| Article |
| Gamera: Super Monster | |
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| Directed by | Noriaki Yuasa |
| Produced by | Masaya Tokuyama Masaichi Nagata Hirozaki Oba Shigeru Shinohara Yasuyoshi Tokuma |
| Written by | Niisan Takahashi |
| Starring | Koichi Maeda Toshie Takada Mach Fumiake Yaeko Kojima Yoko Komatsu Keiko Kudo |
| Music by | Shunsuke Kikuchi |
| Cinematography | Akira Kitazaki |
| Editing by | Yasushi Taga Zenko Miyazaki Tatsuji Nakashizu Shoji Sekiguchi |
| Distributed by | New Daiei |
| Released | March 20, 1980 |
| Running time | 109 minutes[1] |
| Budget | ¥???,???,??? |
| Gross revenue | ¥???,???,??? |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Preceded by | Gamera vs. Zigra |
| Followed by | Gamera: Guardian of the Universe |
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Clash of monsters VS giant spaceships! A thrilling and exciting special effects blockbuster! (怪獣VS巨大宇宙船の激突！スリルと興奮の特撮超大作)
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— Tagline |
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A TITANIC STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY AS STARSHIP ZANON INVADES THE PLANET EARTH!
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— Australian tagline |
Gamera: Super Monster (宇宙怪獣ガメラ Uchu Kaijū Gamera?, lit. Space Monster Gamera), a 1980 Japanese daikaiju eiga (giant-monster movie), was the belated final entry in the Shōwa Gamera series, and the last Gamera film written by Nisan Takahashi and directed by Noriaki Yuasa. It relied heavily on stock footage from previous Gamera films. This movie was made with the intention of getting Daiei out of bankruptcy, which failed. There wasn't another Gamera movie made for another 15 years, until his revival in 1995. It was released to Japanese theaters on March 20, 1980 on a Double bill with the Astro Boy episode "Earth defense Army".
Plot[]
When the evil alien Zanon comes to enslave the Earth, all hope seems lost. The Earth's resident superheroes, the Spacewomen, are powerless to stop him. They must enlist the help of a young boy who has a special connection with Gamera. The friend of all children then fights and kills the revived Gyaos, Zigra, Viras, Jiger, Guiron, and Barugon. He then sacrifices himself to kill Zanon by destroying his spaceship.
Crew[]
- Assistant directing by Hiromi Munemoto[2]
Cast[]
- Koichi Maeda as Keiichi
- Toshie Takada as Keiichi's mother
- Mach Fumiake as Kilara
- Yaeko Kojima as Marsha
- Yoko Komatsu as Mitan
- Keiko Kudo as Giruge
- Kisao Tobita as Driver
English dub[]
- Suzanne Vale as Kilara
- Chris Hilton as Driver / Captain of Spaceship Zanon / Punk / News Announcer / Reporter
- Ted Thomas as Policeman / Narrator / Photographer
Video releases[]
Arrow Video Blu-ray (2020/2021) [Gamera: The Complete Collection and Gamera - The Showa Era]
- Region: A and B
- Discs: 8 (The Complete Collection] or 4 (The Showa Era)
- Audio: Japanese and English (DTS-HD Master Audio Mono)
- Subtitles: English
- Special features: Audio commentary by Richard Pusateri, introduction by August Ragone (6 minutes), opening and end credits from the international and Filmways versions of the film (11 minutes), Japanese and international trailers, and an image gallery. Gamera: The Complete Collection includes 12 art cards by Matt Frank, a map of Gamera's appearances throughout the world, and two books; the first collects A History of Gamera by Patrick Macias, a 1996 Noriaki Yuasa interview by David Milner, kaiju x-ray illustrations by Jolyan Yates, three Fangoria articles on the Heisei Gamera trilogy by Norman England, a guide to the English dubs of the Gamera series by James Flower, and information on the transfers presented in the set, while the second reprints the comics Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe and The Last Hope.
- Notes: Gamera: The Complete Collection is out of print, while Gamera - The Showa Era will be released on January 25, 2021. Packaged with the other 11 Gamera films in The Complete Colection and the other 7 Showa Gamera films in The Showa Era. Due to the large number of special features in these sets, only the supplements pertinent to Gamera: Super Monster are described above.
Trivia[]
- Every one of the kaiju fought by Gamera in the Showa series appears in this film via stock footage, each with a subtitle regarding their name. In order he fights the revived Gyaos, Zigra, Viras, Jiger, Guiron, and Barugon.
- The end of the film features the death of the Showa Gamera, as he sacrifices himself destroying Zanon's spaceship.
- The Gamera March theme song is absent from this film, and a new theme song, Love for Future, appears multiple times.
- This film, because of the heavy use of stock footage (which took up over a third of the film), featured only about two minutes of new Gamera footage.
- As can be seen from the poster, the film features a spaceship which bears a suspicious resemblance to an Imperial Star Destroyer, an obvious attempt to capitalize on the success of the Star Wars films.
- As Gamera originally fought Guiron on an alien planet (Terra), a plot device was created that allowed Gamera to travel to his enemies' locations.
- At one point in the movie, Gamera knocks over a billboard. The camera then zooms closer to revealing it as an advertisement for a Godzilla film, Gamera's box-office rival.
Videos[]
References[]
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