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(Gamera's beady eyes watch Kenny as he flees from the rocky sea cliff)

"Those kids at school — they tease you, Kenny. Because they've] never tasted hell. Today, we turn the tables!"

- Crow (as Gamera)


The Movie

Synopsis

File:Gamera1.PNG

The movie opens as a mysterious jet is flying over the Arctic, so a general orders fighters to shoot it down. Unfortunately, the jet was carrying a nuclear bomb and the atomic blast from its crash awakens a prehistoric monster, the giant flying turtle named Gamera.

Gamera first destroys an ice-cutting model research ship and then immediately heads to Japan to destroy more things. In Japan, a short-shorts-wearing, turtle-obsessed boy named Kenny is saved by Gamera – after Gamera first almost kills him – marking the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Kenny is allowed into the inner circle of power in Japan due to his association with Gamera and tries to interfere with any plans to destroy his giant turtle friend.

Finally, the scientists come up with the "Z Plan," in which Gamera is to be imprisoned in a giant rocket and launched to Mars. [1]

Information

See Episode K05.

  • A sequence with Gamera attacking two strippers in a nightclub was shot, but cut from the final finished version of the film.
  • This is the only film in the Gamera series that was filmed in black and white.
  • This is the only film in the series in which Gamera does not fight another monster.
  • This was the final kaiju movie to be filmed in black & white.
  • This is the only film in the series with Gamera as the antagonist.
  • Was nominated in The Golden Turkey Awards series for Most Ridiculous Monster. It lost to Robot Monster.

The Episode

Host Segments

DrFGamera

Dr. Forrester sans coat and ponytail

Prologue: The gang goes through a spoken warm-up to prepare for the experiment.

Invention Exchange (Segment One): Joel presents a container that holds an infinite amount of salad, while Frank creates a vacuum that is supposed to clean up birdcages without removing the bird. It fails.

Segment Two: Tom sings the haunting ballad, "Tibby, Oh Tibby".

MST3k 302 Tibby the Turtle

Servo sings to Tibby

Segment Three: Crow and Tom take out their rage on Kenny; Joel tries to get them to take a more positive outlook on Kenny. It doesn't work.

Segment Four: The Bots play beauty salon, and Gamera drops in for a visit.

Segment Five: Tom introduces the cast of "Gamera", a letter is read, and Joel gets a shock to the shammies.

Stinger: An Eskimo mutters a disturbed, "Bye..."

File:MST3k Mike Nelson as Gamera.png

Gamera (Michael J. Nelson) visits

Other Notes

Guest Stars

Gamera: Michael J. Nelson

Miscellaneous

  • While Joel and the Bots are bickering in the theater, Joel gets fed up and rips off Crow's left arm and it flings away (twice!).
  • The magazine that Tom Servo is holding during the Beauty Shop skit is the April 1991 issue of Cosmopolitan.
  • This is the only featured film to receive an on-air compliment (when Joel says it's not such a bad movie).
  • Ranked 14th in the Top 100 Episodes as chosen by backers of the Bring Back MST3K Kickstarter.

Music

Callbacks

Obscure References

  • "Mercy!! Rrrrooww!"

A reference to the song "Oh, Pretty Woman" and how the Japanese man in shades looks a bit like singer, Roy Orbison.

  • "The New York Times says God is dead, and the war's begun, and Alvin Tostig has a son today."

Joel is paraphrasing the lyrics from the Elton John song "Levon".

  • "Man, they've been in that plane for 48 hours!" "Luckily the in-flight film was Berlin Alexanderplatz."

Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) was a 15 1/2 hour film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

  • (Kenny's mother looking for him.) "Damien!? Damien!?"

Referring to equally bratty pipsqueak Damien Thorn of The Omen, who is in reality the 'Son of the Devil.'

  • "Phenomena!...Bah dee dee dee!...Phenomena!"

Referring to the ditty Mah Na Mah Na made popular by The Muppets.

  • "You know, he didn't start the fire - It was always burning, since the world's been turning."

Joel is referencing the chorus to the popular Billy Joel song We Didn't Start the Fire.

  • "Live the good life in the off-world colonies!"

A reference to the film Blade Runner.

  • "Kenny, join me! Together we will rule the Uni-... Oh." "Heh. Darth Turtle?"

A reference to The Empire Strikes Back.

A reference to a long-running ad in the show business newspaper "Variety" about the unreleased film Chief Zabu.

Video Release

Gameradvd

MST3K DVD Cover

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