JLRVancouver Nikkatsu studios joined the kaiju club with this 1967 entry, which sees two giant, prehistoric bird-like creatures descend upon Japan in search of their newly hatched chick, which has been taken from their island home by a team of scientists and journalists. Unlike most Japanese diakaiju films (but similar to the British film "Gorgo" (1961)), the monsters are simply victims of human avarice, ignorance, or indifference, and are neither our enemies/predators (like most monsters) nor our friends/guardians (as Godzilla was becoming). Despite this differing philosophy, the 'first two acts' follow the usual kaiju trajectory, the monsters are 'awoken', show up in Japan whereupon they cause considerable destruction (the miniature buildings that they destroy when they first arrive are very well done), demonstrate their invulnerability to our puny weapons necessitating the development of a bespoke weapon (in this case, high-intensity sound). Needless to say while the army is trying to destroy the distraught parents, more empathetic characters are pleading for the chick to be released and I doubt that anyone would be surprised by which side wins out in the 'third act'. As mid-1960's kaiju films go, "Gappa: The Triphibian Monster" is not bad. The story is simple but has the odd gaps in logic common to the genre (the fact an egg could hatch after lying dormant for a million years makes perfect sense, the possibility that it was recently laid by extant adults is untenable). Most of the miniatures and the pyrotechnics are on par with contemporary Toho films but the titular monsters are not as effective. The Gappas suffer from the usual problem with bird-like kaiju: they're too bulky, have long, heavy legs, and look completely unconvincing in flight - they take off like the flying monkeys in the "Wizard of Oz" (1939) and never seem to move their wings when flying. As well, unlike Toho's 'Rodan', the Gappas have both arms and wings, making them look even more like actors in suits. Kaiju design aside, the film is a lightweight but watchable entry into the genre. Socially sensitive viewers take warning: the young actor playing the native island boy does so with make-up to darken his complexion (with mixed success), which some people might consider 'blackface' (although he's not intended to look like a minstrel player) and the female lead, having just witnessed a somewhat sentimental Gappa family reunion, closes the film by disavowing her job and asserting that she's just an "ordinary women" who should get married and have children.

soulexpress A scientific expedition lands on a South Pacific island, whose natives worship a mysterious god named Gappa. An earthquake opens up an underground cavern, where the scientists find a strange-looking baby reptile. The natives implore them to leave the hatchling where they found it, but instead the scientists bring it to Japan to live in a zoo. It isn't long before Mommy and Daddy Gappa start ripping Japan apart in search of their missing kid.After a slow first half, the action sequences are non-stop to the point of relentlessness. It's amusing to watch Mommy Gappa knock buildings over as an octopus dangles from her mouth. (Presumably, it's to feed her kid when she finds him.)The film is every bit as cheesy as you would expect. There's a greedy businessman, a precocious kid (two, in fact), unfunny comic relief, tin-ear dialogue, shitty dubbing, a poorly handled romantic sub- plot, a remarkably well-lit cave, a volcano that looks like a fifth-grader's science project, a submarine sequence that must have been shot in a bathtub, and monsters who were just different enough from Godzilla that Tojo couldn't sue. It was all done before, and the filmmakers knew it. This was simply Nikkatsu Studios' attempt to cash in on Japan's monster craze. Looks like it didn't happen, though, as Nikkatsu never made another monster movie. So if you want to see the Gappa clan, this is your only option.The "prehistoric planet" of the title is Earth, about two or three million years ago.

Leofwine_draca Remember GORGO, that middling and often boring British 1960 giant monster movie in which scientists capture a baby monster and have to contend with the creature's rampaging parent? Well, this low-budget and often shoddy Japanese monster epic (for once NOT from Toho, but from a cheapie rival instead) is an unofficial remake of that movie, although for what reason I'm not sure, as it doesn't really improve things anymore. Instead what we have is a totally generic monster film with a predictable plot, stock and dull characters, and predictable action. On the plus side it has a fast pacing to it and lots of special effects, most of which are cheesy. This is a film to watch if you're in desperate need of a good laugh.We begin as our team of intrepid explorers (including the man with the most annoyingly dubbed voice in the world) explore a remote island and are bombarded by earthquakes, achieved by the shaking of the camera in an extremely irritating manner. The natives are restless, running around shouting "Gappa is angry" and are amusingly Japanese folk in blackface. The first "Gappa" is discovered, a hilariously misshapen monster which looks like a turkey crossed with a lizard and dropped off a cliff. Soon enough he's carted off back to Japan and experimented upon, and gets to wear a funny red helmet for his efforts.Meanwhile, the parent Gappa aren't too pleased with the kidnapping of their son, so fly to Japan to rescue him. The 'rescue attempt' consists of destroying lots of cheap model buildings in their quest for revenge. They also have the ability to fly, with wings which make them look like they're wearing capes. These costumes are some of the worst you will ever see, so bad that I actually felt sorry for the guys who were wearing them. A fight ensues with the military, or in reality lots of little miniature toy tanks which are quickly destroyed. The monsters also fight some model aircraft and breath a heatwave on them, before retreating into a lake, beaten for the time being.It's not long before those pesky scientists are bombarding the lake with sound waves, causing the creatures to fly out and cause yet more model destruction. Watch out for some really bad back projection effects here, folks. Also, the cheesiest, most obvious, superimposed tidal wave effect you're likely to witness in a movie. I would guess that the only people who ever have a chance of seeing this movie are those who know what they're letting themselves in for, so there's no real need for me to tell you how poorly put-together this film is, or how awful the special effects are. But, as I said before, it passes the time and is a pretty amusing entry in the Japanese kaiju series.

david-sarkies Ahh, the old Japanese monster movies where men in monster suits trash matchbox towns and plastic tanks are melted by death rays coming from the monster's mouths and the monsters are immune to anything the humans can throw at them, thus requiring intelligence to beat them. The only other one I have seen recently is Godzilla vs Biolante, which I have on video.This movie was quite slow, but nostalgic. An expedition funded by the owner of playmate magazine was sailing the Pacific looking for animals to populate a proposed resort. After an earthquake, a cave is opened up and the explorers find a strange baby monster so they decide to take it back to Tokyo to show their boss. They ignore the natives' warnings and the monster's parents wake up and decide that they want their kid back, so they go to Japan, trash a few cities, and after the Japanese realise that even their best weapons will not work, they give the kid back.There isn't much in the way of thought provoking ideas in here, except for the statement that we shouldn't go around stealing animals for our pleasure, because they have feelings to - though this is really a load of sentimental garbage as a lot of animals abandon their kids when they can look after themselves. The one thing that stands out is the female scientist that says she is much better in the kitchen and decides to stop being a scientist - something vilely offensive to this egalitarian age.A long movie that is quite samey to the Godzilla movies, but if you like Japanese monster movies, then this is quite good. I guess the two monsters give you double your money. It is just that Godzilla didn't need an excuse.Interesting point - the kid is smaller than the humans, and the parents are bigger than buildings, but when they are united, the kid is almost the same size as the parents. Oh well, this is 1967 so we can't expect such extravagant effects.