WEBVTT

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Toshio, he's literally killed hundreds of people.

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Yeah, right. Yeah, one time when Toshio says

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that, it's like right after we see Gamera kill

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a bunch of people with like a death ray and like

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light them on fire. It's like, oh, kid, he's

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not as great as you think he is. But I guess

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I understand it. Hello and welcome to Camp Kaiju

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Monster Movie Podcast. We are your hosts, Vincent

00:00:36.590 --> 00:00:39.890
Hannum. And Matt Levine. And we're talking about

00:00:39.890 --> 00:00:42.229
all of our favorite monster movies, the good,

00:00:42.369 --> 00:00:44.969
the bad, and the downright campy, and asking

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if they stand the test of time. Traditional kaiju,

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creature features, space invaders, the supernatural,

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and everything in between. All strange beasts

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welcome here. Camp Kaiju is sponsored by Zach

00:00:58.929 --> 00:01:01.689
Linder and the Zach Pack, powered by Coldwell

00:01:01.689 --> 00:01:04.849
Banker Realty. Your source for real estate, home

00:01:04.849 --> 00:01:07.109
rehab, fixing and flipping for investor clients

00:01:07.109 --> 00:01:10.010
and residential buyers. Reach out to the Zach

00:01:10.010 --> 00:01:13.430
Pack today for real estate services. Follow the

00:01:13.430 --> 00:01:16.049
Zach Pack on social media and contact the Zach

00:01:16.049 --> 00:01:18.909
Pack for investment opportunities. Links in the

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show notes, everybody. Pounding across the motion

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picture screen comes the most terrifying monster

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of them all. Gamera, the invincible. Gamera,

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the super monster that even the H -bomb cannot

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destroy. Gamera, the invincible. Gamera, consuming

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raw atomic power. Power to destroy entire cities.

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Open fire! Man's most destructive weapons have

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no effect on Gamera the invincible. The mightiest

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nuclear weapons ever devised are powerless against

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Gamera the invincible. Is humanity doomed? Will

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the world be destroyed? The United Nations is

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called to emergency session in a last desperate

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effort to save the world. We have one plan that

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we think might work. We have discussed... Plan

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Z with the Japanese authorities, and they agree

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it is the best of our alternative plans. Is that

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correct, sir? That is so. Plan Z is hope of the

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world. A cast of thousands at the mercy of the

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most terrifying monster that ever lived. Brian

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Donrevy as General Arnold. The power of memory

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is beyond comprehension. He must be stopped now.

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Albert Decker as the Secretary of Defense. Will

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Plan Z stop Gamera? Gamera, be invincible. Matt,

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here we are, rocking and rolling with Camp Kaiju.

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How are you? I'm doing pretty well. How are you,

00:03:05.090 --> 00:03:08.469
Vincent? I'm pretty good. For everybody who doesn't

00:03:08.469 --> 00:03:10.810
know, I'm a public school teacher, and summer

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is two weeks away. And actually, when this episode

00:03:14.090 --> 00:03:18.280
drops May 31st, One week away, so even better.

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Cause for celebration, for sure. Oh, yeah. I'm

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sorry about the wolves last night, timber wolves.

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Yeah, it was a bad game. You know, we lost the

00:03:28.819 --> 00:03:31.139
first game of the Warriors series as well. And

00:03:31.139 --> 00:03:33.919
then we went on to win four in a row. So I'm

00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:35.840
hoping we can turn it around. But the Thunder

00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:37.659
are a really great team. It's going to be a tough

00:03:37.659 --> 00:03:40.099
challenge. The Patriots and Knicks are playing

00:03:40.099 --> 00:03:42.419
tonight as well as we record this episode. So

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I'm making a sacrifice for Camp Kaiju. But I'm

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very happy to be here talking about Gamera from

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1965. Well, thank you for your time. I'm just

00:03:54.500 --> 00:03:56.300
kidding. It's not that big of a sacrifice. I'm

00:03:56.300 --> 00:03:58.580
always, you know, Camp Kaiju is more important

00:03:58.580 --> 00:04:00.379
than basketball, but maybe not more important

00:04:00.379 --> 00:04:02.060
than the Timberwolves. If the Wolves were playing

00:04:02.060 --> 00:04:04.520
tonight, it might be different. But yeah, I'm

00:04:04.520 --> 00:04:06.039
excited to talk about this movie. Well, yeah.

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I mean, hey, I look folks listening. Me and Matt,

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we live in Minneapolis. If we could get a championship

00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:14.719
parade, that's all I want. That would just be

00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:17.310
awesome. Absolutely. And I feel like Minnesota

00:04:17.310 --> 00:04:19.470
sports fans, whether you love the Twins or the

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Vikings or the Lynx or, you know, the Aurora,

00:04:22.730 --> 00:04:24.709
all the different teams up here, I feel like

00:04:24.709 --> 00:04:27.689
Minnesota sports fans know heartache very well.

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So we just want one championship. You know, it's

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not too much to ask. Just one. Well, maybe it

00:04:34.230 --> 00:04:37.370
won't take 60 years, but it has been 60 years

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since Gamera the giant monster graced the silver

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screen. One of the big kaiju. I think in many

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iterations, Gamera does rival Godzilla in terms

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of popularity and franchise output. I mean, I

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think there are 12 movies in the Gamera series,

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which is which is a lot. They're not all masterpieces,

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but it starts with Gamera, the giant monster

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from 1965. I studios. I'm very excited to talk

00:05:10.110 --> 00:05:12.310
about this movie. But we'll go through some nuts

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and bolts. We have some news since last time

00:05:14.709 --> 00:05:16.750
we'll get into. We'll talk about some upcoming

00:05:16.750 --> 00:05:20.550
releases, both out in the general public and

00:05:20.550 --> 00:05:23.670
on Camp Kaiju. Summer is upon us, folks, so we

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have some exciting things. And we'll thank our

00:05:27.529 --> 00:05:30.730
patrons, of course, take you through the production

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history and cast and crew of Gamera, give it

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our final rating, and then, I don't know, go

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have a beer and watch some basketball. Who knows?

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Yeah, totally. And then get ready for work tomorrow

00:05:44.540 --> 00:05:48.040
and do it all over. Sorry, don't mean to be a

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downer. That's all right. Have a beer, go to

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work. That's what you should do, right? So it

00:05:53.560 --> 00:05:56.600
goes. Yeah. Yep. Indeed. Until then, we have

00:05:56.600 --> 00:05:59.180
a great night of film conversation ahead of us.

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I honestly look forward to this every couple

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of weeks. Totally. Me too. And then I get to

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relive our conversation for like the next week

00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:13.079
as I'm editing. the audio and I know I had strong

00:06:13.079 --> 00:06:18.379
feelings about species, but you know, listening

00:06:18.379 --> 00:06:22.560
to our episode, I would watch this movie again

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with the right group of people. I think it could

00:06:25.160 --> 00:06:28.980
be a lot of fun as a group activity. Yeah, for

00:06:28.980 --> 00:06:31.420
sure. First of all, I just want to say you always

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do such an amazing job of editing the episodes.

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I mean, Vincent takes on that work here on Camp

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Kaiju, obviously, and thank you for doing that.

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Said that privately a lot, but I just want to

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say it on the recording as well. You do a great

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job. Thank you for that. I mean, it is fun to

00:06:45.899 --> 00:06:47.980
like revisit our conversations and like the actual

00:06:47.980 --> 00:06:49.860
episodes and like some of the stuff is like,

00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:52.879
ah, I can't believe I said that. I probably could

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have sounded a little more intelligent at times,

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but it is a lot of fun. And on the subject of

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Species, I sort of liked the first one. And a

00:07:00.899 --> 00:07:03.019
couple of days ago, I watched Species 2, kind

00:07:03.019 --> 00:07:05.379
of hoping that the sequels would be like fun

00:07:05.379 --> 00:07:08.000
and trashy and like entertaining. It turns out

00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.490
the second one is just really bad. So I'm probably

00:07:10.490 --> 00:07:13.670
not going to continue with those, but I had my

00:07:13.670 --> 00:07:15.709
hopes up. Maybe I'll try one more and see how

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Species 3 goes, but I don't have very high hopes.

00:07:18.490 --> 00:07:21.670
Okay. Well, thank you for doing that work. Someone

00:07:21.670 --> 00:07:25.569
had to do it. Exactly, yep. Another sacrifice

00:07:25.569 --> 00:07:29.769
I make for Camp Kaiju. Well, thank you all to

00:07:29.769 --> 00:07:33.629
our listeners. We have some things lined up for

00:07:33.629 --> 00:07:35.990
you this summer. We want to just, with our nuts

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and bolts, first and foremost, shout out our

00:07:37.870 --> 00:07:42.170
patrons. Jason, Chris, Sean, Peggy, our anonymous

00:07:42.170 --> 00:07:47.529
patron. We appreciate all the support. And you

00:07:47.529 --> 00:07:49.670
all on Patreon and anyone else just listening

00:07:49.670 --> 00:07:52.670
out there, please rate and review Camp Kaiju.

00:07:52.790 --> 00:07:55.230
It really helps us a lot. You can send us listener

00:07:55.230 --> 00:07:58.189
comments a number of ways. Campkaiju at gmail

00:07:58.189 --> 00:08:01.310
.com might be the easiest way, but you can find

00:08:01.310 --> 00:08:04.629
us on Instagram at camp underscore kaiju underscore

00:08:04.629 --> 00:08:07.670
podcast. And if you'd like to even be a featured

00:08:07.670 --> 00:08:10.279
voice on the show, You can leave a voicemail

00:08:10.279 --> 00:08:15.759
at 612 -470 -2612. Tell us about your favorite

00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:19.019
monster movies, your history with Gamera. And

00:08:19.019 --> 00:08:23.000
right now for the 50th anniversary of Jaws this

00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:26.420
summer, we are hoping to collect a number of

00:08:26.420 --> 00:08:29.019
voicemails from you listeners. Just telling us

00:08:29.019 --> 00:08:33.559
about if you love Jaws, why you love Jaws, your

00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:35.419
formative moments. Do you still have nightmares?

00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:38.200
I know I do. And all those kind of fun things.

00:08:38.990 --> 00:08:41.649
Please don't hesitate. Give us a call. Talk to

00:08:41.649 --> 00:08:44.230
us about Jaws. And while you're at it, you can

00:08:44.230 --> 00:08:47.289
check out our website, campkaijupodcast .com

00:08:47.289 --> 00:08:51.370
for more reviews and special content. You can

00:08:51.370 --> 00:08:54.590
find some merch at campkaiju .threadless .com.

00:08:55.169 --> 00:08:58.929
And I think the best place to go, honestly, is

00:08:58.929 --> 00:09:03.970
Patreon. You can join a cool club over at patreon

00:09:03.970 --> 00:09:08.950
.com slash campkaiju. And we got giveaways. Priority

00:09:08.950 --> 00:09:11.529
comments, discounts, maybe some live events.

00:09:11.970 --> 00:09:14.750
Excited for sure. A couple of exciting things

00:09:14.750 --> 00:09:17.210
I really want to talk about since last time.

00:09:17.330 --> 00:09:21.309
Lots happened in two weeks. Number one, there's

00:09:21.309 --> 00:09:25.590
news with the next Godzilla Kong movie. It has

00:09:25.590 --> 00:09:29.029
an official title now. It's called Godzilla X

00:09:29.029 --> 00:09:33.590
Kong Supernova. And it's currently in production

00:09:33.590 --> 00:09:39.000
slated for. A May, 2027 release might be March,

00:09:39.100 --> 00:09:44.740
but 2027 seems like a may, like early summer

00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:50.960
kind of movie. True. True. So the Kaiju sphere

00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:55.759
is a buzz with this title because supernova alludes

00:09:55.759 --> 00:10:01.639
seemingly to an outer space theme, a cosmic threat.

00:10:02.100 --> 00:10:07.059
And there are two, antagonists kind of bubbling

00:10:07.059 --> 00:10:09.220
to the surface that fans are looking out for.

00:10:09.340 --> 00:10:13.019
One, Space Godzilla, who's only appeared in one

00:10:13.019 --> 00:10:16.580
Godzilla movie before, Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla,

00:10:16.740 --> 00:10:23.379
and or Gigan, which is a very formidable foe

00:10:23.379 --> 00:10:28.100
from Godzilla vs. Gigan from the 70s. Man, I

00:10:28.100 --> 00:10:29.779
have to admit, I'm not very familiar with either

00:10:29.779 --> 00:10:32.779
of those nemeses. I gotta watch those movies

00:10:32.779 --> 00:10:37.799
for sure. They are, in my opinion, not the best

00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:43.120
Godzilla movies, but the villains stand out above

00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:46.460
their respective films, if that makes sense.

00:10:46.940 --> 00:10:50.360
I could see that. Isn't there like a sea monster

00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:52.679
from Terror of Mechagodzilla? I can't remember

00:10:52.679 --> 00:10:56.519
the name of that monster. Yeah, that is Titanosaurus.

00:10:57.000 --> 00:10:59.559
Yeah, there it is. Yep. That's another example

00:10:59.559 --> 00:11:01.519
of a movie that I don't think is all that great,

00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:04.080
but that monster is awesome. I love it. Yeah,

00:11:04.100 --> 00:11:07.940
super fun. Yeah. So we'll see. Camp Kaiju listeners,

00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:12.120
we will keep you abreast of events as they unfold.

00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:17.240
Exciting. Yeah. Other exciting news. This is

00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:23.220
totally random. So Matt, there is an award. It's

00:11:23.220 --> 00:11:25.539
called the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.

00:11:25.820 --> 00:11:29.220
And there's a really great community. Like a

00:11:29.220 --> 00:11:33.570
message board? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know

00:11:33.570 --> 00:11:35.129
if that's exactly what you're looking for, but

00:11:35.129 --> 00:11:38.309
that's how I look at it. Yeah, so the Classic

00:11:38.309 --> 00:11:41.570
Horror Film Board, it's a great website, just

00:11:41.570 --> 00:11:43.330
people chatting about all sorts of different

00:11:43.330 --> 00:11:46.370
topics. But anyways, decades ago, they sponsored

00:11:46.370 --> 00:11:49.169
an award called the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror

00:11:49.169 --> 00:11:54.169
Awards. And it honors works in the horror genre

00:11:54.169 --> 00:12:00.070
in all sorts of mediums, from podcasts to writers

00:12:00.070 --> 00:12:03.659
in the field. and reviewers and even movies.

00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:07.679
So I happened to see that we had been nominated

00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:09.919
and it's like a very open nomination process.

00:12:10.100 --> 00:12:13.440
Somebody or some more than one person nominated

00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:18.399
our podcast for this award. And I was very appreciative

00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:22.120
of that and surprised. And we are in great company

00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:25.500
in the category for best podcast slash multimedia.

00:12:26.350 --> 00:12:28.850
You might recognize Friends of the Pod, Bill

00:12:28.850 --> 00:12:31.529
and Tom from the Frankenstein Minute podcast.

00:12:32.049 --> 00:12:34.590
They were actually given an honorable mention,

00:12:34.769 --> 00:12:39.669
well -deserved to those guys. And then Derek

00:12:39.669 --> 00:12:42.330
M. Cook at what's now called Bride of Monster

00:12:42.330 --> 00:12:45.509
Kid Radio. He and I have collaborated on his

00:12:45.509 --> 00:12:49.970
show talking about Jack Arnold movies. So really,

00:12:50.029 --> 00:12:53.389
really esteemed company, I think, in the horror

00:12:53.389 --> 00:12:57.159
film podcast community. So congratulations, Matt.

00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:01.039
We did it. Congratulations, Vincent. That's awesome

00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:04.320
news. Thanks to whoever nominated us. And yeah,

00:13:04.379 --> 00:13:06.440
it's just cool to be part of that community,

00:13:06.600 --> 00:13:08.919
like along with those fellow nominees. That's

00:13:08.919 --> 00:13:12.200
pretty awesome. And feels good to just know there's

00:13:12.200 --> 00:13:14.279
an audience out there and like share ideas and,

00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:16.919
you know, nerd out about this stuff. So it's

00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:19.519
pretty it's pretty cool for sure. Yeah, honestly,

00:13:19.659 --> 00:13:22.899
I feel the same way. It's just like, oh, people

00:13:22.899 --> 00:13:26.789
do listen. And people do find value in what we're

00:13:26.789 --> 00:13:30.950
talking about. And I think we would just do it

00:13:30.950 --> 00:13:33.529
regardless. But, you know, it does help. And

00:13:33.529 --> 00:13:37.730
it is a nice feeling to be in conversation with

00:13:37.730 --> 00:13:40.950
listeners. So, yeah, we salute you all out there.

00:13:41.409 --> 00:13:45.350
For sure. Thank you. All right. This month in

00:13:45.350 --> 00:13:48.129
monster movie history, it's still May. As of

00:13:48.129 --> 00:13:50.870
this, you know, we're going to drop May 31st.

00:13:51.590 --> 00:13:55.580
So. Any titles on here capture your imagination?

00:13:56.259 --> 00:13:59.659
Oh, man. To be honest, I haven't seen a lot of

00:13:59.659 --> 00:14:01.279
these. And the few that I have seen, I think

00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:03.799
I talked about last time because I mentioned

00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:06.620
Horror of Dracula, the Hammer Horror picture,

00:14:06.820 --> 00:14:08.679
which is a lot of fun. I think I mentioned that

00:14:08.679 --> 00:14:10.879
last time. Dog Soldiers, I think I talked about

00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:14.049
last time. Maybe I'll just shout out. The Mummy

00:14:14.049 --> 00:14:16.870
Returns. I know it's kind of obvious, but it's

00:14:16.870 --> 00:14:19.950
a fun sequel from the early 2000s. A throwback

00:14:19.950 --> 00:14:22.450
to like the Saturday matinee style of like adventure

00:14:22.450 --> 00:14:26.009
horror movie. Yeah, it's fun. You know, I haven't

00:14:26.009 --> 00:14:27.730
seen it in a long time. I don't know if it holds

00:14:27.730 --> 00:14:29.590
up, but I've kind of been wanting to rewatch

00:14:29.590 --> 00:14:32.470
those movies. So The Mummy Returns. Maybe it's

00:14:32.470 --> 00:14:35.529
time for another watch. Do it. It's totally worth

00:14:35.529 --> 00:14:40.529
it. Yeah. Love that cast. Love the cast. I love

00:14:40.529 --> 00:14:44.299
the continuation of the story. Go for it. I do

00:14:44.299 --> 00:14:46.820
remember like a really obnoxious kid in that

00:14:46.820 --> 00:14:49.360
movie, which maybe is a good like segue to Gamera.

