1970's "Gamera vs. Monster X" ("Gamera tai Daimaju Jaiga" or Gamera vs. Giant Devil Beast Jiger) was the 6th Gamera entry in the Daiei series (only "Gamera vs. Zigra" would follow), arriving during a lean year for Toho with the passing of effects master Eiji Tsuburaya, a new team releasing "Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster" in 1971. The child friendly focus for once strikes a balance with the rest of the human cast, the usual Japanese/American duo a bit older here though one little sister persistently annoys with her nonstop chatter. Obviously sporting what seems to be the highest budget since "War of the Monsters," the last sequel to show a metropolis being smashed to pieces, here set in Osaka where the World's Fair Expo '70 will take place throughout the year (there's even a mention of the lost continent of Mu, depicted in Toho's 1963 "Atragon"). Much of the opening reel is given over to the location and goals of the promoters, intending to recover an ancient statue called 'The Devil's Whistle' on Wester Island in the central Pacific, supposedly bearing a curse of death to anyone who tampers with it. Gamera surprisingly but unsuccessfully tries to prevent its removal from the ground, the ship's crew infected with some type of unidentified virus before they reach Osaka. The curse turns out to be real with the emergence of Jiger, a quadruped monster that incapacitates Gamera by firing sharp quills into each of his limbs, occasionally leaping to great heights when not using a Barugon-like heat ray to fry human debris (in a nice gruesome touch, they all turn into skeletons). A curious sound informs us why the statue earned its name 'The Devil's Whistle,' and the teen pair surmise that it gives off a kind of poison linked to Jiger, now a definite threat to Expo '70 as well as the rest of the planet. Gamera recovers from the first assault and again gains the upper hand against this unorthodox opponent, only for a new challenge that again puts him out of action, an injection from Jiger's tail that produces a larva growing near the turtle's lung. Here is where Japanese Hiroshi (Tsutomo Takakuwa) and American Tommy (Kelly Varis) use their knowledge of an experimental minisub to take a trip inside a waterlogged Gamera, obviously inspired by Stephen Boyd's classic "Fantastic Voyage," resulting in simple radio waves destroying the baby Jiger so that Gamera can finally use the statue for one ultimate purpose, cleaving Jiger's head with but a single shot. The physical look of Monster X may not look that impressive compared to previous foes but there's no shortage of surprises this time around, easily the best sequel since number three, "Return of the Giant Monsters." The usual annoying brats are actually slightly older and even useful for a change, leaving Katherine Murphy's grating tiny tot incessantly complaining during a beleaguered Gamera's attempts at redemption (all three seem to be directing the titular turtle at every stage). Things would promptly descend to rock bottom with original series finale "Gamera vs. Zigra," where director Noriaki Yuasa seems to be going for the preschool crowd!
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r-c-s21 December 2005although made in 1970, this movie is clearly 60ish. SFX are very bland and we have to lower our expectations rock bottom. The plot is the typical Gamera plot involving lots of kiddie action. However, this one holds water well enough. The "minisubmarine" item shows again ( as in the Viras movie ). The 2 kids are silly but not outrightly unbearable. The score from Shushuke Kikuchi is a ripoff of his score of "Tiger man", a 1968 cartoon about wrestling. a family movie for families with children under 12. The plot is not overdone and develops nicely, genre-wise. all in all, men-in-suit smashing miniatures at its cheapest.
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This Gamera entry takes awhile to get into, but once the plot gets underway, it's a heck of a lot of fun. When a strange monster attacks the Earth and start sinking ships, Gamera comes to the rescue, but this monster is one step ahead of him. It shoots needles into Gamera's body which creates a growing larvae inside him which then grows like a monster in the "Aliens" movies. Scientists create a little submarine in which a Japanese and Caucasian boy travel into Gamera's body to locate the larvae and kill it so Gamera can become well take care of the other monster.
