Gamera (1965 film)
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Striking down jets, grabbing hold of the Tokyo Tower, flying through the air breathing fire, the giant monster of the century! (ジェット機をたたき落とし、東京ターをわし摑み、火を吐いて空を飛ぶ世紀の大怪獣!)
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Gamera (大怪獣ガメラ is a Daikaijū Gamera, lit. Giant Monster Gamera)1965 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Daiei Motion Picture Company, and the first entry in the Gamera series. It was released to Japanese theaters on November 27, 1965.
Plot
Dr. Hidaka, accompanied by his assistant Kyoko Yamamoto and photographer Aoyagi, travels to an Eskimo settlement in the Arctic aboard the vessel Chidori Maru to look into the myth of an unusual species of turtle mentioned in their folklore. As Dr. Hidaka confers with the Eskimo chief, several unidentified stealth aircraft fly over the area. The captain of the Chidori Maru contacts a nearby American military base, which scrambles several fighter jets to intercept the unidentified aircraft. When the aircraft do not respond to the American fighters' warnings and open fire on them, the American planes fire their missiles and successfully shoot down one of the stealth aircraft. The aircraft crashes onto an icy plain several miles away from the Eskimo village and explodes. Watching the explosion from afar, Hidaka and his crew realize that the aircraft must have been carrying nuclear weapons, as a mushroom cloud becomes visible over the Arctic. Though Hidaka and the village are a safe distance from the nuclear detonation, the explosion cracks open the Arctic ice and a gigantic bipedal turtle emerges from the crevice. The creature roars ferociously and makes its way to the Chidori Maru, smashing it with its colossal arms and killing all aboard. As Hidaka and his crew prepare to leave, the Eskimo chief presents him with a stone carving, which depicts a giant turtle among what appear to be waves. Hidaka asks the chief if this is the legendary giant turtle that lived on the lost continent of Atlantis, and the chief replies that it is indeed the "Devil's Envoy," Gamera.
Following the sinking of the Chidori Maru, Hidaka travels to New York City to answer questions from the press regarding Gamera. Hidaka says that Gamera was in very close proximity to the nuclear explosion that freed him from his icy prison, so he will eventually perish from the lethal dose of radiation he absorbed. Hidaka remarks that it is a shame, as Gamera would have been a valuable scientific specimen. Meanwhile, flying saucers are being sighted all across the globe, especially in Japan. While returning to Japan aboard a plane, Hidaka, Aoyagi and Kyoko remark that since Gamera is likely lying dead on the sea floor, flying saucers have become the new craze. In a small village in Hokkaido, Nobuyo Sakurai is informed by a schoolteacher that her little brother, Toshio, has been a disruption in school because he has been bringing turtles to class. Nobuyo promises that she will talk to Toshio about it, and at dinner that night she and her father tell Toshio that he must let his pet turtle, Chibi, return to the wild. Toshio reluctantly takes Chibi out near the ocean and places him in a small shelter built from rocks, promising that he will be back to see him tomorrow. As Toshio turns to go back home, he sees Gamera appear over the cliffside. He runs to his sister to warn her, and they look up to see Gamera begin climbing ashore. Toshio runs into the lighthouse in the village, but Gamera swings his arm and breaks the lighthouse in half, leaving Toshio hanging for his life from a rail. As Toshio loses his grip and falls, Gamera catches him in his hand and gently sets him down on the ground before returning to the sea.
