Gappa - Frankensteins fliegende Monster

If you like the Japanese Godzilla movies of the 60s and {especially}the 70s made by Toho Studios, than you're probably like this effort, a not totally successful but fun attempt by Shockiku Studios to get in on the act.

King Kong obviously inspired the early section of the film,but oddly enough the film mostly bases it's plot on the British 1961 monster movie Gorgo {itself a Godzilla imitation},with a baby monster captured by humans and it's angry parent wrecking havoc to get him back. However,unlike Gorgo's one vengeful parent,here we have both mum and dad monsters attacking poor Japan {one wonders why anyone still bothers to live there in these films,since it's always being destroyed by giant monster year after year}.

The film lacks the polish of the Toho films,with the miniatures lacking in detail and some rather drab photography and poor editing. Music is mediocre although the two songs {only in the subtitled version}are memorable for the wrong reasons. However,the family Gappa are uniquely weird monsters,the action is pretty continuous after the first half an hour and the final reunion scene involving the monsters is touching. There are some amusing touches which gently mock the genre. Feminists be warned though-the end scene where the human heroine realises her role in life will probably offend you greatly!

Hardly a classic of monster movies but silly and entertaining anyway. A good one to introduce young kids to the genre.

A group of intrepid explorers is sent on an expedition to find exotic animals (and people) for a new theme park to be built by a magazine tycoon who also happens to publishes Playmate Magazine. Soon, the group lands on an island in the South Pacific, where they discover an isolated tribe of natives who worship a mysterious God named Gappa. When the land is ruptured by an earthquake, the explorers come upon a cavern containing a reptilian egg. They take it back to a Japanese research center, where the creature hatches and is studied by a group of not too bright scientists. Unfortunately, the parental Gappas show up to claim their newborn lizard, trashing most of Tokyo in the process.

I had a great time watching this piece of nonsense. Just about everything in this film is a complete riot. After a somewhat slow first half, the action is almost non-stop and there's plenty of stupendous dialog to keep you entertained. The production values consist mostly of hilariously cheap-looking scale models, the story and the acting are ridiculous and most of the characters are empty-headed idiots, especially for a group of scientists. The monster, Gappa, is a kind of bird-lizard, basically a ridiculous looking over-sized chicken. When it flies, it sounds like an airplane, but that's probably the result of a slip-up in the sound effects, because the creature gets attacked by fighter planes a couple of times.

Made by the Nikkatsu Studios to make a late cash-in on the success of Godzilla- and many other monster movies and - what I understand - it was also meant as a kind of satire on the monster movie craze. Well, that aspect of the film was a bit lost on me, or probably got lost in time or translation, but then, I'm hardly an expert on Japanese old-school kaiju-flicks.

Camera Obscura --- 6/10

If the plot seems a bit derivative, it was meant to. This was Nikkatsu studios first and only monster flick. It was produced strictly to cash-in at the height of the genre. The writers knew it had all been done before, so they took those cliches, and satirized them. Like the greedy entrepreneur, responsible for drawing the monster's parents to look for their baby. I like the extra touches, like the mother carrying an octopus in her mouth, (while stomping buildings) to feed her young. The effect scenes were shot at Eiji Tsuburaya's newly formed independent studio, which was producing the first UltraMan series at the time. Surprisingly, this film holds up very well, passing the test of time. Besides, these monsters show up only in one film. How many kaiju can you say that about ? This is also one of the few Japanese movies commercially available on video, widescreen and subtitled. Two appendages up !!!

I was visiting this movie approximately in 1972, when communist allow us to see two or three Japanese "sci-fi" movies. In that time it has been for me something new, I've been a small boy, but I feel it is not good. But it has been from my lovely sci-fi section and now I bought a DVD and look at it with pleasure. There is so much mistakes... For example the rocket propulsion of that giant lizards, the fire from their mouths when they destroyed all military technology - tanks and aircraft, their bullet, bomb and rocket proof skin. The monsters can fly, walk and float under see, just one problem they have - they don't like high-frequency sound, so army can thrust their from the lake under Fuji. On the island, where from are the monsters are living the natives which are waiting tens generations for Japanese liberators, but almost all know the Japanese language! The end is beautiful and very sentimental - first and last time you can see a giant monster to cry:-)

Long thought to be missing but.......here it is. (Apologies to the Ramones.)

This was a late comer to the U.S. video ranks because its script was hard to change to make it more 'American.' Japanese satire would be lost on anyone without a significant knowledge of the country. Most would see this as just another dude in a rubber suit burning Tokyo again.

The monster itself was a bit different. Like Godzilla and Rodan hybridized. The usual happens. Military comes...fails...but this guy knows the secret.

I have a Japanese video copy. It's the original version. But the DVD release was necessary. And the racist tag line never existed.