! Here's some trivia:Wes Farrell, who wrote the Gammera theme song also wrote "Hang onSloopy" which was a 1960s hit for The McCoys. I have to admit I watchthis movie every so often because it really is enjoyable if not totallybelievable. If you like giant monster films, give this a try.
Andrew Leavold (16 May 2012)
Infantile anthropomorphism is our FRIEND!
We now travel to a parallel universe where the appearance of giantprehistoric monsters flattening cities are part of the daily routine.It's the world of Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra Ghidrah and their kind - astrange world, and one made even stranger by the appearance of anunidentified flying turtle called Gamera.Forever in the shadow of the monolithic Toho Studios, second rung DaieiStudios were more famous for samurai sagas than monster movies. In themid 60s they decided to join the giant reptile race and designed arival monster series to Toho's mammothly successful Godzilla. Theywisely chose Gamera as their flagship - a giant turtle that shootsflames from between its snaggle-teeth, and spins through the air byshooting flames through its shell's feet-holes (and at one point youalmost see the paper mache shell catch fire!).The first Gamera film "Gamera The Invincible" (as it was sold to theUS) is a virtual mirror of the first Godzilla film, only 10 yearsbehind. American fighters chase an unmarked plane over the Arctic toits fiery demise - the nuclear bomb on board ignites and awakens thegiant Gamera from its icy slumber. Feeding off atomic energy, itimmediately goes on a rampage, and the world wants to destroy Gameraonce and for all, but a little Japanese boy named Kenny, who has apsychic connection with the giant turtle and even keeps a miniatureversion in an aquarium by his bedside, believes Gamera is essentiallykind and benevolent. He's like a little Jewish kid with a pinup ofHitler. "Gamera is a GOOD turtle," he pleads, then sulks, and puts on aface like someone's pooped in his coco pops. Miraculously the world'sleaders listen to him, and so begins Z-Plan to save the world ANDGamera from complete destruction.Released in 1965, Gamera was a surprising hit. The annoying infantileanthropomorphism actually worked on kiddie audiences in both Japan andthe US, and the sight of Gamera on two feet stomping miniatures ofTokyo and the North Pole is gloriously chintzy. Most surprising of allis the longevity of the series: eight original Gamera films, plus aslew of recent remakes. Not bad for a mutant reptile whose only friendis mewing eight year old milquetoast - and if I hear "Gamera is friendsto ALL children" one more time I'M going to crush Tokyo. Which appearsto be an easy task in the parallel universe where children are smartand turtles are bigger than a Seiko billboard in the 1965 turtle-festGamera.
LighthouseKeeper (15 May 2012)
"Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?"
Gammera (or Gamera) is a giant turtle. He walks upright. He flies. Hebreathes fire. He wrecks ships, lighthouses, and assorted utilitycompanies. He's got a real bad attitude toward technology. Anythingmanufactured seems to irk him to the point where he feels it necessaryto incinerate the offending object and anyone in close proximity. He'sa technophobe, and no mistake. It all started when he was rudely wokenfrom slumber beneath the cold, quiet Arctic by a pesky atomic bombalarm clock with a broken snooze button. Believing an icebreaker shipis the very clock that roused him, he tanks the craft in an obviouslyfutile attempt to hit that snooze bar and get an extra eight minutes ofsleep, but in his half-awake state he decides to just fry the clock andgo back to bed. Yet the bed is too cold, so he decides to find a warmerplace to curl up in...like volcanic Japan! Hmm...nice and toasty there,what with geothermal vents and cities to burn. But first, gotta put outthat tacky light of the neighbors that's always flashing into hisbedroom. Then it's time to slip beneath the sea for forty winks.Gammera's day just gets worse from there. He just can't catch a break.People keep screaming at him and making all sorts of unpleasant noisesto keep him up. And machines are the worst of the lot, so he tries tosilence as many as possible. But there's still too much commotion for atired monster to bear, so he investigates claims of a sensorydeprivation tank at a remote facility which prove mostly true. He slipsinto the tank and enjoys a brief moment of quiet before the thing roarsup into the sky to deposit him on Mars where he can continue his napuninterrupted. Plan Zzzzzzzzz is a success..."Gammera the Invincible Sleep Deprived Giant Turtle"
non_sportcardandy (15 May 2012)
quick! someone get a big boiling pot.
