Gamera vs. Monster X (1970)

When an ancient statue is moved for display in Expo '70, a giant, vaguely Triceratops-like monster is released. The monster goes to Japan in pursuit of the statue and ends up battling Gamera, the giant flying turtle.

Director:

Noriaki Yuasa

Writer:

Niisan Takahashi (as Nisan Takahashi)

Stars:

Tsutomu Takakuwa, Kelly Varis, Katherine Murphy

Cast

Credited cast:
Tsutomu Takakuwa	...	Hiroshi
Kelly Varis	...	Tommy Williams
Katherine Murphy	...	Susan Williams
Kon Ohmura	...	Dad (as Kon Ômura)
Junko Yashiro	...	Miwako
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Franz Gruber	...	Dr. Williams
Ryô Hayami
Akira Natsuki	...	Dr. Suzuki
Corinne Orr	...	(voice)

Storyline

A giant creature attacks Japan during the World Fair and its up to Gamera to stop it. But the monster injects Gamera with its offspring and a research team must take a craft into Gamera's body to eliminate the parasite.

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Plot Keywords:

gamera | monster | statue | expo 70 | world's fair | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

21 March 1970 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Gamera vs. Monster X

Filming Locations:

Suita, Osaka, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

American-International Television (AIP-TV), Daiei Studios

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed at the real Expo '70 World Fair in Osaka, Japan.

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Goofs

When the two soldiers are skeletonised by Jiger's heat-ray, the elbow joint on the leading skeleton is anatomically incorrect (the upper and lower arm bones appear to overlap).

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Connections

Followed by Super Monster (1980)

User Reviews

Shell-shlock

Archeologists searching for artifacts to display at the 1970 Osaka World's Fair release a giant, tusked lizard-pig monster that follows them to Japan with devastating results. Only Gamera (as usual with the help of two young boys) can stop the creature and save the Fair. The film is a low-rent opus: the Gamera costume does little to hide the fact that it's just a skinny guy in a turtle suit, Monster X ('Jiger/Jaiga' in the Japanese original) is an interesting looking kaiju but is not very convincing when moving - it rarely 'walks' and frequently relies on 'jets' to swim or fly around (allowing use of an empty suit or non-articulated model), and most of the kaiju dust-ups are on an island or amongst simple and poorly detailed buildings. The film targets kids, so the two boys (annoyingly) have all of the answers and take the lead in rescuing Gamera from Jiger's parasitic offspring while simultaneously discovering the parent monster's fatal weakness. The film is famous for the scene in which parasitism is explained using graphic footage of writhing worms being removed from an elephant's swollen trunk (grim if real, well done if fake), an image sufficiently nasty to be commented on decades ago in the biker magazine "Easy Rider". The acting and script are laughable and, other than the "Fantastic Voyage" (1966) inspired rescue of the brooding turtle, the humans are primarily side-lined cheerleaders ("Gamera has such strength" enthuses the lisping little sister). The film is a pretty typical Showa-era Gamera outing, amusing in a silly way, but likely only of appeal to nostalgic boomers, campophiles, or kaiju-fans. I watched a low quality English-dubbed DVD version, which did nothing to improve the experience.