Gamera vs. Viras (1968) User Reviews

Harder to Take than I Expected

[Wyrmis · 5/10 · 12 December 2005]

No one goes into the old Gamera movies expecting brilliance. In fact, most watch them fairly openly to delve into the schlock, whether as a guilty pleasure or to enjoy mocking it. I am somewhere in the middle of these two. I have a massive high tolerance for "badness", especially when it is done in the spirit of earnest fun, but there was a couple of times where I just wanted to shut this one off.

The first reason was the flashbacks to which many viewers allude. Not only is there a roughly fifteen minute scene composed of much too large chunks of "fight" scenes from earlier movies, but there are at least two "major" scenes that are taken from the first and second movie and then played off as freshly happening. It is so poorly done, that the scenes from the first one are left in black and white, despite the rest of this movie being in color! The second reason was the utter illogic of this one, in places. A genius kid is one thing, if almost always annoying at times, but this one went above and beyond. Not only is the kid allowed to tamper with various things with almost no repercussion, but him and his friend are given far too much freedom in the middle half of the movie. It is almost like this is a kid's happy dream, as opposed to an abduction by a vindictive life force.

And the climatic decision...egads! All in all, I stuck with it, and finally just started laughing out loud at it machinations. The final scene has some really good moments, as well, including some really well staged smashes and jabs. I give it a solid five stars, I enjoyed it once my brain switched over into its mode of handling things.

The stock footage is so abundant that if there had been more, it could have been a "Best of Gamera" show instead of a continuation to the series

[TheUnknown837-1 · 5/10 · 23 July 2011]

The veering of the Gamera series towards the younger generation began with the fourth film, "Gamera vs. Viras" released a speedy three years after the original hit Japanese theaters in 1965. Even though the previous movie, the gleefully entertaining "Gamera vs. Gyaos" was also geared mostly toward children, it still had an element of terror and dread in it. That is gone here and "Gamera vs. Viras" is an unsuccessfully endeavor. However, that it is hardly due to the fact that it is being directed at little children and those who are still able to find the child deep within themselves (a la moi). The problem with this picture is, despite its wonderful beginning and wonderful ending, most of the middle is just shameless, lazy jigsaw-construction of its predecessors. In other words, it's mostly just stock footage reels.

The opening is very promising. A spaceship venturing for a conquest of Earth is interrupted by Gamera, now fully evolved into the friend of all children. Before the vessel is destroyed, it sends a signal back to its home world and a second one is dispatched. Upon the new one's arrival, the aliens use their technology to determine Gamera's weaknesses and take two boy scouts (Toru Takatsuka & Carl Craig) hostage. Now implicating a mind-control device, they use Gamera to destroy civilization. The thin plot becomes thinner before it ultimately leads up to the titular conflict between the giant terrapin and a slimy extra-terrestrial cephalopod.

The movie is so wonderful at first. Both Gamera and the two boys are very entertaining. The latter are portrayed as witty, audacious, and thoughtful individuals...despite the occasional prank or two. And a scene involving them inside of a submersible racing Gamera underwater brought a smile to my face. But the movie starts crippling itself at the moment where the aliens start searching Gamera's past. It's stock footage from the previous movies, each reel lasting roughly five minutes. The aliens quote that their process takes fifteen minutes and it literally does. There's hardly any narration or trimming of the stock footage; it's just reused. (Frighteningly enough, for the U.S. version, the stock footage reel was increased to a mind-numbing twenty-five minutes!) When this ends, there is some relief, but then it becomes just more reused footage from the previous movies. Sequence upon sequence. And most jarring of all is when they decide to once again show Gamera attacking Tokyo as he did in the original film "Gamera the Giant Monster." Now if you will recall, that movie was black-and-white. This one is in color. Eyes squinting yet? Colorization was not around at the time this picture was made and yes, they still integrate colorless footage into a color movie! Just a slight bluish tint, that's all. And sadly, this drags on and on seemingly without end and wore me out. All of a sudden, even the whim and charm of Mr. Takatsuka and Mr. Craig, both of whom are very good in the film, seems unimportant.

