Gamera vs. Zigra (1971) User Reviews (23)

Probably The Worst Gamera Film.

[jerekra · 3/10 · 16 January 2009]

Gamera vs Zigra is probably the worst Gamera film ever made. It has an old plot, bad monster action, and pretty stupid dialogue.

Basic plot involves an alien space ship led by an evil Sorcerous named Zigra. Then you pretty much predict what will happen, they try to take over the Earth and Gamera must save the Earth.

There are so many alien invading science fiction films that this one is nothing special. In fact it is really bad. The little kids in this film are so annoying that they make me want to see the other annoying kids in other Gamera Films.

Zigra is a pretty cool looking monster. However he moves around so slowly and really does not do anything exciting like Gamera's other foes. But he does look cool. I guess it is somewhat interesting how Zigra shoots a ray that messes with your chromosones. Also Zigra can talk in comprehendable English which is a first for a Gamera opponent. The fights between Zigra and Gamera are not really very good at all. There is so much standing around and roaring between Gamera and Zigra and it just gets boring.

There are other oddities in this film. The whole concept of Earth's water pressure making Zigra bigger made me scratch my head. Also why does Gamera have to play Zigra like a xylophone? And the song he plays is the Gamera theme song. Pretty lame part. Finally there is no way that Gamera could breathe fire under water and yet he does so in this film.

The dubbing is so bad in this film. I always prefer watching the Japanese films to the American dubbed film so it would be interesting to see the dialogue in Japanese to see how badly they screwed up the dubbing. But that would mean having to watch this film again and I do not want to do that.

So this one is pretty bad. Extremely boring and stupid at parts. Not a recommended Gamera film.

I want a coke...with Jack Daniels

[InzyWimzy · 3/10 · 22 September 2000]

Possibly one of the earliest attempts at cinematic product placement.

Ahh, Gamera. Zigra. Giant Turtle. Giant Fish. Fire. Hypnosis beams. I guess the pleasure from these classic japanese monster films is watching a world, or mostly Japan, where giant mutant monsters exist, children know much much more than the adults, and cities are crushed as easily as cheesy models...oh wait, they are models. Anyway, UFO comes to Japan. The main brats Kenny and Helen (will someone get her a coke already!!) go on zany trying to prevent Zigra and his scantily clad henchwoman (VA-VOOM!) from trying to take over earth. The Zigra woman has the ability to hypnotize people with a simple snap and she must follow Zigra's orders to kill the children who mysteriously manage to survive again and again (duh). People yell AH!!, Gamera shows up, Zigra blows stuff up, a lot of paint...uh blood is spilled, I think there were dolphins, and lots of subplots to keep virtually anyone watching perplexed. Also, the diabolically catchy Gamera song is sung here. Add this all up for a huge laughs and best seen with Joel and da bots (HEY, THAT'S US!!).

kiddie cheap monster movie

[r-c-s · 4/10 · 22 December 2005]

This episode of the Gamera franchise reprises the pollution item from the more famous Godzilla-Toho movies. If we can make a comparison, this movie is closely related to "the smog monster" movie of the Godzilla series. Two annoying kids are abducted by aliens. at first they think some pretty woman to be the villain, only to realize later she's a captive earthling and her boss & invading alien is some sort of stuffed shark. Lots of hide'n'seek & a few shots of the hottie in bikini. What takes these early gamera movies apart is they are expressly children movies. However, children movies from the 60's get old quick and i'm not sure how much of any appeal they might have for today's children. The budget is typically low, SFX nearly non-existent and the plot is nearly non-existent, with the trademark of say UN surrendering to the aliens to save a couple of silly childs. While childs in other Gamera movies are very smart, these 2 are borderline idiots (check the military interview part). Most TOHO movies were children movies but could easily target adults; not so with most of these early DAIEI productions. Kikuchi rips himself off recycling tunes from his score repertory. Luckily it is a short movies, thus it is perfectly watchable for what it is.

