Space Amoeba (1970) User Reviews

Nothing special, but it might be worth seeing

[FilmExpertWannabe · 5/10 · 14 June 2011]

Space Amoeba was essentially the last fresh giant monster film from Toho's Showa era. After this 1970 entry, the rest of their giant monster films were Godzilla pictures. Space Amoeba is mostly a rehash of elements we've seen before at Toho. Alien life forms have come to conquer the planet and use a human vessel as assistance in carrying out the plan. However, instead of bringing their own monsters as the alien races do in The Mysterians, Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster, or Godzilla vs Gigan, they simply blow up the size of some Earth animals (more on that later). It is up to a small group of people on the plot's island to save the day.

In spite of being that last original giant monster picture from Toho's Showa series, Space Amoeba fails to move the needle as much as some of their 50s and 60s movies did. The plot could've worked if it had been carried out with a bit more care, but the boring plot was made no more interesting by good acting or special effects. Eiji Tsuburaya was a famous special effects director at Toho, and this was the first kaiju film made after his death. The special effects are pretty hit-and-miss here, so he is missed.

The monster with the most combined discussion and screen time is the first to appear, Gezora; he is thought to be a monster god by the inhabitants of the island. Gezora is referred to as both a squid and an octopus in the picture depending upon which audio and subtitles you're listening to, but he mostly reflects the proportions of a squid in my opinion. He isn't very convincing in his motions and his suit wrinkles unnaturally. His eyes look very fake as well. Gezora is a pretty obscure monster even within Toho's fans, but it's not without warrant.

Ganime is a giant mutated crab, somewhat similar to Toho's own giant lobster Ebirah that starred in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (aka Godzilla vs The Sea Monster) and much more recently in Godzilla: Final Wars. Compared to his Showa Ebirah stablemate, I actually think Ganime looks better and more menacing. A pretty well done suit and acceptable movements here. Kamoebas is the third and final monster in the film, a giant turtle. He is probably the best known due to his second appearance in a far more popular movie, 2003's Godzilla: Tokyo SOS. Kamoebas and Ganime actually fight at the end of the movie and plummet into a volcano to their demise (predictably).

The only real reason to view Space Amoeba is to see some new monster action, because from the standpoint of the plot and acting, you've seen it before at Toho many times over. That's not to say I will give this film a low rating; I'd still rate it a mediocre 5/10, but that's the most it deserves. Toho did a plenty of superior monster movies before this one (and some of the Godzilla ones that followed), so this shouldn't be one of the first ones you seek.

A Fun If Lesser Kaiju Eiga From Honda & Co.

[ferbs54 · 6/10 · 6 June 2009]

My fellow Trekkers who rent Ishiro Honda's 1970 offering, "Space Amoeba," expecting to see an 11,000-mile-long, single-celled organism on the order of the one shown in the classic "Immunity Syndrome" episode may be a bit disappointed here. Rather, the sparkling hive colony in this film that attaches itself to Earth's unmanned Helios 7 rocket, en route to Jupiter, is comparatively teeny, but still capable of causing major-league mishegas nonetheless. This space hive causes the Earth rocket to crashland in the Pacific and proceeds to transform a squid, a crab and a turtle into some giant monsters, respectively Gezora, Ganime and Kamoeba. Good thing that a Japanese biologist, a photographer, an industrial spy AND the obligatory pretty girl all happen to be convening on nearby Selgio Island to explore a future resort area.... Anyway, this Honda monster bash is a mixed blessing at best. While Gezora looks pretty cool lumbering about on his tentacles, his fellow monstrosities are fairly lame, and the seemingly inevitable dukeout between two of them may be the dullest in the history of the kaiju eiga. The film grows increasingly loopy as it proceeds, and the final 1/3, conflating bats, a native marriage ceremony and a deus-ex-machina volcano, is quite bizarre. Fortunately, the photography of the island looks great, longtime Honda collaborator Akira Ifukube provides another rousing score, and FX man Sadamasa Arikawa dishes out some interesting visuals, especially his outer space shots and the "amoeba" itself. (Sadly, his giant monsters are not equal to those of an earlier Honda colleague, Eiji Tsuburaya.) All in all, the film is an undeniably fun mixed bag that should just manage to please fans of the genre. Oh...a great-looking DVD here, thanks to the fine folks at Media Blasters' Tokyo Shock unit.