That thought went through my mind when all the persons in authoritywere trying to figure out how to get rid of Gammera.Explaining the bigpot theory requires commenting on one of the reasons the movie didn'tget a ten from me.This little boy in the movie(about eight years old)issomewhat of a problem to his parents.Seems as though in school he's asocial misfit only interested with playing with his turtle and theteacher notifies his parents to tell the boy to wise-up.Because thelittle problem child likes turtles Gammera which looks like a turtlehas a soft spot for him,sort of.When Gammera knocked off the top halfof the boys lighthouse home I'm still not sure if the creature sparedhim or it was just a coincidence he wasn't launched into space.Later inthe film there is evidence that the juvenile-creature relationship maynot be a solid one.In that scene gammera is flailing away doing somebig time destruction when the boy calls out to him,Gammera doesn't letup and almost looks like he flips him off.If the boy was trying to slowGammera down it doesn't help that he was about ten football fields awaywith explosions going off.Maybe it sounds like this eight year old isnot a favorite of mine in the picture but that's not true.Recently aneight year old relative stayed at my house for more than a month,now Ialmost don't like any eight year old.Actually the eight year old inthis movie is annoying on his own merits because he's playing one ofthose seldom seen characters in the movies.His part says"You adults donot know what you are doing but I do because the invader likes me evenif there is no apparent reason why he should like me".----The good partof the movie is the special effects.The miniature detailed sets in theJapanese movies have impressed me for a long time.Along with slowmotion filming these miniature sets have all the looks of a big city orrefinery being demolished.This sort of film is more impressive for methan computerized explosions.The scene where Gammera is on his back andflames come out of his shell is a favorite of mine.He takes off flyinglike a Frisbee and looking like a flaming cartwheel,so cool to me.Therest of the film is not a problem for me-bad dubbing was done in a lotof the triple features of my youth.The spliced in American scenes aredone with enthusiasm and some are entertaining.Even the scientist withthe col.Saunders look and the sideways marcel is not a problem.If anidentity is sought for the Japanese cast that's a problem.After alittle research I could only find three Japanese names credited in thecast but no mention of which character they were.Along with that myears aren't that keen to pick up the names along the way.Maybe otherreaders have the same problem and like me start to make up names forthe characters-"the nosey kid","the wise old scientist","The father ofthe brat",etc.The made up names for the pretty females I've decided notto go into.Shortcomings aside this is an entertaining special effectsmovie that surprised me.
Woodyanders (12 May 2012)
Good, silly and thoroughly enjoyable Japanese giant monster-on-the-loose fun
An atomic blast in the freezing Artic caused by a downed fighter planeawakens a gigantic upright walking, flying, fire-breathing (andeating!) prehistoric turtle from its centuries of slumber. Naturally,said titanic turtle is in a very grouchy mood; he proceeds to lay wasteto everything in his lethal path and eventually does the almighty mondodestructo city stomp on Tokyo. When conventional methods for stoppingthe turtle prove ineffectual, scientists all over the world join forcesto concoct a special plan for thwarting the behemoth beast.Boy, is this delightfully inane creature feature flick an absolute hootand a half: Among the silly stuff to enjoy herein are the expectedlousy dubbing, a derivative plot which blatantly imitates both"Godzilla" and "The Beast from 20,00 Fathoms," choice dopey dialog("This Gammera is obviously an object of terror"), wonderfully hokey(far from) special effects, amusingly hammy or endearingly woodenacting (Brian Donlevy as a gruff general, Albert Dekker as thepragmatic Secretary of Defense and Dick O'Neill as a grumpy ramrodgeneral all sink their teeth into their roles with delectably juicyscenery-gnashing aplomb), a sickeningly sappy subplot concerning anobnoxious little boy who befriends Gammera, funny characters (one whinyUS senator looks like a dead ringer for Henry Kissenger!), and, best ofall, a supremely groovy surf-rock theme song complete with a rippin'reverb guitar riff. Sure, this movie is admittedly quite absurd,asinine and juvenile, but that's exactly why I dug it so much.
