Gamera: MST3K (1991) Review

An epic battle between Sandy Frank’s version of the 1965 giant monster classic and the occupants of the Satellite of Love completes my review trilogy of the first Gamera movie. Love is found amidst carnage when a giant turtle meets a young boy named Kenny and the world conspires to keep them apart. Expect explosions, inventions, voodoo, and robot abuse when Mystery Science Theater 3000 first encounters Gamera – for the second time!

Most Americans associate Gamera with Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) if they even have a clue what the flying turtle is. If it were not for Sandy Frank’s particularly bad dubs of those old monster films, it is questionable whether or not MST3K would have become as big as it did. Thanks to a sale at Amazon, I ended up getting my hands on the box set of those episodes for less than half price a mere week after whining I couldn’t afford it. Maybe I should whine publicly more often?

For the storyline of the movie, please consult my reviews of the original film and the American version.

 

If you are not familiar with the show, MST3K featured a janitor launched to a space station by mad scientists where he was forced to watch “cheesy movies” as part of experiments. To alleviate his loneliness, the janitor named Joel built robots to be his friends. It is all an excuse to riff on and mock bad movies for laughs.

This classic episode opens with Joel (Joel Hodgson), Crow (Trace Beaulieu), and Tom Servo (Kevin Murphy) warming up in preparation for the next experiment, or film as we would call them. While the lone human stretches, the bots go through vocal exercises. Yes, it is sheer lunacy, which is what this show is all about, so go with it. Just relax, like the theme says…

As was normal during the Joel era of the television show (there was a Mike era too), an invention exchange is made as a form of competition between Joel and the Mads, as Dr. Clayton Forrester (Trace Beaulieu) and TV’s Frank (Frank Coniff) were nicknamed. What to do about taking home leftovers from an endless salad bar inspires one invention and cleaning messy bird cages the other. I’ll leave it to you to decide which one should go to market.

“MOVIE SIGN!!!”

With that cry, it is time for Joel and the Bots to be subjected to Gamera, which is described as a “turtle love affair against the backdrop of Tokyo” by Doctor Forrester.

An apparently endless amount of credits slowly go by superimposed on a shot of choppy ocean water, leading Tom to bob about like a buoy. It is here that the name Sandy Frank is first seen, leading to an obvious hot dog joke. Little do the lab rats realize what that name will come to mean to them. Instead they make horrible rhymes to the Japanese names going by on the screen.

One of the most famous MST3K bits comes from this movie and that is the line “Toy boat, toy boat, toy boat…” which is chanted when the Chidori Maru shows up onscreen. Ever since I saw that, it is what I think every time I see a miniature ship in a movie. So be warned, these riffs can be corrupting! Insidiously addicting, they are.

Joel keeps himself entertained throughout the movie by doing sight gags, mostly of reaching up to peer over things and pantomiming flipping switches. It starts early, so keep an eye on him, he is up to no good. After the emergence of Gamera and the destruction of the toy boat, Crow notes that the recon plane is “flying over the plot hole for the film.” It is a big one, isn’t it?

I won’t try to quote all the great lines the guys get off while watching the film, but I will throw a few at you. Meanwhile, there are a few things about this incarnation of the movie that I should mention. First is that this is based on the original Japanese film, Gamera the Giant Monster not Gammera the Invincible. When Sandy Frank got the rights to these films that had expired in America in the late 1970s, he went back to the source material and had new dubs made. Very bad dubs with dumbed down scripts, to be precise.

Oh, did I forget to mention that the Sandy Frank version changed most of the main characters’ names to American ones? Toshio, the lunatic boy, is now Kenny. Peewee the turtle is now Tibby. His sister Nobuyo is called Nora. The main trio do not escape renaming, for Kyoke the assistant is now Katherine the daughter, and Aoyogi the reporter is Alex the stalker. Even stranger is the renaming of Dr. Hidaka to Dr. Hidaka, which is very confusing.

Probably the most memorable part of this episode is the sweet love song, “Tibby, Oh Tibby” written by Michael J. Nelson and sung by Tom Servo. Of course it is inspired by the obsessive love of Kenny for his pet turtle, Tibby. Alas, the deep emotions felt by Tom are not understood by Crow or Joel, leading to tears and bruised feelings.

When Gamera shows up at the lighthouse and finally meets Kenny, the movie really gets going with the love story is finally underway. But a growing hostility toward the boy by Joel and the Bots begins to surface when they encourage him to jump from the wrecked walkway. Some of that malice is channeled toward Tibby, much to Tom’s distress. The idea the little turtle is dead is more than the sensitive gumball machine can handle.

The hostility toward Kenny only grows while the story progresses -- leading to a disturbing scene of voodoo witchcraft performed by Crow and Tom. Even worse is the fact they are using a Jim Varney doll to commit the unspeakable act. An intervention by Joel fails to mellow Crow out, despite quoting Tommy James. While he is led to a time out off screen, Tom solicits opinions about Kenny from the fans.