Plastic creatures, we love you

[Fredericmignard · 4/10 · 11 March 2001]

The Japanese have always had incredible ambitions in their fantasy movies. They have always been ready to destroy cities by huge plastic monsters coming from outer space and elsewhere. The problem is they have never had the money to succeed in making convincing special effects. This film, released in France under the title Les envahisseurs de l'espace, is no exception. Its ambition is to show three creatures from the giant octopus to the giant lobster trying to have the upper hand on the humans. It's extremely awkward and laughable, but well quite enjoyable too. After all, we do like these creatures and these films after all, don't we?

Gezora, Gamine, Kameoba, the three rubber monsters.

[Horror Fan · 7 February 1999]

Alien plague is spread onto a pacific island by a space capsule that crashes and creates monsters out of normal creatures. Gezora, a giant squid; Gamine, a humungous crab; and Kameba, a huge turtle; all attack the island, fight each other, and sure trample alot of huts. Goofy, with silly special effects and more bad dubbing.

These aliens aren't exactly E.T.!

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 2 February 2021]

When the movie begins, space probe Helio VII is sent into space and it soon vanishes. However, inexplicably, the probe later returns to Earth and crashes in the sea near an island inhabited with primitive folks. In addition, some Japanese scientist and his friends are there and they investigate. Soon, a giant squid the size of Godzilla arrives and 'Gezora' is NOT a friendly squid. Miraculously, they are able to defeat the squid....but then some glowy stuff comes out of the dying monster and soon it creates a gigantic crab. Once again, the folks somehow manage to defeat it....but the glowy stuff remains. In fact, later the glowy stuff inhabits one of the humans and you learn that invaders from space are controlling the animals and plan to rule the Earth. What creatures are coming next? And, will they manage to stop them as well?

This is a pretty bad film, though I cannot blame all of it on the Japanese production company who made the film. Much of the problem is bad dubbing--with the Japanese folks OFTEN laughing for no apparent reason and sometimes at the most inappropriate moments. Also, some of the women's voices are ear-piercingly bad.

Overall, this is a film you either like because you think gigantic Japanese monsters are cool or you'll think it's all pretty much nonsense. I find myself in the latter group.

Gezora, how I love thee!

[deeroq · 7/10 · 14 March 2006]

The enjoyment that you derive out of this movie is directly proportional to what your expectations are. I'm a big fan of Honda's work, he's made some of the very best giant monster (not just limited to Japanese kaiju) movies ever made - this is not one of them. It's really pretty bad - not Jun Fukuda bad, mind you, but in the world of Ishiro Honda's works it's quite the stinker.

And yet... It's somehow great. What makes it truly great can essentially be summed up in one word. Gezora. Gezora is a giant squid, or an octopus, or perhaps a cuttlefish, or... It really doesn't matter what Gezora is supposed to be, just know that (unlike the giant octopus from "King Kong vs. Godzilla") Gezora is not a slimy creature that flutters and unfurls itself along the ground like an octopus probably would if it could actually move outside of the water. No, my friends, Gezora is rubbery looking and he walks. Let's say that again so that the utter ridiculousness of it can sink in:

Gezora WALKS. On tentacles.

You see, they didn't have access to high-tech animatronics and kaiju films have always had an aversion to stop-motion animation, so, as was custom - it's a guy in a suit. But how does a guy in a suit impersonate the flowing movement of an octopus/squid/cuttlefish on land, you ask?

He doesn't. He walks around, dragging and swinging tentacles with reckless abandon. That, if for no other reason, is why this movie must be seen to be appreciated. Gezora is, by far, my favorite bad kaiju. Yes, even better and far more ridiculous than King Seesar. This may be difficult to believe, but he's even sillier (and more lovable) than Guiron - knife-headed foe of Gamera. You, too, will love Gezora if you just give him a chance - and that chance has arrived as of today, for "Space Amoeba" has been released on DVD.

Huzzah!

Not one of Toho's best

[mhorg2018 · 3/10 · 8 March 2018]

A really so-so entry in the Kaiju epics of Toho. Filled with a really likeable cast, this movie is hurt by uninspired monster suits, and really for a Toho, poor special effects. Made after the expert Tsuburaya passed away, the crew that did this didn't do that great of a job. Also known as Yog, Monster From Space, it's easy to see why none of these creations showed up in any other Kaiju films.

Yog, the Space Amoeba!

