Gamera vs. Jiger
Encyclopedia
is a 1970 kaiju
film by the Daiei Motion Picture Company
. It is the sixth entry in the original Gamera
series.
has his hands full right from the very beginning. Japan is preparing for the 1970 World's Fair
, to be held in Osaka. Construction of the various buildings and pavilions is well under way. On Wester Island in the Pacific Ocean, a large statue of mysterious origin (called the Devil's Whistle) is located by scientists. Workers from the Expo are interested in returning the statue for display, and try to remove it for transport by ship. The removal of the statue is hampered first by a tribal member of the Wester Island people, then by the unexpected arrival of Gamera, who aggressively attempts to prevent the removal of the statue, only to be shot at by the crew instead. The statue is removed from the island successfully after a volcano erupts. Shortly after departing the island, members of the ship's crew begin to fall ill. The statue appears to be the source of the outbreak, as it makes a continuous piercing sound, driving many of the crew members insane. Later analysis reveals the presence of a central shaft that runs nearly the length of the statue top-to-bottom. The position of the opening on the statue is creating the high-pitched 'squeal', as air passes through it.
After the statue is removed, Jiger makes her first appearance and gets Gamera's immediate attention. The first of several fights ensues, and Jiger wins by shooting projectile quills from her face. The quills impale Gamera's arms and legs, piercing all the way through and preventing Gamera from withdrawing his limbs into his shell and taking flight. To make matters worse, Gamera is on his back and cannot move. He pulls himself up with his tail using a large rock and then removes the offending quills from his limbs and is finally able to fly after Jiger.
Meanwhile, Jiger is actively seeking the statue, because it is making a horrible ringing sound that is causing her tremendous pain. Jiger lets nothing impede that hunt as she splits two ships in half and starts tearing through Osaka
. Scientists are beside themselves as Jiger displays another weapon: a heat ray that vaporises not only flesh but entire city blocks. The JSDF does make a token effort to kill the kaiju
, but her quills knock down the F-104 fighters, ending that involvement.
Gamera returns for round two as the fight is witnessed by several children. Gamera knocks Jiger around and appears to have the upper hand until Jiger pulls Gamera to her. Jiger extends a stinger from her tail and inserts the barb into Gamera's chest, laying an egg inside his lung. Gamera staggers away, roaring in agony. Finally, he barely makes it to the bay and his body turn a chalky white color, almost like ice. Gamera is presumed to have been killed at this point as Jiger heads straight to the World's Fair. Jiger finally obtains her goal of the statue, and throws it into the ocean, ending the painful noise.
The scientists were checking out possible causes of the noise, as it affected humans, causing temporary insanity. The children convinced them to do a medical exam on the comatose Gamera, where it's discovered that there's a dark spot on one of his lungs. One of the scientists served as a zoo director and realised that the spot might not be a fast spreading cancer, but actually a parasitic infant Jiger growing inside Gamera. (By way of demonstrating his theory he plays, in one of the film's more notable sequences, actual black-and-white science documentary footage of an infected elephant's truck being surgically sliced open, spilling out an oleaginous mass of parasitical larvae.) An operation is needed to remove the threat, so the children took the initiative by taking a walkie talkie and a mini-sub. Communication is established with the kids and they enter Gamera through his open mouth, and after almost going into his stomach
, they arrive at the problem lung. The children are able to exit the sub and walk around in the lung. There, they discover the baby.
The baby looks like a tiny version of his mother, except that instead of shooting quills, the baby squirts sticky goo. The baby attacks them but he has a weakness just like the adult: white noise
. The kids discover this is actually a fatal weakness and manage to kill the baby using static from their radio. They leave Gamera's body and report their findings to the scientists. They rig up large speakers to keep Jiger at bay, as well as figuring out that power would have to also be run into Gamera, who cannot recover on his own. The children make a final trip inside Gamera to hook up a set of power lines directly to his heart
.
Jiger is kept still by the speakers playing the white noise. It's not enough to kill Jiger, but buys enough time for the other plan to start. Gamera is subjected to high voltage shock before the electrical grid overloads. It's enough that Gamera revives on his own.
