Noriaki Yuasa | Through the Shattered Lens

1967’s Gamera vs Gyaos opens with reports of multiple volcanic eruptions in Japan.

One small village, in particular, has been effected. Tensions are already running high in the village because of a road construction project that some of the more traditional villagers oppose. Making things even more dramatic is that the volcano releases Gyaos, a giant bat that can shoot laser beams from its mouth and which has a habit of eating random people.

Fear not, though! Gamera, everyone’s favorite atomic turtle, is also woken up the volcanoes and the earthquakes! As the villagers watch, Gamera battles Gyaos and …. loses big time! Gyaos manages to injure Gamera’s leg so Gamera spins away and lands in the ocean so that he can heal up. Unfortunately, while Gamera is busy healing, Gyaos is still wrecking havoc.

Gamera vs Gyaos is entertaining as long as it focuses on Gamera and Gyaos. One of the more interesting things about the Gamera films is that even Gamera’s opponents were adorable. On the one hand, Gyaos is a totally destructive killer bat who eats numerous people. On the other hand, Gyaos is actually kind of cute.

And really, Gyaos isn’t trying to be mean. He’s just following his natural instincts. He was hibernating when the volcanic eruptions woke him up. Seeing as how he had been asleep for over a thousand years, it’s understandable that he woke up in a somewhat foul mood. One gets the feeling that if all the tanks and airplanes would stop shooting at him, Gyaos would be more than happy to fly off and find somewhere else to get some rest.

And, then there’s Gamera.

Gamera is a flying turtle who is powered by radioactivity and who, for some reason, has become the defender of humanity. Humanity, it should be noted, never seems to really appreciate everything that Gamera does for them. Gamera is also pretty adorable. Watching Gamera fight Gyaos is like watching two housecats pretend to fight each other. Sure, there’s a lot of yelling, hissing, and eye-poking but, deep-down, you get the feeling that the two of them truly love each other.

This was the third Gamera film. The second Gamera film was considered to be a box office disappointment so, for the third film, the studio insisted that it be kid-friendly. As a result, this film devotes a lot of time to Eiichi (Naoyuki Abe), an annoying little brat who keeps yelling for Gamera to come back and protect his village. Even when Gamera is underwater and trying to heal from his latest battle with Gyaos, he has to deal with little Eiichi yelling, “Hurry up and get better, Gamera!” Like, seriously, kid — SHUT UP! Gamera knows when he’ll be ready to fight again. By the end of the film, even the military is taking advice from Eiichi. No wonder Gamera has to fight all of their battles for them.

Anyway, I enjoyed this movie because of the monsters. Not only were their fight scenes entertaining but the monsters themselves were adorable. That said, Eiichi got on my last nerve. Hopefully, he’ll find a new hero and let Gamera have some peace.

Previous Gamera Reviews:

The world’s favorite atomic turtle is back!

1970’s Gamera vs. Monster X (a.k.a. Gamera vs Jiger) once against finds humanity doing something stupid and nearly getting destroyed as a result. This time, the trouble stats when a large statue is removed from an island and transported to Japan, where it will be the centerpiece of a gigantic expo. Gamera, who is a giant turtle that can fly and breathe fire, tries to stop the humans from doing this but, of course, they ignore him.

(Seriously, this was the 6th movie featuring Gamera. You would think that, by now, humanity would have learned to listen to the turtle’s concerns.)

Moving the statue awakens a dinosaur named either Jiger or Monster X, depending on which version of the film you’re watching. Jiger is pissed off about the statue being moved so it sets out to destroy humanity. Gamera tries to stop Jiger but Jiger stabs a quill into his chest and …, oh no! Is Gamera dead!?

No, don’t worry. Gamera may be incapacitated by he lives still. It’s just that he’s got something inside of him now and …. well, basically, Jiger inserted an egg inside of Gamera. And now, for some reason, a bunch of little children are going to have to navigate a minisub through Gamera’s blood stream so that they can get rid of the egg and the mini-Jiger waiting with within…..

What?

Yes, I know it doesn’t make any sense but it’s a Gamera movie! What you do expect? I mean, this is a movie about a world where, because Godzilla doesn’t exist, it falls to a gigantic, radioactive turtle to serve as the world’s protector. In order to watch a movie like this, you have to be able to accept the reality of a giant turtle. Once you’ve accepted that, it’s much easier to accept the idea that the future of the world depends on not just a giant turtle but also three kids in a small submarine.

(One thing that we discover, while watching this film, is that Gamera is bigger on the inside than the outside. Seriously, at one point, the kids get out of the sub and walk around inside of Gamera. And I know that Gamera’s big but he never looked like he was that big.)

Anyway, the important thing is that Gamera must be saved so that he can defeat Jiger and the expo can go on as planned. Because I don’t believe in spoilers, I won’t tell you how it ends but I will say that you should never lose faith in a giant turtle.

I was just looking over my notes and I discovered that, since 2017, I’ve actually watched Gamera vs. Monster X on three separate occasions. Despite having seen it more than once, I still have to say that I really don’t have the slightest idea what the Hell’s going on in the majority of the film. I guess it really doesn’t matter, though. You don’t watch a Gamera movie for the plot. You watch it for a giant turtle fighting other big monsters. On that front, Gamera vs Monster X delivers. It’s enjoyably incoherent.

Tonight, if you’re looking something to watch other than the Oscars, Gamera vs. Monster X is available on YouTube.