00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:51.059
I'm sure we'll be talking about that a little

00:14:51.059 --> 00:14:53.580
bit later tonight as well. So, you know, it's

00:14:53.580 --> 00:14:55.659
a it's a running theme, perhaps for the night,

00:14:55.740 --> 00:14:58.279
annoying kids in movies. I don't know what you're

00:14:58.279 --> 00:15:02.000
talking about. I think Toshio was a very well

00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:05.120
fleshed out character with strong motivations

00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:09.389
for putting himself in all sorts of danger. yeah

00:15:09.389 --> 00:15:11.549
he does love turtles that's a strong motivation

00:15:11.549 --> 00:15:14.129
for sure okay yeah we're gonna have fun tonight

00:15:14.129 --> 00:15:18.389
well in may of 1961 i want to shout out conga

00:15:18.389 --> 00:15:23.590
conga is a british film i believe and if you

00:15:23.590 --> 00:15:27.250
could guess by the title it is a riff on not

00:15:27.250 --> 00:15:29.509
i don't know if it's kong exactly but it is about

00:15:29.509 --> 00:15:35.009
a giant ape that rampages through london It's

00:15:35.009 --> 00:15:36.710
been on my watch list for a long time. We'll

00:15:36.710 --> 00:15:39.450
get to it at some point. But Conga from 1961.

00:15:40.889 --> 00:15:43.690
I haven't seen that. I do also like The Black

00:15:43.690 --> 00:15:45.629
Cat. I haven't seen that in a very long time

00:15:45.629 --> 00:15:48.750
as well. But that came out in 1934. I remember

00:15:48.750 --> 00:15:51.250
that being like a really fun, atmospheric, very

00:15:51.250 --> 00:15:53.389
short. I think it's universal. I could be wrong

00:15:53.389 --> 00:15:55.870
about that. But Karloff and Lugosi, that's a

00:15:55.870 --> 00:15:58.230
great movie as well, from what I remember. Oh,

00:15:58.350 --> 00:16:02.070
absolutely. Pre -code. Yep. It has some great...

00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:04.860
Great horror visuals in that movie for sure.

00:16:05.139 --> 00:16:09.080
Yeah, definitely atmospheric. Oh, so, so atmospheric.

00:16:09.960 --> 00:16:13.720
So coming up this summer, there's a lot of monster

00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:19.980
news. I'm only picking one, but we have two predator

00:16:19.980 --> 00:16:22.679
installments coming out this year. I was aware

00:16:22.679 --> 00:16:24.399
of one of these. I didn't know that both of them

00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:26.919
were coming out there. Yeah. So which one were

00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:29.500
you aware of? I was aware of Badlands, and I've

00:16:29.500 --> 00:16:31.299
seen the trailer for that. It looks pretty cool,

00:16:31.399 --> 00:16:34.460
but I was not aware of the other one. Yeah, so

00:16:34.460 --> 00:16:37.500
Badlands comes out November 7th, and then Predator

00:16:37.500 --> 00:16:41.120
Killer of Killers is actually an animated film

00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:45.580
series directed by... Dan Trachtenberg, yeah.

00:16:45.860 --> 00:16:49.200
Yeah, yeah. So I'm not always the biggest fan

00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:56.580
of animating a legacy series, but... you know,

00:16:56.600 --> 00:17:00.659
it still could be a cool way to see the predator

00:17:00.659 --> 00:17:06.099
in action in different scenarios. Yeah. Intriguing.

00:17:06.180 --> 00:17:09.160
All right. Yeah. I don't know if I'm sold on

00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:10.559
the premise either, but I'll, I'll definitely

00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:12.579
watch it and hopefully I'll be pleasantly suppressed.

00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:16.220
Yeah. I mean, the predator is awesome. I'll watch

00:17:16.220 --> 00:17:19.519
anything with that, with that species. I don't

00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:24.690
know. It's not one person. Right. Yeah. Yeah,

00:17:24.750 --> 00:17:26.950
like, you know, I do generally like animation.

00:17:27.029 --> 00:17:29.109
It's hard to imagine that being brought to like

00:17:29.109 --> 00:17:31.710
the Predator franchise, but it could work. I'm

00:17:31.710 --> 00:17:36.269
excited. Yeah. But also exciting coming up on

00:17:36.269 --> 00:17:39.430
Camp Kaiju on this podcast, we have your pick.

00:17:40.089 --> 00:17:43.609
And what is that? Yeah, next up on Camp Kaiju,

00:17:43.650 --> 00:17:45.630
we're going to be talking about Swamp Thing from

00:17:45.630 --> 00:17:49.450
1982 by Wes Craven, which honestly is a movie

00:17:49.450 --> 00:17:51.869
I know almost nothing about. Like I know it's

00:17:51.869 --> 00:17:54.630
a very famous comic book series, which I never

00:17:54.630 --> 00:17:56.349
really got into as a kid, but I know it's very

00:17:56.349 --> 00:17:59.269
popular. Wes Craven, of course, is a great horror

00:17:59.269 --> 00:18:01.470
director, maybe a little bit uneven, but has

00:18:01.470 --> 00:18:03.509
some really great stuff. So I don't know what

00:18:03.509 --> 00:18:05.309
to expect. I'm really excited to talk about that.

00:18:06.170 --> 00:18:09.269
Likewise. And then after that, we're going to

00:18:09.269 --> 00:18:12.890
talk about Giant Robots in a cult classic called

00:18:12.890 --> 00:18:16.990
Robot Jocks from 1989. It's directed by Stuart

00:18:16.990 --> 00:18:22.839
Gordon, who's... Reanimator, I absolutely love

00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:26.019
and is another classic. So Stuart Gordon knows

00:18:26.019 --> 00:18:29.259
what he's doing. And on that episode, we hope

00:18:29.259 --> 00:18:33.900
to have one or two guest hosts. Returning is

00:18:33.900 --> 00:18:39.599
Sean Pryor, who helped us break down. Ooh, what

00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:43.940
did he help us on? Oh, hi. No, Sean's last episode

00:18:43.940 --> 00:18:48.680
was him talking about his great book called Kaiju

00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:51.400
Unleashed. which is an illustrated reference

00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:55.000
book for Kaiju in cinema. I actually have it

00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:58.180
open right now looking at his info on Gamera.

00:18:58.680 --> 00:19:01.799
Oh, nice. Such a cool book and such a great conversation.

00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:04.180
That was a very fun episode and interview with

00:19:04.180 --> 00:19:07.299
him. Yeah. So please, listeners, go back to that

00:19:07.299 --> 00:19:11.380
in prep for Robot Jocks. And if we can, Sean

00:19:11.380 --> 00:19:15.779
Childers, who brought Tusk to our show, we're

00:19:15.779 --> 00:19:18.660
hoping to have him on the show as well for Robot

00:19:18.660 --> 00:19:22.250
Jocks. Awesome. The two Sean's. Yeah, I know.

00:19:23.730 --> 00:19:28.210
That'll be fun. Can't wait. And then the final

00:19:28.210 --> 00:19:33.009
film to round out the first half of 2025. Wow.

00:19:33.109 --> 00:19:35.170
I didn't realize it was the last episode of the

00:19:35.170 --> 00:19:37.170
first part of the season, but the company of

00:19:37.170 --> 00:19:39.990
wolves by Neil Jordan is the next movie that

00:19:39.990 --> 00:19:42.029
I'll be bringing to the podcast, which I've been

00:19:42.029 --> 00:19:44.150
wanting to see for like 20 years now. It looks

00:19:44.150 --> 00:19:47.349
so surreal and like fantastic and dreamlike.

00:19:47.950 --> 00:19:49.789
beyond that again i don't really know too much

00:19:49.789 --> 00:19:52.369
about it i know there are some like themes about

00:19:52.369 --> 00:19:55.309
like coming of age and female sexuality and stuff

00:19:55.309 --> 00:19:57.089
like that that'll be a great conversation looking

00:19:57.089 --> 00:20:00.069
forward to that definitely definitely and then

00:20:00.069 --> 00:20:05.509
that'll take us into july and we have a we'll

00:20:05.509 --> 00:20:08.309
bring you some traditional kaiju everybody for

00:20:08.309 --> 00:20:12.130
kai july those titles are tbd matt we're going

00:20:12.130 --> 00:20:15.730
to talk about those at some point and and and

00:20:15.730 --> 00:20:18.940
announce the second half of 2025 at some point.

00:20:19.700 --> 00:20:22.359
Can't wait. But it's, yeah, all of a sudden I

00:20:22.359 --> 00:20:24.140
feel like we just did this. Like we just came

00:20:24.140 --> 00:20:28.240
up with 12 films and here we are again. Yeah.

00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:31.380
Time flies, man. Obviously in the best possible

00:20:31.380 --> 00:20:33.819
way. It's, it's so much fun watching these movies

00:20:33.819 --> 00:20:35.980
and talking about them. And I also wanted to

00:20:35.980 --> 00:20:38.259
mention like, you know, earlier when you were

00:20:38.259 --> 00:20:40.740
talking, I can't believe that Gamera, the giant

00:20:40.740 --> 00:20:44.220
monster came out in 65 and Jaws came out in 75.

00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:46.789
So those movies are only 10 years apart. but

00:20:46.789 --> 00:20:50.130
they don't feel like it. Like to me, Gamera feels

00:20:50.130 --> 00:20:52.549
like it's part of like the old school classic,

00:20:52.710 --> 00:20:55.430
like, you know, early 20th century, even though

00:20:55.430 --> 00:20:57.710
it's not actually early 20th century. And then

00:20:57.710 --> 00:20:59.690
Jaws kind of feels like it like kicked off like

00:20:59.690 --> 00:21:02.569
the modern blockbuster era a little bit. So I

00:21:02.569 --> 00:21:04.329
was just thinking like, it's amazing. Those movies

00:21:04.329 --> 00:21:06.950
came out 10 years apart and they seem to belong

00:21:06.950 --> 00:21:09.430
to totally different eras of filmmaking, you

00:21:09.430 --> 00:21:13.289
know? 100%. Because you think about 10 years

00:21:13.289 --> 00:21:17.069
ago from now, I feel like. movie making is still

00:21:17.069 --> 00:21:22.089
the same a movie from 2015 and 2025 or i don't

00:21:22.089 --> 00:21:26.630
think are as far apart as camera and jaws it

00:21:26.630 --> 00:21:28.549
definitely doesn't feel like it maybe in the

00:21:28.549 --> 00:21:31.230
future like 2015 will feel radically different

00:21:31.230 --> 00:21:34.990
from 2025 but right now it doesn't so i don't

00:21:34.990 --> 00:21:36.569
know it's cool to step back and look at it like

00:21:36.569 --> 00:21:42.009
that wild yeah well what's your personal history

00:21:42.009 --> 00:21:46.710
with camera then So I watched the original Japanese

00:21:46.710 --> 00:21:49.369
version, Gamera the Giant Monster, relatively

00:21:49.369 --> 00:21:52.049
recently, maybe like a year and a half ago, and

00:21:52.049 --> 00:21:54.890
liked it quite a bit. I kind of thought it was

00:21:54.890 --> 00:21:57.230
just going to be a Godzilla ripoff, which it

00:21:57.230 --> 00:21:59.990
kind of is in some ways, but it's like a very

00:21:59.990 --> 00:22:01.970
good, charming, imaginative one, and I liked

00:22:01.970 --> 00:22:05.430
it quite a bit. And then to prepare for the recording

00:22:05.430 --> 00:22:08.029
tonight, I watched the American version, Gamera

00:22:08.029 --> 00:22:11.490
the Invincible, Gamera spelled with two Ms. And

00:22:11.490 --> 00:22:13.569
I'm sure I'll be talking more about this tonight.

00:22:13.750 --> 00:22:16.329
The American version is terrible. I really hate

00:22:16.329 --> 00:22:18.410
it. I'm sorry to be so blunt about it, but it's

00:22:18.410 --> 00:22:21.029
just awful. And I'll explain why a little bit

00:22:21.029 --> 00:22:23.470
later on tonight. But I couldn't believe the

00:22:23.470 --> 00:22:25.529
disparity in quality between the Japanese and

00:22:25.529 --> 00:22:27.970
the American versions. And then I rewatched part

00:22:27.970 --> 00:22:29.730
of the Japanese version just like a couple hours

00:22:29.730 --> 00:22:32.990
ago before the recording tonight. So, you know,

00:22:32.990 --> 00:22:35.849
I tried to remind myself why I like the Japanese

00:22:35.849 --> 00:22:39.130
one so much, because the American one... pales

00:22:39.130 --> 00:22:41.529
in comparison. So anybody out there who hasn't

00:22:41.529 --> 00:22:45.009
seen these movies, or even if you have, share

00:22:45.009 --> 00:22:47.609
your thoughts. Maybe you like the American one

00:22:47.609 --> 00:22:50.089
more than the Japanese one. That's totally cool.

00:22:50.250 --> 00:22:52.970
But for me, I was just surprised how vastly different

00:22:52.970 --> 00:22:55.690
the two versions were. I'm going to ask you more

00:22:55.690 --> 00:22:58.650
about that in a little bit when we get to the

00:22:58.650 --> 00:23:03.799
release and legacy of this film. The last time

00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:05.400
we talked about Gamera, we've talked about Gamera

00:23:05.400 --> 00:23:08.039
twice on the podcast. The first time was Gamera

00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:11.880
versus Gauss from the 60s, which I think is the

00:23:11.880 --> 00:23:16.319
third entry in the series. So we completely skipped

00:23:16.319 --> 00:23:19.880
the first two. And then we went to the Heisei

00:23:19.880 --> 00:23:22.420
era and talked about Gamera Guardian of the Universe,

00:23:22.700 --> 00:23:27.119
which the quality of those films versus the original

00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:31.380
Showa era are just... radically different not

00:23:31.380 --> 00:23:34.480
for better for worse just a product of the times

00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:37.619
but i definitely wanted to get back to basics

00:23:37.619 --> 00:23:42.259
with the first gamera fill that blind spot but

00:23:42.259 --> 00:23:46.259
i i've been aware of gamera my whole life i remember

00:23:46.259 --> 00:23:51.079
being quite young maybe maybe five four or five

00:23:51.079 --> 00:23:56.500
and me and my family we lived in a small town

00:23:56.500 --> 00:23:59.359
for a little bit in north carolina And these

00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:02.000
are like some of my earliest memories. Like try

00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:04.339
to think about your earliest memories. And mine

00:24:04.339 --> 00:24:08.619
are going into like a one room video rental store

00:24:08.619 --> 00:24:13.819
and looking for Gamera movies. That's awesome.

00:24:14.019 --> 00:24:18.579
Yeah. Like about how old were you? Maybe like

00:24:18.579 --> 00:24:22.160
five? Yeah, probably about five. No older than

00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:26.440
five. Because I know when we lived in that town.

00:24:26.740 --> 00:24:29.700
Yeah. Yeah, I guess. And I, and I guess this

00:24:29.700 --> 00:24:33.220
small, and we were like in the boonies of, of

00:24:33.220 --> 00:24:35.839
Appalachia, North Carolina, but I guess this

00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:41.990
rental store had gambler movies. Go figure. I

00:24:41.990 --> 00:24:45.549
love that story. It reminds me, my grandma had

00:24:45.549 --> 00:24:48.150
a cottage in Montello, Wisconsin, a very small

00:24:48.150 --> 00:24:50.089
town in the middle of nowhere. And there was

00:24:50.089 --> 00:24:52.289
a similar video store that was like one room.

00:24:52.450 --> 00:24:55.809
And like some of my earliest, fondest, like movie

00:24:55.809 --> 00:24:57.609
watching memories were going in there and picking

00:24:57.609 --> 00:24:59.509
a movie for the night and then watching it with

00:24:59.509 --> 00:25:01.549
the family. Not too many monster movies, but

00:25:01.549 --> 00:25:04.130
like, you know, some old horror movies. Ride

00:25:04.130 --> 00:25:05.910
of Frankenstein, I think I saw back then for

00:25:05.910 --> 00:25:09.150
the first time. So I can relate to the nostalgia

00:25:09.150 --> 00:25:12.890
of that experience. Very cool. Yeah, I just think

00:25:12.890 --> 00:25:16.210
watching these movies young, that's when it really

00:25:16.210 --> 00:25:19.869
sinks its hooks into you. Yeah, it sets you on

00:25:19.869 --> 00:25:22.549
a path for life, you know? Yeah, and then, you

00:25:22.549 --> 00:25:24.289
know, I went away from these movies for a long

00:25:24.289 --> 00:25:27.890
time. I did not get back into kaiju films until

00:25:27.890 --> 00:25:32.029
my late 20s. I was just like, it just wasn't

00:25:32.029 --> 00:25:36.150
what I was into. I was into, quote, high art

00:25:36.150 --> 00:25:42.210
cinema. Yeah. Quote unquote. Right. But now I'm

00:25:42.210 --> 00:25:45.029
like, this stuff's awesome. This is what I want

00:25:45.029 --> 00:25:46.789
to watch all the time. Although I will say, and

00:25:46.789 --> 00:25:49.849
I'm going off on a tangent, I have my Oscar movies

00:25:49.849 --> 00:25:55.789
and arthouse films too. Yeah, totally. I've always

00:25:55.789 --> 00:25:57.930
felt that like movies can offer many different

00:25:57.930 --> 00:26:00.329
kinds of pleasure. They obviously are great art.