Now the movie does pick up a little when the final battle does arrive. And it's satiatingly lengthy, but even with that, by the time it was all over, "Gamera vs. Viras" had exhausted me and left me feeling a thirst for a lot more. The stock footage it so abundant that if there had been more, it could have been a "Best of Gamera" show instead of a continuation to the series. And as far as I am concerned, a low budget should not be an excuse for ham-handed filmmaking. There are some good things here, including a leading performance by that wonderful actor Kojiro Hongo (who was in the previous two Gamera movies and would later play a small part in Shusuke Kaneko's marvelous "Gamera: Guardian of the Universe" almost thirty years later) but there are also a lot of bad things here too.

"I'm so hungry I could eat a cow." The type of film that defies logical convention.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 21 January 2008]

Gamera tai uchu kaijû Bairasu, or Destroy All Planets as the American telly version is known, is set in Japan & starts as an evil race of aliens decide to take over the Earth & colonise it since it is the one planet in the entire universe that most resembles their own. However giant flying fire breathing turtle monster Gamera has other ideas & protects the Earth from these aliens, after destroying one of their spacecraft the aliens need to come up with a way to either destroy or control Gamera which will leave the way to total Earth domination free! Knowing that Gamera has a particular fondness for little boys the aliens kidnap two boy scouts Jim (Carl Craig) & Masao (Toru Takatsuka) & then fit Gamera with a brain control device to enable the aliens to make Gamera assist them in the destruction of Earth & mankind!

This Japanese production was directed Noriaki Yuasa & was the fourth film to feature the giant fire breathing turtle Gamera that can fly by using blue jets of fire that shoot out of where he legs normally protrude after pulling them into his shell, I suppose you could say that Gamera is a sort of Godzilla type monster who actually protects the Earth from other monsters. Anyway, the script by Nisan (named after the car?) Takahashi moves along like a rocket & at least isn't boring, it is just one of those indefinable madcap oddball Japanese monster flicks where anything goes & quite often does. Gamera tai uchu kaijû Bairasu is just one of those films which defies conventional logic, you can't watch Gamera tai uchu kaijû Bairasu & judge it next to normal film-making, you just can't. The script is just a strange incoherent mess of bizarre ideas from (very Japanese looking) alien invaders who wear silly little beret's on their heads, having detachable homing limbs, wear what looks like Vicar's dog collars around their necks, have glow in the dark eyes & can fly to their master Viras which is a sort of mutant space squid with beady shifty little eyes, a beak for a mouth, can use the tip of it's body as a spear & is kept in a cage until it is let out at which point it then chops the heads off the other aliens in order to let the inner squid out of them & absorb their power thus making Viras grow to huge proportions in order to fight & destroy Gamera! If that sounds weird it's just the beginning since the evil aliens who mange to build sophisticated spacecraft are defeated by a couple of teenage boy scouts, the spacecraft is controlled telepathically, there's a big bird monster who shoots lasers from it's mouth, the spacecraft looks like five ping pong balls stuck together & despite saving the whole planet Jim & Masao don't get any supper! As I have already said Gamera tai uchu kaijû Bairasu is an incredibly silly film yet it's so action packed & fun that I found it impossible not to like it, I think Gamera tai uchu kaijû Bairasu is a kids film & by that I mean kids of all ages...

Gamera tai uchu kaijû Bairasu was the fourth Gamera film & the first forty minutes features about twenty minutes of footage taken from the previous two Gamera films, War of the Monsters (1966) & Return of the Giant Monsters (1967) which at least keeps the monster mayhem coming thick & fast. The special effects are of the men in rubber suits destroying scale models of Japan, Viras the space squid has to be seen to be believed with it's beady little eyes which dart left & right! The spaceship shots look really silly as well with a stupid looking design. But when all said & done I don't think anyone who knows anything about Japanese monster films is going to go into Gamera tai uchu kaijû Bairasu expecting realistic effects. Well, at least I hope they're not. The fights are fun, Gamera destroying Tokyo is fun as is the whole film really, it's the sort of cheesy Saturday afternoon monster flick that kids used to love watching on telly.

