Gappa, the Triphibian Monster (1967)

Just perfect...

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Not a very popular nor an excellent Kaijû Eiga (the story is too classic and cliché, maybe it's a satire so it's maybe on purpose but not sure), but still entertaining and funny !Entertaining because you see a lot the men in rubber suits destroying plastic stuff as buildings and tanks for example, and the humans part are not really boring.Funny because how cheap the special effects are (they didn't have as much money as Toho studios I guess), the way the monsters look (did Godzilla had babies with Rodan ? According to the french title of the movie it's not impossible) and how the woman photographer is considered by her colleague : He tells her something like "be a normal woman and stay at the kitchen and go change baby diapers" (and that's exactly what she's going to do at the end of the movie by the way, feminists should definitely not watch this movie to avoid a heart attack).The end with the baby Gappa learning how to fly is ridiculously fun too, it reminds me of Minilla learning how to spit fire in one of the "Godzilla" movies...If you like Kaijû movies and having a good laugh give it a try !

I am one of the more open-minded viewers you'll find when it comes to reviews. I love all sorts of films--including international films. However, for the life of me, I no idea why anyone would enjoy the Japanese giant monster films. The only one I ever enjoyed at all was the original "Godzilla"--otherwise I just don't get them. They are like Mexican luchador films, they just don't make a lot of sense to folks outside of the country."Daikyojû Gappa" is the only giant monster film made by Nikkatsu Studio. Yet, amazingly, the formula and look is pretty much the same as you'd see in the Gozilla, Rodan and Gamera films. Once again, some guy is dressed up in a monster suit and he stomps around the set smashing tiny model villages, plane, tanks and the like. And, inexplicably, there's a super-annoying kid who somehow knows EVERYTHING about the monsters and has a special bond with them. This time, the annoying know-it-all brat is different only in that the studio poured some silly paint all over his skin to show us he's Polynesian--though he just looks like a Japanese kid who painted himself with brown paint. And finally, you have inane dialog--particularly between the guy and his love interest.The bottom line is that this film offers nothing new other than a mommy, daddy and baby dinosaur-like creature. If you think this sort of thing is good, you'll probably like it. If you are like me, you'll wonder afterwards why you even bothered, as the film is incredibly dumb and lacks originality.

I've seen a lot of Japanese giant monster movies and most of them are terrible. Daikyojû Gappa, or Monster from a Prehistoric Planet as it was translated into English, is no exception. The monsters are flying sea creatures (yeah, it makes a lot of sense) that are clearly men dressed in cheap suits and plastic masks, fly faster than airplanes, breath fire and are pretty upset because people stole their baby, with which they can communicate electromagnetically.There is a bit of fun to be had when you see these people moving around the set and destroying plaster cities, but the enjoyment is limited. The English voice over is a bit funnier, but also not much. A total bore overall.

Wow. Sexism, racism, monsterism, ridiculism, this movie has it all.I've seen many Japanese "man-in-a-rubber-suit" monster movies. Yup, got hooked as a kid. And this is the worst I've seen. To be fair, I saw it on one of the late night Monster, Horror, Chiller Theater showings, and it was the English dubbed version that had been edited down to just over an hour, so I could be missing some of the more subtle points and nuance.But here are the parts I DID see- The little Japanese boy, playing a "native" that went through the entire movie in black face (a subtle touch I managed to catch).The female scientist, who spent the whole movie cold-shouldering her suitor in order to pursue her career, only to decide at the end to give it all up to go home, become a woman, and wash diapers (a wholesome family message I was happy to see).Monsters that can't decide how large they are. Are they 10 feet tall, 100 feet tall, 1000 feet tall? The answer is YES! The version I saw did not explain how these flying, swimming, fire breathing lizard-birds (called Gappa) came to be. It also made no mention how a scientist with no prior knowledge of Gappa's immediately knew they were hypersensitive to certain sounds. But I'm sure that was all explained in the unedited version of the movie. Oh, and at the end of the movie, as the monsters flew off into the sunset, they blew up (huh?).This is not the worst movie ever made (Can you say "Monster a-Go Go"?), but it IS a really bad movie. I'm not sure how MST3K missed it.