00:26:00.450 --> 00:26:03.109
They like, you know, some masterpieces of cinema

00:26:03.109 --> 00:26:05.579
are like some of the best. Artworks you will

00:26:05.579 --> 00:26:07.480
ever experience in your life. And they can also

00:26:07.480 --> 00:26:10.480
provide entertainment and like shocking thrills.

00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:12.519
And like, you know, it can like bring you back

00:26:12.519 --> 00:26:14.819
to childhood. And like, I think you need both.

00:26:14.839 --> 00:26:17.119
As a movie fan, you need to have a diet of both

00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:24.900
kinds of movies, I think. Impossible. Unbelievable.

00:26:25.740 --> 00:26:29.619
Fantastic. But I tell you, it could happen. It

00:26:29.619 --> 00:26:34.289
could happen. It could happen. Yes, it could

00:26:34.289 --> 00:26:37.450
happen. For various authorities believe that

00:26:37.450 --> 00:26:40.269
buried somewhere under the polar ice cap, in

00:26:40.269 --> 00:26:43.349
a state of suspended animation, are the awesome

00:26:43.349 --> 00:26:46.349
creatures, the leviathans that roamed the earth

00:26:46.349 --> 00:26:49.690
at the dawn of time. And under certain conditions,

00:26:50.109 --> 00:26:53.549
a nuclear explosion can free one from his icy

00:26:53.549 --> 00:26:58.630
tomb. Then, guided by instinct, the beast would

00:26:58.630 --> 00:27:01.240
come back. back to the caverns of the deepest

00:27:01.240 --> 00:27:04.680
Atlantic where it was spawned. An armored giant,

00:27:04.980 --> 00:27:08.559
wreaking his prehistoric fury on modern man and

00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:11.819
his puny machines. Cities would be terrorized

00:27:11.819 --> 00:27:14.980
by the cruel intruder from the past. Populations

00:27:14.980 --> 00:27:18.039
crazed and panicked with fear by its destructive

00:27:18.039 --> 00:27:22.160
force. Granite and steel would crumble. Soldiers

00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:24.680
and their weapons would be powerless before the

00:27:24.680 --> 00:27:28.339
onslaught of the beast. The beast. The beast.

00:27:29.099 --> 00:27:33.180
The beast from 20 ,000 fathoms. Herald Square.

00:27:33.619 --> 00:27:37.279
34th Street. Broadway. Every section of the city

00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:40.220
is guarded. No one knows where the monster will

00:27:40.220 --> 00:27:46.599
strike next. Godzilla, king of the monsters.

00:27:47.220 --> 00:27:50.039
Alive. Surging up from the depths of the sea

00:27:50.039 --> 00:27:52.759
on a tidal wave of terror to wreak vengeance

00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:56.480
on mankind. Godzilla, king of the monsters. It's

00:27:56.480 --> 00:28:00.599
alive. A gigantic beast. Docking the earth, crushing

00:28:00.599 --> 00:28:04.339
all before it. In a cyclonic cavalcade of electrifying

00:28:04.339 --> 00:28:08.059
horror. Raging through the streets on a rampage

00:28:08.059 --> 00:28:11.779
of total destruction. Godzilla, king of the monsters.

00:28:12.920 --> 00:28:16.279
Incredible titan of terror. Wiping out a city

00:28:16.279 --> 00:28:19.660
of six million in a holocaust of flame. Yet flames

00:28:19.660 --> 00:28:23.380
cannot destroy it. Bombs cannot kill it. All

00:28:23.380 --> 00:28:27.619
modern weapons fail. Is this the end of our civilization?

00:28:28.700 --> 00:28:31.539
Can the scientists of the world find a way to

00:28:31.539 --> 00:28:35.299
stop this creature? Or the answer, the Godzilla,

00:28:35.460 --> 00:28:38.740
king of the monsters. You may wish to deny it,

00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:42.880
but your eyes tell you it's true. A tale to stun

00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:46.740
the mind. More fantastic than any ever written

00:28:46.740 --> 00:28:50.339
by Jules Verne. More terrifying than any ever

00:28:50.339 --> 00:28:55.759
shown on the screen. Awesome. Incredible. Unbelievable.

00:28:55.759 --> 00:29:00.940
A story beyond your wildest dreams. Dynamic violence.

00:29:01.380 --> 00:29:05.900
Savage action. Spectacular thrill. Godzilla,

00:29:06.119 --> 00:29:10.259
king of the monsters. Fantastic beyond comprehension.

00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:14.660
Gripping beyond comparison. Astounding beyond

00:29:14.660 --> 00:29:19.259
belief. The mightiest monster of them all. See

00:29:19.259 --> 00:29:25.950
Godzilla, king of the monsters. From beyond the

00:29:25.950 --> 00:29:29.170
universe, an invader who plans to conquer the

00:29:29.170 --> 00:29:40.950
entire cosmos begins an attack on Earth. Mystifying

00:29:40.950 --> 00:29:43.450
and terrifying events, and from outer space,

00:29:43.710 --> 00:29:48.109
the age of the monster begins. The Earth is in

00:29:48.109 --> 00:29:57.420
danger. Who can save the Earth? Gamera! Evil

00:29:57.420 --> 00:30:16.480
savers? Gamera, super monster fighting savagely

00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:27.569
for justice against evil. A space woman whose

00:30:27.569 --> 00:30:30.769
task is to defend the Earth. Helped by the most

00:30:30.769 --> 00:30:44.269
powerful monster of all time. A space battleship

00:30:44.269 --> 00:30:46.970
and the Galaxy Express train never before seen

00:30:46.970 --> 00:30:52.769
in science fiction movies. The Super Monster.

00:30:53.369 --> 00:31:14.829
A space movie on a gigantic scale. Packed with

00:31:14.829 --> 00:31:18.950
stunning effects. Super Monster. The most riveting

00:31:18.950 --> 00:31:22.720
film in the history of motion pictures. Who will

00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:26.799
win, Gamera or the enemies of the earth? Well,

00:31:26.839 --> 00:31:30.480
then let's just dive into Gamera here with the

00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:33.240
production history. We'll start with the select

00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:37.460
crew and the select cast. Well, the director

00:31:37.460 --> 00:31:41.599
of Gamera is Noriaki Yuasa, and he actually directed

00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:44.839
all but one of the subsequent Gamera films of

00:31:44.839 --> 00:31:48.140
the Showa era. The one he did not direct was

00:31:48.140 --> 00:31:51.569
Gamera vs. Barugan. which was a sequel to this

00:31:51.569 --> 00:31:54.890
one, but Yuasa did the special effects for it.

00:31:54.910 --> 00:31:57.710
So he was involved from the first picture to

00:31:57.710 --> 00:32:00.430
the last in this series, which was Gamera Super

00:32:00.430 --> 00:32:05.670
Monster from 1980. In the 1970s, Yuasa moved

00:32:05.670 --> 00:32:09.869
into directing TV dramas. And I'll add, Gamera

00:32:09.869 --> 00:32:13.910
was his first real feature film. He was born

00:32:13.910 --> 00:32:17.329
in 1933, so he was about 32 when he directed

00:32:17.329 --> 00:32:21.180
this movie. He was born in Tokyo. His family

00:32:21.180 --> 00:32:24.039
was in showbiz. And I pulled this following information

00:32:24.039 --> 00:32:27.140
from an interview I found with him from 1996.

00:32:27.500 --> 00:32:29.819
And I'll include that link in our show notes.

00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:33.059
But like growing up in show business, he was

00:32:33.059 --> 00:32:36.559
exposed to, quote, illicit affairs, which is

00:32:36.559 --> 00:32:39.299
interesting because that led him, as he states,

00:32:39.380 --> 00:32:44.200
to never direct a romantic film, which I included

00:32:44.200 --> 00:32:48.400
because I did not find. the ostensible romance

00:32:48.400 --> 00:32:52.799
in Gamera to be very convincing no not at all

00:32:52.799 --> 00:32:57.420
so I was like oh maybe maybe he just wasn't interested

00:32:57.420 --> 00:33:01.019
in that angle of the movie yeah that's kind of

00:33:01.019 --> 00:33:02.859
interesting I mean like the movie and not to

00:33:02.859 --> 00:33:04.859
get ahead of ourselves but like it's it has like

00:33:04.859 --> 00:33:07.599
a childlike quality to it you know I mean the

00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:10.700
character of Toshi right is that the kid's name

00:33:10.700 --> 00:33:14.029
Toshio Toshio, sorry. You know, obviously that's

00:33:14.029 --> 00:33:15.670
the main example, but even like all the other

00:33:15.670 --> 00:33:18.289
relationships seem like little kids playing on

00:33:18.289 --> 00:33:21.430
a playground or something. So unromantic is a

00:33:21.430 --> 00:33:23.230
good way to put it. I kind of felt the same way.

00:33:23.829 --> 00:33:28.529
Yeah. And, you know, you also also found this,

00:33:28.609 --> 00:33:30.890
I just found this interesting. He didn't have

00:33:30.890 --> 00:33:33.829
too much, too many positive things to say about

00:33:33.829 --> 00:33:36.430
the Godzilla films, actually. He found them,

00:33:36.430 --> 00:33:39.180
quote, contrived in this interview. and believed

00:33:39.180 --> 00:33:42.059
that Ishiro Honda was too modest for a director.

00:33:43.920 --> 00:33:50.460
I'm like, okay, Yuasa. I mean, sure. Yeah, well,

00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:53.380
I mean, I can't speak to Ishiro Honda's modesty

00:33:53.380 --> 00:33:55.079
as a director, but I don't know if he should

00:33:55.079 --> 00:33:57.539
be talking about how contrived Godzilla is when

00:33:57.539 --> 00:34:00.000
he made a movie about a flying turtle who looks

00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:02.400
like a flying saucer. Like, you know, probably

00:34:02.400 --> 00:34:04.599
shouldn't be making that claim, but... He made

00:34:04.599 --> 00:34:08.380
a movie that... but is a ripoff of Godzilla.

00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:14.599
Yeah, right. So maybe it's not too surprising,

00:34:14.699 --> 00:34:17.440
but still I'm like, ooh, you know, you might

00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:18.719
want to bite your tongue there a little bit,

00:34:18.760 --> 00:34:21.300
you awesome. But I get it. Like maybe he's trying

00:34:21.300 --> 00:34:23.380
to like distance Gamera from Godzilla a little

00:34:23.380 --> 00:34:26.659
bit. I understand that. Yeah, yeah. And to his

00:34:26.659 --> 00:34:29.659
credit, by the mid 60s, the Godzilla series,

00:34:29.940 --> 00:34:33.139
I could argue, one could argue are contrived.

00:34:33.820 --> 00:34:36.190
That's a good point. Yeah, that's true. Yeah.

00:34:36.650 --> 00:34:40.550
I can't help but compare the first Gamera movie

00:34:40.550 --> 00:34:43.269
to the first Godzilla movie. And those two are

00:34:43.269 --> 00:34:44.969
in different leagues, I would say. But yeah,

00:34:44.989 --> 00:34:48.429
by the 60s, the Godzilla movies, yeah. Maybe

00:34:48.429 --> 00:34:50.409
there's not as much of a separation between those

00:34:50.409 --> 00:34:53.590
and Gamera as the first Godzilla movie. Yeah.

00:34:53.690 --> 00:34:58.070
Ooh, hot takes here on Cam Kaiju. Special effects

00:34:58.070 --> 00:35:02.889
of Gamera are by Yonasaburo Tsukiji. He doesn't

00:35:02.889 --> 00:35:05.030
seem to have a lot of credits in his filmography.

00:35:05.389 --> 00:35:09.530
So, yeah, maybe not not super into the kaiju

00:35:09.530 --> 00:35:13.269
films, it seems. Or at least I didn't have a

00:35:13.269 --> 00:35:15.510
lot of experience in them, you know? Yeah. Who

00:35:15.510 --> 00:35:17.869
is the producer behind this? Yeah, so the producer

00:35:17.869 --> 00:35:21.510
of Gamera was Masaichi Nagata, who was the president

00:35:21.510 --> 00:35:26.230
of Daiei Studios from 1947 through 1971. He was

00:35:26.230 --> 00:35:29.190
instrumental in the studio's creation, which,

00:35:29.269 --> 00:35:31.110
if you don't know Daiei Studios, is responsible

00:35:31.110 --> 00:35:34.489
for many Japanese classics from the mid -20th

00:35:34.489 --> 00:35:38.010
century. Some of those movies include Akira Kurosawa's

00:35:38.010 --> 00:35:41.869
Rashomon from 1950, which... I think deserves

00:35:41.869 --> 00:35:43.809
its reputation as one of the most influential

00:35:43.809 --> 00:35:47.130
films of all time. Not my personal favorite Kurosawa,

00:35:47.250 --> 00:35:50.429
but really an incredible movie. Daiei also produced

00:35:50.429 --> 00:35:54.650
Gate of Hell from 1953 by Tenosuke Kinugasa.

00:35:54.909 --> 00:35:57.750
This was the first Japanese color film to be

00:35:57.750 --> 00:36:00.789
shown abroad. It made a huge reputation internationally.

00:36:01.429 --> 00:36:04.250
It won an honorary Academy Award for Best Foreign

00:36:04.250 --> 00:36:06.250
Language Film, as well as the Palme d 'Or at

00:36:06.250 --> 00:36:08.690
the Cannes Film Festival. My personal favorites

00:36:08.690 --> 00:36:11.409
on this list, Daiei Studios released a lot of

00:36:11.409 --> 00:36:14.329
films by Kenji Mizuguchi, who is one of my favorite

00:36:14.329 --> 00:36:17.300
filmmakers of all time. Two of the films that

00:36:17.300 --> 00:36:21.239
he made for Daiei Studios were Ugetsu and Sancho

00:36:21.239 --> 00:36:24.139
the Bailiff. Really amazing movies, long takes,

00:36:24.300 --> 00:36:27.460
kind of a poetic, beautiful style. Pretty deep,

00:36:27.480 --> 00:36:30.659
heavy dramas, so not always the most lightweight

00:36:30.659 --> 00:36:33.380
movies, but just among the best movies ever made.

00:36:33.639 --> 00:36:36.099
So Daiei Studios, really a lot of masterpieces

00:36:36.099 --> 00:36:38.449
throughout the years that they released. You

00:36:38.449 --> 00:36:39.969
know, maybe on the other end of the spectrum,

00:36:40.190 --> 00:36:43.610
you know, all the good movies in their own right.

00:36:43.710 --> 00:36:47.289
But Daiei also distributed the 1952 Japanese

00:36:47.289 --> 00:36:51.230
re -release of King Kong and 1953's The Beast

00:36:51.230 --> 00:36:53.690
from 20 ,000 Fathoms, which we recently talked

00:36:53.690 --> 00:36:57.150
about on the podcast. Yeah. So yeah, a wide gamut

00:36:57.150 --> 00:37:00.429
of movies of different quality levels or at least

00:37:00.429 --> 00:37:03.750
different categories. Both, you know, both kinds

00:37:03.750 --> 00:37:06.090
good, both kinds of films good in their own way,

00:37:06.150 --> 00:37:10.139
I would say. Yeah, and as we know, it was that

00:37:10.139 --> 00:37:12.659
re -release of King Kong and the distribution

00:37:12.659 --> 00:37:16.119
of The Beast from 20 ,000 Fathoms that in part

00:37:16.119 --> 00:37:20.400
inspired Toho to come up with their own giant

00:37:20.400 --> 00:37:23.139
monster because those two previous movies were

00:37:23.139 --> 00:37:27.679
so successful at the box office. And watching

00:37:27.679 --> 00:37:32.920
Gamera, I picked up on another kaiju movie that

00:37:32.920 --> 00:37:37.599
Yuasa's film was riffing on. other than Godzilla.

00:37:38.699 --> 00:37:43.599
Imagine a giant reptile in the Arctic being woken

00:37:43.599 --> 00:37:47.420
up by atomic bombs, and then it destroys a lighthouse.

00:37:48.340 --> 00:37:50.500
Man, I feel like I should know this. It's not

00:37:50.500 --> 00:37:52.780
The Thing, is it? No, you just mentioned it.

00:37:52.820 --> 00:37:55.579
It's The Beast from 20 ,000 Fathoms. Oh, I'm

00:37:55.579 --> 00:37:57.599
sorry. I thought that was too easy. Yeah, I got

00:37:57.599 --> 00:38:01.900
you. It makes sense. I wouldn't have picked up

00:38:01.900 --> 00:38:04.619
on that if we hadn't just watched The Beast from

00:38:04.619 --> 00:38:07.599
20 ,000 Fathoms. Yeah, sorry. I thought you meant

00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:09.019
a different one that wasn't on the list here.

00:38:09.119 --> 00:38:11.519
But yeah, like definitely. I mean, the opening

00:38:11.519 --> 00:38:13.420
in the Arctic, even like the appearance of the

00:38:13.420 --> 00:38:16.980
monster almost feels like verbatim. Very, very

00:38:16.980 --> 00:38:19.280
similar between the Beast from 20 ,000 Fathoms

00:38:19.280 --> 00:38:21.840
and Gamera. So yeah, totally. A lot of influence

00:38:21.840 --> 00:38:24.760
there for sure. Yeah. Sorry, I don't think I

00:38:24.760 --> 00:38:27.960
said that very well to you. But yeah, I was like,

00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:30.920
oh, this is clearly the Beast from 20 ,000 Fathoms.