Always good for a laugh

[Ace-85 · 28 March 1999]

Campy and low-budget, all the things that make the old Gamera movies great. This movie follows a creature named Zigra, who first destroys a moon base then threatens Tokyo. Gamera arrives late and generally just mucks things up. He does somehow save the day, in one of the cheesiest fight sequences ever made. If you like stupid old movies, this one's for you.

"Gamera is really neat, Gamera is full of meat, We believe in Gamera!"

Last and least of the original Gamera series

[kevinolzak · 2/10 · 27 December 2013]

1971's "Gamera vs. Zigra" was the last (no 7), and by far least, of Daiei's original Gamera series, eventually making the television rounds in the US over 15 years after the company went bankrupt (the other six all showed up on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater). With yet another batch of annoying children, and adults who behave just as badly, it's up to series veteran Reiko Kasahara to maintain intrigue, even if she has to run around in a fetching bikini! She had previously appeared in "Gamera vs. Gaos" (no. 3) and "Gamera vs. Guiron" (no. 5), the latter as one of the two alien women desiring to devour the children's brains (not that that could make them any smarter). Zigra is revealed as a kind of shark usually found in the deeper waters off Japan, but Gamera is just laughable. The previous color sequels, apart from "Gamera vs. Viras," had some merit, but this one has absolutely none, dumb characters coupled with dumber monsters.

Fun ending of original Gamera series

[wdavisterry · 5/10 · 15 August 2011]

After Gamera vs. Jiger this one is a definite upgrade to the level of previous Gamera movies. A real charmer, Gamera vs. Zigra features an alien who controls humans with hypnosis to get what it really wants. The plot runs into two children, the girl, Helen, who, with her older sister Maggie, appears to be bi-racial, and Kennie, who have a psychic link to Gamera. Avoid the non-Japanese print, this one is beautifully shot in wide-screen that is completely lost in the t.v. cut version. Also, the acting is much more restrained than the horrible dubbing would have you believe. It's sort of the ultimate expression of the Gamera idea. Gamera: it can never be said that he fails to get the job done when he racks up another impressive victory over a monster, here Zigra, who is creepy on the space ship (including cobwebs) but out of the ship (and full size) is more attractive than Gamera's other adversaries.

"Gamera is the friend of all children! "

[bensonmum2 · 2/10 · 31 March 2008]

When the Earth is threatened by an aquatic, shark-looking alien named Zigra (and conveniently from the planet Zigra), it's up to Gamera (and two very annoying Japanese children) to save all of mankind.

Gamera vs. Zigra is the bottom of the barrel when if comes to Japanese monster movies. Everything that makes Gamera so inferior to Godzilla is here: the annoying children, the ridiculous Gamera theme song, the ineffective defense force taking its lead from a 6 year-old, a woman in a mini-skirt chasing kids through Sea World, Kenny (Is there always a kid named "Kenny" in one of these movies?), and the worst looking monsters put on film. I realize these movies were aimed at a much younger audience (remember, "Gamera is the friend of all children!"), but do they have to be so stupid? I'm afraid my head might explode if I think about it too much. I could go on and on, but I'll limit this to two surreal moments that are so silly they almost defy description.

First, with the entire planet facing the threat of being conquered by Zigra and Tokyo preparing for a magnitude 18 (whatever that means) earthquake, an argument over fish takes center stage for better than 5 minutes of the movie's runtime. The man responsible for feeding the dolphins at the Tokyo Sea World and the manager of a swanky hotel get into a heated argument with a fishmonger over a crate of fish. Mankind is on the verge of extinction and all these people seem to be worried about is fish. As I indicated, I really can't do it justice. You'd have to see it to believe it.

Second, having just defeated Zigra (not really a spoiler – did you think Gamera was going to lose?), Gamera uses Zigra like a xylophone to pound out a tune. Yes, that's right – Gamera uses a club on Zigra's dorsal fin to play the first few notes of his theme song. And if that weren't ridiculous enough, Gamera follows it up with a few dance steps. This is surely one of the proudest moments in Japanese film history.

See what I mean? My head hurts just thinking about it.

Children's Film With Reduced Intelligence

[Calaboss · 1/10 · 15 February 2010]

I've seen quite a number of the Japanese man-in-rubber-suit monster movies, and this one rates right down there at the bottom. Gamera has always been confusing to me. At least with Godzilla I suppose there's a chance that radioactivity could turn him into a giant radioactive lizard.