mstomaso (12 May 2012)
Americanized version of Gamera's debut
The original 1965 Japanese film "Gamera"http://pro.imdb.com/title/tt0059080/ was essentially an updating of thedarker, less kid-oriented Gojira (Godzilla)for 1960s sensibilities.Gamera, of course, is a giant, flying, flame-throwing turtle wholiterally consumes energy - not quite as big as some versions ofGodzilla, but generally similar in most ways. This version of the original film was edited and recut by the notoriousSandy Frank. And just like the Americanized version of Godzilla("Godzilla King of the Monsters"), "Gammera the Invincible" gets morethan just the spelling wrong. The American scenes are not nearly asludicrous and annoying as those added to the great Gojira, but don'treally add much to the story either because there is little follow upon them. The film starts off promising, there are a few scenes worth ofcharacter development, and there are enough personalities to createsome tension outside of the main plot. Once Gamera appears, however,the film begins to descend into a fairly run-of-the mill kaiju film.The acting is good enough- even the American add-ons are OK. Thedirecting is pretty good for this period and genre, and the specialeffects are not bad at all for their time (all miniatures). Some of thesets and backdrops are actually very good. The biggest problem here, of course, is that there is little to nothingoriginal about this film. Gamera, however, develops a much more uniquepersonality in his later films - most of which are worth watching ifyou are a kaiju fan.
Hitchcoc (04 May 2012)
Just Eat the Kid
There's not much to say about this one. Gammera is some kind of firebreathing turtle. He is loosed by a nuclear explosion. He heads forland and begins to destroy building and tanks and other junk (oh yeah,power lines. I almost forgot). At one time, early in the film, hebefriends a little boy, and instead of just throwing him away, orsquashing him, he places him down on the ground. Safe. From then on wehave to watch this chubby faced little twerp show up and run away, showup and run away, show up and run away. For some reason, Gammera is ableto hear this kid from 20,000 feet away. Oh, well, the plot is to try toget Gammera to get to a place where he can be put on board a rocket andshot into space. As usual, the monster is lumbering and uncoordinated(a guy in a Gammera suit). The Japanese army (with the help ofAmericans), uses up enough ammunition and fire power to solve thenational debt, and, of course, it does no good. They should know thisanyway. We've seen a lot of monsters stomp on Tokyo. Not to put thesedown because they can be fun, but it's really not very good.
planktonrules (04 May 2012)
What a dud!
This "clever" film was originally a Japanese film. And while I assumethat original film was pretty bad, it was made a good bit worse whenAmerican-International Films hacked the film to pieces and insertedAmerican-made segments to fool the audience. Now unless your audienceis made of total idiots, it becomes painfully obvious that this wasdone--and done with little finesse or care about the final product. Thebottom line is that you have a lot of clearly Japanese scenes and thenclearly American scenes where the film looks quite different. Plus, theAmerican scenes really are meaningless and consist of two differentgroups of people at meetings just talking about Gamera--the evil flyingturtle! And although this is a fire-breathing, flying and destructivemonster, there is practically no energy because I assume the actorswere just embarrassed by being in this wretched film--in particular,film veterans Brian Donlevy and Albert Dekker. They both just lookedtired and ill-at-ease for being there.Now as for the monster, it's not quite the standard Godzilla-likecreature. Seeing a giant fanged turtle retract his head and limbs andbegin spinning through the air like a missile is hilarious. On theother hand, the crappy model planes, destructible balsa buildings andpower plant are, as usual, in this film and come as no surprise. Plusan odd Japanese monster movie cliché is included that will franklyannoy most non-Japanese audience members, and that is the "adorable andprecocious little boy who loves the monster and believes in him". Yeah,right. Well, just like in GODZILLA VERSUS THE SMOG MONSTER and severalother films, you've got this annoying creep cheering on the monster,though unlike later incarnations of Godzilla, Gamera is NOT a good guyand it turns out in the end the kid is just an idiot! Silly,exceptional poor special effects that could be done better by theaverage seven year-old, bad acting, meaningless American clips andoccasionally horrid voice dubbing make this a wretched film. Oddly,while most will surely hate this film (and that stupid kid), there is asmall and very vocal minority that love these films and compare them toBergman and Kurosawa. Don't believe them--this IS a terrible film!FYI--Apparently due to his terrific stage presence, Gamera was featuredin several more films in the 60s as well as some recent incarnations.None of these change the central fact that he is a fire-breathingflying turtle or that the movies are really, really lame.
oscar-35 (27 April 2012)
An unexpected decent film...
