Destroy All Planets/Attack of the Monsters

Starring:Kojiro Hongo, Toru Takatsuka, Carl Craig (II), Peter Williams, Carl Clay, Michiko Yaegaki, Mari Atsumi, Junko Yashiro, Koji Fujiyama, GenzÃ´ Wakayama, Chikara Hashimoto, Kenichiro Yamane, Kenji Go, Akira Natsuki, Ken Nakahara, Mary Morris (III), Kei'ichi Noda, Yoshiro Kitahara
Director: Noriaki Yuasa
Studio: Retro Media
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Five stars? Get serious!
Aliens, flash backs and Boy Scouts, oh my!
Dr. Dobie Smokes!
It's So So
The Worse of the Worst

Destroy All Planets/Attack of the Monsters
Starring: Kojiro Hongo , Toru Takatsuka , Peter Williams , Carl Craig (II) , and Carl Clay
Director: Noriaki Yuasa
Manufacturer: Retro Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

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Similar Items:

Attack Of The Monsters (aka Gamera vs. Guiron)
War of the Monsters (aka Gamera vs. Barugon)
Gammera the Invincible
Gamera vs. Monster X / Monster from a Prehistoric Planet
Return of the Giant Monsters - The Magic Serpent

ASIN: B00007ELFI
Release Date: 2003-01-28

Customer Reviews:

Five stars? Get serious!.......2006-11-27

OK here's the set up. An alien spaceship that looks like a bunch of demented beach balls all strapped together comes to invade Earth. A giant flying fire-breathing turtle (Gamera) pokes at it until it floats away and springs a leak. Space Ship Number 2 is called. Meanwhile, two bratty little smartass kids who are hated by everyone else in ther scout troop including their much too old to be doing this kind of thing sister are piloting a submarine around, smiling and waving at the flying turtle. Oh yeah! In an attempt to promote racial harmony, one of the brats is Caucasian and the other is Japanese. It's kind of hard to tell until the bright red-headed mom shows up to wail "Jim! Jim!" a few times. So, the aliens show about 20 minutes of Gamera fighting other men in dinosaur suits on their "Viewtron" while they try to find out how to kill Gamera. Seems kind of silly when we learn later on that when Gamera is flipped on his back he's just about helpless! So the aliens find out that Gamera is a softy for kids, and that's when the fun begins. The kids are snatched, Gamera is mind-controlled by the aliens, there's a giant squid with a pointy nose that turns out to be the head honcho who eventually gets around to battling with Gamera. Ho hum. For crying out loud, the world is saved by a couple of kids. This is a terrible movie. One star because the kids liked it, once we got past the boring "viewtron" fight scenes which were unbelievably tacky and silly.

Aliens, flash backs and Boy Scouts, oh my!.......2006-10-19

In Destroy All Planets the great Gamera is back. Boy, have I been watching a lot of Gamera, right? Well, anyway, aliens invade Earth and only Gamera, and some Boy Scouts, can stop them. Mind control, flash backs and the use of lots and lots of old footage. Great film to watch if you want to see all the monster fighting action of the past movies.

Dr. Dobie Smokes!.......2006-03-26

Forget the unimportant title. This movie exists by other titles that are far more descriptive, such as "Gamera vs. Viras." "Destroy All Planets" is a misnomer because there is only one planet shown in this movie, Earth, and the aliens want our planet for themselves. The aliens do want to remove those pesky humans infesting the planet, but they want to keep the planet whole so they can move in.

Gamera movies seem to have a large following among children in Japan, because children always play central roles in Gamera movies. This time we meet a crowd of boy scouts from Tokyo. Two of the boys are quite mischievous, and manage to play a prank on highly educated scientists by changing wiring connections on their mini-sub. The boys use this highly valuable lesson to later work their mischief on aliens. I believe these children later went on to government service in the diplomatic corps, personally starting two regional conflicts, fourteen incidents, thirty two letters of dismay, and an effigy burning.