Technically the film is alright considering, OK the special effects are cheap but allowances need to be made. The whole thing was obviously dubbed for American audiences, originally running 75 minutes the American version was reedited & increased to 90 minutes. I actually saw the 90 minute version & there are separate credits for the 'American Re-Recording' under 'Titan Productions' including Bret Morrison as director! It's impossible to know how good or bad the original acting was since the entire thing is obviously & often hilariously dubbed into English but I doubt it was any good in the first place.

Gamera tai uchu kaijû Bairasu is a fun Godzilla style Japanese monster fest, there's plenty of bizarre things going on to take your mind of the ridiculous plot & the aliens silly costumes. I liked it but then I have a high tolerance for this type of cult trash, if you like men in rubber monster suits fighting each other type films then you will probably enjoy Gamera tai uchu kaijû Bairasu & if you don't you won't.

One of the coolest looking Japanese monsters of all time!

[giantdevilfish · 17 July 2003]

Viras has to be one of the best monsters that the Japanese ever created. I'm hoping and praying that Daiei Studios brings him back if they ever make another Gamera movie. A gigantic space squid with a cool looking face, creepy yellow eyes, and who's roar sounds like screeching metal just simply rocks! The problem with this movie however(next to the fact that two kids are the main stars) is that it's padded with huge amounts of stock footage. We get to see Gamera's origin and attack on Tokyo (in black and white!!) and his early fights with Barugon and Gyoas all from the first three Gamera films! This ruins the overall movie. But next to that it's pretty fun. A spaceship that looks like it's made with 5 black and yellow striped ping-pong balls, Viras decapitating his useless subordinates, and the giant Viras bloodily impaling Gamera with his sharp pointy head are the standout scenes in this flick.

Good Fun but Bogged Down by Stock Footage.

[Space_Mafune · 5/10 · 13 September 2006]

Gamera steps in repeatedly to stop evil aliens from taking over the Earth. Frustrated but still determined, the aliens search for a weakness in Gamera's armor finally deciding to use Gamera's fondness for children against him. Capturing two boy scouts Gamera had recently befriended and threatening to kill them unless Gamera follows their commands, the aliens succeed in implanting a mind control device into Gamera. Now they threaten to have Gamera wreck havoc and destruction upon the world unless humanity bows to their demands. And if their plot involving Gamera doesn't work out, the aliens have yet another monstrous surprise all their own named Viras at their disposal.

While I quite enjoy that portion of the film that actually features new footage of Gamera and Viras in action, a third of this movie seems to be made up of stock footage from previous Gamera films and the way the footage is used is disappointing, one action sequence after another after yet another to the point it really grinds the movie to an halt. It's really too bad as the alien footage features some neat albeit shocking images much more gruesome than is usual for this type of kids' movies and the final battle with Viras just has to be seen to be believed. All in all, this is good fun that should appeal to those young and young at heart but still, that third featuring stock footage is tough slugging.

More silliness from the tremendous tusked turtle

[jamesrupert2014 · 3/10 · 14 April 2018]

In this, his fourth outing, Gamara finally hits stride as a children's hero, complete with his cheesily heroic (albeit memorable) theme music. The film follows a pair of irritating boy scouts (Maseo and Jim) who are kidnapped by aliens to act as human shields against Gamera, now established as Earth's guardian turtle. The UN does some careful 'cost: benefit' analysis and decides to surrender the entire planet in exchange for the boys' safety, but fortunately the Maseo's prankish ingenuity gets the better of the somewhat credulous aliens and the resourceful pair manage to turn the tables on our would-be overloads. A budget offering, the middle third of the film consists of lengthy clips taken from the first three films as the aliens examine Gamera's memories for a weakness. The movie is saved from absolute bottom-of-the-barrel status by Maseo's cute girl-guide sister, some inventive spaceship effects, the imaginative hexopod kaiju, and a somewhat Freudian impalement scene. For kaiju aficionados or the most undiscerning viewers only. I watched an English-dubbed, poor quality DVD version, which may have contributed to my low opinion of the opus.