[rstef1 · 7/10 · 6 November 2007]

An unmanned space capsule plummets back to earth carrying an unwelcome visitor in the form of a glowing, amoeba-like invader. In short order, the alien menace inhabits a cuttle fish (a type of squid), a turtle and a crab. Naturally as this is a kaiju, the animals grow to enormous size and attack a small tropical island where our heroes are planning to build a luxury hotel. Bad choice. Happily, mother nature has a secret weapon against the invaders, sonic waves created by dolphins and bats, which are plentiful on the island.

As the 70's dawned, director Ishiro Honda wanted to do something different from the Godzilla movies and this was it. On the plus side, it is really different and I felt the monsters were well done. Also, the remote island setting is effective and there are some impressive special effects, along with a terrific musical score by Akira Ifukube. The version in the original Japanese is much better than the dubbed version and adds to the fun. If you like to watch terrified people battling enormous creatures made of rubber (I confess I get a kick out of it), you could do much worse than this. Colorful and fast paced, for those who enjoy kaiju.

Space Amoeba

[CinemaSerf · 5/10 · 3 June 2023]

This is certainly not one of Ishiro Honda's better efforts; but it does kind of work. Some would-be alien invaders hitch a ride on a probe returning to the Earth that lands on a Pacific atoll. They set about creating supersized monsters bent on humanity's destruction so they can take over the world. Nothing new so far, nor indeed anywhere really, as a team of human hoteliers and local islanders try to fight off this threat. The visual effects are OK - the monsters; explosions and acting are low budget, but together keep this fun yarn moving along fine. The dubbing actors are way over the top and the music grates but it's still just about worth watching - for some reason really bad Japanese films of this genre are not as bad as anyone else's!

Monstrously silly fun

[jamesrupert2014 · 7/10 · 18 February 2018]

A sparkly-blue blob of light from outer space with the ability to take over and mutate/enlarge a host arrives on Earth. Soon, denizens of a tropical island are threatened by a stupendous squid, a colossal crab, and a titanic turtle. Eventually, the space creature takes over a human, allowing it to gloatingly communicate its nefarious plans of world conquest. An aversion to porpoises and bats yields a clue to the invader's weakness, and plans are made to fight back. Diakaiju-sized plot inconsistencies aside, this is a pretty good Toho monster opus. The tentacled monster ('Gezora') is a nicely done example of suit-mation - yes, we all know that there is an actor within, but the creature still looks good and, for an '60's film, is well integrated into the live footage. The turtle ('Kamoebas') is a little weaker in execution but the giant mutant crab ('Ganimes') is excellent - better (IMO) than the shrimp-based kaiju "Ebirah" ("Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster" 1966). I watched an adequately dubbed English version of the film, so can't comment on the acting or original script, but generally liked the portrayal of the characters (especially the 'natives', who, unlike most stereotypical peaceful islanders, were the ones who kept showing up with more and bigger guns). Directed by Toho's best known kaiju wrangler (Ishiro Honda) and with music by Akira Ifukube, the film has the look and sound of a Showa-era Godzilla outing and is an entertaining time-passer for anyone willing to suspend their disbelief long enough to fear for the lives of the intrepid islanders, who are all that stand between us and extinction. A must see for people concerned with their 'kaiju-life lists', as the three featured monsters are essentially one-offs in the Toho corral: ('Kamoebas' has a bit part as a washed-ashore corpse in "Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S." (2003), 'Gezora' is briefly glimpsed in the opening montage of "Godzilla: Final Wars" (2004), and 'Ganimes' never again surfaces (despite being a nicely executed giant crab outfit)).

Among The Weirdest Of The Weird Kaijus.

[meddlecore · 5/10 · 6 October 2021]

Yog is essentially a bizarre ripoff of HG Wells' Empire of the Ants, but with amoebas from space...or something like that...

Like in EOTA, a group of investors head to a remote island to investigate a development opportunity...not knowing that the place has been overrun by kaiju beasts.

They aren't welcome by the natives, who are suffering from attacks, they believe, are due to the unwelcome presence of these foreign interlopers.

First, they're attacked by a kaiju squid...so they burn it.

Then they're attacked by Ebirah...so they blow it up.

Eventually, it becomes evident that space amoeba are responsible for both the gigantism of the kaiju beasts...as well as their aggression.

Though how they discern that is beyond me...because it's never explained.

Either way, the amoeba are in the one man: "the first man of space".

And he is to do their bidding.

Fortunately, the group gets suspicious when he miraculously survives a kaiju snapping turtle attack.

They try pleading to his humanity, hoping he will be able to overcome the control of the space amoebas, and snap out of it...for the sake of humanity.

That is, if it's not already too late...