00:38:31.420 --> 00:38:35.590
Yeah. Yeah, totally. You made a good point, though,

00:38:35.630 --> 00:38:37.789
that like, you know, the re -release of King

00:38:37.789 --> 00:38:40.309
Kong and the Beast from 20 ,000 Fathoms influenced

00:38:40.309 --> 00:38:44.250
Toho to make Godzilla. And then Daiei kind of

00:38:44.250 --> 00:38:46.409
in turn is like ripping off, maybe not ripping

00:38:46.409 --> 00:38:50.110
off, paying homage to Toho Studios a little bit.

00:38:50.190 --> 00:38:52.469
So it's like kind of reciprocal in a way, you

00:38:52.469 --> 00:38:56.349
know? Yeah, it's just, you know, genre cinema

00:38:56.349 --> 00:38:59.909
just builds off of the successes of before. And

00:38:59.909 --> 00:39:02.090
there's nothing wrong with that. And I think

00:39:02.090 --> 00:39:04.730
Gamera does its own thing enough. clearly to

00:39:04.730 --> 00:39:09.789
make it stand out. It's not a total, you know,

00:39:09.789 --> 00:39:15.510
uninspired imagining of Godzilla. Yeah, I agree

00:39:15.510 --> 00:39:19.510
for sure. Yeah. Well, oh, and I'll just mention

00:39:19.510 --> 00:39:22.929
Dai Studios would bankrupt in 1971, a time when

00:39:22.929 --> 00:39:26.110
the Japanese film industry faced severe losses

00:39:26.110 --> 00:39:29.250
of audiences across the board, which is a common

00:39:29.250 --> 00:39:31.570
theme when we start getting into later Godzilla

00:39:31.570 --> 00:39:35.360
films. When you wonder why they get so bad so

00:39:35.360 --> 00:39:38.840
quickly, it's because there was no money. No

00:39:38.840 --> 00:39:43.380
studio had money in the series. That's sad. Man,

00:39:43.519 --> 00:39:46.780
sad but not surprising. I wish I knew a little

00:39:46.780 --> 00:39:49.320
bit more about this history, but Gamera was a

00:39:49.320 --> 00:39:51.320
very popular series, right? The first couple

00:39:51.320 --> 00:39:53.460
movies did pretty well for Daiei, I thought.

00:39:53.800 --> 00:39:56.380
But aside from that, the studio was not doing

00:39:56.380 --> 00:39:59.400
well from my understanding. Yeah, the Gamera

00:39:59.400 --> 00:40:01.699
series is the only thing keeping Daiei afloat.

00:40:02.199 --> 00:40:07.260
by the late 60s and 70s. But you see this diminishing

00:40:07.260 --> 00:40:11.380
loss of budget with each subsequent Gamera film.

00:40:12.039 --> 00:40:15.480
Until by the end, I mean, we will talk about

00:40:15.480 --> 00:40:17.840
these movies, Matt, but there's like Gamera versus

00:40:17.840 --> 00:40:22.199
Zygra, which is, I hate to say it because I love

00:40:22.199 --> 00:40:25.340
Gamera so much, but it's one of the most boring

00:40:25.340 --> 00:40:28.699
movies I've ever seen starring giant monsters.

00:40:30.799 --> 00:40:33.199
Yeah, that's sad. It seems like it would be impossible

00:40:33.199 --> 00:40:35.780
for them to be boring, but as we know, it can

00:40:35.780 --> 00:40:38.860
happen sometimes. Yeah. You're talking about

00:40:38.860 --> 00:40:42.320
one out of five stars. We'll talk about them

00:40:42.320 --> 00:40:45.320
one day. Do you know, like, so the later Gamera

00:40:45.320 --> 00:40:48.460
movies, like from the Heisei era, right, from

00:40:48.460 --> 00:40:50.480
the 90s, is that Heisei? I think it is. Yeah.

00:40:50.619 --> 00:40:53.340
Did Toho, like, get the rights to Gamera then,

00:40:53.420 --> 00:40:55.019
or was that a different studio? Do you know that?

00:40:55.679 --> 00:40:59.929
I believe that was still Daiei. However... they

00:40:59.929 --> 00:41:02.550
did not have the, they didn't have, they did

00:41:02.550 --> 00:41:06.070
not have the resources to distribute the movies.

00:41:06.230 --> 00:41:08.289
And I, and I could be mistaken on the details,

00:41:08.409 --> 00:41:11.150
but Toho did distribute those movies at the very

00:41:11.150 --> 00:41:16.409
least. Gotcha. And they did. Toho did share artisans

00:41:16.409 --> 00:41:20.829
and, and artists on the creative process as well.

00:41:20.949 --> 00:41:24.630
So there was some overlap. Yeah. Okay, cool.

00:41:24.710 --> 00:41:28.550
That's interesting. No, but Toho is never. There

00:41:28.550 --> 00:41:31.750
have been some talks in the late 90s and 2000s

00:41:31.750 --> 00:41:34.690
of actually putting Godzilla and Gamera in the

00:41:34.690 --> 00:41:37.849
same movie. But they're two different properties

00:41:37.849 --> 00:41:40.590
from two different studios. So it would have

00:41:40.590 --> 00:41:44.090
taken a lot of work and it just kind of fell

00:41:44.090 --> 00:41:47.309
through. But that's the matchup I think we would

00:41:47.309 --> 00:41:50.389
all love to see. That would be amazing. I would

00:41:50.389 --> 00:41:54.909
love to see Gauss in a Godzilla movie too. Gamera

00:41:54.909 --> 00:41:59.230
versus King Ghidorah. Oh, wow. Yes, please. Make

00:41:59.230 --> 00:42:03.630
that happen somehow. I'm calling on you, Vincent,

00:42:03.690 --> 00:42:05.889
to make this happen. You can do it. No, call

00:42:05.889 --> 00:42:10.670
on the listeners. All of us together can make

00:42:10.670 --> 00:42:17.429
it happen. Amazing. All right. So in the movie,

00:42:17.469 --> 00:42:21.250
we have first and foremost, E .G. Funakoshi playing

00:42:21.250 --> 00:42:24.090
Dr. Hidaka. He's a scientist doing research in

00:42:24.090 --> 00:42:26.289
the Arctic and later wishing to learn more about

00:42:26.289 --> 00:42:29.309
Gamera. Funakoshi was a noted Japanese actor

00:42:29.309 --> 00:42:32.829
at the time, and he later starred in the fourth

00:42:32.829 --> 00:42:36.929
entry of the series, Gamera vs. Giron, from 1969.

00:42:37.730 --> 00:42:42.050
The film also stars Michiko Sugata as Nobuyo

00:42:42.050 --> 00:42:44.949
Sakurai, a young woman living with her father

00:42:44.949 --> 00:42:49.170
and kid brother Toshio. Yeah, and then Harumi

00:42:49.170 --> 00:42:53.860
Kintachi as Kyoko Yamamoto. is Dr. Hidaka's assistant

00:42:53.860 --> 00:43:01.139
and maybe romantic interest of a Aoyagi. So Harumi

00:43:01.139 --> 00:43:05.800
Kiritachi is the female love interest of the

00:43:05.800 --> 00:43:09.840
movie. She plays Dr. Hidaka's assistant. Yeah.

00:43:09.920 --> 00:43:13.019
Nope. The goddess of good luck, according to

00:43:13.019 --> 00:43:18.280
Aoyagi, who is played by Junichiro Yamashita.

00:43:18.940 --> 00:43:21.679
Aoyagi is a journalist tagging along with Dr.

00:43:21.780 --> 00:43:24.139
Hidaka. And Vincent, like you just said, seems

00:43:24.139 --> 00:43:26.760
to have a romantic interest in Kyoko. It does

00:43:26.760 --> 00:43:29.820
seem to be a very innocent and kind of, in my

00:43:29.820 --> 00:43:31.719
opinion, like I said before, kind of a playground

00:43:31.719 --> 00:43:36.639
romantic interest in Kyoko. Definitely. And then

00:43:36.639 --> 00:43:43.179
the real star of this film is Yoshiro Uchida.

00:43:43.420 --> 00:43:47.539
He plays the boy, the little boy, Toshio Sakurai.

00:43:48.219 --> 00:43:52.400
And this kid is deeply attached to his pet turtle

00:43:52.400 --> 00:43:57.440
named Peewee. At least that's the American translation

00:43:57.440 --> 00:44:04.039
of his turtle's name. But Toshio is so attached

00:44:04.039 --> 00:44:06.840
to his little Peewee that that came out wrong.

00:44:06.960 --> 00:44:15.949
I hope he's attached to it. Sorry. You know,

00:44:15.949 --> 00:44:19.929
sometimes I just say things and, you know, we

00:44:19.929 --> 00:44:22.989
do with it what we can. But his father and sister

00:44:22.989 --> 00:44:28.530
are really pressuring Toshio to release Peewee

00:44:28.530 --> 00:44:33.380
into the wild. Yeah, yep. Toshio, you know he

00:44:33.380 --> 00:44:36.480
loves his turtle. He seems to love science, which

00:44:36.480 --> 00:44:38.880
kind of is one of the charming themes of the

00:44:38.880 --> 00:44:42.619
movie as it goes on. This kid, he keeps on showing

00:44:42.619 --> 00:44:45.579
up in the most dangerous situations possible.

00:44:45.699 --> 00:44:48.880
If there's a train heading right for Gamera that's

00:44:48.880 --> 00:44:51.079
about to blow up, that kid is going to hop on

00:44:51.079 --> 00:44:52.800
that train. You know it. He's going to be there.

00:44:53.099 --> 00:44:55.980
It's ridiculous, but it's very funny. You know,

00:44:56.079 --> 00:44:59.619
Toshio is going to climb a lighthouse. Right

00:44:59.619 --> 00:45:03.019
when the giant monster is going to destroy it.

00:45:03.159 --> 00:45:07.960
Because of course he is. Yeah. He's just up to

00:45:07.960 --> 00:45:10.900
all kinds of hijinks, this kid. Now here's Toshio's

00:45:10.900 --> 00:45:14.280
motivation. He believes, I believe he believes,

00:45:14.440 --> 00:45:19.059
that Gamera is Peewee. Like he releases Peewee,

00:45:19.059 --> 00:45:22.739
the turtle disappears, and then the next turtle

00:45:22.739 --> 00:45:26.900
Toshio sees is Gamera. And mind you, Toshio is

00:45:26.900 --> 00:45:29.849
not like... two years old he's like a 10 year

00:45:29.849 --> 00:45:34.769
old boy who should know better but he instantly

00:45:34.769 --> 00:45:38.670
views the city destroying people stomping monster

00:45:38.670 --> 00:45:47.570
as his pet who can do no wrong And to like all

00:45:47.570 --> 00:45:50.489
the soldiers who are like bombarding Gamera with

00:45:50.489 --> 00:45:53.210
like, you know, electricity and nuclear radiation

00:45:53.210 --> 00:45:55.869
and like all this, all these weapons. And Toshio

00:45:55.869 --> 00:45:58.090
is just like, stop shooting him. He's not so

00:45:58.090 --> 00:46:01.010
bad. He's not mean. He like means well. Toshio,

00:46:01.130 --> 00:46:04.190
he's literally killed. Gamera has killed hundreds

00:46:04.190 --> 00:46:07.610
of people. Yeah, right. Yeah, one time when Toshio

00:46:07.610 --> 00:46:10.150
says that, it's like right after we see Gamera

00:46:10.150 --> 00:46:12.670
kill a bunch of people with like a death ray

00:46:12.670 --> 00:46:15.269
and like light them on fire. It's like, oh, kid,

00:46:15.369 --> 00:46:17.510
he's not as great as you think he is. But I guess

00:46:17.510 --> 00:46:24.269
I understand it. It's very funny. Yeah. More

00:46:24.269 --> 00:46:26.849
to say about that at the end of our podcast here.

00:46:29.150 --> 00:46:31.849
That's Toshio and kind of the synopsis of the

00:46:31.849 --> 00:46:35.650
movie in a nutshell. Yeah, indeed. That's all

00:46:35.650 --> 00:46:39.070
you need to know. Yeah. All right. The production

00:46:39.070 --> 00:46:42.619
history of this here film. Talked about it a

00:46:42.619 --> 00:46:45.179
little bit, but after the success of Toho's Godzilla

00:46:45.179 --> 00:46:49.659
series and actually the birds, Hitchcock's The

00:46:49.659 --> 00:46:53.139
Birds was also a recent hit. All right, let me

00:46:53.139 --> 00:46:56.199
let me let me back up. OK, so let me put this

00:46:56.199 --> 00:46:59.800
a different way. Gamera was not the first monster

00:46:59.800 --> 00:47:03.380
movie that Daiei attempted. They had a failed

00:47:03.380 --> 00:47:09.179
movie about giant rats called Giant Beast Horde.

00:47:09.820 --> 00:47:15.360
Yeah, Giant Horde Beast Nezura in 1964. This

00:47:15.360 --> 00:47:19.900
movie was directed by Yuasa. This movie did not

00:47:19.900 --> 00:47:22.400
finish production. It was canceled by the health

00:47:22.400 --> 00:47:27.539
department because the live rats were wild, uncooperative,

00:47:27.539 --> 00:47:33.909
and infested with fleas. I love that story. It's

00:47:33.909 --> 00:47:36.309
insane. And you know what I love even more? There's

00:47:36.309 --> 00:47:39.730
a biopic from 2020, a Japanese film called Nezura

00:47:39.730 --> 00:47:45.070
1964 that apparently dramatizes this whole shambles

00:47:45.070 --> 00:47:47.750
of a production. And I can't wait to watch it.

00:47:48.610 --> 00:47:50.849
Same. I had never heard about that movie before,

00:47:50.949 --> 00:47:53.289
but yeah, from your notes and then doing a little

00:47:53.289 --> 00:47:55.309
more research about it, it sounds fascinating.

00:47:55.409 --> 00:47:57.730
I can't wait to see this movie. Yeah, I guess

00:47:57.730 --> 00:48:03.420
it's on Tubi. I just Googled Nezura 1964. So

00:48:03.420 --> 00:48:06.300
it's out there in the trailers on YouTube. Yeah.

00:48:06.360 --> 00:48:08.619
It's not as obscure as I thought. So I'm definitely

00:48:08.619 --> 00:48:12.059
gonna watch that at some point. For sure. Yeah.

00:48:12.739 --> 00:48:18.320
So anyways, I could have like unleashed the next

00:48:18.320 --> 00:48:21.099
bubonic plague if their production hadn't been

00:48:21.099 --> 00:48:25.349
shut down. That's crazy. So they got rid of the

00:48:25.349 --> 00:48:29.110
rats, but they kept the sets and all the miniature

00:48:29.110 --> 00:48:33.110
cityscapes. So they repurposed those for Gamera.

00:48:33.469 --> 00:48:37.469
And the idea for a giant turtle came from producer

00:48:37.469 --> 00:48:42.170
-president Nagata, who anecdotally, at least,

00:48:42.170 --> 00:48:45.489
got the idea for Gamera while on a plane. And

00:48:45.489 --> 00:48:48.829
he imagined a giant turtle flying alongside.

00:48:49.210 --> 00:48:52.570
He also allegedly saw a turtle -shaped cloud.

00:48:53.360 --> 00:48:57.559
And that fed into this imagination that eventually

00:48:57.559 --> 00:49:01.440
became what we see now. I also read that one

00:49:01.440 --> 00:49:04.260
of the early titles for that production was A

00:49:04.260 --> 00:49:07.119
Lowly Tortoise Flies Through the Sky, which I

00:49:07.119 --> 00:49:08.800
love. That's a great title. I just wanted to

00:49:08.800 --> 00:49:12.000
point that out. No, it's so on the nose that

00:49:12.000 --> 00:49:16.380
it's poetic. Sounds like kind of a bittersweet

00:49:16.380 --> 00:49:22.369
movie. Yeah. Speaking of titles, Gamera. So I

00:49:22.369 --> 00:49:24.849
guess the Japanese name for turtle is camera,

00:49:24.949 --> 00:49:30.409
but they changed the K to a G because camera,

00:49:30.469 --> 00:49:36.289
like the English word camera also is the Japanese

00:49:36.289 --> 00:49:38.190
word. So they didn't want to confuse audiences.

00:49:38.190 --> 00:49:43.010
So they changed it to camera. And that's, that's

00:49:43.010 --> 00:49:46.809
how you got that name. All right, so one of the

00:49:46.809 --> 00:49:49.269
ways that Yuasa wanted to distinguish Gamera

00:49:49.269 --> 00:49:51.489
from the Godzilla movies was by making Gamera

00:49:51.489 --> 00:49:54.389
a little bit more of an animal as opposed to

00:49:54.389 --> 00:49:56.730
the anthropomorphized beast that we see in the

00:49:56.730 --> 00:49:59.730
Godzilla movies. And some of the ways that Yuasa

00:49:59.730 --> 00:50:01.909
did this in the Gamera movies was the depiction

00:50:01.909 --> 00:50:04.829
of violence and in later films, blood, as well

00:50:04.829 --> 00:50:07.130
as Yuasa shooting the monsters from the waist

00:50:07.130 --> 00:50:10.010
up or on all fours as much as he could to emphasize

00:50:10.010 --> 00:50:13.909
their kind of animal aspects. I think a good

00:50:13.909 --> 00:50:16.289
example of that is when the turtle Gamera is

00:50:16.289 --> 00:50:18.230
on its back and you think that it's kind of screwed

00:50:18.230 --> 00:50:21.869
and its head and all of its limbs pull back into

00:50:21.869 --> 00:50:24.289
its shell. But then, of course, Gamera kind of

00:50:24.289 --> 00:50:26.630
starts spinning around in a circle to fly up

00:50:26.630 --> 00:50:28.809
into the air. I thought that was a cool example

00:50:28.809 --> 00:50:32.610
of a monster that seems to be basically a giant

00:50:32.610 --> 00:50:35.909
animal, but then we see this cool new superpower

00:50:35.909 --> 00:50:38.889
that we totally weren't expecting. I thought

00:50:38.889 --> 00:50:40.989
that was a cool moment. I think that's one of

00:50:40.989 --> 00:50:43.449
the best movies. Or sorry, best moments in the

00:50:43.449 --> 00:50:47.289
movie. Just an iconic moment because nobody's

00:50:47.289 --> 00:50:49.050
expecting it. The characters aren't expecting

00:50:49.050 --> 00:50:51.869
it. I wasn't even expecting it. I mean, I know

00:50:51.869 --> 00:50:54.849
Gamera flies like that, but I would have loved

00:50:54.849 --> 00:50:59.409
to have been in the theater in 1965 and just

00:50:59.409 --> 00:51:04.690
like, what? The turtle has rockets that come

00:51:04.690 --> 00:51:09.809
out of his leg holes. This is wild. Yeah, such

00:51:09.809 --> 00:51:16.349
a great scene. I love that part. And then, so

00:51:16.349 --> 00:51:18.710
I die. They had two tiers of films. They had

00:51:18.710 --> 00:51:24.010
a, a budgeted pictures and B level movies. Gamera

00:51:24.010 --> 00:51:27.110
was, was budgeted as a B picture, which is why

00:51:27.110 --> 00:51:30.050
you see this film in black and white. The film

00:51:30.050 --> 00:51:34.190
obviously repurposed sets from Nezuda, but Gamera,

00:51:34.250 --> 00:51:36.929
the production also struggled with outdated equipment.