*Spoiler/plot- 1966, Gamera the Invincible, Gamera is unleashed fromhibernation below the Arctic ice by a nuclear blast. The legendaryrocket flying turtle seeks fire energy for sustenance creating havocacross the plant Earth. Scientists work feverishly to stop Gamera withthe aid of a young boy. This boy has empathic link with the megacreature. The Japanese country side takes a destructive hit by thecreature until stopped by being shot into outer space. *Special stars-Long time great US actors, Brian Donlevy and Albert Denker findthemselves as a Secretary of State and General in the American scenesthat meld well into the Japanese plot scenes. Much better that thoseAmerican ones in the first Gozilla films. *Theme- Mother Nature throwsa curve to Mankind, but Mankind wins out with a little boys's innocenceand help. *Based on- ???? *Trivia/location/goofs- The first adventureof the child-loving super prehistoric turtle films. In sequel films,the main turtle character's nature changes 'sides' to help the Earthagainst others monster baddies. *Emotion- An unexpected decent filmwhen compared to the B&W film schlock in this Japanese genre.
classicsoncall (27 April 2012)
"I say we should stay here and dance."
Flame in, flame out. That seems to be Gammera in a nutshell, aprehistoric creature who can take it and dish it out with equalabandon. I'm not a fan of Japanese monster films, but wound upcommitted to viewing all the flicks on the fifty film DVD sci-ficollection put out by Mill Creek/Treeline Films. It's a great value atabout twenty five bucks, so at fifty cents per movie, it really boilsdown to an investment in time to watch some of the goofy offerings.Gammera is riled from a centuries long slumber by a nuclear blast, andhe's not happy. Like Godzilla, he takes it out on Tokyo, setting theUnited Nations into motion to try and come up with a plan to save theplanet. They arrive at 'Plan Z', the hope of the world, and wouldn'tyou know it, there's a scene where a huge shed is shown that's calledthe 'Z Plan' building; that was a nice touch.By the mid 1960's, this country still wasn't quite politically correct.One of the American military scenes at the Alaskan Air Defense Sectorhas General Arnold asking a female sergeant to make coffee. I guessthere weren't any privates around.Good old Gammera was quite the sight though, walking around on two legsand going for the flame throwing routine when challenged. That's why itsurprised me how Plan Z managed to capture turtle man in the nose coneof a hidden space ship, whisking him off to Mars to save the world.High fives all around for the American and Russian team that made thesave, now let's get back to the Cold War.Like Godzilla, Gammera spawned at least a good dozen films, but havingseen this one pretty much satisfies my interest in flying, flamingturtles. Especially since that DVD pack I mentioned earlier has "Attackof the Monsters" with a featured guest appearance by the Big G. It tookall I had to make it through to the end of both films; it was such arelief to get to the final frame in this one that said 'Gammera,Sayonara!"
