Daikaijû Gamera (1965)

Director:

Noriaki Yuasa

Writer:

Nisan Takahashi (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 December 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Plot:

From out of the arctic comes a gigantic flying, fire-breathing turtle that sets its sights on destroying Tokyo.

Plot Keywords:

Gamera | Turtle | Fire Breathing | Monster | Scientist

Cast

Eiji Funakoshi	...	Dr. Hidaka
Harumi Kiritachi	...	Kyoke Yamamoto
Junichirô Yamashiko	...	Aoyagi
Yoshiro Uchida	...	Toshio Sakurai
Michiko Sugata	...	Nobuyo Sakurai
Yoshiro Kitahara	...	Mr. Sakurai
Jun Hamamura	...	Professor Murase
Kenji Oyama	...	Minister of Defense
Munehiko Takada	...	Soviet Representative
Yoshio Yoshida	...	Eskimo Chief
Jun Osanai	...	Chidori Maru Captain
Daihachi Kita	...	Chidori Maru Navigator
Kazuo Mori	...	Chidori Maru Radioman
Koji Fujiyama	...	U.S. Arctic Base Commander
Osamu Okawa	...	U.S. Air Base Radar Technician

Also Known As:

Gamera (USA) (dubbed version)
The Giant Monster Gamera (literal English title)

Runtime:

Japan:80 min | USA:80 min | USA:86 min (DVD)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

South Korea:All

Company:

Daiei Studios

Trivia:

This is the only film in the Gamera series that was filmed in black and white.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Deadly Mantis (#9.4)" (1997)

Let the War Begin

This film was definitely the first salvo fired in the war between Daei and Toho. For years Daei had been playing second fiddle in the Japanese film industry. This is especially true since Toho not only released the Godzilla series, but also had the one of the greatest directors of all time in Akira Kurosawa in their stable. The solution for Daei was simple, to release a kaiju series of their own in the form of that fire breathing terrapin himself, Gamera.

As for this film, it was okay but it tended to try too hard to make itself an alternative to Godzilla. Also, the American version of this film suffers because it copies the idea of inserting American actors (Albert Dekkar and Brian Donlevy) into a Japanese monster film. The only way that this film differs from Godzilla is the fact that Daei didn't kill Gamera in the end and intentionally left it open that their would be a sequel (or sequels) made in the future. The main flaw with this film as well as the entire series is the fact that the special effects were done even more cheaply than the films in the Godzilla series and Gamera was never seen as anything more than a Godzilla rip-off.