Gamera flies over to the World's Fair for the final battle. Jiger tries every weapon she's got, but Gamera has learned from his previous battles with her. After her spears fail to effect him, Jiger then uses her heat ray, the one weapon she'd yet to use on him. It doesn't affect Gamera's shell or even skin (likely due to Gamera's resistance to heat) but the sound it generates threatens to rupture his ear drums. Luckily, Gamera is able to put power poles in his ears to protect them from the sound. After trying all her other attacks, Jiger resorts to her tail stinger again but Gamera is prepared for it this time and uses a building to smash her tail and destroy the stinger. Gamera body-slams Jiger several times from great heights, but Jiger isn't really affected. However, it buys Gamera the time needed to go into the ocean to retrieve the statue from the sea floor. Jiger, enraged by the statue's return attempts to catch the flying Gamera. Gamera taunts Jiger with the statue, who tries in vain to catch Gamera and retrieve the statue. Gamera finally ends the fight by throwing the statue at Jiger, which embeds itself in Jiger's skull, killing her. Gamera then returns the devil beast to Wester Island.
Jiger is a bizarre creature with bizarre powers. She can fire projectile quills from her nose that have deadly penetrating power. In addition, she can fire an energy beam from her head that can vapourise a whole city block and all the people in it. Finally, nestled within her tail is a secret weapon - a stinger-like ovipositor
which can inject an egg in order to breed. She can use a form of suction
to hold an opponent in place to inject said egg. This parasite can render her opponent comatose in minutes.
Jiger's weakness lay in an ancient statue which emanated a wavelength to which Jiger was susceptible. When this statue was dug up for the 1970 World's fair, she was released, but in the end, Gamera recovered the statue and killed her with it, by using it to stab her in the head.
distributed the film directly to television in the United States, as Gamera vs. Monster X. A monster with the same name would later be featured years later in Godzilla: Final Wars
(2004), but with no similarities. This was the last Gamera film released by American International.
. The films include the original Japanese dialogue with English subtitles. It also has the original AIP-TV English dub by Titra Sound.
St. Clair Entertainment
Shout! Factory
Kaiju
is a Japanese word that means "strange beast," but often translated in English as "monster". Specifically, it is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment....
film by the Daiei Motion Picture Company
Kadokawa Pictures
is a Japanese movie studio.-History:One of the most famous studios in Japan and founded in 1942 as , it is best known for having produced the giant monster Gamera film series and the Daimajin Trilogy. It also produced the Zatoichi and Nemuri Kyoshiro film series and the television series Shōnen Jet...
. It is the sixth entry in the original Gamera
Gamera
is a giant, flying turtle from a popular series of kaiju films produced by Daiei Motion Picture Company in Japan. Created in 1965 to rival the success of Toho Studios' Godzilla during the daikaiju boom of the mid-to-late 1960s, Gamera has gained fame and notoriety as a Japanese icon in his own...
series.
Plot
In Gamera vs. Jiger, GameraGamera
is a giant, flying turtle from a popular series of kaiju films produced by Daiei Motion Picture Company in Japan. Created in 1965 to rival the success of Toho Studios' Godzilla during the daikaiju boom of the mid-to-late 1960s, Gamera has gained fame and notoriety as a Japanese icon in his own...
has his hands full right from the very beginning. Japan is preparing for the 1970 World's Fair
Expo '70
was a World's Fair held in Suita, Osaka, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. The theme of the Expo was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese Expo '70 is often referred to as Ōsaka Banpaku...
, to be held in Osaka. Construction of the various buildings and pavilions is well under way. On Wester Island in the Pacific Ocean, a large statue of mysterious origin (called the Devil's Whistle) is located by scientists. Workers from the Expo are interested in returning the statue for display, and try to remove it for transport by ship. The removal of the statue is hampered first by a tribal member of the Wester Island people, then by the unexpected arrival of Gamera, who aggressively attempts to prevent the removal of the statue, only to be shot at by the crew instead. The statue is removed from the island successfully after a volcano erupts. Shortly after departing the island, members of the ship's crew begin to fall ill. The statue appears to be the source of the outbreak, as it makes a continuous piercing sound, driving many of the crew members insane. Later analysis reveals the presence of a central shaft that runs nearly the length of the statue top-to-bottom. The position of the opening on the statue is creating the high-pitched 'squeal', as air passes through it.