So-so Gamera flick

[Woodyanders · 5/10 · 3 October 2010]

The Gamera series takes a pretty substantial nosedive in quality with this regrettably cheap and plodding fourth entry. The plot is sound -- the big fire-breathing flying prehistoric turtle falls under the nefarious spell of evil space invaders and it's up to two mischievous boy scouts to free Gamera so he can successfully thwart the extraterrestrial menace -- but alas undermined by a conspicuously low budget (there's copious stock footage from previous Gamera films), a meandering narrative, too much goofy humor (the silly antics of the two boys wears really thin after a while), tacky and none too convincing (not so) special effects, slack direction by Noriaka Yuasa, and an often sluggish pace. That said, the theme song is quite catchy and rousing, the scenes of Gamera stomping on cities and destroying dams hit the thrilling mondo destructo spot something sweet, and Gamera's lively and exciting protracted climactic battle with an enormous one-eyed squid creature is loads of wacky fun to watch. Watchable, but overall nothing special.

It's ludicrous, but who cares?

[soulexpress · 5/10 · 29 August 2017]

This was the fourth installment of the massively popular Gamera films out of Japan. It was also the first one that's unabashedly made for kids. And before you ask: no, MST3K never riffed on it.

The unashamedly silly plot goes as follows: alien beings in a spaceship that looks like bumblebees plan to kill everyone on Earth so they can populate the planet themselves. Cue Gamera, the giant prehistoric flying turtle with fangs, fiery breath, and jet propulsion in his feet. Before the aliens can get near the Earth, Gamera kicks ass on them. The would-be invaders retreat but dispatch a second bumblebee ship. This time, the aliens trap Gamera on the bottom of the ocean with some kind of electronic net thingy.

But Gamera frees himself, prompting the aliens to affix a mind- control device to the turtle. He eventually loses the device and trashes the spaceship, only to do battle with Viras, the aliens' lord and master. If the storyline sounds familiar, it was recycled the following year for GAMERA VS. GUIRON, a/k/a DESTROY ALL MONSTERS.

When director Kinji Yuasa realized he only had about an hour of footage, he padded the film out with scenes from the previous three movies. Never mind that the first two were in black and white. The same thing happens when the aliens order Gamera to destroy Tokyo. Since the turtle had done so in the first film (when he was still a bad monster), director Yuasa merely inserted the footage here. So approximately one-third of this 90-minute film is in black and white.

There's also a sub-plot involving two mischievous Boy Scouts (or whatever the Japanese call them) who steal a mini-sub and end up racing with Gamera on the ocean's floor. They also get caught in the electronic net thingy when the aliens catch their turtle foe. Later on, they abduct the boys and take them aboard the Starship Bumblebee as leverage against the child-loving Gamera—not to mention the Japanese miiltary. That's right, folks. These two boys are apparently worth the annihilation of the rest of humanity!

It's ludicrous, but who cares? Certainly not the kids in the audience, who just wanted to see Gamera locked in mortal combat with his latest goofy-looking monster foe. In that regard, the film delivers. And unlike the next chapter, neither kid is obsessed with traffic accidents.

CHEESY FUN

[bbrasher1 · 1/10 · 24 July 2003]

Having been a Godzilla fan for many years, Gamera was to me a cheap knockoff to capitalize on the success of Toho's #1 kaiju star. ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS was for me at the time (1975) an almost painful viewing experience.

Last weekend, I attended the annual Godzilla fest, known as G-FEST, where Carl Craig, one of the stars of GAMERA vs. VIRAS, made an appearance. Of course, they featured this movie. It was one of the most hilarious bad movies ever made. Of course, you have to be in the right frame of mind to watch it. In one scene, for example, the boy scouts held prisoner on board the alien space craft manage to escape by distracting the not-too-bright aliens. When they realize they"ve been duped, one of them says, "That's funny...I think those kids lied to us." Not even PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE can boast that kind of dialog.

This may not be GODZILLA or even GAMERA 3, but this one is a decent enough time waster, if you watch it in the right frame of mind.

However, if you want top quality kaiju entertainment, check out the recently released GAMERA 3.