“Are you a rocker or a mod?” is asked at the press conference, but Hidaka is not saying. He’s too clean cut to be a rocker, in my considered opinion. This matters, darn it!

Also of concern is Joel losing his temper with Crow and thrashing him with his own arm. It is clear being stranded on the satellite is getting to him. After all his talk of forgiving and understanding others, it shows something lurks under the surface.

The tragic romance between Gamera and Kenny continues, lives are lost, and deadly riffs are let loose before the end. But a surprise visitor may change your whole perspective on the film…

Thoughts

The Gamera episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 are considered to be among the best of the entire series and for good reason. With such fertile weirdness to till, it is no wonder they had a blast lampooning the movies. Watching the flying turtle along with Joel and the Bots is the best way to watch these films if you are above the age of ten.

This is actually the second time around for the crew and Gamera, but the first time is from the “lost” season at KTMA that got the whole thing started. It allowed them to use the best lines and get some running gags going. I can say the second time is the charm, having actually seen the originals.

Some of the humor can get risqué, but it is all PG territory at worst. I recommend watching this with others to increase the fun. For me, this is the best version of the three variants of Gamera that I own. It is well worth watching for anyone looking for a good laugh.

Technical

The DVD of Gamera is from the Mystery Science Theater 3000 XXI: MST3K vs. Gamera box set put out by Shout Factory. Previously issued in a pricey metal tin, it is now available in a cheaper thin cardboard set. Included are the other four films they used and a bevy of extras. I may review the actual set after watching the other movies. Each movie has an individual plastic case featuring very clever spoof posters for the cover art.

Video quality is okay, but not great, and is presented in 4:3 ratio like it was broadcast on cable. This most likely has more to do with the quality of the videotape used to record the show twenty years ago. Ouch, it is painful to realize it has been that long ago. It is more interlaced than I would like, so expect to see comb like teeth in places. Audio is clear and appears to be stereo, though I will admit I failed to check.

The movie itself is in much better shape than Gammera the Invincible but nowhere near the quality of Shout Factory’s own release of Gamera the Giant Monster. No surprise here and it would actually detract from the show if the movie looked great!

Bonus Features:

Shout Factory commissioned a twenty three minute long documentary for the twentieth anniversary release titled So Happy Together: A Look Back at MST3K and Gamera. Fortunately for this review, it landed on the first disc. Interviews with the original crew cover the entire Gamera experience from the KTMA days to the Comedy Central redoes.

Notably absent from the interviews are Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy, who were involved in the production of these episodes. But we get Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Josh Weinstein, Frank Coniff, and producer Jim Mallon for the details of the early days of the show.

Despite two decades having lapsed, it is obvious they all remember the movies with fondness and had a lot of fun doing the episodes around them. I found their responses to the question of who won the battle between MST3K and Gamera to be amusing.

Other extras include the bumpers from the edited down one hour syndicated episodes. Featuring Mike Nelson aping Jack Perkins, the host of A&E’s Biography series, it was a short lived thing. Watch for extreme silliness in the background during the rolling of the credits.

Finally, the original Japanese theatrical trailer is included. I just noticed there are scenes of Aoyogi and Kyoke that were cut from the final film in it, so keep an eye open for them.

BEWARE! HERE BE SPOILERS!!!

 

 

 

 

YES, REALLY!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

I MEAN IT THIS TIME!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Temporarily on break from the movie, the Bots settle down with Gypsy to get some well needed treatment at the beauty salon. Their time to relax is interrupted by a mysterious flying saucer like object that flies up to the Satellite of Love. Notice that the effects are not that far off of from the movie’s.

It’s Gamera! He was in the neighborhood and decided to stop by. Frankly, I expected Gamera (Mike Nelson) to be a bit more classy, but I suppose turtles are all earthy types. His relationship with Kenny is inquired about and a shocking admission is made. Personally, I do not know if I can respect the fire spewing behemoth after finding that out. But Crow and Tom are star struck and think he’s a great guy.

Turtle.

Whatever.

I already mentioned the disturbing abuse of Crow by Joel. It happens again and I wonder what really went on behind the scenes on the SoL over the years. While Gamera’s final fate may have hit too close to home for the janitor, Joel is awfully quick to get physical. Who knows what kind of abuse has been covered up.

Oh and Sandy Frank’s name returns to prolong the ending of the film with more footage of choppy water. It is enough to make you seasick. What kind of sadist was he?

Tom lets us know what happened to the cast after the movie ended and it sounds pretty tragic. But hey, it is time for fan mail! This week’s was from a Crow fan who built a Tom Servo out of Legos. Wait… what?! No wonder celebrities think fans are weird.

The Mads are not very happy at the end when Joel actually thanks them for sending a not bad movie this time. Did he see the same movie I did?