304-Gamera vs. Barugon

Film Year:  1966
Genre:  Kaiju, Adventure
Director:  Shigeo Tanaka
Starring:  Kyoko Enami, Kojiro Hongo, Akira Natsuki
MST Season:  3

The Movie

*I HAVE SURVIVED WATCHING THIS MOVIE UNRIFFED!*

I’m a Godzilla fan, but the appeal of Gamera has pretty much eluded me.  I saw the original film (Sandy Frank dub) at about age 12 and thought it was beyond lame (a turtle that turns into a flying saucer?  Pfft).  I saw the critically praised Guardian of the Universe a few months later, and wasn’t impressed with it either (special effects were good, but the story was as uninteresting as they come).  Ultimately I guess I just don’t care for the turtle.  I did love Revenge of Iris and enjoyed Gamera the Brave though, so I’m not a total Grinch.

As far as Gamera movies go, Gamera vs. Barugon isn’t that bad.  Of the ones featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, I think it’s clearly the best (the only one of the early series I’d probably say I liked just as much was Gamera vs. Jiger).  It has a more serious tone, and the main characters are actually adults instead of little children.  The premise follows a group of treasure hunters who uncover a giant opal from a native island.  Taking it back ashore, the opal turns out to be an egg that hatches into Barugon, a giant gecko with a killer rainbow and a freezing tongue.

Yeah, the anatomy behind these Gamera monsters is pretty stupid.  This one at least looks kind of cool, even if it is a pretty stiff costume he’s wearing.  Mankind’s only hope to save them from this threat is Gamera, a giant turtle they tried to shoot off into space for some reason.  Since we watched this sequel before the original, we’re not all that familiar with Gamera yet.  Speaking of, Gamera’s hardly in the movie, and his brawls with Barugon are very brief.  I guess this bored the target audience of children, so all future productions brought in more turtle showboating.

As an adult, however, the plot of this movie is pretty strong for its type.  But Deiei’s shortcomings in the kaiju genre make it feel stiff and long.  However, if I’m going to watch a Gamera movie unriffed, I’d more than likely watch this one.

The Episode

Another helping of Gamera?  Well if we must.  At the very least a kaiju movie would be a pallet cleanser after the previous episode this season.  But living up to the previous Gamera episode is a bit of a tall order, and while Gamera vs. Barugon isn't as bad as the original film it doesn't quite leave itself open as much.  There are still riffs on fakey special effects galore, but the rest of the production doesn't quite have as much to offer them with the exception of the occasional spurt of weirdness (the female lead bloodsucking scene is probably top of the list of WTF).  This riff can be a tad bit low-key, though there are solid chuckles and some big gutbusters spread every so often.

The host segments are also a bit low key.  They're mostly not very funny, though sometimes clever at the very least.  Probably the most obvious example is the second segment, where Servo and Crow play monsters dining in to "eat a city."  It's cute, though a tad bit perplexing in it's execution.  There is some fun in Joel identifying "big stars" in today's movie and the toy set commercial as well.  Probably the most amusing segment is the very first, which sees the Servo and Crow debating computers.  Our Invention Exchange sees a re-adaptation of the Cumber-Bubble-Bund and Joel shows us a dancing soda can.

Gamera vs. Barugon is something of an episode that's easy to look over, as it's coming off a string of fan favorites and other Gamera experiments tend to overshadow it.  I think a lot may ride on just how much you enjoy kaiju films on the series and how patient you are with your riffing.  If you expect to be rolling in hysterics constantly then this probably isn't the episode for you.  This is more in line with thinking "Heh, that's amusing" constantly instead.  Judging it on that spectrum, it's pretty funny.

Good

The DVD

This episode was one of the episodes released on Shout Factory's all-Gamera celebratory set of Volume XXI:  MST3K vs. Gamera.  Audio and video were both fantastic.  Bonus features include a twenty plus minute interview with the Chiodo Brothers, the special effects artists who worked on such films as Critters, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Theodore Rex, Turbo:  A Power Rangers Movie, and Team America:  World Police.  These suitamation experts discuss the man-in-suit monster movie technique and nerd out about various monsters throughout the years, as well as discussing their own work.  Concluding the disc is a Japanese trailer for the film in a double feature with Diamajin.