wes-connors (25 April 2012)
A Turtle for Tokyo
"After the atomic bombs carried by a shot-down Soviet bomber explode inthe Arctic, the creature 'Gammera' is released from his hibernation.The giant prehistoric turtle proceeds on a path to Tokyo and destroysanything in his path. The military and the scientific community rush tofind a means to stop this monster before Tokyo is laid to waste,"according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis. The re-produced for American audiences version of this, the first filmin the "Gamera" series, adds English language material that is evenfunnier than the regularly dubbed Japanese fare. Clearly, the monsteris following in the footsteps of "Godzilla". Taking his cue from ABC'sfaddish "Batman!" TV series, musician Wes Farrell's ludicrous themesong heightens the US version's camp appeal.*** Gammera the Invincible (12/15/66) Sandy Howard, Noriaki Yuasa ~Dick O'Neill, Brian Donlevy, Albert Dekker, John Baragrey
TheUnknown837-1 (24 April 2012)
I don't know if the American footage cut into the picture improves or detracts from it. But either way, I don't think it made much of a difference
With the rising popularity of the now iconic Godzilla series, like withany hit cinema event, there was inevitably going to be a crowd ofimitators trying to cash in on the success on the big lizard. WithGodzilla came the dawn of a rising popularity of the kaiju (giantmonster) genre. Many sought after success; a few gained it. One of thefew that not only profited, but garnered popularity was Gamera, a giantturtle that could breathe fire in and out and fly by spewing flamesfrom the sockets in his carapace as a means of jet propulsion. Butunlike Godzilla, Gamera was marketed as a friend to all children, laterfighting other monsters to save kids in peril, and thus Gamera becamevery popular amongst the kiddies. Unfortunately, that's about the onlyaudience mainstream that the original Gamera series will have anyappeal to. While the new Gamera movies directed by Shusuke Kaneko aremarvelous, revolutionary monster movies, the original series, includingthe original, is nothing special.The first Gamera movie, titled in Japan as "The Giant Monster Gamera"was clearly a Godzilla want-to-be. Even though the movie was producedin the era of color films, it was shot in black-and-white. Why? Toimitate the first Godzilla movie from the 1950s. Gamera also attacksTokyo. Because Godzilla attacked Tokyo in the first movie. I don't knowmuch about the Japanese version, for the version I am familiar with theAmericanized version, where scenes were cut and new footage withAmerican actors were inserted (is it coincidence that the same thinghappened with the first Godzilla film?) Now whether this adds or takesaway from the film, I cannot say. But "Gammera the Invincible" isreally nothing more than a ponderous bore that just plods along likethe big turtle himself."Gammera the Invincible" is a very routine-orientated movie. Thecharacters are from a stock of science-fiction standards, the story isinane, the monster has no real motive for attacking civilization, theacting is laughable, and so on and so forth. The only thing thatdifferentiates it from the Godzilla series is the ending of the movie,but that's also a detractor since the plan that eventually haltsGamera's rampage is completely phony and ridiculous. Now the rest ofthe movie and many other entries in this genre also fit thatdescription, but this is a direfully stodgy monster movie.And although Shusuke Kaneko would later transform Gamera into aninteresting monster with his trilogy in the 1990s, in the originalseries, Gamera was not an attractive screen presence. He was neitherscary nor sympathetic. He just waddles around like a toddler, swayingwith each step, and knocks miniature sets over. As usual, everybodywants to destroy Gamera except for a little kid (Yoshio Uchida who waslazily left out of the credits though he plays a 'central' role) whothinks Gamera is a nice turtle.Most movies in the genre that "Gammera the Invincible" is a part of areeasy targets for criticism and this one is subject to extra pressure.Even in the company of many other Godzilla-imitators, this Gamera filmis not a particularly good entry. And as far as my cinema experiencegoes, the rest of the movies in the series are either just as boring orworse. Like Godzilla, Gamera would be filmed in color and go on tofight monsters. And like Godzilla, he'd get cheaper and cheaper withevery film until it was time to revive the series and make him seriousagain.It's peculiar. Usually I recommend people to stick with the originalsand pass on the remakes. But in the case of Gamera, my verdict is justthe opposite. I strongly encourage people to watch the 1990s Gameratrilogy directed by Shusuke Kaneko and to skip over the original seriesunless interested. The new films are inventive, well-made, exciting,and above all, fun. The original series is a long stream of boredom.