Rating: **1/2 out of *****

A fine introduction to the Giant Turtle

[judex-1 · 7/10 · 26 September 2003]

This has to be the hardest Gamera film to find, in these post NAMBLA days. It does have a whole bunch of recycled footage, but since it was my introduction to the character, it didn't bother me, until I saw the films it was swiped from, later on. After I saw this a whole bunch of times on KTLA, I became a serious fan. Yeah, it's cheesy, but I didn't care, and I still don't. The dubbing was supervised by Bret Morrison, a post-Orson Welles voice of "The Shadow" on radio, and he was pretty astounded when I asked him about it at a late-70's Multiple Sclerosis fundraiser. It's good cheese, and I wouldn't be without it! Also, this and "Super Monster Gamera" (even worse, for much the same reasons) are the two Gamera films that didn't get worked over by Mystery Science Theatre 3000.

Pax!

--Judex.1--

Just More of the Same

[Hitchcoc · 2/10 · 16 May 2006]

More of a Frisbee like turtle with fangs that go up like a wart hog. More battles with people in bird suits that look like people in bird suits. A ping pong ball space ship. Two naughty boys who know how to do everything, including getting on board the space ship. More tiresome music. More "Gamera is the friend of children" stuff. I remember when Godzill and Rodan came out. The movies were a lot of fun because the monsters were actually a threat to people. Now they are just a parade of silly costumes with very little behind them. The adults are all ridiculous and moronic. Like in American sitcoms, the kids are the bosses (when in reality they couldn't think their way out of a paper bag). These monster movies must be the Japanese means of partonizing these little snots. Above all, however, is that after seeing three of these movies (with the same plot over and over; check the stock footage), the ultimate conclusion is that they are boring. If you haven't see this one, don't bother.

good 60ish children's monster movie

[r-c-s · 8/10 · 4 December 2005]

I remember seeing this movie ages ago, and it still has its appeal. Of course Gamera, besides being an "answer" (thus a spoof) of Godzilla, wanted to offer an alternative, EG a positive hero (later spoofed by the "good" Godzilla movies ). It is clearly 60ish, thus we can't expect much from its effects. It is a children's movie as well, thus an adult audience can easily be disappointed, mainly in the 2 child actors hogging so much screen time Gamera barely plays second fiddle. The 2 child actors are somewhat annoying, but better than -say- the child in "Godzilla versus the smog monster" or the one with Gigan & Jet Jaguar. This movie being what it is, it's not bad at all in its genre. Friendly Gamera defeats alien invaders, only for them to be back mesmerizing it under their control via radio waves (another subplot seen dozens of times ). The two children save the day inverting colored cubes in the control panel. In the end the alien commander (some giant octopus ) must show its colors & fight Gamera itself. Lots of stock footage & a very low budget.

Fun sequel, shame about the stock footage

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 19 March 2023]

GAMERA VS. VIRAS is the fourth in the series and only really marred by the inclusion of stock footage from previous GAMERA movies. This footage consists of our hero fighting various monstrous foes and lasts for around fifteen minutes, which I found really annoying. The rest is typically fun and feels different to previous Gamera movies, with the villains aliens who ride in a wacky-looking UFO. The glowing eye FX are fun and the child heroes, one Japanese and one American, are quite endearing. The second half of the film features some good monster put-downs and the inclusion of a giant squid adds to the enterprise.

60s Gamera was not 60s Gojira

[gigan-92 · 4/10 · 25 January 2011]

I picked up this movie not too long ago with decent expectations. All I can say is that 60s Gamera was not 60s Godzilla. This movie came out the same year as "Destroy All monsters", and anybody who knows kaiju knows that's not even a debate. To say this film lacks the character, charm, art, graceful music and over all atmosphere of Honda's work is an understatement. Now, this film had many a problem that even for a giant monster fan were just hard to sit through.