After learning that Gamera is still alive and in Hokkaido, Hidaka, Kyoko and Aoyagi travel there to consult with Professor Murase and the JSDF to discuss countermeasures. When Gamera lands at a power plant, Murase determines that Gamera possesses a sort of internal furnace that allows him to feed on inorganic materials like coal, petroleum, fire, and nuclear material, then convert them into organic substances and use them for sustenance. Hidaka tells the JSDF to hold off on firing at Gamera, and use the high-tension wires around the plant to repel him. To their surprise, Gamera tears through the wires and seems to draw power from them. Hidaka tells the JSDF to open fire on Gamera with their artillery, but it has no effect either. Murase concludes that Gamera's' body tissues are so dense that they are stronger than even the strongest metal alloys, so he is completely immune to conventional weaponry. With Gamera rampaging across Hokkaido, the JSDF is left with no option but to contact the American military and ask for a nuclear strike against Gamera. However, Hidaka is informed of an experimental cadmium freezing bomb developed by the JSDF, and decides that it may be effective against Gamera. Hidaka tells the JSDF to cancel the nuclear strike, as Gamera withstood a nuclear explosion at point-blank range and only grew stronger, and instead lure Gamera to a hilltop and drop the freezing bombs on him. Once Gamera reaches the summit of a hill, several freezing bombs are dropped onto Gamera, covering him in ice and rendering him immobile. As the freezing bombs are only effective for ten minutes, JSDF soldiers scramble quickly to plant dynamite on the hill while Gamera is frozen, then detonate it, sending Gamera tumbling down the hill and causing him to land on his back. The JSDF celebrates, believing Gamera will be helpless on his back and eventually die of starvation. To everyone's shock, Gamera retracts his head and limbs into his shell, then begins to spew flames from the openings. Gamera floats up from the ground and begins spinning rapidly, then flies off into the distance. Hidaka realizes that the Eskimo carving does not show Gamera among waves, but rather clouds, and that the "flying saucer" sightings were actually sightings of Gamera while he was flying.
Gamera is sighted around the world, but thankfully has not attacked a major populated area. When bizarre shipwrecks and flooding begin occurring around the Tokyo Bay area, Hidaka determines that Gamera is sleeping under the bay, and will inevitably come ashore. Hidaka meets with representatives from both the United States and the Soviet Union, and together they form one last countermeasure against Gamera: Z-Plan. As Z-Plan is prepared at Izu Oshima, Gamera comes ashore that night and ravages Tokyo. To keep Gamera occupied until Z-Plan is completed, trains filled with petroleum are sent towards Gamera so he can feed on them. Toshio, having moved to live with his uncle in Tokyo while his home in Hokkaido is repaired, climbs aboard one of these trains so he can get a closer look at Gamera. Since Chibi was nowhere to be found after he returned to visit him, Toshio believes Chibi turned into Gamera, and that Gamera is his friend. A worker sees Toshio on the train and pulls him off of it just as it crashes, then tells him to go home. Nobuyo is preparing to evacuate the city, but cannot find Toshio, who stows away on a ship bound for Izu Oshima. On Oshima, Hidaka and the JSDF make the final preparations for Z-Plan. A trail of petroleum is laid from Tokyo all the way to the island, then is ignited at nightfall. Gamera sees the flames and follows them to the island, but a typhoon hits the island and extinguishes the flames. Aoyagi, having sneaked onto the island posing as a laborer, sets the tents on the island ablaze to keep drawing Gamera there. Gamera sees the fire and begins to come ashore, but the typhoon increases in intensity and blows the flames out. Fortunately, Mount Mihara briefly erupts, and the eruption draws Gamera further inland. With Gamera successfully lured to Izu Oshima, Z-Plan can finally be enacted.
The following morning, Nobuyo comes to the island and is reunited with Toshio, who wants to observe as Z-Plan is put into motion. Using fuel from an underground silo, flames are shot from holes in the ground near the center of the island. Gamera is drawn into the middle of these towers of flame, and becomes trapped when the ground opens up and a huge capsule closes around him. The capsule is actually attached to a rocket ship, which launches from the island and exits the atmosphere, bound for Mars. While Gamera could not be vanquished on Earth, the world is now safe from his terror as he is banished to the barren plains of Mars. When asked if he is sad that Gamera is gone, Toshio replies that he isn't, and vows he will travel to Mars and visit him someday. Toshio waves as the Z-Plan rocket enters outer space, and wishes Gamera goodbye.
Staff
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Noriaki Yuasa
- Written by Nisan Takahashi
- Produced by Masaichi Nagata
- Music by Tadashi Yamauchi
- Cinematography by Nobuo Munekawa
- Edited by Tatsuji Nakashizu
- Production design by Akira Inoue
- Assistant directing by Kiyoshi Ishida
- Special effects by Yonesaburo Tsukiji
Gammera, The Invincible
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Sandy Howard
- Written by Richard Kraft
- Cinematography by Julian Townsend
- Edited by Ross-Gaffney Inc.