One of the weirdest of the weird Toho kaijus.

5 out of 10.

Space aliens possess Earth creatures!

[OllieSuave-007 · 8/10 · 14 June 2003]

This is another alien-invasion movie from Toho studios. It features space alien (s) that invaded a tropical island, where it mutates a squid, crab, and turtle to the size of Godzilla. The aliens' main purpose: to conquer Earth. We have a group of explorers visiting an island to investigate the whereabouts of a lost space probe. There, they encounter the alien monsters, and try to stop them, with the help of some very courageous island natives. The hero of the film is portrayed by Akira Kubo. He has been portraying so many heroic roles by the time he filmed this movie that him being type-casted started to get annoying. Aside from that, we have monsters that were surprisingly very campy and rubber-ish looking.

Overall, an OK kaiju film that should have featured more monsters, providing that the aliens mentioned that they were trying to mutate a lot of animals to attack Earth. The film contains a pretty exciting "rescue-the-earth" mission, nonetheless.

Grade B

Not one of the best, but fun enough

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 20 May 2022]

A rare non-GODZILLA kaiju movie set on another monster island. This time around, the titular space amoeba hitches a ride on a Jupiter-bound space probe and lands in the vicinity, transforming three creatures into giant-sized evil monsters. It's a fun little flick that lacks in decent monster action, although the giant squid looks fantastic. But the human characters are quite likeable, played by experienced stars, and there's a wealth of incident and action to keep you entertained.

Forgettable Toho nonsense.

[BA_Harrison · 4/10 · 24 December 2017]

A space parasite takes control of an unmanned probe to Jupiter, steering it back to Earth. Splash landing in the Pacific, the interstellar being proceeds to take over the local marine life, growing it to monstrous proportions, starting with an octopus (Gezora), followed by a crab (Ganimes), and finally, a turtle (Kameba). The extraterrestrial's intention is to conquer the world (what else?). Trying to stop the alien and its massive monsters are a group of people planning to build a resort on a nearby island.

I'm rather partial to a giant monster movie, so you would think my enjoyment would be threefold with Space Amoeba, which features not just one, but a trio of oversized kaiju. That, however, is not the case. The story is a pedestrian mix of nonsense that we have seen before in earlier Toho movies, and the monster action is uninspired: endless flailing rubber limbs, screeching, and trashing of native villages, all of which is very repetitive and ultimately rather boring.

The film is also extremely ridiculous in places: Gezora walks upright on its tentacles (because making it slither would have been too difficult); the islanders conveniently find guns, explosives and gasoline in an old cabin; two of our plucky visitors decide to go diving despite the presence of a colossal killer octopus; and the naturalist in the group somehow works out how to defeat the monsters (which he correctly hypothesises are being controlled by creatures from outer space) using bats! While this silliness might be enough for some, I found the whole thing tiresome.

Back to Bat Ann - oops Space Amoeba

[Bernie4444 · 5/10 · 2 February 2024]

Also known as "Yog: The Space Amoeba" which sounds mor Japanese.

The director is Ishirô Honda of home we all know and love.

Samuel Z. Arkoff as producer (US version)

Salvatore Billitteri as producer (US version)

Fumio Tanaka as executive producer

Tomoyuki Tanaka as executive producer

The standard formula "stay out of the water" film. Well, maybe not formulas as we get to cross over stories of the greedy developer, burnt-out photographer, scientist, female interest, Japanese style monsters, and even space Amoebas.

Everyone's agenda conflicts with each other's agenda. I was rooting for the amoeba. However, they may use bats for sound trouncing.

Grumpy octopus walking

[unbrokenmetal · 6/10 · 15 July 2019]

A Japanese team of explorers wants to take a closer look at a lonely island for possible use by a tourism company. Little do they know what they'll find: a grumpy giant octopus walking over land to kill and wave its tentacles a lot. When they find a way to fight the beast, promptly there are more dangerous creatures succeeding it, enlarged mysteriously by aliens who, of course, want to conquer Earth.

Ishiro Honda, director of the original 1956 'Godzilla' as well as many sequels ('King Kong vs. Godzilla', 'Mothra vs. Godzilla' etc.), created an entertaining monster flick here. "Nankai no daikaijû" is not outstanding in story, design or acting, but certainly not disappointing either if you like the genre. I watched it back in the 1990s and it was fun to watch it a second time now.

Fun, but Not Really Memorable.