00:51:37.889 --> 00:51:41.050
Props broke like. The flying Gamera we just said

00:51:41.050 --> 00:51:43.989
would actually burn through its wires with those

00:51:43.989 --> 00:51:47.989
pyrotechnics. And here's something fun. When

00:51:47.989 --> 00:51:50.369
ice was trucked in for the Arctic scenes, it

00:51:50.369 --> 00:51:53.969
melted, of course, and flooded the set for three

00:51:53.969 --> 00:51:59.110
days. Yuasa faced stiff criticism, not just from

00:51:59.110 --> 00:52:04.130
the executives, but also from his crew. And I

00:52:04.130 --> 00:52:08.659
am thinking, here is this young director. Who's

00:52:08.659 --> 00:52:13.780
already helmed a failed production in giant horde

00:52:13.780 --> 00:52:17.039
beast Nezura. And now here he is with another

00:52:17.039 --> 00:52:20.079
sinking ship. I'm surprised he wasn't fired,

00:52:20.159 --> 00:52:22.800
but maybe they just couldn't afford to fire him.

00:52:22.860 --> 00:52:26.940
I don't know. Yeah, that's a good point. And

00:52:26.940 --> 00:52:29.510
I. You know, we'll probably talk about this a

00:52:29.510 --> 00:52:31.309
little bit later, but I think like despite all

00:52:31.309 --> 00:52:33.449
the struggles and challenges, like the movie

00:52:33.449 --> 00:52:35.070
looks really good. I love the black and white

00:52:35.070 --> 00:52:37.989
cinematography. I think the special effects and

00:52:37.989 --> 00:52:39.829
the suits and everything, the model work all

00:52:39.829 --> 00:52:44.289
looks pretty great. So, you know, hats off to

00:52:44.289 --> 00:52:46.650
Yuasa. I think he did a good job in the end,

00:52:46.670 --> 00:52:49.090
especially when faced with so many challenges.

00:52:49.710 --> 00:52:52.809
I agree. I would never have guessed it, guessed

00:52:52.809 --> 00:52:54.710
all these struggles based on the finished product.

00:52:54.949 --> 00:52:58.710
I think like the camera work. is is really dynamic

00:52:58.710 --> 00:53:03.349
in this movie the the action is really compelling

00:53:03.349 --> 00:53:07.230
the the human characters i think are serviceable

00:53:07.230 --> 00:53:10.230
but but that's all you need in a movie like this

00:53:10.230 --> 00:53:13.349
as long as they're not distractingly bad yeah

00:53:13.349 --> 00:53:19.150
that's a win yeah yeah toshio is definitely distracting

00:53:19.150 --> 00:53:22.050
but not distractingly bad i wouldn't say yeah

00:53:22.050 --> 00:53:24.559
so i i agree with all that for sure You know,

00:53:24.679 --> 00:53:27.079
I read, I don't know if you saw this as well,

00:53:27.139 --> 00:53:30.420
but like I read that when they were making the

00:53:30.420 --> 00:53:34.239
film, Yuasa was maybe going to enlist the help

00:53:34.239 --> 00:53:36.639
of A .G. Tsuburaya, who did the special effects

00:53:36.639 --> 00:53:39.239
for a lot of the Godzilla films that Toho released.

00:53:39.420 --> 00:53:43.659
So Yuasa was going to. seek out the help of Tsuburaya,

00:53:43.800 --> 00:53:46.019
but sort of as a matter of pride, like wanted

00:53:46.019 --> 00:53:48.380
to do it all himself, wanted to stick with the

00:53:48.380 --> 00:53:52.099
resources that Daiei Studios already had. I thought

00:53:52.099 --> 00:53:53.880
that was really fascinating. I don't know if

00:53:53.880 --> 00:53:55.880
you read that or like what you took away from

00:53:55.880 --> 00:53:58.039
that, like why you thought that he made that

00:53:58.039 --> 00:54:00.820
decision. I did come across that. Well, now I'm

00:54:00.820 --> 00:54:03.960
thinking, you know, he didn't have like the highest

00:54:03.960 --> 00:54:08.900
praise for Ishiro Honda. So maybe he... Not that

00:54:08.900 --> 00:54:11.360
he didn't respect Honda or Tsuburaya, but maybe

00:54:11.360 --> 00:54:14.860
he had a little too much pride to work with a

00:54:14.860 --> 00:54:19.000
competing studio. Yeah, that was my takeaway

00:54:19.000 --> 00:54:21.519
as well. And in a way, I kind of admire that.

00:54:21.579 --> 00:54:23.500
He's a young director trying to make his mark,

00:54:23.599 --> 00:54:26.440
and I think he did so on this movie. Yeah, I

00:54:26.440 --> 00:54:30.139
think so too. It's just as good as any of those

00:54:30.139 --> 00:54:35.320
Godzilla movies being released at the same time.

00:54:35.980 --> 00:54:39.630
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I love Ghidorah, the

00:54:39.630 --> 00:54:41.190
three -headed monster, which I think is like

00:54:41.190 --> 00:54:45.510
62, 63, somewhere around there. Yeah, yeah. So

00:54:45.510 --> 00:54:48.010
I would say maybe that one is a slightly higher

00:54:48.010 --> 00:54:49.690
level. But yeah, overall, I would agree with

00:54:49.690 --> 00:54:52.989
you for sure. Yeah. Listeners, if you have a

00:54:52.989 --> 00:54:57.269
different take, let us know. I just felt like

00:54:57.269 --> 00:55:04.309
the cry of 100 ,000 souls yelling, no, Godzilla's

00:55:04.309 --> 00:55:07.750
always better. Yeah. We'd love to hear that,

00:55:07.789 --> 00:55:10.429
for sure. I'm sure, yeah, some people have strong

00:55:10.429 --> 00:55:12.510
opinions out there. And I would love to hear

00:55:12.510 --> 00:55:18.730
them. Well, this movie, Gamera Giant Monster,

00:55:18.949 --> 00:55:24.190
was released in Japan in November 1967. It was

00:55:24.190 --> 00:55:27.849
popular. A sequel was put into production, Gamera

00:55:27.849 --> 00:55:32.489
vs. Barugan, which was then elevated to an A

00:55:32.489 --> 00:55:35.630
-picture level. So that was in color. From here

00:55:35.630 --> 00:55:39.170
on out, Daiei made a Gamera movie every year

00:55:39.170 --> 00:55:44.250
until 1970. Here, I painted myself into a corner.

00:55:44.429 --> 00:55:48.050
But they made a Gamera movie every year until

00:55:48.050 --> 00:55:52.570
about 1971 or 72. These are all in color. And

00:55:52.570 --> 00:55:56.610
the success of Gamera ushered in kind of a second

00:55:56.610 --> 00:55:59.969
wave of Kaiju films. So if you think of Godzilla

00:55:59.969 --> 00:56:02.980
in 54, that was like the first big wave. But

00:56:02.980 --> 00:56:05.760
by 65, the genre was kind of waning with audiences.

00:56:06.440 --> 00:56:09.780
Gamera proves otherwise. And then you had other

00:56:09.780 --> 00:56:13.199
studios jumping on the bandwagon. Two prominent

00:56:13.199 --> 00:56:17.719
examples from the studio Nikatsu. They released

00:56:17.719 --> 00:56:22.659
Gappa, the Trifibian Monster, in 1967. And Shochiku,

00:56:22.940 --> 00:56:25.780
the studio, released The X from Outer Space,

00:56:26.019 --> 00:56:29.980
also in 1967. So Gamera is really kind of to

00:56:29.980 --> 00:56:36.099
thank for... these films. And then Matt, I'd

00:56:36.099 --> 00:56:39.380
love to hear you, your take on the, the history

00:56:39.380 --> 00:56:43.039
when, when Gamera comes to the West, what happens?

00:56:43.440 --> 00:56:48.159
Yeah. Yep. So for better or worse, American distribution

00:56:48.159 --> 00:56:51.199
rights were acquired by Harris associates, Inc

00:56:51.199 --> 00:56:55.920
and world enterprises corporation to very forgettable

00:56:55.920 --> 00:57:00.300
studio. They kind of re -edited it. They added

00:57:00.300 --> 00:57:03.480
a lot of newly shot scenes featuring new American

00:57:03.480 --> 00:57:05.820
characters, speaking English for the most part,

00:57:05.920 --> 00:57:08.019
as well as other footage that was like re -cut.

00:57:08.099 --> 00:57:09.800
The whole film was kind of re -edited to some

00:57:09.800 --> 00:57:12.380
extent. So that version of the film was released

00:57:12.380 --> 00:57:14.860
in the United States as Gamera the Invincible

00:57:14.860 --> 00:57:18.539
in 1966. And Vincent, I just wanted to make sure,

00:57:18.559 --> 00:57:20.420
I think the Japanese version was released in

00:57:20.420 --> 00:57:23.320
65, right? It says 67 on here, but I think it

00:57:23.320 --> 00:57:28.860
was 65. It was 65. Thank you for correcting that.

00:57:29.059 --> 00:57:30.679
I just wanted to make sure, because, yeah, the

00:57:30.679 --> 00:57:32.679
American one was then released a year later.

00:57:33.119 --> 00:57:36.300
Gamera has two M's in the American title, Gamera

00:57:36.300 --> 00:57:38.719
the Invincible. The U .S. distributors wanted

00:57:38.719 --> 00:57:42.340
to kind of, I guess, like Daae, they wanted to

00:57:42.340 --> 00:57:45.400
not confuse the title with the word camera, so

00:57:45.400 --> 00:57:48.460
they added another M to it. And, yeah, they tried

00:57:48.460 --> 00:57:51.849
to create a more American perspective. I don't

00:57:51.849 --> 00:57:54.150
know if they really succeeded with that. I, to

00:57:54.150 --> 00:57:56.489
me, they added a lot of boring scenes of like

00:57:56.489 --> 00:58:00.030
generals and scientists, like debating things

00:58:00.030 --> 00:58:02.769
in boardrooms. And that's like really like the

00:58:02.769 --> 00:58:04.949
extent of what they did. And they, like, they

00:58:04.949 --> 00:58:07.590
kind of, so there's, well, I don't know if I

00:58:07.590 --> 00:58:10.010
should get into this right now. I'll just say

00:58:10.010 --> 00:58:11.969
at this point that they took out a lot of the

00:58:11.969 --> 00:58:13.909
things that I think make the original Japanese

00:58:13.909 --> 00:58:18.230
version so imaginative and striking and unique.

00:58:18.469 --> 00:58:20.889
The American version kind of did away with a

00:58:20.889 --> 00:58:23.690
lot of that stuff. So anyway, I'm getting off

00:58:23.690 --> 00:58:25.550
topic a little bit. I'm allowing my personal

00:58:25.550 --> 00:58:27.670
opinion to interfere with the conversation. I

00:58:27.670 --> 00:58:32.019
apologize, but yeah. The American version came

00:58:32.019 --> 00:58:35.139
out in 67. I think it was the only Gamera film

00:58:35.139 --> 00:58:37.059
that was released theatrically in the United

00:58:37.059 --> 00:58:40.639
States was Gamera the Invincible, for better

00:58:40.639 --> 00:58:43.840
or worse. Yeah, that's what I read too. But hey,

00:58:44.019 --> 00:58:47.119
you're, I mean, what are we doing here if not

00:58:47.119 --> 00:58:53.099
giving our personal takes? I, with the American

00:58:53.099 --> 00:58:57.679
cut, Gamera the Invincible, I was also watching

00:58:57.679 --> 00:59:01.130
it and I just noted. I noted a positive and a

00:59:01.130 --> 00:59:03.750
negative. My positive is that the American actors,

00:59:03.849 --> 00:59:06.570
as boring as the scenes themselves are written,

00:59:06.750 --> 00:59:10.809
the American actors are better actors than the

00:59:10.809 --> 00:59:15.489
Americans in the original Japanese release. So

00:59:15.489 --> 00:59:18.829
that is worth. Yeah, that's true. I do agree

00:59:18.829 --> 00:59:21.789
with that. Although also I think, you know, in

00:59:21.789 --> 00:59:24.269
my campy category later on, probably will be

00:59:24.269 --> 00:59:25.989
those American actors from the original Japanese

00:59:25.989 --> 00:59:29.230
version because. As like, they're not great,

00:59:29.309 --> 00:59:32.090
but like they have some like really amusing stilted

00:59:32.090 --> 00:59:34.909
line readings and they're very, very funny unintentionally.

00:59:35.030 --> 00:59:37.610
And I would kind of rather have that than these

00:59:37.610 --> 00:59:41.130
like bland American actors just like droning

00:59:41.130 --> 00:59:43.590
on and on for like minutes on end. So I agree

00:59:43.590 --> 00:59:45.690
with you, but I also still would kind of prefer

00:59:45.690 --> 00:59:48.389
the American characters from the original version,

00:59:48.530 --> 00:59:51.570
even if the actors are not quite as good. I also

00:59:51.570 --> 00:59:54.630
agree with that because these inserted scenes

00:59:54.630 --> 00:59:58.610
just kill the momentum. By the time we got to

00:59:58.610 --> 01:00:02.929
Toshio, I was thinking, where is Toshio? We have

01:00:02.929 --> 01:00:07.849
just spent so much dead time in boardrooms. And

01:00:07.849 --> 01:00:10.769
I was like, oh my God, I forgot that this movie

01:00:10.769 --> 01:00:16.190
does have action and it does have humor. And

01:00:16.190 --> 01:00:18.110
then we finally got to those scenes. I was like,

01:00:18.130 --> 01:00:22.519
wow, this took a long time. Yeah, way too long.

01:00:22.559 --> 01:00:25.019
The Japanese version just moves so much more

01:00:25.019 --> 01:00:27.400
quickly. It's really atmospheric. It's entertaining.

01:00:27.719 --> 01:00:30.440
And the American one is just boring. Like, hey,

01:00:30.500 --> 01:00:33.619
yeah. And like, you know, so now I am going to

01:00:33.619 --> 01:00:35.559
pop off a little bit. I apologize. But like.

01:00:36.010 --> 01:00:38.650
I noticed a couple examples of really striking

01:00:38.650 --> 01:00:41.630
shots and scenes from the Japanese version. When

01:00:41.630 --> 01:00:45.929
Toshio is calling after Pee -wee, in the Japanese

01:00:45.929 --> 01:00:48.329
version, there are three shots in really quick

01:00:48.329 --> 01:00:51.750
succession that show Yoshio from different camera

01:00:51.750 --> 01:00:54.269
angles. The American version totally cuts that

01:00:54.269 --> 01:00:56.750
part out. There's also a really great overhead

01:00:56.750 --> 01:00:59.769
shot in the Japanese version of some Japanese

01:00:59.769 --> 01:01:02.110
scientist going into a boardroom. I think that

01:01:02.110 --> 01:01:04.030
entire scene is cut out of the American version.

01:01:04.780 --> 01:01:07.860
There's like an introductory scene between, I

01:01:07.860 --> 01:01:10.480
forget her name, the love interest in the film.

01:01:10.820 --> 01:01:15.699
The goddess of good luck. Yeah, exactly. Kyoko,

01:01:15.820 --> 01:01:17.320
that's her name. There's like an introductory

01:01:17.320 --> 01:01:20.920
scene where she is talking to, oh no, no, no,

01:01:21.000 --> 01:01:24.860
I'm sorry. So it's Sakurai, Toshio's sister.

01:01:24.940 --> 01:01:27.079
There's an introductory scene with Sakurai talking

01:01:27.079 --> 01:01:31.309
to like a teacher in the village, Toshio's. And

01:01:31.309 --> 01:01:33.849
like it adds a level of depth to Sakurai that's

01:01:33.849 --> 01:01:35.610
like totally missing from the American version.

01:01:35.849 --> 01:01:38.389
Those were just like the main examples that I

01:01:38.389 --> 01:01:42.369
noticed of like the American recut or re -release,

01:01:42.449 --> 01:01:44.550
like cutting all the interesting stuff out of

01:01:44.550 --> 01:01:46.409
the Japanese version. It's very unfortunate.

01:01:47.309 --> 01:01:48.969
Absolutely. And that's what I'm talking about.