With a unique plot like this and plenty of unintentional humor, this ends up being an enjoyable entry in the "Gamera" series. The dubbed English version has voices that are either extremely shrill (the little American girl) or amusingly against type for the character that they are used for. The funniest sequence of course is the visit into Gamera's body, and these two boys are certainly heroic. The bouncy score is an added plus. It's comic book fun at its most thrilling level. You know that things are going to end happily, but with silly adventures like this, half the fun is getting to that conclusion. -
Sargebri9 January 2004This film is pretty much a formula Gamera film that follows the same plot as every other film. A giant monster threatens to destroy a Japanese city and just when things look bleak, in comes Gamera to save the day. However, Gamera usually loses at least one or two battles with his adversary before he finally defeats him. However, the one thing that makes this film different is the fact that usually in a Gamera film, Gamera is the one who saves any children that are in trouble, but in this film it is up to two young boys (one Japanese and one Caucasian) to save him from a parasite that was injected into his body. Even with this plot twist, this is still the typical Gamera film. But as I have said in my other commentaries about films in the Gamera series, these films are pretty much a way to introduce children to the world of kaiju eiga.
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gigan-9227 June 20121970 saw the release of "Gamera vs. Jiger", also known as "Gamera vs. Monster X". And no, no, no relation to the Monster X of "Godzilla: Final Wars". At this point in the series, when the kids warn you not to do something, and then Gamera warns you not to do something, it's best not to do it. Naturally, the sacred statue is disturbed anyways and not even twenty minutes in and our title monsters show up. Being quite frank, Jiger is probably the least attractive creature featured in the Gamera movies. It looks like a reptilian-warthog abomination. I don't know what's stranger, the creature's looks or the way it jumps. With that stocky body and its short legs I'm surprised it can cover that much ground. Jiger also shoots quills and fires a "super ultra violet ray beam" which I don't grasp at all. It even has a parasite injecting tail and suction-covered feet Ah screw it, I'm just getting this over with: Jiger sucks.
Children are the main heroes of course, managing to outsmart not just their parents but Japan's top military generals and scientists. This really grates on my nerves and honestly he story is short but lacks real tension if you ask me. With no relatable characters as in the earlier films, it's hard to keep interest. At least with "Gamera vs. Guiron" the writing was so bad and weird it kept you involved. The story here feels far too bland and with is opponent looking the way it did, I found no excitement in the battles. But I'll admit the statue to the brain was an interesting fatality, Johnny Cage might want to check that out. This kaiju film is a dud by all laws of psychics. -
masercot28 April 2005This is a children's movie. Is it a great children's movie? No.
But, it is an enjoyable children's movie. Sure Gamera looks like he was constructed at the last second out of an old shopping bag; and, Monster X looks like something that you pulled out of a Salvation Army drop-box. But, this movie has children as the main characters, doing the bulk of the heroics and making the bulk of the sound decisions...
There are a tremendous number of plot-holes in this movie; but, if you've got children, and a little patience, you can enjoy ninety minutes of pig-headed adults, brave children and flying turtles...
Also, there is a certain resemblance to the science fiction novel Blameless in Abaddon...anyone else notice?... -
curse-of-egypt19 June 2021I didn't know how to rate this movie as this is the first time I have seen it. The only Gamera movies I have seen is
Gamera: Guardian of the Universe Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion Gamera: Revenge of Iris. -
BA_Harrison8 November 2021After the frivolous sci-fi silliness of Gamera vs. Guiron, the series returns to more familiar territory with another Earth-bound adventure in which the giant turtle battles a new monster - a prehistoric creature called Jiger, who is freed when an ancient statue is taken from Western Island in the Pacific to Osaka, Japan, as part of world's fair Expo '70 (much of this film feels like an expensive advert for the event!).
Jiger looks like a fairly standard kaiju creature - a dinosaur mash-up, part dimetrodon and part stegosaurus - but what makes this one so interesting is his vast array of special moves: he's telekinetic, jet-propelled, and can shoot spears from his horns; he also fires a Super Ultra Wave ray from his main horn that can destroy all molecular structures, and has a hidden spike in his tail, with which he can implant an egg in his enemy.