But I think Gamera is a pretty hard sell, even to kids. Here we have a giant, fanged turtle that walks upright, breathes fire (even under water), and has rockets under his shell and uses them to fly. He also dances, and comes when children call, like a giant puppy with a shell.

But, if you can buy that premise, I suppose none of the other strangeness in this movie will effect you either. Zigra is a giant shark-like thing from another galaxy that can stand on its tail, has a razor bladed head, a bird's beak and some sort of fourth dimensional laser beam for a nose. It also speaks English (originally Japanese) under water. Even Gamera can't speak our language, and he lives here. Zigra has come to enslave humans and eat them.

Much like the other Gamera films, preschool children figure out all the answers to problems grown scientists have no clue about, then they call Gamera to come save the day. Which he does, of course, finishing up by playing his theme song on Zigra's ribs with a boulder. Nothing unusual in that, really. It's the sort of stuff that's been happening in Japan for decades.

Another gift from "Producer" Sandy Frank, who never met a film that was too awful to import to America. It makes me wonder what the Japanese think when we export some nuttiness like Spiderman to their country.

ZIGRA is Z-grade.

[vip_ebriega · 2/10 · 27 June 2007]

My Take: Toho could make art compared to this.

The giant rubber monster movies, or Kaiju as they called it in Japan, has been on the spotlight for many a year. From the fame of "Gojira" or "Godzilla: King of the Monsters", the same studio tried to top themselves with creating more and more of this monstrosities battling each other. "Godzilla", the most famous of these, also spawned rip-offs (They happen here to you know). One of these was Gamera. from the original "Gammera the Invincible", this also spawned sequels, which features our giant rubber terrapin pits fire against other giant monsters, and always impresses the kiddies, who look up to Gamera as their hero. While the other Gamera films maybe are entertaining (haven't seen them yet), "Gamera vs. Zigra", the last in the series is what I'd include in the category "Bottom-of-the-barrel". LAughable rubber monster movie. They would have learned from the start that this was silly. But no, they made it anyway.

The plot is mainly the basis of hundred previous Kaiju films. Alien entities try to take over the world. Led by Zigra, an alien lord resembling the Goblin shark, which can be found commonly near Japanese waters, the alien enemy (well, only one) cause massive earthquakes to prove their powers. Then the kids point at the skies as their hero approaches. Is it Superman? No, it's Gamera!!! Yes Gamera to the rescue once again. And Gamera does more than fight Zigra, he does many other silly things like breath fire...underwater(?!)and so much more. If you think that would be silly, wait 'till you see it.

This is admittedly one of the silliest movies I've seen in a while (although I have a hunch saying I'll be seeing more of this silliness with these rubber monster Kaiju), but some movies have reached a certain amount of ineptness, being Ed Wood's "Plan 9 from Outer Space" as a good example, that they can be entertaining, mostly for preposterous reasons. Camp buffs can rest their eyes on preposterous situations like fire-breathing underwater, an alien woman walking about wearing only a bathing suit as a disguise, silly dialog and, well, so much more than you can possibly laugh at, unintentionally.

Although this was indeed silly, at least it didn't bore me, I mean, with all the silliness going on. I give the film, at least, a *, for being completely hilarious on the parts that it shouldn't.

Rating: * out of 5.

Gamera Nears The End

[AaronCapenBanner · 1/10 · 3 May 2014]

Seventh Gamera film is rock bottom nonsense: once again, more aliens decide to invade the Earth, first by attacking a moon base, then using their hypnotic powers to control Earth scientists, but their children come to the rescue(with a subplot involving an extended chase sequence at Sea World that seems lifted from a comedy sketch of some kind) They call upon the help from their friend, and Earth protector Gamera, who ends up doing battle with Zigra, a giant shark/swordfish hybrid that also can be used to play the Gamera theme music... Woefully childish and inept film was the last one for nine years, until an even more ignoble final send off!