01:01:49.010 --> 01:01:52.050
Like there is like that overhead shot and they're

01:01:52.050 --> 01:01:55.050
like those, the three quick shots you mentioned,

01:01:55.150 --> 01:01:58.610
like there's, there's competence behind this

01:01:58.610 --> 01:02:02.000
camera. compared to the american inserts where

01:02:02.000 --> 01:02:06.400
there seemed to be no interest in you know compelling

01:02:06.400 --> 01:02:09.460
filmmaking it's just like point the camera and

01:02:09.460 --> 01:02:13.079
shoot exactly right yeah it's very unfortunate

01:02:13.079 --> 01:02:16.860
and yeah i'm again it's you know i'm i feel like

01:02:16.860 --> 01:02:20.440
i'm uh talking at length about this because the

01:02:20.440 --> 01:02:22.360
Japanese version I really like a lot and the

01:02:22.360 --> 01:02:25.400
American version is terrible. I feel strongly

01:02:25.400 --> 01:02:28.679
about this, but I'll stop for now. All right.

01:02:28.760 --> 01:02:31.239
Well, folks, if you had any reservations about

01:02:31.239 --> 01:02:36.039
the American release, you were correct. You should

01:02:36.039 --> 01:02:40.219
have all the reservations. Indeed. All right.

01:02:40.239 --> 01:02:43.340
Well, Camp Kaiju is sponsored by... Let's go

01:02:43.340 --> 01:02:46.579
ahead and get to our break here. before we talk

01:02:46.579 --> 01:02:48.920
more about Gamera. So Camp Kaiju is sponsored

01:02:48.920 --> 01:02:51.019
by Zach Linder and the Zach Pack, powered by

01:02:51.019 --> 01:02:53.440
Coldwell Banker Realty, your source for real

01:02:53.440 --> 01:02:56.079
estate, home rehab, fixing and flipping for investor

01:02:56.079 --> 01:02:58.820
clients and residential buyers. Reach out to

01:02:58.820 --> 01:03:00.699
the Zach Pack today for real estate services.

01:03:01.059 --> 01:03:03.820
Follow the Zach Pack on social media and contact

01:03:03.820 --> 01:03:07.559
the Zach Pack for investment opportunities. Links

01:03:07.559 --> 01:03:11.300
in the show notes along with some of these other...

01:03:11.530 --> 01:03:14.670
that we're talking about here tonight, that interview

01:03:14.670 --> 01:03:19.630
with Yuasa and other sources. So, for Minya's

01:03:19.630 --> 01:03:22.869
mailbox, I have one comment I'd like to read.

01:03:23.110 --> 01:03:30.489
It comes from Kevin. Kevin on Spotify commented

01:03:30.489 --> 01:03:34.769
on our Dracula's Daughter episode, which I just

01:03:34.769 --> 01:03:36.769
want to shout out because we had a lot of great

01:03:36.769 --> 01:03:41.579
feedback from that episode. with Naomi Osborne

01:03:41.579 --> 01:03:44.940
guesting on that. And Kevin says, love the podcast.

01:03:45.039 --> 01:03:48.260
Glad to see a thoughtful, entertaining, and informative

01:03:48.260 --> 01:03:53.840
look into the monsters we all love. Thanks. Wow.

01:03:53.880 --> 01:03:57.880
Thank you, Kevin. Honestly. Yeah, thanks, Kevin.

01:03:57.940 --> 01:04:00.099
That's great. That's great to hear. That's all

01:04:00.099 --> 01:04:02.760
I'll say for tonight. Listeners out there, please

01:04:02.760 --> 01:04:06.900
write in on Spotify or Instagram or campkaiju

01:04:06.900 --> 01:04:09.840
at gmail .com or leave a voicemail. And we would

01:04:09.840 --> 01:04:14.739
love to share your feedback on the show. Absolutely.

01:04:15.300 --> 01:04:17.760
Vincent, how's Peter Lorre doing these days?

01:04:18.599 --> 01:04:24.340
Last I heard, he watched a terribly boring movie

01:04:24.340 --> 01:04:27.659
called Black Dragons. But, you know, I'll let

01:04:27.659 --> 01:04:29.980
Mr. Lorre talk about that. He did so in our last

01:04:29.980 --> 01:04:32.900
episode. This week, he's talking about a movie

01:04:32.900 --> 01:04:37.340
with another great title. But I don't know how

01:04:37.340 --> 01:04:39.039
it's going to turn out. It's called The Corpse

01:04:39.039 --> 01:04:43.159
Vanishes from 1942. Ooh, that is a great title.

01:04:43.579 --> 01:04:50.039
Yeah. Where did it go? Yeah. Good question. Hopefully

01:04:50.039 --> 01:04:52.739
Peter can tell us. I hope it's, and of course,

01:04:52.739 --> 01:04:54.900
Bela Lugosi's in this movie. He's in all of these

01:04:54.900 --> 01:04:58.159
Poverty Row films. But I hope it's just Bela

01:04:58.159 --> 01:05:01.460
Lugosi around a haunted house yelling, where

01:05:01.460 --> 01:05:07.570
did it go? It'd be sort of like an art movie

01:05:07.570 --> 01:05:11.269
from Poverty Row, you know? Like, it's Bela Lugosi

01:05:11.269 --> 01:05:13.929
in one room for an hour and a half. Actually,

01:05:13.949 --> 01:05:15.869
it'd probably be like 58 minutes knowing these

01:05:15.869 --> 01:05:19.489
Poverty Row movies. Oh, yeah, at max, yeah. But

01:05:19.489 --> 01:05:22.190
Peter's good, you know? He's doing things in

01:05:22.190 --> 01:05:27.389
his room that, you know, I hope he's doing okay.

01:05:27.829 --> 01:05:31.170
There's glowing radiation coming from his room.

01:05:31.250 --> 01:05:33.820
I could see it right now behind you. Whoa. Down

01:05:33.820 --> 01:05:36.400
the hallway. Yeah. Radiation. There's the smell

01:05:36.400 --> 01:05:41.940
of lilacs. Maybe he's going to turn into Gamera.

01:05:44.639 --> 01:05:47.360
He's unleashed from the Arctic ice. That would

01:05:47.360 --> 01:05:51.800
take a turn. I did. I'm sorry. I didn't mean

01:05:51.800 --> 01:05:53.920
to cut you off there. No, Hey, we're just, we're

01:05:53.920 --> 01:05:59.380
riffing here. So, uh, you know, poor Peter, man,

01:05:59.460 --> 01:06:03.349
keep the fish heads a common. Yeah. They're going

01:06:03.349 --> 01:06:05.190
to start mutating, though, with all that radiation

01:06:05.190 --> 01:06:09.130
coming out of there. Start flopping around on

01:06:09.130 --> 01:06:27.849
their own. All right. Well, on that note. Welcome

01:06:27.849 --> 01:06:32.369
to Poverty Row Studios on the other side of Hollywood,

01:06:32.650 --> 01:06:36.429
where the stars were dimmer and the red carpets

01:06:36.429 --> 01:06:40.070
dripped with blood. Together we will watch the

01:06:40.070 --> 01:06:43.809
best of the worst. Movies known for their limited

01:06:43.809 --> 01:06:47.969
budgets, outlandish concepts, and questionable

01:06:47.969 --> 01:06:51.489
performances. But with enough haunted houses,

01:06:51.829 --> 01:06:55.150
zombies, ape men, and devil bats to keep you

01:06:55.150 --> 01:07:03.590
up at night. I am your host, Peter Lorre. You

01:07:03.590 --> 01:07:06.750
may remember me from such films as The Beast

01:07:06.750 --> 01:07:10.489
with Five Fingers and Voyage to the Bottom of

01:07:10.489 --> 01:07:15.489
the Sea. This week, I am bringing to you a wonderfully

01:07:15.489 --> 01:07:19.769
campy picture called The Corpse Vanishes. Where

01:07:19.769 --> 01:07:22.650
did it go? You will have to see for yourself.

01:07:23.090 --> 01:07:26.869
But rest assured, this movie delivers the goods.

01:07:27.739 --> 01:07:31.380
My blood -sucking contemporary, Bela Lugosi,

01:07:31.460 --> 01:07:34.360
but devil's a wise -cracking reporter who is

01:07:34.360 --> 01:07:37.400
investigating a rash of murders involving would

01:07:37.400 --> 01:07:40.860
-be brides on their wedding days. The common

01:07:40.860 --> 01:07:44.559
clue linking the deaths is a dubious orchid that

01:07:44.559 --> 01:07:47.800
we come to understand was grown by Lugosi's mad,

01:07:47.960 --> 01:07:51.900
horticulturist character. But it is not just

01:07:51.900 --> 01:07:55.059
the chemical compositions of flowers he is meddling

01:07:55.059 --> 01:07:59.070
with. but also his ancient wife, whose youthful

01:07:59.070 --> 01:08:02.090
complexion is rejuvenated with the blood of the

01:08:02.090 --> 01:08:06.710
murdered brides. The film is altogether diabolical,

01:08:06.710 --> 01:08:10.269
and yet it does not know just how silly it is

01:08:10.269 --> 01:08:15.250
all presented. The Corpse Vanishes was produced

01:08:15.250 --> 01:08:19.789
by Monogram Pictures in 1942. It co -stars Elizabeth

01:08:19.789 --> 01:08:23.899
Russell as Lagos' wife. Desperate for the anti

01:08:23.899 --> 01:08:29.039
-aging serum. Now Russell had a reputation in

01:08:29.039 --> 01:08:32.699
the 40s for playing strong characters with nefarious

01:08:32.699 --> 01:08:36.539
intent. Her brief appearance in Val Luton's Cat

01:08:36.539 --> 01:08:39.380
People, for instance, remains a highlight of

01:08:39.380 --> 01:08:43.239
that film. Now the corpse vanishes as no Cat

01:08:43.239 --> 01:08:46.520
People, but it remains worth your time if only

01:08:46.520 --> 01:08:49.770
to witness a mystery that leaves your... that

01:08:49.770 --> 01:08:53.090
leaves characters and audiences alike in stitches.

01:08:55.810 --> 01:09:01.350
Yes, my lovely lilac. Of course, the real star

01:09:01.350 --> 01:09:04.930
of the corpse vanishes is the orchid. I did not

01:09:04.930 --> 01:09:08.770
mean to presume otherwise. Hey, whoa, whoa, hey

01:09:08.770 --> 01:09:13.970
now. When did you grow such fangs? Here, have

01:09:13.970 --> 01:09:18.859
a fish head. Yikes! Listeners, this lilac is

01:09:18.859 --> 01:09:22.279
certainly testing its limits. If you'll excuse

01:09:22.279 --> 01:09:25.659
me, it is feeding time now, and I have learned

01:09:25.659 --> 01:09:30.239
that at this hour in the moonlight, my not -so

01:09:30.239 --> 01:09:34.220
-little lilac tends to have a mind of its own.

01:09:34.439 --> 01:09:38.079
But I will return next time with a picture called

01:09:38.079 --> 01:10:05.390
Mad Monster. Back, lilac! Back! Get back! am

01:10:05.390 --> 01:10:08.869
your master. I have transformed you into a giant

01:10:08.869 --> 01:10:13.930
of great strength, and you must obey. This innocent

01:10:13.930 --> 01:10:16.189
-looking greenhouse is the secret workshop of

01:10:16.189 --> 01:10:20.329
Dr. Decker. These unusual foliages are insectivorous

01:10:20.329 --> 01:10:24.229
and carnivorous, man -devouring plants, and contain

01:10:24.229 --> 01:10:28.310
a rare chemical of growth of as yet unknown powers.

01:10:29.869 --> 01:10:33.750
Conga! Towering, terrorizing threat to civilization.

01:10:38.510 --> 01:10:42.590
I'm a beast of immeasurable strength. Let me

01:10:42.590 --> 01:11:10.470
go! Please let me go! I said let me go! Fantastic.

01:11:11.090 --> 01:11:13.729
There's a huge monster gorilla that's constantly

01:11:13.729 --> 01:11:16.149
growing to outlandish proportions, loosing the

01:11:16.149 --> 01:11:36.010
streets. Let's get into the themes here of Gamera

01:11:36.010 --> 01:11:40.500
the Giant Monster. I wrote down a few. But I'd

01:11:40.500 --> 01:11:42.180
love to hear your thoughts, what jumps out at

01:11:42.180 --> 01:11:46.239
you. Well, yeah, maybe I'll start with like the

01:11:46.239 --> 01:11:49.520
coming of age element of Gamera, the giant monster.

01:11:49.640 --> 01:11:52.699
I think what sets Gamera apart from Godzilla

01:11:52.699 --> 01:11:55.439
is this element, this kind of like childlike

01:11:55.439 --> 01:11:58.979
wonder provided mostly by Toshio. I think it's

01:11:58.979 --> 01:12:01.180
very charming to see this child character who

01:12:01.180 --> 01:12:03.420
loves his pet turtle. And then Vincent, like

01:12:03.420 --> 01:12:05.600
you said before, he thinks that Gamera is his

01:12:05.600 --> 01:12:08.279
pet turtle grown to like gargantuan proportions.

01:12:09.449 --> 01:12:12.710
I kind of like made fun of this character before.

01:12:12.770 --> 01:12:15.569
And it is ridiculous that he just like does whatever

01:12:15.569 --> 01:12:17.590
he wants. And all these like military commanders

01:12:17.590 --> 01:12:19.729
are like, oh, Toshio, you can do whatever you

01:12:19.729 --> 01:12:22.069
want. We'll protect you. It's ridiculous, but

01:12:22.069 --> 01:12:24.310
it is charming at the same time. And I think

01:12:24.310 --> 01:12:27.510
Gamera, friend of all children, right, is like

01:12:27.510 --> 01:12:29.409
what the monster eventually became known as.

01:12:29.810 --> 01:12:32.409
And so it's kind of like a softer family friendly

01:12:32.409 --> 01:12:35.550
version of Godzilla to some extent. And I think

01:12:35.550 --> 01:12:38.649
the ending of the film where Toshio. It's like,

01:12:38.649 --> 01:12:42.170
oh, I'm not lonely that Gamera was trapped in

01:12:42.170 --> 01:12:45.149
a rocket and then flown up to Mars. Because Toshio's

01:12:45.149 --> 01:12:46.949
like, oh, I'll just become a scientist someday

01:12:46.949 --> 01:12:50.489
and then go up and visit him. And it's like...

01:12:50.909 --> 01:12:53.430
You know, it's silly and campy and all that stuff,

01:12:53.529 --> 01:12:55.329
but it is really charming. And I think it's like

01:12:55.329 --> 01:12:58.510
an optimistic worldview that like, you know,

01:12:58.510 --> 01:13:02.909
if we have great young kids like Toshio who loves

01:13:02.909 --> 01:13:05.350
animals, loves science, and like wants to like

01:13:05.350 --> 01:13:08.210
protect creatures, then maybe we'll be okay.

01:13:08.270 --> 01:13:12.029
I think that's like a touching theme. And I think

01:13:12.029 --> 01:13:13.590
it does set it apart from the Godzilla movies.

01:13:15.210 --> 01:13:18.569
Yeah, I love that. You're touching on themes

01:13:18.569 --> 01:13:23.750
of unity and nature. I picked up on, you know,

01:13:23.750 --> 01:13:25.750
obviously there's like a deep sense of international

01:13:25.750 --> 01:13:29.170
unity in this movie. There's like a United Nations

01:13:29.170 --> 01:13:34.170
-esque organization that is trying to bring the

01:13:34.170 --> 01:13:39.470
world together to defeat Gamera. And I think

01:13:39.470 --> 01:13:42.689
that's a common theme in the 1960s post -war.

01:13:43.689 --> 01:13:47.989
strive for this sort of utopia of world peace

01:13:47.989 --> 01:13:52.109
which unfortunately i think in today's world

01:13:52.109 --> 01:13:57.050
we are farther away from that than ever so it's

01:13:57.050 --> 01:14:01.489
nice it's it's inspiring actually to go back

01:14:01.489 --> 01:14:05.630
to in a decade where these themes were taken

01:14:05.630 --> 01:14:10.329
seriously in otherwise popcorn flicks and it

01:14:10.329 --> 01:14:13.640
and it's not treated sentimentally or like And

01:14:13.640 --> 01:14:16.460
naively, it's like, no, this is the way our world

01:14:16.460 --> 01:14:20.579
is working. We have international unity. This

01:14:20.579 --> 01:14:24.060
is going to work, everybody. Let's go. And I

01:14:24.060 --> 01:14:26.279
don't know. It's just I wish we can go back to

01:14:26.279 --> 01:14:30.649
that. Yeah, I know what you mean. And like the

01:14:30.649 --> 01:14:33.430
context in like the 1960s was like the Cold War

01:14:33.430 --> 01:14:36.229
was going on. So even though there's this theme

01:14:36.229 --> 01:14:38.310
of international unity, I think there was like

01:14:38.310 --> 01:14:41.310
the threat of nuclear war like behind that the

01:14:41.310 --> 01:14:43.729
whole time, you know? So, and I think that just

01:14:43.729 --> 01:14:46.270
makes it more powerful that like we need to protect

01:14:46.270 --> 01:14:49.609
the entire planet and like not start a nuclear

01:14:49.609 --> 01:14:53.079
war for no reason, you know? And yeah, like I

01:14:53.079 --> 01:14:54.619
think the movie's themes, you know, you have

01:14:54.619 --> 01:14:56.680
like Soviet, Japanese and American scientists

01:14:56.680 --> 01:14:59.720
and militaries working together to solve this

01:14:59.720 --> 01:15:02.659
crisis. It's kind of an idealistic view of what,

01:15:02.680 --> 01:15:06.279
you know, global humanity could and should be.

