mark.waltz Review of Gamera vs. Viras

Gamera vs. Viras (1968)

More adventures of the giant fanged turtle with major gas issues.

[2/10 · 11 July 2017]

...Or should I say repeat adventures? The first half of thus film flashes back to the first two Gamera films, taking nearly half an hour of running time to explain to the kiddies who didn't see the first two films who this turtle is, and why he must either be destroyed along with every planet in the universe or be put to use and join the legion of bad, scary minsters everywhere. So after an introduction where two Japanese kids guide Camera through the Pacific ocean in their little yellow submarine (deliciously cheesy), we get a revisit between Gamera and various other monsters, one where a Japanese kid who's eaten way too many cookies hitches a ride on Gamera's back. This is all for the villains out to destroy the world in their spaceship that looks like a bunch of freaky eyeballs connected together to set up their motivation. Truly juvenile and badly dubbed, this is one of those films that makes you wonder about Japanese/American relations, "First Pearl Harbor, now this?" At least the viewer has a choice, which is either fast forward or turn off.