After the two boys sabotage the sub, they convince the same bumbling scientists, including Dr. Dobie (played by Peter Williams), to allow them to drive the sub. Uh-huh. I wonder why we have so little trust in some researchers. These people are unable to prevent a couple of kids from sabotaging their multi-million dollar submersible. Once the submersible is sabotaged, they are unable to figure out how the children did it. Then, to add icing to the cake, these same people allow the children to pilot the sub. I have to wonder whether the name Dr. Dobie is a birth name, or perhaps was a name given to him after something he may have smoked in college. I am just speculating, but after his actions with the two boys, you have to wonder where this guy's head was at.

While the boys are taking a pleasure cruise in an expensive piece of research equipment, they encounter the giant turtle Gamera, also known as Gammera, who manages to make growly noises in outer space, walk upright, and shoot flames out of his leg holes. Gamera is one talented turtle.

Somewhere early in this movie we are introduced to spaceship #1, which Gamera toasts with a move worthy of "professional" wrestling. Soon we are introduced to spaceship #2, which has a crew of not-so-bright people and a guy in an octopus costume. After the boys return from their three hour tour, the weather started getting rough, and their tiny sub was tossed, and if it wasn't for the spirit of the fearless...wait, wrong story. Sorry. Getting back on track, the boys cheer on Gamera, only to fall into the clutches of the evil aliens on spaceship #2. The aliens prove about as bright as Dr. Dobie, which makes you wonder whether they were inhaling during the flight.

Early guys-in-monster-suits-destroying-Japan-models movies were often quite sincere. The original "Godzilla" and "Gamera the Invincible" are two movies that tried hard to have a good story and a good scare factor. By the time this movie came out, the studio had thrown sincerity out in favor of a children's fantasy. With the children running the movie, the movie is often either intentionally or unintentionally funny. In either case, this movie becomes a mediocre entry in the people in costumes monster movie genre.

The sound and picture quality are reasonably for this 1971 film, though the film could be re-mastered with modern technology. The studio kept the budget low by using scenes from earlier Gamera movies, even though some of the reused scenes were in black and white. The version I have is pan and scan rather than wide screen, which could be another addition if the original films are located.

Even though this low-budget flick is flawed, I recommend it to fans of Gamera movies, and fans of Japanese monster movies. The plot is a re-hash of earlier and later plots, but the formula has worked for dozens of films. Why mess with success? Good luck!

It's So So.......2005-12-08

I am conflicted; the movie was okay when compared to the later trilogy done in the 1990's that rocked! I heard that the early movies, or Showa movies weren't as good as the later ones, and that's true. The movie is good, but the movie has two flashbacks that show Gamera's previous fights from other movies, and it gets boring to see the same thing you have seen before on a movie you haven't. This also ruins the fight outcomes from the other movies if you watch this and haven't seen the other because they show how Gamera beat all of the other monsters. Good plot twist and a surprise at the end of the movie make this not a complete downer. I have to admit, the ending was good when you find out about the aliens and who and what they are. It was also a big surprise to find out who the leader of the aliens really was. They did a good job on that. So overall the movie is good, but it is boring to watch old fights again.

The Worse of the Worst.......2004-12-17

Okay, this is a distgusting and sickening film! Aliens invade earth and somehow offspring a octopus creature that was created from the ocean. Supposeldy the aliens reproduced and had the creature. I don't want to know how. Then the monster destroys the rest of Japan, and China. He is almost invinciable. Then Gamera decides to kill the aliens in space. gamera kills them which triggers the monster on earth to die. Gamera goes to earth and he begins to save three kids named Tomo, Sika, and Inoshiro. Gamera almost kills the kids by steping on their house and then he burns woods to ge to another city. Gamera also finds the octopus' offspring and it is exactly the same. Gamera eats it and i beleive by my eyes i saw him pee on its carcas. What the??!!!Gamera even tears his suite and i see the actor. Its horrible! Then about hundreds of alien ships come and Gamera uses one fireball and kills them all. He then dances! What the! He dances and he sings some stupid song and the government sign a treaty with Gamera! What the hell? That is stupid! Then the end! After that i just did an outline in lame terms: ALiens make their offsrping. Japan burns. Gamera kills the monster in Yokohama. Gamera saves the kids almost merely killing them. Gamera pees on the monster's carcas. Gamera kills the offsrping of the octopus. Gamera burns the alien ships. Gamera sings and dances. Gamera signs a treaty and uses a pen! Gamera then flys to the sun! The End Good i hope he burned!

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