01:15:07.050 --> 01:15:09.409
And that's actually something that's like more

01:15:09.409 --> 01:15:11.590
powerful in the Japanese version than the American

01:15:11.590 --> 01:15:14.069
version. I think in the American edit, they kind

01:15:14.069 --> 01:15:16.670
of take out some of the references to like, oh,

01:15:16.689 --> 01:15:18.510
we should like ally with the Soviets for like

01:15:18.510 --> 01:15:20.369
a greater good. Like they cut some of that out

01:15:20.369 --> 01:15:22.069
of the American stuff. And I guess I kind of,

01:15:22.109 --> 01:15:24.510
you know, historically that's not surprising,

01:15:24.609 --> 01:15:27.489
but it is unfortunate. One of many things that

01:15:27.489 --> 01:15:29.930
makes the Japanese cut better, but totally agree

01:15:29.930 --> 01:15:33.350
with you, Vincent, that like the optimistic view

01:15:33.350 --> 01:15:35.829
of different nations working together in this

01:15:35.829 --> 01:15:39.170
movie, it would be nice if that's how things

01:15:39.170 --> 01:15:41.430
actually went, but I don't know. It's hard to

01:15:41.430 --> 01:15:44.529
believe sometimes, you know? Yeah. Same with

01:15:44.529 --> 01:15:48.729
like the ecological message of this movie, which

01:15:48.729 --> 01:15:52.329
didn't really come into play. I found until maybe

01:15:52.329 --> 01:15:55.090
towards the end when Gamera is on his full rampage

01:15:55.090 --> 01:15:59.890
and Gamera's presence in like Tokyo Bay causes

01:15:59.890 --> 01:16:04.989
flooding and it causes fish to die. And there's

01:16:04.989 --> 01:16:08.789
just that kind of warning of this is what our

01:16:08.789 --> 01:16:13.930
humanity's meddling in the atomic age has these

01:16:13.930 --> 01:16:17.689
unforeseen detrimental forces on our planet.

01:16:18.289 --> 01:16:24.710
But then Gamera serves as a warning, like a bellwether

01:16:24.710 --> 01:16:29.590
of don't do this. I appreciate that. It's not

01:16:29.590 --> 01:16:31.470
lost to me that a lot of the themes we're talking

01:16:31.470 --> 01:16:33.729
about here are also present in Godzilla movies,

01:16:33.930 --> 01:16:36.189
but I don't want, I don't want that to take away

01:16:36.189 --> 01:16:39.529
from Gamera's effect either. I feel bad. I'm

01:16:39.529 --> 01:16:41.789
like, sorry, Gamera. We can't not talk about

01:16:41.789 --> 01:16:48.720
Godzilla. It's impossible. Yeah. And, you know,

01:16:48.739 --> 01:16:50.659
I'm a little bit ambivalent because like the

01:16:50.659 --> 01:16:53.340
themes, I mean, it's exactly what you just said.

01:16:53.500 --> 01:16:57.220
Gamera's themes of, you know, atomic weaponry

01:16:57.220 --> 01:17:00.399
and like protecting the environment, totally

01:17:00.399 --> 01:17:03.520
ripped off from Godzilla. Like, it's hard to

01:17:03.520 --> 01:17:06.020
look past that, but also like Gamera is its own

01:17:06.020 --> 01:17:09.380
beast. I think like formally, you know, visually

01:17:09.380 --> 01:17:11.359
and with some of the special effects and stuff

01:17:11.359 --> 01:17:13.380
like that, it definitely is radically different

01:17:13.380 --> 01:17:16.420
than Godzilla. So they're distinct, but to a

01:17:16.420 --> 01:17:19.199
certain extent, there is some of that rip -off

01:17:19.199 --> 01:17:23.279
element. And not to get too far ahead of myself,

01:17:23.460 --> 01:17:25.859
that makes it hard to really, truly love Gamera

01:17:25.859 --> 01:17:29.000
for me, but still extremely important themes.

01:17:29.060 --> 01:17:32.020
And if you're going to regurgitate that message,

01:17:32.300 --> 01:17:36.260
it's a good one to repeat. I mean, audiences

01:17:36.260 --> 01:17:39.199
should probably hear that, you know? Yeah, right.

01:17:39.760 --> 01:17:43.659
Couldn't have said it better myself. I think

01:17:43.659 --> 01:17:45.680
those are the strongest themes for me. I love

01:17:45.680 --> 01:17:47.699
the coming -of -age aspect that you talked about

01:17:47.699 --> 01:17:50.579
because I think that is what truly makes Gamera

01:17:50.579 --> 01:17:55.800
unique as a property. Well, here's our breakdown,

01:17:55.960 --> 01:17:58.039
everybody. The good, the bad, and the downright

01:17:58.039 --> 01:18:02.520
campy. I was taking notes fast and furious in

01:18:02.520 --> 01:18:09.319
my viewing here, but I'll try to keep it relatively

01:18:09.319 --> 01:18:13.579
concise. The good for me... There's a lot I like

01:18:13.579 --> 01:18:16.699
about this movie. I think the pacing of this

01:18:16.699 --> 01:18:18.819
film, and I'm speaking about the Japanese cut,

01:18:19.039 --> 01:18:23.760
is fast and furious. I mean, Gamera's entrance

01:18:23.760 --> 01:18:28.319
is dramatic. And from there, it doesn't let up.

01:18:28.560 --> 01:18:33.039
I mean, some of the set pieces, it's like, I

01:18:33.039 --> 01:18:35.800
was laughing because it's like Gamera or Yuasa

01:18:35.800 --> 01:18:39.119
just doesn't give a rip. That's what I wrote.

01:18:39.359 --> 01:18:42.609
There's an airport. sequence where Gamera's flying

01:18:42.609 --> 01:18:46.350
around the tower oh yeah yeah and the people

01:18:46.350 --> 01:18:49.430
in the tower are like whoa that was a close one

01:18:49.430 --> 01:18:54.710
whoa that was a close one and then boom Gamera

01:18:54.710 --> 01:19:02.060
annihilates them with no mercy I love that scene

01:19:02.060 --> 01:19:04.479
so much. And meanwhile, Toshi was like, he's

01:19:04.479 --> 01:19:07.439
not so bad. Don't hurt him. I love that. Oh my

01:19:07.439 --> 01:19:13.119
God. It was amazing. I love it. The camera shows

01:19:13.119 --> 01:19:16.960
no mercy in this movie. He's a Swiss army knife

01:19:16.960 --> 01:19:21.000
of, of weaponry and he breathes fire. He can

01:19:21.000 --> 01:19:25.319
fly with his rocket boosters. He's got these,

01:19:25.319 --> 01:19:30.939
this like really fearsome. set of jaws he's yeah

01:19:30.939 --> 01:19:35.260
this is a really unique kaiju and use it and

01:19:35.260 --> 01:19:40.340
use to full effect i think toshio's story at

01:19:40.340 --> 01:19:43.659
its best is touching if a little overly sentimental

01:19:43.659 --> 01:19:49.460
and and back to that fire because that's what

01:19:49.460 --> 01:19:52.239
i'm really into with this movie it looks so good

01:19:52.239 --> 01:19:55.500
in the black and white The cinematography here

01:19:55.500 --> 01:20:01.739
is used to full effect. And yeah, that's where

01:20:01.739 --> 01:20:05.159
I'll leave my good notes. I think that's a good

01:20:05.159 --> 01:20:08.739
segue to my good category because visually, I

01:20:08.739 --> 01:20:10.800
think this movie is really striking. I love the

01:20:10.800 --> 01:20:13.340
cinematography in this movie. It's in kind of

01:20:13.340 --> 01:20:16.300
like stark black and white, high contrast, very

01:20:16.300 --> 01:20:19.779
dark blacks and like very bright whites and like,

01:20:19.800 --> 01:20:21.760
you know, a lot of shades of gray in between.

01:20:22.039 --> 01:20:24.079
And like, even though the original Godzilla is

01:20:24.079 --> 01:20:26.260
also in black and white, I still think Gamera

01:20:26.260 --> 01:20:28.819
looks very, very different. It's like really

01:20:28.819 --> 01:20:31.500
shadowy. It's kind of weird to me that like...

01:20:31.869 --> 01:20:34.329
the story is pretty sentimental with the Toshio

01:20:34.329 --> 01:20:36.829
character, but like the visual style actually

01:20:36.829 --> 01:20:39.210
is pretty dark and grim and like, like sort of

01:20:39.210 --> 01:20:41.789
like menacing and scary. Sometimes there are

01:20:41.789 --> 01:20:44.189
several scenes that I think look amazing. Like

01:20:44.189 --> 01:20:46.810
when Gamera first crawls out of the ice towards

01:20:46.810 --> 01:20:49.750
the beginning, I think it looks fantastic. There's

01:20:49.750 --> 01:20:52.609
all this like fake ice and snow flying everywhere.

01:20:52.670 --> 01:20:55.029
And it's just very, very beautiful. I think the

01:20:55.029 --> 01:20:57.569
lighthouse attack scene is really, really great.

01:20:57.649 --> 01:21:00.689
And the part where like Gamera kind of like,

01:21:01.180 --> 01:21:03.359
peeks over the cliff at Toshio for the first

01:21:03.359 --> 01:21:05.920
time. It kind of reminded me of the movie Them,

01:21:06.100 --> 01:21:08.300
when like the first giant ant appears to the

01:21:08.300 --> 01:21:10.939
audience, like crawling over the sand dune. Both

01:21:10.939 --> 01:21:13.979
really great scenes, I would say. And yeah, I

01:21:13.979 --> 01:21:15.640
think like the special effects, I kind of alluded

01:21:15.640 --> 01:21:18.079
to this before, but they look really great in

01:21:18.079 --> 01:21:20.079
this movie, especially considering all the challenges

01:21:20.079 --> 01:21:22.619
that Yuasa and the crew did have in making it.

01:21:22.800 --> 01:21:25.380
I think the Gamera suit looks pretty good. I

01:21:25.380 --> 01:21:28.439
think like the animation when Gamera is like

01:21:28.439 --> 01:21:31.800
flying through the night sky and like, Like the

01:21:31.800 --> 01:21:33.819
airport example that you used is probably the

01:21:33.819 --> 01:21:35.460
best one, but there are a lot of other striking

01:21:35.460 --> 01:21:38.420
scenes of like, you know, Gamera and this kind

01:21:38.420 --> 01:21:41.939
of like trail of fire, like hovering over these

01:21:41.939 --> 01:21:44.279
mountains and like city skylines and stuff. All

01:21:44.279 --> 01:21:48.300
that looks fantastic. So yeah, there are just

01:21:48.300 --> 01:21:50.579
too many examples to list, but I think overall

01:21:50.579 --> 01:21:54.380
it's a beautifully shot movie. And I think it

01:21:54.380 --> 01:21:57.680
really conveys a sense of like. suspense and

01:21:57.680 --> 01:22:00.119
horror even though again like the story's pretty

01:22:00.119 --> 01:22:03.039
silly and the characters are like you know not

01:22:03.039 --> 01:22:05.859
not very deep or like dark or anything like that

01:22:05.859 --> 01:22:08.800
but but the visual style is just very very compelling

01:22:08.800 --> 01:22:11.380
and very well done on a small budget i would

01:22:11.380 --> 01:22:15.960
say definitely and great talking about the visual

01:22:15.960 --> 01:22:19.359
effects because i don't find them cheap looking

01:22:19.359 --> 01:22:23.000
at all i mean there's use of a lot of rear projection

01:22:23.840 --> 01:22:25.739
I think I'm using this jargon correctly, but

01:22:25.739 --> 01:22:28.500
in a lot of like composite shots where like Gamera

01:22:28.500 --> 01:22:31.640
will be in the background towering over little

01:22:31.640 --> 01:22:34.539
humans running in the foreground. And I'm like,

01:22:34.560 --> 01:22:38.460
these are blended really well. It's like in the

01:22:38.460 --> 01:22:41.520
Arctic when the ship is stuck in the ice and

01:22:41.520 --> 01:22:45.340
Gamera is lumbering towards the ship. That's

01:22:45.340 --> 01:22:47.840
an instance where little people in the foreground,

01:22:48.079 --> 01:22:52.069
Gamera in the background. The scale, the ratio

01:22:52.069 --> 01:22:54.770
is perfect. Everything is like a wide shot. I'm

01:22:54.770 --> 01:22:58.949
like, this is a really awesome use of, I don't

01:22:58.949 --> 01:23:02.350
know, of special effect filmmaking. Yeah, absolutely.

01:23:02.630 --> 01:23:04.789
And one more example that I would cite is like

01:23:04.789 --> 01:23:07.069
the attack on Tokyo towards the end. Like that

01:23:07.069 --> 01:23:09.369
entire scene is really great, I think. And there's

01:23:09.369 --> 01:23:12.390
one shot where Gamera is attacking like a skyscraper

01:23:12.390 --> 01:23:16.079
and you see like the shadows of people. Going

01:23:16.079 --> 01:23:18.020
through like a lighted window, like just the

01:23:18.020 --> 01:23:19.720
silhouettes kind of like frantically leaving

01:23:19.720 --> 01:23:22.460
the building. But it's all like model work. So

01:23:22.460 --> 01:23:24.619
I think that must have just been like little

01:23:24.619 --> 01:23:27.340
cutouts of people that they like flash in front

01:23:27.340 --> 01:23:29.579
of the windows. And it's like a split second

01:23:29.579 --> 01:23:32.060
shot, but it's so convincing. It's really great.

01:23:32.159 --> 01:23:34.800
I love that moment. Yes. And that made me think

01:23:34.800 --> 01:23:40.579
about a really harrowing scene. Cameras attacking.

01:23:41.340 --> 01:23:44.140
He knocks over a building or something. He breathes

01:23:44.140 --> 01:23:47.579
fire on a group of people and they're roasted.

01:23:47.800 --> 01:23:51.880
And I'm just thinking about the atomic bombings

01:23:51.880 --> 01:23:54.579
of real Japanese people. And I'm like, this is

01:23:54.579 --> 01:23:58.979
this got real dark real quick. Yeah. For sure.

01:23:59.119 --> 01:24:01.079
And like in, in that scene, like when the people

01:24:01.079 --> 01:24:02.939
are roasted, then the image suddenly becomes

01:24:02.939 --> 01:24:05.380
like, it's like a negative image, you know, where

01:24:05.380 --> 01:24:07.619
like what, what was black and white then suddenly

01:24:07.619 --> 01:24:10.500
like the, those shades flip. So then like the

01:24:10.500 --> 01:24:12.380
dark colors become light and the light colors

01:24:12.380 --> 01:24:14.680
become dark. I think probably everybody out there

01:24:14.680 --> 01:24:16.539
knows what like a negative images, but it's,

01:24:16.539 --> 01:24:18.859
it's used really well in that scene. It's, and

01:24:18.859 --> 01:24:21.020
it adds to that like horrific element for sure.

01:24:21.420 --> 01:24:23.539
Yeah. Cause you just know, and you're reminded

01:24:23.539 --> 01:24:27.239
of all these other historical images. Yeah. This

01:24:27.239 --> 01:24:30.529
movie. this is a horror movie straight up. It's

01:24:30.529 --> 01:24:33.510
not, yeah, it's, it's not like later incarnations

01:24:33.510 --> 01:24:37.949
of Gamera, whatever Toshio says, this, this monster

01:24:37.949 --> 01:24:42.510
is not a friend of children. Right. Yeah. It's

01:24:42.510 --> 01:24:44.970
funny to have those two sentiments side by side,

01:24:45.029 --> 01:24:47.670
but like visually it is like a very frightening

01:24:47.670 --> 01:24:49.869
movie at times. Like not, you know, it's like,

01:24:50.149 --> 01:24:51.710
it might not actually scare you, but like the

01:24:51.710 --> 01:24:55.630
images are like pretty intense. Yeah. All right.

01:24:55.649 --> 01:24:58.449
Well, Speaking of the bad, I actually don't have

01:24:58.449 --> 01:25:00.930
a lot because here's the thing. Anything I could

01:25:00.930 --> 01:25:04.289
easily critique, I just take it for what it is.

01:25:04.670 --> 01:25:07.869
Nothing's really distracting to me. Sure, the

01:25:07.869 --> 01:25:10.689
special effects, you could say, yeah, I could

01:25:10.689 --> 01:25:13.649
see the strings on the airplanes. But that's

01:25:13.649 --> 01:25:16.270
what I watch these for in a way. So I'm not going

01:25:16.270 --> 01:25:19.090
to pick those low -hanging fruit. But I will

01:25:19.090 --> 01:25:23.869
talk about Toshio because I think on one hand,

01:25:23.930 --> 01:25:27.460
his character is very campy. But by the end,

01:25:27.520 --> 01:25:31.800
I think it just gets distractingly bad. His motivations

01:25:31.800 --> 01:25:35.020
or lack thereof. Because I think this kid is

01:25:35.020 --> 01:25:38.439
delusional, honestly. Like, I don't see any reason

01:25:38.439 --> 01:25:40.779
why the military is letting him, first of all,

01:25:40.800 --> 01:25:43.880
inside these perimeters and these dangerous situations.

01:25:44.300 --> 01:25:46.300
Because the point, like, he's there every time.

