Gamera vs. Zigra

Gamera vs. Zigra (1971) is a movie that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows an alien race known as Zigra who have evaluated the Earths surface and feel it's perfect for them to take over. They plan to live under water and use the humans as food. When Gamera comes to the rescue the Zigra unleash their giant shark to stop him and complete their mission.

This movie is directed by Noriaki Yuasa (Gamera: The Giant Monster) and stars Kôji Fujiyama (Bullet Train), Mikiko Tsubouchi (Zatoichi Challenged), Yoshio Yoshida (Zatoichi on the Road) and Reiko Kasahara (Shogun Assassin).

Gamera always looks like a plastic toy in these movies. The sound effects for the monsters are cool and the monster battles are a lot of fun. The kids and soundtrack are a bit cheesy and these tales always seem to work in a point about being good to nature. There were some flame sequences in here that were solid. The final monster battle was more entertaining than good.

Overall, this is a below average addition to the monster genre that's still worth watching once. I would score this a 3.5/10.

Admittedly, the English-dubbed version I watched may not have done the film justice, but "Gamera vs. Zigra" is pretty awful, even by bargain-basement kaiju-eiga standards. Briefly, an alien spaceship attacks a moonbase, then plunges into the ocean near Japan, from where Zigra kidnaps two kids and their fathers. There is a lengthy expositional scene where an alien space-babe (with '"super-celestial powers"), who seems to be channeling some kind of giant space-shark, explains Zigra's backstory, informs us that resistance is futile, and demonstrates diverse abilities such as causing earthquakes and hypnotising subjects with a snap of her finger. Typical of the Showa-era Gamera series, grownups are ineffectual, but the children manage to rescue their stupefied fathers and escape. Gamera attacks the submerged spaceship, which inexplicably changes into a monster resembling a gigantic, robotic 'goblin shark'. Various adventures and battles follow, with the two children always in the thick of things. As usual, Earth's puny weapons are proven useless and only Gamera, the children's friend, can save us. At times, the film (or at least the dubbed dialogue) makes no sense: explaining Zigra's origins, the space-babe states "We on Zigra planet, we used to live in the sea but your Earth science polluted the water and we could no longer live there", this despite the fact that Zigra is 400 light-years from Earth. The special effects are low-budget and not very effective, with most of the monster action underwater or on a beach. The Gamera suit looks as unconvincing as ever and the silly Zigra costume is on par with most of Gamera's goofy kaiju foes (Gyaos being an exception). In keeping with the drift toward 'environmental values' in the genre ('Godzilla vs the Smog Monster' was released the same year), the film has lots of preachy moments about valuing the oceans, etc., yet opens with what is essentially a plug for "Sea World". There are also several references to Coke, the tiresome little girl's libation of choice. For a kaiju film, there is not a lot of 'action' and far too much time is spent on the space-babe's pursuit of the annoying children, descriptions of carnage and destruction that we don't get to see, and Zigra's continual gloating about his superiority, our dismal fate, etc. His comeuppance for this verbose posturing is to have his dorsal fins played like a xylophone by the triumphant turtle, who then breaks into dance (even sillier than Godzilla's infamous victory jig in 1964's 'Invasion of Astro-Monster'). Incongruously, after this lighthearted song-and-dance moment, Zigra is incinerated while still alive. The Gamera formula was getting pretty tired by 1971 and, perhaps fortunately, this was the last of the original Showa-era films. Other than 'starring' in 1980's dire "Gamera Super Monster" a compilation of fight scenes frame-worked by a ridiculous (and possibly imaginary) story involving 'space women', the giant, jet-powered, flying turtle hibernates until 1995's excellent "Gamera: Guardian of the Universe". One bonus: the score includes the 'Gamera Song', this time with lyrics and sung by a children's choir. If this memorably cheerful ditty doesn't lay an egg in your inner ear, nothing will.

Campy and low-budget, all the things that make the old Gamera movies great. This movie follows a creature named Zigra, who first destroys a moon base then threatens Tokyo. Gamera arrives late and generally just mucks things up. He does somehow save the day, in one of the cheesiest fight sequences ever made. If you like stupid old movies, this one's for you.

"Gamera is really neat, Gamera is full of meat, We believe in Gamera!"

After Gamera vs. Jiger this one is a definite upgrade to the level of previous Gamera movies. A real charmer, Gamera vs. Zigra features an alien who controls humans with hypnosis to get what it really wants. The plot runs into two children, the girl, Helen, who, with her older sister Maggie, appears to be bi-racial, and Kennie, who have a psychic link to Gamera. Avoid the non-Japanese print, this one is beautifully shot in wide-screen that is completely lost in the t.v. cut version. Also, the acting is much more restrained than the horrible dubbing would have you believe. It's sort of the ultimate expression of the Gamera idea. Gamera: it can never be said that he fails to get the job done when he racks up another impressive victory over a monster, here Zigra, who is creepy on the space ship (including cobwebs) but out of the ship (and full size) is more attractive than Gamera's other adversaries.

Possibly one of the earliest attempts at cinematic product placement.

Ahh, Gamera. Zigra. Giant Turtle. Giant Fish. Fire. Hypnosis beams. I guess the pleasure from these classic japanese monster films is watching a world, or mostly Japan, where giant mutant monsters exist, children know much much more than the adults, and cities are crushed as easily as cheesy models...oh wait, they are models. Anyway, UFO comes to Japan. The main brats Kenny and Helen (will someone get her a coke already!!) go on zany trying to prevent Zigra and his scantily clad henchwoman (VA-VOOM!) from trying to take over earth. The Zigra woman has the ability to hypnotize people with a simple snap and she must follow Zigra's orders to kill the children who mysteriously manage to survive again and again (duh). People yell AH!!, Gamera shows up, Zigra blows stuff up, a lot of paint...uh blood is spilled, I think there were dolphins, and lots of subplots to keep virtually anyone watching perplexed. Also, the diabolically catchy Gamera song is sung here. Add this all up for a huge laughs and best seen with Joel and da bots (HEY, THAT'S US!!).