Saturday Night Showcase: Gamera the Invincible

I know that tomorrow night is when we all celebrate vampires and werewolves (insert Twilight joke here), but that’s never been my thing. My Halloween costumes were more along the lines of superheros, sci-fi character, and cuckoo clock. (Don’t laugh, my dad outdid himself with that thing.)

My monsters came from two sources: Sesame Street and Godzilla. Since the former really doesn’t fit the season, let’s go…near the second. After the success of Toho’s franchise, Japanese film studio Daiei Motion Picture Company (now Kadokawa Shoten Pictures) decided to make their own giant monster movie. The result was Giant Monster Gamera. Like his dino-counterpart, Gamera would see fame in America, but nowhere close to the success of the still reigning King of the Monsters.

Tonight’s film, Gammera the Invincible, may have the spelling wrong, but it’s a fair translation of the movie. And I can’t find a copy of the original version to show you, so this is what you get. 🙂

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There are a few similarities between Gamera and Godzilla. Both movies started dark, went light, and got a darker makeover. Both first movies had US scenes spliced into it for the American release, but none of the further movies. Both characters started as threats to humanity, only to later become the protectors. Both can fly.

Sorry, had to do it. 🙂 However, the differences start here, besides the obvious. (Dinosaur versus turtle.) Even with the darker, perhaps more violent tone, Gamera has remained the defender of Japan, while Godzilla has returned to his roots and just starts smashing stuff, often being the lesser of two evils at best.

Here’s some fun facts for you. The US General is played by the late Dick O’Neil. You may not recognize his name, but I’m sure you’ll place the face. O’Neil was one of those actors who did a lot of guest star appearances in TV shows, but one of his main cast roles was in one of my favorite series, the sadly under-recognized Dark Justice. You may also know him as Carl Winslow’s Police Commissioner superior on Family Matters.

This pose look familiar to anyone else?

Gammera the Invincible is the only movie in the Gamera franchise to be shown theatrically (at least in major theaters), with the rest of the early movies airing on television back when syndicated channels used to air movies on Sundays instead of infomercials. (Stupid infomercials.)

At one time US comic company Dark Horse was printing comics based on both Gamera and Godzilla, but sadly no team-up comic was ever made. (Godzilla would team up Dark Horse original Hero Zero, a variation of the Japanese superhero Ultraman, but no such luck for the giant turtle.) Now that IDW has the Godzilla license, they or someone else should get the license for Gamera AND King Kong! Imagine this idea I sketched on the back of a shopping receipt and ran over with Paint Shop Pro.

Forgot to color in the kid's open mouth.

No, I’m not five. I just threw it together. Admit it, you know you’d buy that comic, even with my mediocre artwork. I definitely would.

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