302 - GAMERA

Possible Tag Line: “You’ll Believe a Giant, Mutated Turtle Can Fly!”  -Joel (K05)

Synopsis:  This is the first movie starring the oversized flying turtle named Gamera, friend to all children, and who is basically a Poor Man’s Godzilla.  The movie opens as a mysterious jet is flying over the Arctic, so a “Buddy Hackett / Curly-Joe DeRita” like General orders fighters to shoot down the jet.  Unfortunately, the mysterious jet was carrying a nuclear bomb, and the atomic blast from its crash awakens a prehistoric monster, played here by Gamera.  Gamera first destroys an ice-cutting model research ship and then immediately heads to Japan to destroy more things.  In Japan, a short-shorts wearing, turtle-obsessed, strange boy named Kenny is saved by Gamera – after Gamera first almost kills him – marking the beginning of a beautiful friendship.  Gamera next goes and destroys a geothermal power plant as attempts by the army to stop him fail.  Scientists come up with a plan to try to freeze Gamera using freezer bombs, which do succeed in flipping the giant turtle over on his back.  But the upside-down Gamera kicks in the turbos and flies away, foiling the scientists again.  The flying turtle then goes on a world trip to check out a lot of major tourist sites, but soon returns to Japan to destroy more stuff.  Meanwhile, the mentally ill, turtle-obsessed Kenny is allowed into the inner circle of power in Japan due to his association with Gamera (does that giant turtle have connections or what?), and so this annoying little freak tries to interfere with any plans to destroy Gamera.  Finally, the scientists come up with “Z Plan” in which Gamera is to be imprisoned in a giant rocket and launched to Mars.  The “Z Plan” succeeds, allowing Gamera to live and return in many, many “Z”equels.

Don’s Review:  This experiment, featuring the first Gamera movie that also is the only one in which he is a “bad” monster, is one of my all-time favorite episodes.  It has some near-perfect riffing by J&tBs, arguably the most on-target riffing of any experiment ever!  And the host segments are pretty amusing, in particular a song Tom sings to Kenny’s lost pet turtle, Tibby, and a funny visit by Gamera (played by Mike).  While I think some of the other Gamera movies do have more goofy charm, the top-notched riffing in this classic episode earns it the highest possible rating.
Trivia Note: This is the second time that this movie was featured on MST, the first time was episode K05 during the KTMA days of the show.

Don’s Rating: 

Forrest’s Review:  Gamera, Gamera, where art thou Gamera?  Gamera is one of the greatest MST3K episodes of all time.  Has anyone noticed that from episodes 301 to 303, that the theater seats seem a little larger and closer together than normal?  Anyway, what is it with Kenny?  Why does this little brat get recognition from the Army of Japan?  What’s the deal here?  I mean, Gamera has just killed like a million people in down town Tokyo, and yet, just because Kenny thinks that Gamera is a good turtle (just because he saves his life... after trying to kill him, as Don pointed out).  I mean, if my whole family just got run over by Gamera, I wouldn’t let that chubby little brat Kenny go around reminiscing about how Gamera is a great guy.  I love Joel’s riff: “Yes Kenny, what Gamera has done today is beneficial to all.”  After Gamera had just leveled buildings and maimed innocent people.
     What strikes me is why Japan never has a MAIN character in their movies.  There is never a MAIN person who is the center of attention.  I suppose Kenny is in Gamera, but still, he gets no more screen time than anyone else in this crappy ass movie.  First there’s the seemingly endless comments like: “So, the great ball of fire was Gamera.”  Thanks for telling us that, we really couldn’t figure that out ourselves.  Then there’s the many characters that pop in and out, and have no redeeming value, and what Gamera episode will be complete without the mean Japanese parent, such as Kenny’s Dad: “If you don’t get rid of your turtle, I’ll throw it away while you’re at school.”  Which Tom Servo adds: “I’ll swallow it whole with beer.”  A major highlight in this episode is at the end of the movie when Gamera is being shot up into space: the bots remind Joel of when he was being shot into space, so Joel retaliates by ripping Crow’s left arm off and throwing it to the far side of the theater.  The riffing is on-target, though with the strange riffing pattern seen in Godzilla vs. Megalon, Cave Dwellers, and Pod People.  I loved all the host segments, especially when Gamera visits the SOL, and Tom’s wonderful tribute to poor Tibby the Turtle.  Crow: “Can you believe a robot just sang a love song to a turtle?”  Recommended HIGHLY.

Forrest’s Rating: 

Related Links:
   (1) Mighty Jack’s MST3K Review (Episode Review)
   (2) Stomp Tokyo Video Reviews (Movie Review)
   (3) BadMovies.org (Movie Review)
   (4) DVD Savant (Movie Boxed Set Review)