This was the FINAL installment in the original GAMERA film series, and is quite possibly the WORST! Evil alien invaders (AGAIN? Don’t these stupid aliens ever learn?) from the planet Zanon attack Earth in an Imperial Star Destroyer they apparently borrowed from Darth Vader. Earth is now under the protection of a trio of alien Superwomen, but Zanon has its own EVIL alien Superwoman to combat them. Zanon also revives ALL of Gamera’s old opponents—Gaos, Zigra, Viras, Jiger, Guiron, and Barugon—to attack Japan.
Fortunately, Gamera has now been promoted from a plain, ordinary monster to a “SUPER MONSTER”, so he’s more than up to the challenge! UN-fortunately, this results in endless amounts of stock footage battles being recycled from past GAMERA films. GAMERA SUPER MONSTER is actually like having to watch all seven previous GAMERA films at once! My God, can you even begin to imagine the HORROR?!?
Of course, there’s the usual annoying, squeaky-voiced kid crying, “Gamera, Gamera!” over-and-over. This movie also has a surprising, shock ending that you’ll never believe…so we might as well just go ahead and tell you, since you won’t believe us anyway—Gamera actually DIES!! Yes, Gamera is DEAD—he’s gone, he’s finished, he’s history, stick a fork in him ‘cause he’s done! But there’s no time to mourn just yet, because as someone once said: “This may be your last GAMERA film, but there’s no guarantee you’ll survive it!”
But if you think the movie is far out, wait until you see our FUNERAL FOR GAMERA! Fanboy Sci-Fi Theater puts the "FUN" back in Funeral with this special iRiff.
Comments
I was pleasantly surprised by this iRiff. It’s pretty good. The audio/video is about average. Some of the jokes are actually great while others are good and the rest range from average to not bad. I felt like many of the references were obvious but at least one of them was great. I am referring to Gamera’s impersonation of the cowardly lion. At first I was worried the group was going to do what so many iRiffers do and that is make too many jokes and thereby hinder the audience’s ability to get into the movie. But they calmed down after a while and eventually had a reasonable pace. The delivery could use improvement but it shows potential and is certainly passable. In addition to a standard Rifftrax this VOD contains a story with skits similar to MST3K. These are homemade, low-budget videos and it shows but I must admit I liked the writing. Now that the major notes are out of the way I will say that I found the overall experience enjoyable, I would recommend it to fans of iRiffs, and it shows great potential. It’s clear that a lot of work went into this and I admire your dedication. Keep it up!
Thanks for the review. GAMERA SUPER MONSTER is a pretty rare film--especially the U.S. version--which is why the audio/video quality isn't the best. Regarding the quality of the live-action wraparound segments, as you point out, this WAS filmed on a shoestring budget by amateurs just for fun. I think that "homemade" look adds to the cheezy appeal of the show. Even the early episodes of MST3K from KTMA weren't very professional-looking, which the MST3K crew has readily admitted in the past. Hopefully, like MST3K, we will continue to improve as we produce more iRiffs in the future. Thanks for giving us a chance!
So I just watched your Gamera Super Monster track and, I have to say, I enjoyed it. It was a very goofy movie (even for a Gamera film) and a relaxed and approachable riffing style that really added a lot to the movie. Solid riffing throughout. Fun in a Joel-era kind of way.
Anyways, I'll be looking forward to your Monster X riff.
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Very good, they show a lot of potential. They actually go to the effort to establish a backstory and characters, similar to MST3K. This was the last of the original GAMERA films, and is mostly composed of stock footage. Gamera dies at the end and the characters give him a funeral with Godzilla, Cornjob and the annoying kid from the movie as guest speakers, which is pretty funny. Check it out!
Very well-produced. The audio/video of the live-action bookend segments need some work, but I agree that the "homemade" look adds to the show's overall campiness. The riffing is very good and reminds me of the classic MST3K style of riffing, but there are a lot of original jokes and songs. My favorite part is where the kid winds up in bed with one of the spacewomen. Hilarious! I look forward to seeing the next two installments in the "Gamera Trilogy" of movies not released by Sandy Frank. If you are a fan of the original MST3K Gamera episodes, you will really enjoy this!
GAMERA SUPER MONSTER is the most rarely seen GAMERA film, and after watching it, I can see why. The movie rips off such late 70s blockbusters as STAR WARS, JAWS, SUPERMAN ... and even GODZILLA! All of the monster scenes are stock footage from previous films. The kid in this movie easily wins the award for most annoying kid ever in a GAMERA film, which is really saying something when you think about it. Fortunately, the jokes are really good and help to make an otherwise bad film entertaining. GAMERA SUPER MONSTER is the type of film that was born to be made fun of it, and these guys do a good job of that with a lot of 70s pop culture references. I would love to have seen this on MST3K back in the day, but this is the next best thing. The "Gamera Funeral" skit is also pretty funny. I look forward to seeing the other two GAMERA iRiffs they produced. I hope RiffTrax can solve their technical problems so they can get those uploaded on the website soon.
Very funny, enjoyable and classic style of humor that I've come to expect from the MST-3000 guys. So you've acomplished some thing very rare. The cast of characters are very engaging and funny. The commentating was very enlightning. It made me enjoy this film ... which is no simple task!
Very fun. This is the goofiest of goofy Gamera movies, however it can be a little tedieous if you've already seen every movie. You guys make it so much easier to get through this movie. Jokes are constant so no long pauses in between. The sketches are a little rough but entertaining. I enjoyed the funeral for Gamera, its nice that you actually did something besides JUST riff the movie. Favorite line, "What's with all these homeless aliens." I definitelly recomend for the Mistie who also likes Kaiju.