The camp is pretty horrendous, and the human characters are completely dismal. Same old annoying kids, in a world where youngsters are held hostage by aliens who then let them wander their ship which has a machine that can produce ANYTHING they desire. As far as idiotic plots, they could almost take the cake with this one. All along accompanied by a score I just do not care for.

oh and did I mention that if you haven't seen "Gamera vs. Barugon" or "Gamera vs. Gyaos" you get to see like almost ten minute-each flashbacks of each of those films? These flashbacks go on for quite a bit of time, I suppose to give the appearance that this is a feature run-time flick. When I first saw it, I was surprised. About more than half of this movie's action sequences are stock-footage. For Godzilla's sake, don't use stock footage from a black-and-white movie in the full-on color one; someone's bound to notice you know? However, after 90% of the film being completely pointless and redundant, there is pretty entertaining fight at the end. Too bad it was too little too late. Viras is a squid-like alien kaiju, who I suppose to some extent would provide inspiration for Irys in the 1999 film "Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys", but it's a much simpler concept design. I tracked this film down pretty much for the adventure of watching all the Gamera movies, but by no means is this one of the best, not by far. "Gamera vs. Barugon" and "Gamera vs. Gyaos" are far better made, hell even "Gamera vs. Guiron" improves on this one. Watch if you dare!

Support recycling: watch this movie!

[barugon · 5 February 1999]

Viras (a sort of space squid) and a shipful of aliens who dress like surgeons attempt to take over the Earth, two Boy Scouts at a time. Along comes Gamera... Suddenly, the movie grinds to a halt: we're treated to ELEVEN MINUTES of miscellaneous footage from the first three Gamera movies. Once the movie gets going again, we find Viras has implanted a mind-control device in Gamera's neck. He sends our hero turtle off to wreak havoc. This time we get to see even MORE footage from the previous movies: the dam attack scene from "Gamera vs. Barugon" and -- here's the kicker -- black and white footage from the original "Gamera", spliced in with no concern for continuity. The rest of the movie features some astonishingly gruesome images, including disembodied floating arms and Gamera getting impaled on Viras' pointy head. Basically, it's a cheap, cheap thrill for eleven-year-olds and immature adults like me.

More adventures of the giant fanged turtle with major gas issues.

[mark.waltz · 2/10 · 11 July 2017]

...Or should I say repeat adventures? The first half of thus film flashes back to the first two Gamera films, taking nearly half an hour of running time to explain to the kiddies who didn't see the first two films who this turtle is, and why he must either be destroyed along with every planet in the universe or be put to use and join the legion of bad, scary minsters everywhere. So after an introduction where two Japanese kids guide Camera through the Pacific ocean in their little yellow submarine (deliciously cheesy), we get a revisit between Gamera and various other monsters, one where a Japanese kid who's eaten way too many cookies hitches a ride on Gamera's back. This is all for the villains out to destroy the world in their spaceship that looks like a bunch of freaky eyeballs connected together to set up their motivation. Truly juvenile and badly dubbed, this is one of those films that makes you wonder about Japanese/American relations, "First Pearl Harbor, now this?" At least the viewer has a choice, which is either fast forward or turn off.

Aliens, turtle and stock footage

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 30 March 2020]

This film was released in the U.S. as Destroy All Planets, which may have been a ploy to make people think it was Destroy All Monsters, perhaps the greatest of all Toho monster battles.

This time, Gamera is defending our planet from aliens. He starts off by destroying one of their ships, but not before an entire planet declares that he is their enemy.

The aliens come back to Earth and learn Gamera's one weakness: he loves children. They kidnap some kids and force him to do their bidding, but before long, he's broken loose and is battling all of the aliens at once, who have combined their form into the menace known as Viras.

Daiei was in financial trouble, so this movie suffers from a smaller budget than previous films. But this is where the idea of Gamera protecting kids from aliens and monsters began. Yet it's also the first of the series to use flashbacks from past films to pad the running time. This will get much, much worse as Gamera would battle on.

There was also an agreement with AIP that an American kid had to be in the movie. They couldn't find any kids that could speak Japanese, so the studio cast Carl Craig, whose father was an army soldier stationed in Japan, despite Carl having no acting experience.

