MST3K (316)
316 - Gamera vs Zigra - Yuasa-san must have a love affair with submarines and UFOs. Three out of the last four Gamera flicks have involved one or the other or both of those things. And, children, the mischievous scamps, are always managing to steal or stowaway on them. The Gamera Universe is in dire need of child-proof sub/saucer locks.
Speaking of the last Gamera movie, I wonder if BBI watched that one? Sandy Frank skipped it for some reason, so it wouldn't have been a part of the group of his films they bought the rights to. However, it involved an x-ray of the inside of Gamera, not too unlike the Gamera diagram from this episode's host segment (though the x-ray did not show a spiral staircase anywhere). In fact, the children in the aforementioned stolen submarine travel inside of Gamera, Fantastic Voyage-style. I can verify that Joel's information about the game room is way off. I think I did see a lonely guy with a bunch of cats in there, though.
"Hi. My name is TV's Frank and I am a Stooge-aholic." The credits still don't identify him as such, but this is the first time Frank's future full name has been used. This language was just a part of the infomercial-style spin they put on the invention exchange, as Joel describes Crow as "TV's Crow, the lovable, wise-cracking robot." They must've liked that prefix for Frank's name. I'm curious to see if they use it again in 317.
Moon Lady: "Even the earthquake of Sanriku Island was only about magnitude thirteen-and-a-half." Crow: "Which is also the IQ of Sandy Frank." Shot of the ocean during the "The End" credit. Servo: "I sure hope Sandy Frank gets a burial at sea." JatB are getting mean with the old guy. It used to be that they just would indicate that he enjoyed defecating on his metacarpus. Again, I'm not surprised he hated the show.
My last KTMA repeat, my last Gamera movie and my last kaiju eiga. I can't say that I'm disappointed. I thought I'd really enjoy the Japanese giant monster movies. In theory, they sound like super-good fun. Guys in rubber suits fight with each other in slow motion as they step on exploding models of cities. Awesome. In reality, there's only so much fighting and model-stomping that can be done before it gets boring. The remaining 80 minutes have to be filled with something else. That something else invariably involves annoying Kennys and ham-handed lessons about the environment. Still, I'm going to Netflix the modern Gamera trilogy and see what that's all about.
"Somebody get me a gun. I'm gonna shoot this coward." (6/10)
film d. Noriaki Yuasa (1971)
mst d. Jim Mallon (19 Oct 1991)
