4/25/2016

Destroy All Planets/Gamera vs. Viras/Gamera Vs. Space Monster Viras/ガメラ対宇宙怪獣バイラス (Gamera tai uchū Kaijū Bairasu) (1968) - Unmitigated kaiju trash

ZERO

An information-packed Japanese poster for Noriaki Yuasa's Destroy All Planets

QUICK REVIEW:

Destroy All Planets is another entry in the Japanese Gamera kaiju (giant creature) franchise, written by Niisan Takahashi (Super Monster/Uchu kaijû Gamera (1980)) and directed by Noriaki Yuasa (Gammera the Invincible (1966)). Gamera is, for those who don't know it, a giant flying turtle.

The plot is something about two Boy Scouts, who go to space, and seemingly endless fights between poorly constructed giant monsters.

There's nothing mitigating about Destroy All Planets, a piece of trash which, for a film-lover, is painful to have to categorize as a film. The title Destroy All Planets, which was the US release title, was chosen not because it has anything to do with the film at all, but only because it resembled the title for Destroy All Monsters/Kaijû Sôshingeki (1968), which had just been successful.
Exposing children to Destroy All Planets, whom it is squarely targeted at, is likely to do one of two things, I reckon: (1) Harm them mentally, or, (2) put them to sleep.

Related review:

Noriaki YuasaAttack of the Monsters (1969) or, Gamera Saves Imperiled Kids!

Here's a short trailer for the film

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown
[Destroy All Planets was released March 20 (Japan) and runs 90 minutes. The film was made on a very small budget. To cut expenses, Destroy All Planets incorporates, as the first Gamera movie, footage from previous films in the series, which here makes up around 15 minutes of the film. It is not possible to rank its theatrical performance without any numbers, obviously, but it is likely that the film made money, because Gamera movies continued to be made after it. 1,727 Rotten Tomatoes users have given Destroy All Planets an average rating of 2.8/5.]

What do you think of Destroy All Planets?

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