david-sarkies (18 April 2012)
An Americanised Japanese Monster Movie
This is not the best movie in the world, but I think it is sure betterthan Gappa, the Triphibian monster. There seemed to be more of a storyto this one, and it did not drag on as did the other one. It basicallykept my interest so as such I enjoyed it. I also think the name Gamerasounds more fiercesome than Gappa.Gamera is a giant turtle that awoke when a nuclear bomb exploded in thenorth pole. One must ignore the fact that if a nuclear bomb wasdetonated at the North Pole then the world would be flooded from theresulting rise in sea levels, but we must suspend our imagination. Asis typical of Japanese monster movies, Gamera goes to Japan and startstrashing everything. Why Japan? Because it can. Then the scientistsfind a clever way to neutralise the monster because they cannot killit.I did like this movie, though I cannot comment much more on it, becausethere isn't much more to comment on. I never saw many monster movieswhen I was younger, because I probably never thought about watchingthem. I might have seen Godzilla or something like that, but nothingreally comes to mind. The one comment I must make is Des Mangan'scomment at the beginning of the movie. He is criticising the badAmerican actors at the opening to the movies and says, "they don't makeactors like these any more, because they can't find the wood." Gamerais a cool movie, and goes well as a monster movie, because you see moreof the monster, and less of the annoying people around the monstertrying to create a moral to the tale. If there is one here, it is don'ttry killing everything that you do not like, because sooner or laterthere will be one that you simply can't kill.
Chris. (17 April 2012)
Prehistoric mutant fire-eating turtle
Japanese monster movie "Gamera" is re-edited into US-Japanese monstermovie "Gammera" about a giant, fire-eating prehistoric turtle thatwreaks havoc across the globe after it's awoken by an atomic explosion.US and Japanese co-operation manage to corner the beast, but attemptsat its defeat prove unsuccessful. Amid all the chaos, a turtle lovingpre-adolescent Japanese boy finds a soft spot for the misunderstoodturtle after Gamera saves him from death.Brian Donlevy and Albert Dekker are the principal American actors inthe re-edited version, playing Pentagon top brass sitting around aboardroom table, debating foreign policy and protocol, while DickO'Neill has a meaty role early in the picture barking orders at hismilitary comms unit that includes burly John McCurry in an early role,and TV actor John Baragrey among less familiar faces. Alan Oppenheimerhas an hilarious cameo as an over-zealous zoologist open to initialspeculation on the identity of the giant, flying turtle despiteprofessional ridicule.Gamera gets the pop-culture treatment in one scene where nightclubrevellers ignore warnings to evacuate, instead preferring to get downand boogie to the hit song "Gamera" (rhymes with camera), until Tokyocrumbles down around them. As with other Japanese monster movies,there's some clown in a rubber suit, stumbling about like a drunk,tripping over miniatures and getting angry with train sets that shouldmake you laugh, but despite a heavy-heaping of political metaphor,"Gamera" remains mostly light and uninhibited. Probably one for fans ofthe sub genre only.
Michael_Elliott (16 April 2012)
Decent
Gamera the Invincible (1966) ** (out of 4) The stupid American government drops an atomic bomb at the North Poleand soon the gigantic turtle named Gamera is set free. He flies acrossthe world before landing in Tokyo to destroy the city. I'm not a hugefan of these Japanese monster films but this one works .a little. Someof the special effects are nice including one scene where Gameradestroys a chemical plant but there's some laughable moments as well. Iwatched the English dubbed version, which gets a few more laughs due tothe silly track.
Michael DeZubiria (15 April 2012)
Gammera's explosive debut...
Gammera, one of the most famous Japanese monsters to hit the big screenin the 1960s makes his debut in this zero-budget, politically chargedmonster thriller. It is interesting to consider the tensions that weretaking place between certain nations at the time that the movie wasmade, especially between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. There isno effort made to disguise the animosity that existed between the two,more than likely since that bitterness was needed as a catalyst tobring Gammera back from 200 million years of hibernation. The U.S.shoots down a suspicious bomber, which turned out to be Russian, overthe arctic region. As is to be expected from those sneaky Russians, thebomber was loaded with hydrogen bombs which, upon impact, explode withsufficient force to not only thaw but also infuriate the sleepingGammera. Lots of havoc is wreaked upon poorly constructed models ofcities and airplanes and landscapes and such, and there is some strangesubplot about a little boy obsessed with turtles who wants to exposeGammera for the gentle creature that he really is. Inspiration for theIron Giant, maybe? The special effects are astonishingly bad, but therewas no budget and in the movie's defense, I have to say that the peopleinvolved in making it knew that they had no budget but they took veryseriously their task of doing as much as they could with as little asthey had.Classic Japanese monster fare.
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