First seen on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater in 1971

[kevinolzak · 3/10 · 19 March 2022]

1968's "Destroy All Planets" ("Gamera tai Uchu Kaiju Bairasu" or Gamera vs. Outer Space Monster Viras) was the 4th Gamera entry from Daiei, furtively retitled by AIP-TV to confuse the unwary into believing it to be Toho's festive "Destroy All Monsters" (also made the same year). One might almost be tempted to think it was for at least the opening minutes, featuring an alien ship made up of five circling globes sending a message back to the planet Viras that a certain flying turtle must be defeated if they're to conquer the earth. It was director Noriaki Yuasa's intention to make this entirely child friendly, using two boy scouts as protagonists and little new monster action until the final reel, his task made easier by using an incredible 23 minutes of stock footage from its three predecessors to pad out the running time to an almost unbearable 90. Toru Takatsuki as Masao and Carl Craig as Jim are the pranksters in a troupe of boy scouts, switching controls on a minisub to make them look smarter than the operators, joined by Gamera beneath the waves for some relaxation before the invaders return. Once the tots are taken prisoner aboard the space craft they are able to force Gamera to do their bidding or risk the boys' lives. The only destruction shown is Gamera attacking a dam, taken directly from "War of the Monsters," plus some building stomping in black and white, otherwise his battles with Barugon and Gyaos are crammed together at the midway mark, the scouts using their wits to make fools of their captors by again reversing controls, watching the space squid Viras duke it out with Gamera for the climax. Impaling a turtle on its belly would seem to be a fool proof method to dispatch the pest, yet Gamera is able to use its flying abilities to reach new heights by freezing this less than formidable foe, to the tune of the instrumental theme that would be heard for the rest of the seven film series. Were it not for the long unseen finale "Gamera vs. Zigra" this might easily rank at the absolute bottom due to its repeat of past glories in such a way that future efforts could never top it, yet as a film designed for the young at heart one must grudgingly admit that it gets the job done (curiously enough, it was Yuasa's personal favorite).

The Roger Moore of Gamera films

[Retrostudious · 4/10 · 24 July 2022]

This film is such a shift in tone from the previous 3 films. It's embraced the comical aspects to such an extent it feels more like a Carry On film. In a similar vein to Bond where the first 3 films are the Gamera equivalent to Sean Connery. Gamera vs. Viras goes full on Roger Moore with it's wacky antics.

The worst part of this film is that so much of it is taken up with re-used footage recapping Gamera's previous battles, a huge chunk of runtime for an 81 minute film. This choice felt really unnecessary as it impacts the overall flow of the film. Its a shame considering this is the first time they introduce a really engaging and well developed human character in the form Masao whose a lovable mischievous tech genius. Its such a missed opportunity on the film makers part as this could have been truly brilliant.

Turtle Soup

[wes-connors · 2/10 · 7 April 2010]

"Gamera, the giant flying turtle returns to save humanity when an alien spacecraft approaches Earth intent on world domination. Gamera destroys the alien ship, but a second craft captures two boy scouts to shield them from Gamera. The aliens then place a control device on Gamera to make him attack Tokyo. The boys foul their plans when they manage to reverse the controls and Gamera confronts the squid-like beings in a climactic battle," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis. Re-titled "Destroy All Planets" for American consumption, this is a bad mix of ideas from other films, action sequences from previous "Gamera" movies, and the usual formulaic children.

** Gamera tai uchu kaijû Bairasu (3/20/68) Noriaki Yuasa ~ Toru Takatsuka, Carl Craig, Kojiro Hongo, Junko Yashiro

"Prepare the brain control device for firing!"

[classicsoncall · 3/10 · 21 June 2006]

"Destroy All Planets" winds up settling for 'destroy all Tokyo' by film's end, as a space monster resembling a giant squid falls to the reptilian furnace known as Gamera. Actually, Gamera is saving Earth right from the get go, knocking out Varian Space Ship #1 even before the first set of film credits roll. The scene switches to a Japanese scout camp where we meet a pair of meddlesome young heroes, Jim and Masao, who take part in Gamera's exploits after being kidnapped by the aliens and beamed aboard their ship in an electrified bubble shield.

It's pretty startling to see the boys convince a scientist to let them operate a newly invented submarine that might be defective. Previously boy genius Masao had wired the unit to run in reverse direction of it's controls, but Dr. Dobie didn't think about checking that out as a possibility. At least that prepared the boys for interfering with the alien space ship's controls by playing switcheroo with a bunch of triangular blocks.

When boss alien Viras says 'Activate the Videotron', hang on to your seats for rehashed footage from earlier Gamera movies where he battles Barugon and Gyaos. These take up quite a bit of screen time, but are no match for the fast forward button if you want to get on with it. For the longest time Viras addressed an invisible crew, and when they finally appeared, they were Orientals who could fly - imagine that!