01:25:46.359 --> 01:25:48.659
I'm like, is nobody watching this kid? This kid

01:25:48.659 --> 01:25:52.460
would be on, like, the government's radar at

01:25:52.460 --> 01:25:58.640
this point. hazardous off -limit prohibited you

01:25:58.640 --> 01:26:03.640
know sections of of places so it was a little

01:26:03.640 --> 01:26:07.800
unbelievable for me yeah and i'm like to shio

01:26:07.800 --> 01:26:11.779
you need help because you're delusional honestly

01:26:11.779 --> 01:26:15.979
and you're gonna get yourself killed right yeah

01:26:15.979 --> 01:26:20.039
it's like realistically he like the first time

01:26:20.039 --> 01:26:21.699
he saw gamera he would have been dead within

01:26:21.699 --> 01:26:25.239
like 10 seconds you know uh And like, yeah, like

01:26:25.239 --> 01:26:28.380
he's an annoying character for sure. And like

01:26:28.380 --> 01:26:30.520
towards the end when he keeps on popping up in

01:26:30.520 --> 01:26:32.619
these dangerous situations, I'm like, oh, what

01:26:32.619 --> 01:26:35.220
a brat. Like where's his big sister? Like is

01:26:35.220 --> 01:26:37.140
she not supposed to be watching him right now

01:26:37.140 --> 01:26:39.979
or his dad for that matter? Yeah. And where's

01:26:39.979 --> 01:26:42.680
his mom? See, I think if this movie wanted to

01:26:42.680 --> 01:26:47.500
explore that family unit, that could really enrich

01:26:47.500 --> 01:26:52.100
the film dramatically, which I think there's

01:26:52.100 --> 01:26:55.680
room for it. However, obviously, that's not what

01:26:55.680 --> 01:26:59.380
Daiei was going for. But I could see a version

01:26:59.380 --> 01:27:03.600
where we get the sense of a broken home life

01:27:03.600 --> 01:27:07.149
for Toshio. Yeah, I think there's a brief line

01:27:07.149 --> 01:27:09.369
of dialogue towards the beginning where his dad

01:27:09.369 --> 01:27:12.710
says that Toshio's mom died a while ago. But

01:27:12.710 --> 01:27:16.109
I don't think they say exactly why. Like, I don't

01:27:16.109 --> 01:27:18.109
know if it was in World War II. I don't think

01:27:18.109 --> 01:27:20.369
that's ever really explained, but I don't think

01:27:20.369 --> 01:27:22.390
she's in the picture anymore. So to your point,

01:27:22.470 --> 01:27:24.750
like they could have elaborated on that a little

01:27:24.750 --> 01:27:30.750
bit more. Yeah. But I mean, that's the, you know,

01:27:30.770 --> 01:27:33.489
the longest short of it for me with the bat category.

01:27:33.909 --> 01:27:37.369
Yeah. Well, I'm just going to pretend that Gamera

01:27:37.369 --> 01:27:39.770
the Invincible doesn't exist, like, for the rest

01:27:39.770 --> 01:27:41.930
of my life. So I'm not going to talk about that

01:27:41.930 --> 01:27:43.869
at all. Don't watch the American version. I'll

01:27:43.869 --> 01:27:46.890
just say that one more time. But with the Japanese

01:27:46.890 --> 01:27:49.470
version, Gamera the Giant Monster, I would agree

01:27:49.470 --> 01:27:52.869
that the Toshio character is, like, amusing,

01:27:53.130 --> 01:27:55.890
but also pretty annoying. And, like, you know,

01:27:55.890 --> 01:27:58.670
it just stretches believability. And I know you

01:27:58.670 --> 01:27:59.970
could argue, like, this movie's not supposed

01:27:59.970 --> 01:28:01.770
to be believable. But, like, there should be,

01:28:01.949 --> 01:28:05.789
you know. The military would not allow this kid

01:28:05.789 --> 01:28:09.210
to do this over and over again. So I'm repeating

01:28:09.210 --> 01:28:12.430
what you said, Vincent. That is a hindrance for

01:28:12.430 --> 01:28:15.989
me, for sure. And, you know, I guess I'll just

01:28:15.989 --> 01:28:18.470
kind of, I also mentioned this briefly earlier,

01:28:18.550 --> 01:28:21.920
but like. For me, I think my favorite kaiju movie

01:28:21.920 --> 01:28:25.199
will always be the 1954 Godzilla because it was

01:28:25.199 --> 01:28:28.159
just so original. It blended political commentary

01:28:28.159 --> 01:28:31.699
and this kind of fantastic sci -fi storyline

01:28:31.699 --> 01:28:34.920
like it had never been done before. And Gamera

01:28:34.920 --> 01:28:39.260
has a lot of strengths, but it's a cash grab.

01:28:39.380 --> 01:28:41.579
I think it's trying to capitalize on Godzilla's

01:28:41.579 --> 01:28:44.500
success. Not to mention the birds and Beast from

01:28:44.500 --> 01:28:47.159
20 ,000 Fathoms and all those other movies. And

01:28:47.159 --> 01:28:50.039
the lack of originality does knock it down a

01:28:50.039 --> 01:28:53.060
little bit in my estimation. But again, there's

01:28:53.060 --> 01:28:56.800
still enough distinct and charming imaginative

01:28:56.800 --> 01:28:59.960
stuff in this movie to compensate for that, in

01:28:59.960 --> 01:29:03.979
my opinion. I'm really interested in where we'll

01:29:03.979 --> 01:29:08.619
land with our final ratings. Yeah, me too. For

01:29:08.619 --> 01:29:12.960
the campy, yeah, I mean, this movie's full of

01:29:12.960 --> 01:29:16.390
them, but we talked about Pee Wee. which is just

01:29:16.390 --> 01:29:27.010
so silly. I love that they shoot Gamera into

01:29:27.010 --> 01:29:32.350
space and to Mars. They, it's just such like,

01:29:32.430 --> 01:29:37.390
like it's plan Z plan. Z is very campy and it's

01:29:37.390 --> 01:29:40.590
very indicative of the space age of this movie.

01:29:40.770 --> 01:29:44.649
But yeah, it's just like. That's it. We're just

01:29:44.649 --> 01:29:48.869
going to lure him into our rocket and shoot him

01:29:48.869 --> 01:29:56.210
off into space to Mars. No less. It's just such

01:29:56.210 --> 01:30:00.369
like writers at a table thinking, well, I got

01:30:00.369 --> 01:30:02.430
nothing else. Let's just shoot the guy to space.

01:30:02.529 --> 01:30:04.770
Yeah. Are we going to wrap this thing up now?

01:30:04.970 --> 01:30:08.619
Yeah. and it's funny because they make such a

01:30:08.619 --> 01:30:10.760
big deal out of plan z like they mention it over

01:30:10.760 --> 01:30:12.859
and over again but they don't explain exactly

01:30:12.859 --> 01:30:14.920
what it is and then like you finally find out

01:30:14.920 --> 01:30:17.380
at the very end of the movie and it's yeah it's

01:30:17.380 --> 01:30:19.220
like you just said like oh that's it and they're

01:30:19.220 --> 01:30:21.100
just gonna like trap him in a rocket and shoot

01:30:21.100 --> 01:30:23.819
him into outer space all right yeah a little

01:30:23.819 --> 01:30:28.560
anticlimactic at that point there's one more

01:30:28.560 --> 01:30:31.060
it's just like a line that made me laugh where

01:30:31.060 --> 01:30:34.609
dr hidaka I think it's him. They're talking about

01:30:34.609 --> 01:30:38.550
they can freeze Gamera and Hidaka. It might have

01:30:38.550 --> 01:30:41.569
been this other scientist. He's like, well, that's

01:30:41.569 --> 01:30:44.510
it. We could freeze him and we can in Operation

01:30:44.510 --> 01:30:48.630
Deep Freeze. Is this the way he says that line?

01:30:48.750 --> 01:30:50.949
It's like he's had that line in his back pocket

01:30:50.949 --> 01:30:53.609
his whole life. And now he's like, we could call

01:30:53.609 --> 01:30:56.869
it Operation Deep Freeze. Yeah. Everyone's like,

01:30:56.949 --> 01:30:59.770
okay, yeah, that's a good name. Glad you came

01:30:59.770 --> 01:31:04.670
up with that. Yeah, I know what you mean. His

01:31:04.670 --> 01:31:06.729
line delivery there is like very proud of himself.

01:31:07.050 --> 01:31:10.409
This is his pet project. Deep freeze. Saving

01:31:10.409 --> 01:31:14.369
it for years. It's not as good as Plan Z, but

01:31:14.369 --> 01:31:19.289
it's still pretty good. Yeah. Yeah, I love that

01:31:19.289 --> 01:31:22.310
whole scene. You know, in Dr. Hidaka, like...

01:31:22.779 --> 01:31:23.960
even though he's supposed to be this brilliant

01:31:23.960 --> 01:31:25.800
scientist, doesn't really seem to have a good

01:31:25.800 --> 01:31:28.760
understanding of physics or nuclear radiation

01:31:28.760 --> 01:31:32.699
or how they're going to affect Gamera. He comes

01:31:32.699 --> 01:31:35.239
up with these questions and ideas in that same

01:31:35.239 --> 01:31:37.460
exact scene where the other soldiers are like,

01:31:37.560 --> 01:31:39.859
oh, that will not work. Let me tell you why.

01:31:41.159 --> 01:31:45.140
And I just kept on thinking, who is Dr. Hidaka?

01:31:45.239 --> 01:31:47.079
What is the medicine that he specializes in?

01:31:47.479 --> 01:31:49.779
Because he's not very good at this particular

01:31:49.779 --> 01:31:55.020
line of work. He's a great idea, man. Yeah, yeah.

01:31:55.859 --> 01:31:59.880
Operation Deep Freeze. That's his one idea. I

01:31:59.880 --> 01:32:03.279
love all that stuff. For me, I think the campy

01:32:03.279 --> 01:32:05.640
scene that I want to mention is like the Tokyo

01:32:05.640 --> 01:32:07.800
nightclub with like the kind of like surf rock

01:32:07.800 --> 01:32:11.619
band. And I guess I do have to mention the American

01:32:11.619 --> 01:32:14.979
version one more time because the song that's

01:32:14.979 --> 01:32:17.279
played during the American version actually became

01:32:17.279 --> 01:32:20.020
kind of a hit in the United States, even though

01:32:20.020 --> 01:32:23.920
the lyrics are just insanely stupid. It's just

01:32:23.920 --> 01:32:28.020
like, Gamera, Gamera, over and over again, and

01:32:28.020 --> 01:32:31.800
that's the entire song. It's really dumb. In

01:32:31.800 --> 01:32:33.739
the Japanese version, there's a similar song.

01:32:33.800 --> 01:32:35.140
It's a little bit different. But then anyway,

01:32:35.340 --> 01:32:37.359
the police come in and they're like, Gamera's

01:32:37.359 --> 01:32:39.979
coming. Everybody has to leave. And these young

01:32:39.979 --> 01:32:42.560
hooligans in this nightclub are like, oh, this

01:32:42.560 --> 01:32:44.220
shindig's never going to end, man. We're going

01:32:44.220 --> 01:32:46.779
to dance the night away. So they keep on dancing.

01:32:46.840 --> 01:32:49.420
And almost immediately, Gamera just tears the

01:32:49.420 --> 01:32:52.119
roof off of this nightclub. I really love that

01:32:52.119 --> 01:32:54.819
scene in both the Japanese. Yeah, it's so dumb.

01:32:55.100 --> 01:32:58.159
And I'm saying that in kind of a complimentary

01:32:58.159 --> 01:33:00.979
fun way. I don't know if it's supposed to be

01:33:00.979 --> 01:33:04.159
a satire of like, you know, the youth in Tokyo

01:33:04.159 --> 01:33:07.159
and how just like backwards they are or like

01:33:07.159 --> 01:33:09.939
irresponsible or something. But I don't know.

01:33:10.000 --> 01:33:12.619
It's a very fun tangent. It doesn't make a lot

01:33:12.619 --> 01:33:16.000
of sense. And it's so satisfying when like they

01:33:16.000 --> 01:33:18.239
start dancing and immediately Gamera just like

01:33:18.239 --> 01:33:21.000
presumably kills all of them. I love that moment.

01:33:22.840 --> 01:33:29.020
Again, Toshio, Gamera is a murderous beast. Yeah.

01:33:29.380 --> 01:33:32.720
Except with children, apparently. Yeah. I mean,

01:33:32.720 --> 01:33:35.699
why he saves Toshio from the lighthouse, we'll

01:33:35.699 --> 01:33:40.020
never know. Yeah. Friend of all children, apparently.

01:33:40.020 --> 01:33:42.399
Although you would have to assume that Gamera

01:33:42.399 --> 01:33:44.539
inadvertently kills a lot of children during

01:33:44.539 --> 01:33:47.479
his assault on Tokyo. That is true. Who knows?

01:33:47.640 --> 01:33:51.579
I guess we don't see that. All right. Let's give

01:33:51.579 --> 01:33:57.819
this monster our final rating. Yeah, so as always

01:33:57.819 --> 01:34:00.880
on Camp Kaiju, we have four ratings that we give

01:34:00.880 --> 01:34:03.319
at the end of the episode. Number one, it's a

01:34:03.319 --> 01:34:05.500
timeless classic. It definitely stands the test

01:34:05.500 --> 01:34:08.439
of time. Number two, there may be some antiquated

01:34:08.439 --> 01:34:10.680
moments, but overall it's great. It stands the

01:34:10.680 --> 01:34:13.739
test of time. Number three, it may be historically

01:34:13.739 --> 01:34:16.500
significant or just fun, but it does not stand

01:34:16.500 --> 01:34:19.300
the test of time. And our lowest rating, it is

01:34:19.300 --> 01:34:21.319
not worth revisiting. It definitely does not

01:34:21.319 --> 01:34:24.020
stand the test of time. Okay, I'm going to let

01:34:24.020 --> 01:34:28.720
you go first. Okay. What do you got? Well, all

01:34:28.720 --> 01:34:30.979
right, sorry, one more time. Gamera the Invincible,

01:34:31.119 --> 01:34:33.699
the American version, gets lower than our lowest

01:34:33.699 --> 01:34:37.840
rating. It's terrible. It's like it's the fifth

01:34:37.840 --> 01:34:40.399
rating. It's off the list. That's how much I

01:34:40.399 --> 01:34:43.500
just like it. But more to the point, the Japanese

01:34:43.500 --> 01:34:47.439
version, Gamera the Giant Monster, I'm going

01:34:47.439 --> 01:34:49.859
to give it our second highest rating. There may

01:34:49.859 --> 01:34:51.939
be some antiquated moments, but overall it's

01:34:51.939 --> 01:34:55.439
great. It stands the test of time. You know,

01:34:55.460 --> 01:34:57.300
it would be nice if it was a little more original,

01:34:57.319 --> 01:34:59.319
if it wasn't such a blatant ripoff of Godzilla.

01:34:59.500 --> 01:35:02.619
But there's so much to love about it. It's very

01:35:02.619 --> 01:35:04.939
charming. It looks fantastic. The special effects

01:35:04.939 --> 01:35:09.140
work, again, is great. It launched so many, like

01:35:09.140 --> 01:35:11.319
such a popular series. I really love Gamera vs.

01:35:11.539 --> 01:35:13.119
Gauss, which we've talked about on the podcast

01:35:13.119 --> 01:35:16.439
before. This is just a really hard movie to dislike.

01:35:16.960 --> 01:35:20.020
So yeah, it stands the test of time. The Japanese

01:35:20.020 --> 01:35:23.300
version is very, very fun. Absolutely. I am going

01:35:23.300 --> 01:35:25.960
to give it... The full classic stands the test

01:35:25.960 --> 01:35:29.720
of time, despite exactly what you say. I mean,

01:35:29.760 --> 01:35:34.000
this is in some ways a carbon copy. You picture

01:35:34.000 --> 01:35:36.979
a kaiju movie. This is it. With that said, I

01:35:36.979 --> 01:35:40.340
think it's done exceptionally well and stands

01:35:40.340 --> 01:35:45.279
above many of its peers. And Gamera's design,

01:35:45.460 --> 01:35:47.819
that's what tips it into true classic status

01:35:47.819 --> 01:35:53.119
for me. His design is so memorable. It's so unique.

01:35:53.760 --> 01:35:59.319
so bonkers that you can't help but just for me

01:35:59.319 --> 01:36:03.300
like i'm obsessed with gamera whatever like subsequent

01:36:03.300 --> 01:36:06.399
movies you know with how terrible they are but

01:36:06.399 --> 01:36:11.479
this monster i love and and will never top godzilla

01:36:11.479 --> 01:36:14.720
in my heart but is he's on the mount rushmore

01:36:14.720 --> 01:36:19.649
absolutely yeah someday I'll have to ask you

01:36:19.649 --> 01:36:21.250
what your Mount Rushmore is. I don't know if

01:36:21.250 --> 01:36:23.869
now is the best time for it, but I love how much

01:36:23.869 --> 01:36:26.310
you love this movie. And Gamera, the character,

01:36:26.489 --> 01:36:29.090
yeah, he's definitely very high up there for

01:36:29.090 --> 01:36:32.210
me, for sure. Yeah. All right, man. That was

01:36:32.210 --> 01:36:35.890
Gamera, the giant monster, everybody. Go check

01:36:35.890 --> 01:36:40.090
it out. And when you do... Let us know what you

01:36:40.090 --> 01:36:41.989
thought about it. We'd love to hear your thoughts

01:36:41.989 --> 01:36:44.329
here on Camp Kaiju. Rate and review wherever

01:36:44.329 --> 01:36:46.590
you listen. You can also share this podcast with

01:36:46.590 --> 01:36:49.409
a friend. Subscribe to the website. Send us listener

01:36:49.409 --> 01:36:52.789
comments at campkaiju at gmail .com. On Instagram,

01:36:52.949 --> 01:36:54.890
links all in the show notes. You know where to

01:36:54.890 --> 01:36:57.069
find them. If you'd like to be a featured voice

01:36:57.069 --> 01:37:01.909
on the show, leave a voicemail at 612 -470 -2612

01:37:01.909 --> 01:37:04.609
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01:37:04.609 --> 01:37:07.939
and memories. Camp Kaiju is recorded in Minneapolis,

01:37:08.159 --> 01:37:10.739
St. Paul with Menia's mailbox music by Ben Cook

01:37:10.739 --> 01:37:13.600
-Felts. Thank you, friends. And until next time,

01:37:13.720 --> 01:37:17.680
stay campy. Camp Kaiju is sponsored by Zach Linder

01:37:17.680 --> 01:37:20.100
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01:37:20.180 --> 01:37:22.340
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01:37:22.340 --> 01:37:24.199
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01:37:31.680 --> 01:38:18.220
opportunities. Link in the show notes. We're

01:38:18.220 --> 01:38:21.720
not going anywhere I say we should stay here