- Production design by Hank Aldrich
- Assistant directing by Sid Cooperschmidt
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
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Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
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Gammera, The Invincible
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Albert Dekker as Secretary of Defense
- Brian Donlevy as General Terry Arnold
- Diane Findlay as Sergeant Susan Embers
- John Baragrey as J.T. Standish
- Dick O'Neill as General O'Neill
- Mort Marshall as Jules Manning
- Alan Oppenheimer as Dr. Contrare
- Steffen Zacharias as Senator Billings
- Thomas Stubblefield as Captain Lovell
- Gene Bua as Lieutenant Clark
- Bob Carraway as Lieutenant Simpson
- John McCurry as A1C Hopkins
- Walter Arnold as American Ambassador
- Louis Zorich as Russian Ambassador
- Robin Craven as British Ambassador
- Bernard Grant as Dr. Hidaka (voice)
- Larry Robinson as Aoyagi (voice)
- Paulette Rubinstein as Kyoko Yamamoto (voice)
- Lucy Martin as Nobuyo Sakurai (voice)
- Corrine Orr as Toshio Sakurai (voice)
- Peter Fernandez as Mr. Ueda (voice)
- Kenneth Harvey as Chidori Maru Navigator (voice)
- Jack Curtis as News Announcer (voice)
- William Griffis as Misc. roles (voice)
Appearances
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Weapons, Vehicles, and Races
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Gallery
- Main article: Gamera (film)/Gallery.
Alternate Titles
- Giant Monster Gamera (Literal Japanese Title)
- Gamera: The Invincible (English Japanese DVD Title)
- Gammera, The Invincible (United States)
- Gamera: The Giant Monster (U.S. DVD and Blu-ray Title)
- Gamera - Frankenstein's Monster from the Ice (Gamera - Frankensteins Monster aus dem Eis; Germany)
- The World Under Terror (El mundo bajo el terror, Spain)
U.S. Release
Gamera was the only film in the original Gamera series to be released to American theaters. It was originally presented in America by World Entertainment Corp. and Harris Associates, Inc. who released it under the title Gammera, The Invincible, with two "m"s. All subsequent entries in the series spelled the main character's English name "Gamera," and were released directly to television by American International Productions Television (A.I.P.-TV). Gammera, The Invincible's American premiere was in New Orleans on December 15, 1966.
Gammera, The Invincible was heavily re-edited from its original Japanese version. Shots and scenes were moved around, while some were deleted completely. The subplot involving Aoyagi's one-sided relationship with Kyoko was removed and Toshio's implied mental disorder and role in the plot was de-emphasized. Gamera's implied origins and connections to the Atlantean continent were also excised, and authorities are made initially unsure of Gamera's existence. New footage featuring American actors, including Albert Dekker and Brian Donlevy, was spliced in to create a more international feel and to replace scenes shot in Japan featuring American characters, in a style similar to the U.S. release of Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. Unused effects footage obtained from Daiei was also reinserted, as establishing shots and extensions to Gamera's attack on the geothermal power plant and Toshio's encounter with Gamera at the oil refinery.
Gammera, The Invincible was dubbed by Titan Sound Inc. It features the voices of Jack Curtis and Peter Fernandez, who are best known as voices in the English dubs of Speed Racer and Ultraman. It is in the public domain in the United States and has been released on DVD by too many companies to fully list. A 1999 VHS by Neptune Media was the first version to present the film in its original aspect ratio. In 2017, an incomplete 35mm print of Gammera, The Invincible was acquired and scanned by Legend Films, Inc. and released in high definition on Amazon Video for streaming and download.
In 1985, Sandy Frank Enterprises commissioned a new dub of the film, possibly from Anvil Studios, which was first released in 1987. The Sandy Frank version, titled simply Gamera, is simply the Japanese version of the film dubbed into English, with two differences. Like the other Gamera films distributed by Sandy Frank, it features a new credits sequence with footage of ocean waves as a backdrop. Gamera's raid on the geothermal power plant is also edited differently.[2] It is only available via VHS and LaserDiscs released by Celebrity Home Entertainment in the 1980's. Gamera, along with the other four Sandy Frank Gamera movies, was mocked twice on Mystery Science Theater 3000, first on KTMA TV 23, a UHF station in the St. Paul-Minneapolis area, and later in the show's third season. Kevin Murphy, who played Tom Servo in the show from seasons 2-10, later riffed the "Gammera, The Invincible" version of the film with Bill Corbett, who played Crow from seasons 8-10, and Michael J. Nelson for Rifftrax.[3]
Region 1 DVD releases of the film by Shout! Factory and Mill Creek Entertainment present it in its original uncut Japanese version with English subtitles, under the English title Gamera: The Giant Monster.
Video Releases
Daiei Video DVD (2001)
- Region: 2
- Discs: 1
- Audio: Japanese (Mono)
- Special Features: Cast and crew bios, theatrical trailer, Gamera anatomy, interviews with director Noriaki Yuasa (approximately 1:30) and special effects director Yonesaburo Tsukiji (approximately 2:30)
- Notes: Only the movie itself has English subtitles. Out of print.
Shout! Factory DVD (2010)
- Region: 1
- Discs: 1
- Audio: Japanese (1.0 Mono)
- Special Features: Audio commentary by August Ragone, 10-page booklet, trailer, gallery of publicity materials, "A Retrospective Look at the Gamera Franchise" featurette (23 minutes)
Mill Creek DVD (2014) [Gamera: Legacy Collection]
- Region: 1
- Discs: 4
- Audio: Japanese (1.0 Mono)
- Special Features: None
- Notes: Packaged with Gamera vs. Barugon, Gamera vs. Gyaos, Gamera vs. Viras, Gamera vs. Guiron, Gamera vs. Jiger, Gamera vs. Zigra, Gamera: Super Monster, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, and Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris.
Mill Creek Blu-ray (2014) [Gamera: Ultimate Collection, Volume 1]
- Region: N/A
- Discs: 2
- Audio: Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0)
- Special Features: None
- Notes: Packaged with Gamera vs. Barugon, Gamera vs. Gyaos, and Gamera vs. Viras
Kadokawa released Gamera on Blu-ray in 2009, with additional DVD releases in 2010 and 2016. Further information is not available yet.
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Trivia
- This film is the only film in the Gamera series where Gamera does not fight another monster.
- In a scene that was filmed but ultimately not used, Toshio’s classmates bullied him for not wanting to build model kits or listen to music with them. One of those kids was played by Tôru Furuya, who would go on to become a prominent voice actor, his roles including Seiya in Saint Seiya, Yamcha in the Dragon Ball series, Tuxedo Mask in Sailor Moon, and Amuro Ray in Mobile Suit Gundam.
- Gamera was originally supposed to be called "Kamera" ("kame" being the Japanese word for turtle), but the name was judged to be too similar to "camera."[citation needed]
- Daiei president Masaichi Nagata claimed he came up with the idea for Gamera when he looked out the window of a plane and saw a cloud that looked like a turtle (a story that parallels Tomoyuki Tanaka's yarn about Godzilla's origin almost exactly). P Productions founder Tomio Sagisu disputes this story, saying that Daiei stole one of the monster ideas he had for a half-hour kaiju TV show. The proposed series was rejected by all of Japan's major studios, Daiei included, for the high budget it would require. Apparently, one of his teleplays included the description "the turtle monster flies by pulling its head into its shell and shooting flames."
- The Gamera suit used for the majority of filming was 6 ½ feet tall and 110 pounds, built by Kanji and Koei Yagi, who also built the suit in used the first Godzilla movie. A second, heavier suit was used for fire-breathing scenes, so as to better protect the actor inside.
- All of the stuntmen Daiei hired to play Gamera for this film quit in short order, forcing the special effects staff to draw lots to determine who would climb into the suit each day. Kazuo Yagi did the most time. Gamera would be played by actor Teruo Aragaki for his next three film appearances, and Umenosuke Izumi for the following two.
- The original script called for Toshio to have a dream in which he played with Gamera.[citation needed]
- Gamera's fire was created with pressurized propane. Rumor has it that one of the small mechanical models used during a fire-eating scene exploded during filming.[citation needed]
References
This is a list of references for Gamera the Giant Monster. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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