All of this makes him a formidable foe for Gamera, and leads to plenty of fun battles. Half way through the film, Gamera is stabbed with the tail spike and becomes immobilised, which leads to an entertaining 'Fantastic Voyage' style sequence in which the film's obligatory heroic tykes pilot a mini-sub into Gamera's innards to destroy the baby Jiger growing inside!
With Gamera back on his feet, the film ends with a standard monster smackdown, the turtle finishing off Jiger by ramming the statue into its skull.
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for Gamera sticking telegraph poles in his ears. -
OllieSuave-0075 June 2014I am a big fan of Japanese monster movies and grew up watching Godzilla, but also took on a handful of Gamera films. Overall, these movies are treasures from my childhood and even to this day. However, as with all movie trilogies, there are a few that stick out in a negative way including this one.
Some of those flicks are so cheesy and bad, it's good. This Gamera flick, about the flying turtle trying to save Japan from Triceratrops-like monster Giger awoken at the Expo '70, doesn't reach that scale. The plot and story are very plain and suffers from a lack of excitement, tension and thrills - nothing to captivate the audience. The cast of characters (adult) are not memorable and didn't really contribute a whole lot to the story - they were just thrown in to be bystanders, letting the main three kid characters take center stage, this time trying to save Gamera (shown in a very campy scene where they board a submarine and enter Gamera's body to detect the source of his illness in the movie). Every Gamera movie except Gamera vs. Barugon in the first series featured at least one kid as the main character and a good handful of them were pretty annoying. Lastly, the cheap-looking monster suits continued in this film; the monsters didn't show any emotions or characteristics like the creatures you would see in Godzilla films. They just look like stiff, moving museum models.
Again, most of the Gamera films are mostly for children and they would be good to use to introduce them to the world of Japanese kaiju. Other than that, most, including this one, were very campy and cheesy with bad acting, bad special effects and non-captivating stories. If you enjoyed these films as a kid, you would probably grow out of them - the enjoyment factor is not as everlasting as the Godzilla movies or the later Gamera films in my opinion.
Grade D-- -
BandSAboutMovies30 March 2020Known as Gamera tai Daimaju Jaiga in Japan, or Gamera vs. Giant Devil Beast Jiger, this is the sixth Gamera film. In the U.S., it was released straight to television under the name Gamera vs. Monster X.
The American version contains stock footage from Gamera vs. Guiron and Gamera vs. Barugon to extend the movie's release time.
As Japan gets ready for Expo '70 in Osaka, they decide to take a mysterious status called the Devil's Whistle off an island. Gamera tries to stop them, but they take it anyway. It makes everyone sick and insane that goes near it.
The sound that the Devil's Whistle makes Jiger go crazy too, so the beast comes down and starts taking out everyone in its way, as well as using its spiked tail to mess up Gamera. It also has a spiky bulbed tail that lays an egg - and eventually a baby Jiger - inside Gamera's lungs.
That baby looks like a cute version of Jiger, but damn if those little Japanese kids don't go inside Gamera and kill that infant with static from their walkie-talkies. The scientists then use big speakers to keep Jiger busy while the kids go back inside the giant turtle and jump-start his heart.
In their final battle, Gamera uses telephone poles like earplugs - man, these movies are inventive - and he smashes Juger's tail, finally making her weak enough to destroy.
Despite the increasingly low budgets and bad effects, Gamera movies remain willing to embrace pure insanity. Isn't that what we're all looking for anyway? -
jerekra16 February 2009I said in my "Gamera vs Zigra" review that that was the worst of the Gamera films. I was mistaken, "Gamera vs Jiger" is the worst of the Gamera Films.
Basically in this film Gamera must save mankind from Jiger. Jiger is a monster who came back because some construction workers take away a statue that supposedly keeps JIger from escaping. Jiger manages to stab Gamera in the neck and put some eggs into him that later hatch into little Jigers.
First of all this film has the worst looking of any of Gamera's foes. Jiger looks pretty cheaply built and does not look all that interesting. Jiger is a female due to the fact that it lays eggs. Se had potential and looks kind of like a prehistoric amphibian with a fin on his back. Jiger can shoot spears out of her head and kind of hover over water by shooting gas out of her body???? Mainly Jiger's face just looks lame. Just a bad looking cheap monster.
Gamera also is looking bad in this film. I do not know how many different Gamera suits were made but this one looks really bad.
There are a lot of parts that I just thought were bad. Like how the two kids take a submarine into Gamera's body. I am not a big fan of traveling into the body of other creatures even in films, it just looks odd.
The monster fighting is nothing new. Just same old stuff. The only really interesting aspect of this film is how Jiger infects Gamera with eggs of hers that later hatch inside of Gamera. But for the most part the monster action is not exciting and just the same old stuff.
The dubbing is pretty bad as usual. Why would the one guy make a gun noise and gesture when telling everybody the two children should have taken the undersea gun with them. And did they really have to show the people cutting open the elephant trunk and pulling out all the larvae that were inside? Disgusting.
A pretty bad monster film. The worst Gamera film I have ever seen. Not recommended. -
Woodyanders22 November 2010Vicious behemoth beast Jiger attacks Japan during an annual science fair. It's up to Gamera to stop the foul fiend. However, Jiger has injected the heroic flying prehistoric turtle with its parasitic offspring. Can two little boys save Gamera in time? Director Noriaki Yuasa, working from a fairly dark and twisted script by Fumi Takahashi, relates the entertaining story at a constant brisk pace, maintains a generally serious tone throughout, and stages the fierce and lengthy monster fight set pieces with a reasonable amount of skill and flair. Moreover, there are also pleasing moments of large scale mass destruction with Jiger demolishing a major city and surprisingly harsh bits of violence (Jiger cripples Gamera by shooting needles into all of his limbs and turns people into skeletons). The Expo Center in Osaka makes for a neat, novel, and interesting setting. The shoddy (far from) special effects possess a certain endearingly shoddy charm. Tsutomu Takatuma and Kelly Varis are solid and likable as the two little boys who help Gamera. Akira Kitazaki's vibrant widescreen cinematography and Shunsuke Kikuchi's bouncy score are both up to speed. Plus you gotta love Gamera's incredibly cute'n'catchy theme song. A fun creature feature.
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AaronCapenBanner3 May 2014Sixth Gamera film sees the big guy coming to Japan's defense again after an ancient statue is moved to make way for the "Expo '70" celebrations, which unleashes another gigantic monster that attacks Japan. It can fire quills that disable and kill, and also uses its tail to infect Gamera with its parasitic offspring, forces its human friends(including children as usual) to launch a mini-sub into its body in a last-ditch attempt to revive him, and defeat this monster Jiger. A bit better than the past two entries, this is still mostly poor, with a "Fantastic Voyage" inspired subplot inserted into the otherwise uninspired story.
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SentinelPrime5 August 2003This was the first feature I had seen in the kaiju genre. I was familiar with the television show Ultraman, but I had not known that movies about monsters had also been made.
This one is fun! One aspect of the genre that Daiei was better at than Toho is in the depiction of quadrapeds. Jiger looks like a four legged creature, not a person crawling on his knees, as several of the Toho characters were known to do.
Some of the dialogue is hideously bad. I recently saw this one again after twenty years, and had a good time adding a few comments of my own. At one point the two boys are inside Gamera's lung, walking around, when one says, "What are we looking for?" The other replies "Anything unusual."
I piped up, "We are in the lung of a 200-foot turtle, but we are still looking for anything unusual."
Still, this one has several interesting scenes. Unusual footage of a surgery on an elephant, x-rays of Gamera, a neat minisub, and cool communicators. It is a fun ride! -
jamesrupert201410 July 2018Archeologists searching for artifacts to display at the 1970 Osaka World's Fair release a giant, tusked lizard-pig monster that follows them to Japan with devastating results. Only Gamera (as usual with the help of two young boys) can stop the creature and save the Fair. The film is a low-rent opus: the Gamera costume does little to hide the fact that it's just a skinny guy in a turtle suit, Monster X ('Jiger/Jaiga' in the Japanese original) is an interesting looking kaiju but is not very convincing when moving - it rarely 'walks' and frequently relies on 'jets' to swim or fly around (allowing use of an empty suit or non-articulated model), and most of the kaiju dust-ups are on an island or amongst simple and poorly detailed buildings. The film targets kids, so the two boys (annoyingly) have all of the answers and take the lead in rescuing Gamera from Jiger's parasitic offspring while simultaneously discovering the parent monster's fatal weakness. The film is famous for the scene in which parasitism is explained using graphic footage of writhing worms being removed from an elephant's swollen trunk (grim if real, well done if fake), an image sufficiently nasty to be commented on decades ago in the biker magazine "Easy Rider". The acting and script are laughable and, other than the "Fantastic Voyage" (1966) inspired rescue of the brooding turtle, the humans are primarily side-lined cheerleaders ("Gamera has such strength" enthuses the lisping little sister). The film is a pretty typical Showa-era Gamera outing, amusing in a silly way, but likely only of appeal to nostalgic boomers, campophiles, or kaiju-fans. I watched a low quality English-dubbed DVD version, which did nothing to improve the experience.
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kevin_robbins14 February 2023Gamera vs Jiger (1970) is a movie that I recently watched on Prime. The storyline follows an ancient statue that is moved from the countryside to the city. What the Japanese countrymen didn't know is that the statue was there to house Jiger. Jiger now sets out for the city to track down the statue and kill everyone in his way. Japans only hope to stop Jiger is their old friend Gamera.
This movie is directed by Noriaki Yuasa (Gamera: Giant Monster) and stars Kon Ômura (Gamera vs Guiron), Junko Yashiro (Gamera vs Viras) and Franz Gruber (Genocide).
This is a fun movie to watch but is very, very bad. The models are pretty bad and the planes, jeeps and helicopters look like toys you had as a kid. The monsters are obviously people in suits and they don't even try to hide it with good camera angles and editing. The background music is classic monster movie and reminded me of drivein commercials. There's a volcano 🌋 scene that looks like a high school science project (most of the movie feels like it was made by a high schooler to be honest). I will say I liked the use of spikes/needles at the end.
Overall, this is a poorly constructed monster movie that I would score a 4/10 but still recommend seeing once. -
dbborroughs15 October 2009Gamera, the flying turtle and friend to children everywhere battles Monster X around the Tokyo Expo. Monster X was released when a totem pole/statue that was keeping him buried was removed and moved to site of the Worlds Fair. Gamera movie made to tie in with the Tokyo Worlds Fair of 1970. For me this is the last of the good Gamera films of the original run. It's a bit lighter than the early ones and kind of marks the decent into total silliness. Still this film always resonated with me. I think it had something to do with the mini submarine that two kids use to go inside Gamera and battle a mini version of Monster X that was injected into out hero. I think its worth a look
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Angel_Meiru6 February 2004Who can advertise an Expo Fair with a Monster movie? Well, the answer is DAIEI with Gamera vs. Jaiger.
So far, in the old Gamera series, Jaiger and Gyaos were the only female monsters, and perhaps the nastiest as well. The only thing that could damage Jaiger is a huge, ancient whistle, stolen by Expo Fair workers. What the workers did not know is that the whistle makes a very, very annoying sound. So annoying, it makes a Yoko Ono CD sound like plesant Korean Trance music.
But the scene that stands out from the old Gamera series was the "Fantastic Voyage" type scene where the two boys take a demo submarine into Gamera's body and finds Jaiger's offspring, which is perhaps the most irritating Kaiju in history.
May not be a classic but G vs. J is quite a hoot to watch! -
reapercrew-0558420 December 2021Gamera vs Jiger is a 1970 monster flick and this monster has spike things and when he gets them to a direction he has this word beam thing and destroy stuff in it and he can fly and he forgets he can and sometimes when he crashes it is word and there is a part where jiger can produce more inside gamera and it is weird and unique.
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This is the sixth Gamera movie. The first five Gamera movies are good movies. This is better. The seventh Gamera movie Gamera vs Zigra is better. The eighth Gamera movie. Super Gamera is also better. The reboot Gamera guardian of the universe is also better. The few up to the reboot Gamera 2 Attack of legion is also better. Gamera 3 revenge of Iris is also better. This is a very scary movie. It has a great story line and great acting. If you like monster movies then you will like this movie. 5.7 is a good ratting. But this is such a great movie that 5.7 is underrating it. I give this movie an 8.
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Michael_Elliott17 May 2009Gamera vs. Jiger (1970)
** (out of 4)
An American behind an expo in Japan takes a large statue away from a mountain side and this unleashes Jiger, a large lizard like creature who can spit toothpicks from his mouth. Gamera comes to the rescue but gets beat up pretty badly and also gets pregnant to where he must carry Jiger's egg (I'm not kidding). A couple kids eventually help Gamera overcome his new pregnancy and he heads out to destroy the monster. This is certainly a kid's movie but it's mildly entertaining throughout all of its major goofiness. As is to be expected, the special effects are downright laughable, the performances even worse and the American dubbing will leave you scratching your head. The one big bonus is that the monsters are constantly doing battle with various forms of cardboard towns being blown up and ripped apart. The fight sequences are pretty good even though it appears Jiger can come up with new things out of nowhere. If you want a quality movie then you're going to be disappointed because every aspect of this movie is cheap. If you want a childish good time than this film might be your cup of tea as long as you don't expect too much. -
jacobgregorowski10 March 2023This movies so good I cried with mind-blowing writing and the best score since star wars it's clearly a 10/10 (wait was I meant to review gamera vs jigger?..... ooh ok) naah it's a bit boring I do like jigger and the new gamera head but other than that but I'm biased so 9/10 have a good one folks. Oh wait I'm underneath the minimum character number. Sigh it's defo not the worst gamera movie I enjoyed it alot I think my main criticism is that it drags on a bit but if wanting campy kaiju this I'd great ok thank you for reading my review have a good one! (Dammit! Still under minimum character limit! Oh ok yay!)
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hoskinsmike17 April 2024This is the second Gamera movie I ever saw and I have to say it holds up well. Released to American TV in 1970 under the title GAMERA VS. MONSTER X, it never got released to American theaters like many of Gamera's films in the U. S.
The story is similar in many ways to a previous Gamera film DESTROY ALL PLANETS (1969), in which two young boys, one Japanese and one caucasian American use a mini sub in their adventures with Gamera.
Monster X arises from the ground on a pacific island when a statue is removed from it's sacred place. Brought to Japan, it is discovered that the statue has a connection to the monster. Monster X starts wrecking havoc in Japan, primarily Osaka, I believe. Who comes to the rescue but Gamera. The two monsters fought earlier on the aforementioned island when Monster X left Gamera helpless.
Things get worse for Gamera when monster X pokes him with an injection from his tail and makes him really sick and paralyzed.
After the 2 boys enter Gamera with their mini sub to destroy a monster within Gamera, the two monsters have a final showdown with Monster X getting the statue impaled through his head, courtesy of Gamera.
This movie is an improvement over the last couple of Gamera films. The two things I could do without are the typical annoying kids of these films. But, they're not always annoying, but enough that I have to say something. And the second is that terrible Gamera theme song, even as a kid I didn't care for it.
Directed by Noriaki Yuasa and Shigeo Tanaka writer: Niisan Takahashi, sounds like a car.
Released by Daiei Motion Picture Company in Japan and American International Television in America.
9 STARS. -
azathothpwiggins6 July 2021In GAMERA VS. JIGER, the giant monster of the title is unleashed after a protective statue is moved. Soon enough, Gamera arrives to battle the terrible creature.
Watch out, big turtle! Jiger has more than a few tricks up its scaly sleeve! This thing shoots needles at our humongous hero, turning him into the world's biggest pin cushion!
When Jiger stings Gamera with its scorpion-like tail, Big-G is in serious trouble! When the kids of the film use their handy mini-submarine to enter Gamera's body, the horrible truth is revealed!
There's a monster-sized bun in his oven!
This movie is fun from start to finish! Any not-yet-jaded youngsters will be hopping all over the room while watching...