Seeing as how these movies were made for a juvenile audience, it's surprising to see how gruesome some of the scenes are. Gamera drawing blood comes to mind, and how about the pair of space crew members being decapitated. When squid tentacles started emerging from the headless bodies I made a connection to the 'Alien' films; having the individual units merge to form the giant Viras was a neat device.

I guess the appeal for young kids might reside in identifying with the two young heroes who make friends with a giant monster, move around pretty freely on an alien space ship, and get to have whatever they want with the help of alien telepathic technology. Seeing as how the movie was presumably made by adults, it could have been a simple case of wish fulfillment.

As Good As a Movie Starring A Giant Turtle Gets

[stmichaeldet · 9/10 · 20 February 2006]

We open on a shot of one of the most wonderful alien spaceships in film history - six large black-and-yellow globes linked together in a tight circle, resembling a huddle of giant cartoon bees. Of course, the aliens have arrived to take over the Earth (to gain control of our nitrogen supplies, no less). So, Gamera, Friend to Children Everywhere, is obligated to destroy their ship, but not before they get off a message to their homeworld. "Send Ship Number 2. . ."

I've always liked this Gamera film best. Its Kennys (tm - in honor of Gamera's pal from the original film, all Gamera-film children are known as "Kenny") - a pair of pranksters who get held hostage to compel the big turtle's obedience - are more appealing than most. The flight sequences are still awesome. The Evil Monster (who never really gets a name, but its race is named something like "Varian") is an incredibly cool blade-headed squid-thing (Gamera always had the slickest, if somewhat unbelievable, costumes - see Gaos). There's plenty of Gamera's signature technicolor gore, including a huge sucking chest wound and a review of the (blue-, white-, purple-, and orange-)bloodiest scenes from previous films (which, admittedly, does go on a bit too long). Really, something for everyone.

"Child's Happy Dream"

[cpetr13 · 4/10 · 23 January 2006]

It must be remembered that the Gammera movies, like many of the first-series Gozilla films, WERE in fact aimed squarely at kids. Little Kenny and his cohorts are living out the daydreams of the kids in the audience: they get to run around and play with top-secret stuff while the adults stand by and allow it; they get to cavort with monsters, and even when the bad guys enter, they are never in any real danger.

Perhaps the first Gammera film is an aberration because the child DOES get punished and IS put into danger, but the rest of the series is pure wish fulfillment.

As one critic said, these aren't failed adult movies but successful kid's movies.

Ping Pong ball ship.

[Horror Fan · 6 February 1999]

Viras, a giant alien squid, takes his ping pong ball spaceship to conquer Earth. Who could come but Gamera, the big turtle and friend to all children, to save Earth. In order to defeat Gamera, the aliens scan into his past (about a half hour of stock footage that we have to sit though) and find out that he is friend to children. So they hold two boy scouts for ransom and put a transmitter in his brain. Now Gamera does what they want now and destroys Tokyo, but the boys have tricks up their sleeves. This is silly but a lot of fun to watch.

Gammera And The Kids

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 28 November 2010]

Like Godzilla before him, the Japanese producers decided to turn the flying turtle Gamera from an enemy to a friendly monster much the same way Vince McMahon does with his wrestlers. In fact Gamera's such a cuddly fellow here that he has a real love for children, a fact that aliens who are on a mission to Destroy All Planets try to use against Gammera and the earth.

When Gamera destroyed their ship in a previous film which we saw a flashback of, the aliens decide they must get control of Gamera before they can occupy earth. They implant a thought control device in the big guy and for good measure capture a couple of kids.

Their big mistake was capturing a pair of Boy Scouts in Japan for the International Scouting Jamboree. One scout from Japan and one from America become prisoners of the aliens on their ship. And as we all know scouts are taught to be resourceful and are always prepared, though I doubt the scouting manual covers capture by space aliens.

Yes this film is as bad as it sounds with the cheesy special effects and lousy dubbing of the Japanese actors. But these Japanese monster films do have a lovable quality about them and they have a devoted group of fans who should be pleased.