This is a below average addition to the monster genre that's still worth watching once

[kevin_robbins · 4/10 · 2 June 2023]

Gamera vs. Zigra (1971) is a movie that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows an alien race known as Zigra who have evaluated the Earths surface and feel it's perfect for them to take over. They plan to live under water and use the humans as food. When Gamera comes to the rescue the Zigra unleash their giant shark to stop him and complete their mission.

This movie is directed by Noriaki Yuasa (Gamera: The Giant Monster) and stars Kôji Fujiyama (Bullet Train), Mikiko Tsubouchi (Zatoichi Challenged), Yoshio Yoshida (Zatoichi on the Road) and Reiko Kasahara (Shogun Assassin).

Gamera always looks like a plastic toy in these movies. The sound effects for the monsters are cool and the monster battles are a lot of fun. The kids and soundtrack are a bit cheesy and these tales always seem to work in a point about being good to nature. There were some flame sequences in here that were solid. The final monster battle was more entertaining than good.

Overall, this is a below average addition to the monster genre that's still worth watching once. I would score this a 3.5/10.

Entertaining Gamera film

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 4 April 2011]

Space aliens arrive on Earth with their giant shark Zigra. Of course, they plan on conquering our planet, so it's up to giant flying fire-breathing turtle Gamera to once again save the day. Director Noriaka Yuasa and writer Nisan Takahashi treat the story with admirable sincerity and toss in a valid and relevant anti-pollution message amid all the expected carnage. The cast likewise play their parts with praiseworthy conviction. The big climactic monster mash between Gamera and Zigra is staged with a reasonable amount of flair and hits the stirring spot, with the definite wacky highlight occurring when Gamera plays Zigra's back like a xylophone. The lovably rinky dink (far from) special effects -- rubbery monster suits, Tonka Toy miniatures -- possess a certain tacky charm. As a nice added bonus, we also get a hot mysterious Asian hitchhiker babe in a bikini. Plus you just gotta love the insanely catchy'n'groovy Gamera theme song! Both Akira Uehara's expansive widescreen cinematography and Shunsuke Kikuchi's robust score are up to par. A fun creature feature.

Fun if you let it be

[www1125 · 7/10 · 30 January 2023]

I don't think anybody is gonna give Gamera vs. Zigra any Kaiju classic praise, and for obvious reasons. That said, this isn't so bad. The alien invasion plot was pretty common for both Godzilla and Gamera movies at this point, but this movie went the Ultraman route and had the alien and monster as the same entity, rather than aliens controlling the monster, which makes this a more unique experience for Kaiju fans. The plot flows along pretty slowly, which does make it a drag to watch at times, but overall what we're given is typical cheesy Gamera fun. The environmental message is handled rather nicely, and doesn't come off as too preachy. Heck, even the kids here aren't so bad. They at least act like normal kids, and aren't the ones coming up with all the plans to stop Zigra. As for Zigra, his design is pretty badass. Based off the real life goblin shark, he's a cool looking villain, and memorable Gamera foe. Fight scenes aren't among Gamera's best, but still have the Gamera hokiness we've come to love

Honestly, it's a Showa Gamera movie. If you go in with the right attitude, you'll have fun. Just let yourself be a kid again for an hour and a half, and enjoy yourself

-- Wes Wall.

I love Gamera

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 30 March 2020]

Shortly after Gamera vs. Zigra was completed, the film's production studio, Daiei Film, went bankrupt. As a result, the film was distributed by another company called Dainichi Eihai. It only cost around $97,000, which is pretty amazing (Around $621,000 in today's money).

This time, Earth is under attack by aliens. Well, we're under attack by aliens again.

The Zigrans have enslaved a female astronaut to do their bidding and have a monster named Zigra which can stop the cellular activity of Gamera, who sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Luckily, the children, some dolphins and a bathysphere come to the rescue.

This movie has one of my all-time favorite Gamera moments, as the giant turtle uses a giant rock to play his theme song on the fins of Zigra before setting the beast on fire, because as we have all learned, Gamera does not play.

This would be the last Gamera movie for nine years, which is a shame. I knew none of this as a child, as I began watching these movies probably in 1977 and had no idea of their history. I wouldn't have seen this one anyway, as it's the only original Gamera film to not be released in the U.S. It wouldn't come over here until the VHS era.

Truly BEYOND awful...

[dsgraham212002 · 1/10 · 9 March 2014]

There is no doubt, here. This final entry in the early Gamera series is dreadfully painful to watch, for any age (oh, maybe a two-year old would like it). This sick joke of a movie has laughable effects (was that done on purpose?), indescribably stupid dialog, atrocious dubbing, children you want to see lose their voices and/or disappear (annoying just doesn't cut it), a done-to-death plot, and maybe some other insults to intelligence I haven't listed here. Sure, it's a kiddies' movie, but WTF? At least add SOMETHING new or watchable (other than the ridiculous villain monster), film-makers. To call it fun or entertaining really strains these words' definitions. Egad, when Gamera does that dance... Even MST3K's riffing couldn't make this cinematic dreck funny or interesting, and THAT says it all, folks! Check out the late-nineties trilogy of Gamera films, instead. Now THOSE rock the house!!

"It's Barbaric"

[gigan-92 · 1/10 · 5 July 2012]

Ah, I'm near the end of my self-imposed Gamerathon. While the showa series started off well enough, Gamera became worse and strange as it dragged on. In the last one Gamera faced the crap-monster Jiger; now he faces…Zigra!! All I can say is watch the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode featuring this crapfest. It is HILARIOUS!! However, watching this movie without the commentary is practically suicide. Once more, a hot Japanese chick in a strange leotard wishes to take over the Earth because we of course treat it like a crappy car. The interior and exterior of the alien ship looks like a rejected set from "Peewee's Big Adventure". The movie is technically pretty short, but because of its budget and poor writing the first half really drags on. Hell, the whole movie drags on. Whole squadrons are wiped out, magnitude 18 earthquakes rock Peru, and all off-screen, of course. At the same time, there is a humongous debate on who gets to buy fish. Practically an hour in, where's that Zigra guy? At the same time, there's a chase sequence that's choreographed like one from Scooby-Doo. You know, one person runs in one door, somehow exits thru another, snazzy music plays? At long last Zigra appears, and I actually like the design of the fish-creature. But wait, he can talk? WTF…Wait, Gamera uses the spikes along Zigra's back like a xylophone, WTF?!! This is one sh*tfest I can't comprehend.

Very Lame Gamera Flick.

[OllieSuave-007 · 3/10 · 13 June 2007]

I saw this film in a Gamera weekend special on TV back in the early 1990s, after Gamera vs. Barugon. This film pretty much hits rock bottom, with a lame storyline, unremarkable special effects and horrendous acting.

A moon base is destroyed by a spaceship and an alien named Zigra comes to Earth and kidnaps two men and two children. After the humans escape, they were chased by an alien-possessed woman all around this Seaworld-like theme park - a scene that takes up too much of the movie.. To cap things all up, Gamera shows up and battles the alien, which ultimately becomes a giant swordfish, in one of the most sloppiest and most boring monster battles ever filmed. Probably the most annoying scene in this movie is when the boy, seeing Gamera for the first time in the film, shouts out "Ah, Gamera!" Then, he and his sister end up riding the turtle on his back, singing the infamous Gamera song.

Overall, a very cheesy film. I recommend Gamera vs. Barugon or the Gamera films from the 90s over this!

Grade D--

The end of an era...thankfully

[jamesrupert2014 · 3/10 · 13 July 2018]

