GAMERA: THE GIANT MONSTER (Theatrical Release Japan 1965)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 4.0|5.0 Starsìììì

Gamera: The Giant Monster—first movie in the Japanese Gamera series—delivers a nicely done monster tale. Note that the special effects compared to 2021 standards are amateurish and stilted but the idea of a monster turtle is quite original. The actors draw interest. The movie serves as an excellent academic study of 1960s Japanese entertainment. The film, put together well, still causes an audience to fantasize about the outcome of dealing with gigantic, fire-breathing monsters.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

The Arctic unleashes a huge turtle bent on venting wrath against Tokyo.

Additional Thanks

Thank you to Director Noriaki Yuasa for directing effort. Thank you to Producers Masaichi Nagata and Hidemasa Nagata for making the film possible. Characters/cast include: Dr. Hidaka (Eiji Funakoshi), Nobuyo Sakurai (Michiko Sugata), Kyoko Yamamoto (Harumi Kiritachi), Aoyagi (Junichiro Yamashita), Toshio Sakurai (Yoshiro Uchida), Mr. Sakurai (Yoshiro Kitahara), Dr. Murase (Jun Hamamura), Eskimo Chief (Yoshio Yoshido), and Japanese Ambassador (George Hirose).

Buy a ticket Yes? No? Maybe?

Yes. The movie continues the idea of Godzilla except in turtle form with the rage happening in Tokyo rather than other countries of the world. It’s a good dip into Japanese fantasy and storytelling.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers