This is part of an ongoing series called Godzilla & Friends: Reviews from the Godzillaverse and Beyond!. Feel free to look around.

It’s always a fun time for a Gamera movie! Man, I love these things. Some folks think they’re too silly or too child-like, but so what, it’s all about the fun! And Daikaijū Kuchu Kessan: Gamera tai Giyaosu (Giant Monster Midair Battle: Gamera Versus Gyaos… or just Gamera vs. Gyaos) freaking delivered!

The first Gamera movie focused on Toshio, the little boy who knew Gamera was just a misunderstood giant turtle and his older sister, Nobuyo. But in the next one, Gamera vs. Barugon, though there were rainbows, there were no children. Thankfully, the original director, Noriaki Yuasa, is back and so is a boy (Eiichi) and his older sister (Sumiko)!

The theme of this one, just like the first one, is that any idea the adults have fails miserably, but any plans formulated by children (which usually involve Gamera) work surprisingly well!

And now, the plot…

The volcanoes in the south seas are erupting! Even Mt. Fuji is spewing some lava! This immediately attracts Gamera. He loves fire because he can eat it. He flies into the erupting Mt. Fuji and doesn’t come out.

A team of researchers worried about the volcano, earthquakes and Gamera take a helicopter to the site. Suddenly, there is a glowing green light from a crevasse in the volcano and a ray that slices the helicopter in two. It crashes killed all aboard.

Eiichi, a little boy who lives in a village near Mt. Fuji, spots of reporter lurking in the woods looking for a scoop on the green lights. Eiichi takes him to a cave that’s emitting the light when an earthquake strikes, raining rocks down upon both Eiichi and the reporter.

Fearing for his own life, the reporter beats cheeks, leaving poor Eiichi frightened and alone. As the selfish reporter leaves the cave, a giant winged reptilian monster grabs him and eats him.

Eiichi makes a break for it, running from the cave. The monster quickly captures him and appears ready to devour the little fella when Gamera, the friend of all children, shows up to protect him.

The two monsters fight! The winged reptile fires his cutting rays at Gamera, slicing his leg, causing much green blood to flow. Gamera retracts into his shell and rolls down a hill into his opponent. Eiichi is dropped, but falls into the loving hand of his friend, Gamera. Gamera puts him on the ground then shoot fire at the other monster, forcing him to fly away.

The boy is safe as Gamera lifts him onto the back of his shell and flies him to Nagoya where his sister Sumiko is waiting. Gamera then flies away.

Later, at Countermeasure Head Quarters, Dr. Aoki, the military and, of course, Eiichi are discussing what to do about this new threat. Eiichi tells them that the monster’s name is Gyaos, he named him himself. We also learn that Gyaos has two throats, can’t move his head and his rays are supersonic.

The military tries to attack Gyaos, but the monster slices all the jets in two with his sonic ray. They sure could use Gamera right now, but he’s at the bottom of the sea recovering from the fight with Gyaos.

Eiichi, who is now the military’s resident monster expert, reveals that Gyaos only attacks at night and hates bright light. The plan is now to flood the city with light and to keep Gyaos contained by use of flairs.

Well, this plan fails miserably as Gyaos simply flies away, heading to Nagoya. The citizens have been evacuated to Chunichi baseball stadium, which is flooded in bright light. Gyaos avoids the stadium, but lays waste to the town, taking apart Nagoya Castle with his sonic ray and crushing then eating people.

One car tries to make an escape, but Gyaos cuts it in half. Luckily, he only cut the body in half. His ray must not have been strong enough to cut the axles and engine as they drive wackily away!

After much destruction by Gyaos, Gamera is finally ready for battle. The two monsters engage in mid-air combat that defies all laws of physics. Gyaos’s rays, however, cannot cut through Gamera’s shell. Gamera is able to latch onto Gyaos’s foot with his teeth and hold him for awhile.

The sun starts to rise and Gyaos’s head is turning red. It looks like this might be it for the winged-beast, but just then, Gyaos uses his sonic ray and slices off his own toes to escape!

Later that day, two dock workers find the toes, which seem to be shrinking in size due to sunlight. Meanwhile, Gyaos is regenerating new toes, so no big deal.

At a military meeting, Eiichi bursts in, but is allowed to stay because he’s a friend of Gamera’s. It’s decided that they need to somehow trap Gyaos outside when the sun rises – that will kill him. Eiichi comes up with the idea of using a rotating restaurant to make Gyaos dizzy so he’ll stay in one place.

They lure Gyaos to the restaurant using fake blood that tastes and smells like real human blood. The plan is working! Gyaos is spinning around and around getting dizzy, but the motor turning him burns out because it was spinning too fast! Gyaos is dizzy, but free. If only Gamera were here!

To attract Gamera, Eiichi comes up with a plan that the adults can’t possibly screw up. They must start a forest fire that will keep Gyaos away, but attract Gamera.

Jets drop fire bombs around Gyaos, setting much of the forest ablaze. Gyaos emits a yellow vapor extinguishing the flames. They try it again and again the flames are snuffed out. But not before attracting Gamera!

The final battle of Gamera vs. Gyaos is about to begin! Will Nagoya be saved? Will Gyaos succumb to the might of Gamera? Find out in Gamera vs. Gyaos!

Ok, maybe not quite, but I do love these things.

It sure was nice to see some city destruction again. The Godzilla flicks seem to have left that way out of the budget. There wasn’t much in this one, but it’s better than nothing.

Gamera’s suit was a bit different in this one, I think. It’s a little less turtle-like. But it’s not as bad as Gyaos, which is just cheesy. I know that Japanese filmmakers weren’t going for realism here, but it’s still pretty bad. It reminded me of a really crappy Rodan costume.

All of these movies have some subplot that adds to the fun of the movie, but isn’t really essential. For this one, it’s about a highway being made through the village where Eiichi and his family live. The villagers are trying to hold out to get more money out of the construction company. That plan doesn’t work so well.

Two of these workers, Hachiko and Mite-no-Tetsu were recurring characters, adding a bit of comedy to the movie. I’m not sure who they were (though one had been in other Gamera movies), but they were probably crafted after Tahei and Matashichi, the two peasants in Akira Kurosawa’s Hidden Fortress. They were very similar to them, though obviously not as well used. This is, after all, a movie about a giant flying turtle.

Gamera vs. Gyaos was never released to theaters in the US, but it was shown on TV as Return of the Giant Monsters (though Gamera was the only monster returning). It was also redubbed by Sandy Frank in the mid 80s. Both English versions chopped off the Gamera song at the end, which played over the credits.

This, like all Gamera movies, is difficult to find in its original Japanese version. But, believe me, it’s worth the hunt. Tthe dubbed, pan & scan DVD of Return of the Giant Monsters is fairly available and might be enough for some. For me, I’m glad I get to see it as it was intended.

I’m also glad I get to see it in its MST3K version! That review is coming up shortly!

-

Monsters: Gamera, Gyaos
Locations: Nagoya, Mt. Fuji

-

Producer: Hidemasa Nagata | Director: Noriaki Yuasa | Screenplay: Nissan Takahashi
Special Effects: Kazufumi Fujii | Score: Tadashi Yamauchi
Released: May 15, 1967 | 87 mins | Color | 2.35: 1 Aspect Ratio