Admittedly, the English-dubbed version I watched may not have done the film justice, but "Gamera vs. Zigra" is pretty awful, even by bargain-basement kaiju-eiga standards. Briefly, an alien spaceship attacks a moonbase, then plunges into the ocean near Japan, from where Zigra kidnaps two kids and their fathers. There is a lengthy expositional scene where an alien space-babe (with '"super-celestial powers"), who seems to be channeling some kind of giant space-shark, explains Zigra's backstory, informs us that resistance is futile, and demonstrates diverse abilities such as causing earthquakes and hypnotising subjects with a snap of her finger. Typical of the Showa-era Gamera series, grownups are ineffectual, but the children manage to rescue their stupefied fathers and escape. Gamera attacks the submerged spaceship, which inexplicably changes into a monster resembling a gigantic, robotic 'goblin shark'. Various adventures and battles follow, with the two children always in the thick of things. As usual, Earth's puny weapons are proven useless and only Gamera, the children's friend, can save us. At times, the film (or at least the dubbed dialogue) makes no sense: explaining Zigra's origins, the space-babe states "We on Zigra planet, we used to live in the sea but your Earth science polluted the water and we could no longer live there", this despite the fact that Zigra is 400 light-years from Earth. The special effects are low-budget and not very effective, with most of the monster action underwater or on a beach. The Gamera suit looks as unconvincing as ever and the silly Zigra costume is on par with most of Gamera's goofy kaiju foes (Gyaos being an exception). In keeping with the drift toward 'environmental values' in the genre ('Godzilla vs the Smog Monster' was released the same year), the film has lots of preachy moments about valuing the oceans, etc., yet opens with what is essentially a plug for "Sea World". There are also several references to Coke, the tiresome little girl's libation of choice. For a kaiju film, there is not a lot of 'action' and far too much time is spent on the space-babe's pursuit of the annoying children, descriptions of carnage and destruction that we don't get to see, and Zigra's continual gloating about his superiority, our dismal fate, etc. His comeuppance for this verbose posturing is to have his dorsal fins played like a xylophone by the triumphant turtle, who then breaks into dance (even sillier than Godzilla's infamous victory jig in 1964's 'Invasion of Astro-Monster'). Incongruously, after this lighthearted song-and-dance moment, Zigra is incinerated while still alive. The Gamera formula was getting pretty tired by 1971 and, perhaps fortunately, this was the last of the original Showa-era films. Other than 'starring' in 1980's dire "Gamera Super Monster" a compilation of fight scenes frame-worked by a ridiculous (and possibly imaginary) story involving 'space women', the giant, jet-powered, flying turtle hibernates until 1995's excellent "Gamera: Guardian of the Universe". One bonus: the score includes the 'Gamera Song', this time with lyrics and sung by a children's choir. If this memorably cheerful ditty doesn't lay an egg in your inner ear, nothing will.

Kenny 2.0 and girl who wants a coke fight alongside Gamera to save the world!

[Aaron1375 · 4/10 · 6 September 2016]

The only Gamera films of the originals was the ones MST3K did not riff. The riffed five out of eight so I think that I got a good feel for the series. The three films I did not watch were Gamera vs Viras, Gamera vs Jiger and Gamera: Super Monster which should not even count as it was really just a patched together film with very few original scenes. People complain about how movies are done now, but they literally had more than a couple of films that were just pieced together films like this, they even did a Pink Panther film this way. Talk about something that would never be accepted today. This one is a bit of an improvement over Gamera vs Guiron, which was the last film I saw (Jiger was in between Guiron and this one), but only mildly so. I preferred the setting here and quite frankly that one space girl was hot, hot, HOT! There was just a bit more to it than the Guiron film too, as that film almost seemed like there was really no credible threat and the only people in danger were the two children. Let's face it, if those two space gals from the last film landed on Earth, I do not see them really being able to do much especially since they would be coming without their monster.

This film has another space alien threat as a spaceship that doubles as a candy dish comes to Earth. Zigra has come to take over the planet and his hot assistant will hypnotize anyone who stands in their way. Granted, she has the hardest time capturing the two annoying children of the piece. Soon she is sent to kill these children as they know their plan or something, but they could have better used the time simply concentrating on conquering the world as the kids really did not know anything useful as a dolphin trainer is the one that figures out the means to snap the paralysis that the hot space assistant can dish out. Of course, Gamera will be the one to battle the monster Zigra and, of course, Gamera is going to be incapacitated for a while to build tension or something. I need a coke after trying to summarize that story!

This made a nice end of the Mystery Science Theater doing Gamera films. I prefer Mike as host of the show, but Joel was very good on every one of the Gamera films. Kind of strange as sometimes when they do sequels the jokes get stale, it happened with Master Ninja and Space Fugitive and most certainly on the Hercules films, but the Gamera films never got stale. I guess because they are a bit different from each other, but not really as most that feature other monsters follows the same plot of people try to stop monster and fail, Gamera fights a bit and gets injured in some way and must rest, more failed plans and then final showdown. Still, it somehow worked well to make a great set of shows for them to riff.

So this one was not great by any means, but it was better than Guiron. My favorite of the Showa era Gamera films was Gaos and then Barugon as both of them featured other monsters and a dark tone. This one and Guiron are just incredibly goofy at times. Not sure how the tone in Viras was, but I am guessing the tone began to get more goofy in that one and I am pretty sure Jiger was like this one and Guiron too. Though I hear there is a rather nasty scene in that one featuring a film of some sort of parasite and an elephant's trunk. I do know that Gamera got incapacitated in that one too! This one moves pretty quickly though and has a good setting and one very fine space woman!

Zzzzzzigra.

[BA_Harrison · 3/10 · 9 November 2021]

An unconvincing model moon base is blasted by a spaceship (which looks like the crown of The Statue of Liberty has collided with a giant liquorice allsort); the spaceship proceeds to Earth and lands in the sea. On board the craft: a hot Japanese woman (Eiko Yanami) under the control of Zigra, an alien goblin shark/swordfish who causes massive earthquakes (that occur off-screen to stay within budget) in order to force the human race to surrender its oceans. Gamera isn't about to let that happen and steps in to sort out the uppity fish, but when the titanic turtle destroys the spaceship, Zigra grows to massive proportions...

If it wasn't for the presence of yummy Eiko Yanami, who cavorts in a sexy space outfit, a bikini, and a mini-skirt, I would have dozed off during this one: it's easily the worst of the Gamera films thus far, with a hum-drum seen-it-all-before plot, annoying kids, and very little in the way of monster action. Much of the film acts as an advertisement for Kamogawa Sea World, and we're treated to performing killer whales and seals. Meanwhile, Gamera spends a lot of the time face down in the sea, having been zapped by Zigra, and is only revived by a lightning bolt for the finalé, in which he teaches Zigra a lesson by playing his dorsal spines like a xylophone before barbecuing him.

2.5/10, generously rounded up to 3 for the salient environmental message: keep the oceans clean!

Not the absolute worst..?

[mig-47718 · 5/10 · 2 September 2020]

Gamera vs Zigra is certainly not the worst of the Showa Gamera movies. It's not held together with duct tape and stock footage like Gamera vs Viras and the infamous Gamera Super Monster. The monster fights are silly and entertaining(the xylophone scene is a highlight of the serie). Zigra is a well executed monster and is one of the best looking monster in the showa serie.

Admittedly the plot here is possibly one the with constant and very hard to miss plot holes. What truly drag this movie down is the awful scenes with the kids and the stupid alien goon. A very insultingly bad goon.

Overall it's in my opinion the third worst Gamera movie but it's still a mile better than VS Viras and a million miles better than Super Monster. Perhaps that's not saying much all things considering.

7th one is better then the first 6

[jacobjohntaylor1 · 8/10 · 10 May 2017]

This is the seventh Gamera movie it is better then the first six. The first six Gamera are good movie. They are very scary. But they are not as scary has this film. The eight Gamera movie Super Gamera is better. The Gamera reboot. Gamera guardian of the universe is better. The few up to the reboot. Gamera 2 Attack of Legion is also better. The third pare to the new Gamera series Gamera 3 the revenge of Iris is also better. This movie has a great story line. It also has great acting. It is very scary. I do not know why it got a 3.1. That is just underrating it. I give this movie an 8.

This is a unique good bad film

[reapercrew-05584 · 6/10 · 20 December 2021]

Gamer vs Zigra is a 1971 monster flick and this monster is a alien monster that likes the water what a surprise for this series and these kennies are getting worse by the movie they can get their hands on and it mentions sea world which has nothing to Do with anything for the plot just advertisement to go to sea world and the fights in some of the films are boring because they are short and should have more time and the kennies need to shut up.