[HorrorDisasterGuy-90617 · 7/10 · 20 May 2023]

I found this to be a average Kaiju movie for the most part. There's not that much to the story other than characters going to a island with giant monsters on it. It interesting with how the animals turn into mutant monsters due do an space alien. The movie is entertaining with the giant monster attacking people and the characters trying to fight back against them. I found the characters to be mostly forgettable since none of them are that interesting or memorable to remember about.

Gezora, Ganimes, and Kamoebas are giant monster who are a octopus, crab, and turtle. They have pretty good design to them and great costumes. But they aren't that memorable compared to other Kaiju out there.

Enjoyable...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 21 November 2022]

I stumbled upon the 1970 Japanese monster movie "Gezora, Ganime, Kameba: Kessen! Nankai No Daikaijû" (aka "Space Amoeba") here in 2022, and having sat through the majority of these old, and often cheesy, Japanese monster movies, of course I had to watch this one as well.

I figured that this particular 1970 movie from writer Ei Ogawa and director Ishirô Honda might be in the same spirit as the countless other movies of that era, so I had some expectations to the movie. And the movie turned out to be exactly that; yeah, it was a cheesy monster movie with huge monsters - Kaijus - duking it out on Earth, with humanity caught in the middle.

The storyline in the movie was good. Sure, it was very formulaic, if you actually generic for the genre. But hey, why change on a formula that worked so well for so many years? If you enjoyed the good old movie like "Godzilla", then you will definitely also enjoy "Gezora, Ganime, Kameba: Kessen! Nankai No Daikaijû".

The acting performances in the movie were fair enough.

Visually, then the movie is showing signs of being 52 years old. Of course it is. But isn't that part of the charm of these monster movies, where it is essentially people in monster suits duking it out between toy houses and toy cars at their feet?

I was genuinely entertained by director Ishirô Honda's 1970 movie.

My rating of "Gezora, Ganime, Kameba: Kessen! Nankai No Daikaijû" lands on a six out of ten stars.

A long-time favorite!

[drmality-1 · 8/10 · 28 December 2006]

For some reason, I remembered this flick more than many other kaiju eiga (giant monster movies) from the same period. In fact, I even have an original "Yog" poster on my wall right next to one for "The Green Slime".

The film is set on a remote tropical island that is being looked at as the possible home of a luxury tourist resort. Funky photographer Kudo (wearing a floppy hat) and his adorable female companion are there to take pictures and check in with some other company personnel on the island. Dr. Mida is there to study marine evolution. And then there is the suspicious acting Obata, who claims to be an anthropologist but is actually an industrial spy.

There is another visitor to the island and this one came from a lot farther than Tokyo. The misty blue space creature Yog (an "astro-quasar" he is called) has fallen to Earth on a space capsule and is now busy turning harmless animals into giant monsters. First of these fearsome freaks is the weird octo-squid Gezora, a plastic-eyed giant that uses its tentacles to walk (stagger is a better word) on land! Gezora sets about killing people and destroying the native huts, but Kudo and pals find a way to defeat the beast.

The only problem is, Yog just jumps to another giant monster. Ganime, a giant crab, is next and then comes Kameba, a titanic tortoise who could give Gamera a run for his money. Not only that, but Yog also takes control of Obata and uses him to sabotage the human's plans.

It's a sticky pickle but the Earthmen find a secret weakness of Yog's that they can use to attack the space monster. Another key to Yog's defeat is Obata...can his mind be turned against the Monster from Space?

The movie is fun and exciting if you're not too demanding. You see plenty of the monsters and even a nasty battle between Ganime and Kameba. Call me nuts, but I thought dialog and acting were a lot better here than other period kaiju films. The characters had more personality...especially Kudo, played by Akira Kubo...and I kind of liked the way every tied together.

Some may be disappointed that no cities get destroyed, but if you're looking for a Japanese monster mash with a bit of a difference, "Yog" will satisfy your craving!!!

Space Amoeba Is Rather Underwhelming But Ganimes Is Awesome!

[coconutkungfu-30704 · 6/10 · 20 October 2021]

This film is overall rather underwhelming as a Kaiju experience, there are however a shining bright spot in this one: Ganimes. Ganimes is an awesome Kaiju and it immediately caught my interest as soon as it appeared. By the end of the film I was a full-on Ganimes fan and re-watched scenes with the Kaiju more than once. When all is said and done ,this isn't one of Toho's finest outing in the genre, but the special effects and suit-work and just pure coolness surrounding Ganimes is absolutely awesome so it gets a passing grade.

Iron Chef Meets Dolomite

[Tarquineshetta · 8 September 2004]

The theme ingredients are octopus and kitsch.

This is a great movie for an evening of friends, microwave popcorn, fizzy drinks (your choice), and a kitschy romp that'll make you laugh 'til you cry. If the "Iron Chef" voice-overs make you laugh, these will make you scream for mercy.

Make it a double-feature: complete your evening of low-budget deadpan kitsch with a screening of "Avenging Disco Godfather."

Allez Cuisine!

PS: IMDb says, "Sorry, you must provide at least 10 lines in your comment. Please return to the edit window (or use the BACK option if this isn't a new window)." There! I've made my quota!

Another classic Hondo monster picture that's not as good as Godzilla but still worth a viewing

[kevin_robbins · 7/10 · 31 January 2023]

Space Amoeba (1970) is a Japanese monster gem that I recently watched on a random streaming service. The storyline follows an asteroid filled with alien life forms that lands on a Pacific Ocean island. As the aliens come in contact with the local wildlife the wildlife becomes huge and menacing. When some investors land on the island and plan to build a resort they're in for a rude awakening.

This movie is directed by Ishirô Honda (Godzilla, 1954) and stars Akira Kubo (Throne of Blood), Yukiko Kobayashi (Destroy All Monsters), Kenji Sahara (Godzilla, 1954), Yoshio Tsuchiya (Seven Samurai) and Chôtarô Tôgin (Ebirah, Horror of the Deep).

There's so much to like about this movie. The sets and models the monsters destroy are very cool. The Amoeba costume is rediculous but the lobster and lizard were awesome. The creature special effects and how they use their hands is hilarious. I will say that I enjoyed the monster battles, which were more fun than good.

Overall, this is another classic Hondo monster picture that's not as good as Godzilla but still worth a viewing. I would score this a 6.5/10 and strongly recommend it.

A suitably well made and entertaining monster romp

[I_Ailurophile · 7/10 · 2 September 2023]

Godzilla may get called the "King of the Monsters," yet in actuality the moniker belongs to the film studio with which the gargantuan is most associated. Practical creations will always be superior to computer-generated imagery, and the kaiju of Toho continue to impress even decades later with their detail. For those ways in which the "rubber suits," their movement, and the destruction they leave in their wake may be less than perfect, the imperfections are more believable and engaging than the pristine, fluid artificiality of digital wizardry. And with three such beasties coming to life in 'Space amoeba,' viewers are treated to an even greater feast of such delights than we usually get. True, this title does also make use of post-production visuals in some measure, and the disparity with filmed footage can be glaring, yet much more than not this is pretty entertaining, and certainly suggested above all for anyone who appreciates like-minded fare from the Japanese studio.

The chief filming locations are gorgeous, and a lot of care clearly went into the sets that were built to be torn apart. In any such picture other elements of the production are rendered secondary at best to the monsters and effects, yet be that as it may, for what the material requires I think the cast give fine performances. There is a strong foundation in the screenplay for the course of events; moreover, each primary character that is introduced has solid reasoning for traveling to the accursed Selgio Island - a welcome change from the average genre flick, I dare say. Akira Ifukube, composer extraordinaire and an anchor of Japanese cinema generally and Toho specifically, provides a rich, dramatic score that's lends substantial flavor to the proceedings at any given point. And I think this movie is a fine credit as well to director Ishiro Honda, who at times shows an eye for shot composition, and otherwise orchestrates scenes with a mind for spectacle and impact.

In fairness, I can understand that kaiju flicks don't appeal to all comers; everyone has their personal preferences. In the very least the pacing of these features might sometimes plod along with the same gait as their giant creatures, and plot development may take shortcuts of Movie Magic to tell a story within a concise allotment of film stock. Yet anyone who comes across 'Space amoeba' or its kin can't not know what they're getting into, for these hardly carry any pretenses about what they are; either one is receptive to the effects-laden extravaganzas, or they're not. This 1970 title may not always make the best choices, but by and large it's suitably well made and entertaining within the intent with which it's fashioned and the space it creates for itself. Don't go out of your way for 'Space amoeba,' but if you do have the chance to watch and especially if you're a big fan of Toho, these eighty-odd minutes are light fun for a lazy day.

Fun

[ebeckstr-1 · 7/10 · 24 August 2019]

Fun animation, miniatures, and suitimation effects, combined with well-above-average voice acting in the dubbed version, make for a very enjoyable hour and a half. Recommended for fans of this kind of artistry and over the top fantasy.