After the statue is removed, Jiger makes her first appearance and gets Gamera's immediate attention. The first of several fights ensues, and Jiger wins by shooting projectile quills from her face. The quills impale Gamera's arms and legs, piercing all the way through and preventing Gamera from withdrawing his limbs into his shell and taking flight. To make matters worse, Gamera is on his back and cannot move. He pulls himself up with his tail using a large rock and then removes the offending quills from his limbs and is finally able to fly after Jiger.
Meanwhile, Jiger is actively seeking the statue, because it is making a horrible ringing sound that is causing her tremendous pain. Jiger lets nothing impede that hunt as she splits two ships in half and starts tearing through Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
. Scientists are beside themselves as Jiger displays another weapon: a heat ray that vaporises not only flesh but entire city blocks. The JSDF does make a token effort to kill the kaiju
Kaiju
is a Japanese word that means "strange beast," but often translated in English as "monster". Specifically, it is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment....
, but her quills knock down the F-104 fighters, ending that involvement.
Gamera returns for round two as the fight is witnessed by several children. Gamera knocks Jiger around and appears to have the upper hand until Jiger pulls Gamera to her. Jiger extends a stinger from her tail and inserts the barb into Gamera's chest, laying an egg inside his lung. Gamera staggers away, roaring in agony. Finally, he barely makes it to the bay and his body turn a chalky white color, almost like ice. Gamera is presumed to have been killed at this point as Jiger heads straight to the World's Fair. Jiger finally obtains her goal of the statue, and throws it into the ocean, ending the painful noise.
The scientists were checking out possible causes of the noise, as it affected humans, causing temporary insanity. The children convinced them to do a medical exam on the comatose Gamera, where it's discovered that there's a dark spot on one of his lungs. One of the scientists served as a zoo director and realised that the spot might not be a fast spreading cancer, but actually a parasitic infant Jiger growing inside Gamera. (By way of demonstrating his theory he plays, in one of the film's more notable sequences, actual black-and-white science documentary footage of an infected elephant's truck being surgically sliced open, spilling out an oleaginous mass of parasitical larvae.) An operation is needed to remove the threat, so the children took the initiative by taking a walkie talkie and a mini-sub. Communication is established with the kids and they enter Gamera through his open mouth, and after almost going into his stomach
Stomach
The stomach is a muscular, hollow, dilated part of the alimentary canal which functions as an important organ of the digestive tract in some animals, including vertebrates, echinoderms, insects , and molluscs. It is involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication .The stomach is...
, they arrive at the problem lung. The children are able to exit the sub and walk around in the lung. There, they discover the baby.
The baby looks like a tiny version of his mother, except that instead of shooting quills, the baby squirts sticky goo. The baby attacks them but he has a weakness just like the adult: white noise
White noise
White noise is a random signal with a flat power spectral density. In other words, the signal contains equal power within a fixed bandwidth at any center frequency...
. The kids discover this is actually a fatal weakness and manage to kill the baby using static from their radio. They leave Gamera's body and report their findings to the scientists. They rig up large speakers to keep Jiger at bay, as well as figuring out that power would have to also be run into Gamera, who cannot recover on his own. The children make a final trip inside Gamera to hook up a set of power lines directly to his heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
.
Jiger is kept still by the speakers playing the white noise. It's not enough to kill Jiger, but buys enough time for the other plan to start. Gamera is subjected to high voltage shock before the electrical grid overloads. It's enough that Gamera revives on his own.
Gamera flies over to the World's Fair for the final battle. Jiger tries every weapon she's got, but Gamera has learned from his previous battles with her. After her spears fail to effect him, Jiger then uses her heat ray, the one weapon she'd yet to use on him. It doesn't affect Gamera's shell or even skin (likely due to Gamera's resistance to heat) but the sound it generates threatens to rupture his ear drums. Luckily, Gamera is able to put power poles in his ears to protect them from the sound. After trying all her other attacks, Jiger resorts to her tail stinger again but Gamera is prepared for it this time and uses a building to smash her tail and destroy the stinger. Gamera body-slams Jiger several times from great heights, but Jiger isn't really affected. However, it buys Gamera the time needed to go into the ocean to retrieve the statue from the sea floor. Jiger, enraged by the statue's return attempts to catch the flying Gamera. Gamera taunts Jiger with the statue, who tries in vain to catch Gamera and retrieve the statue. Gamera finally ends the fight by throwing the statue at Jiger, which embeds itself in Jiger's skull, killing her. Gamera then returns the devil beast to Wester Island.
Jiger
Jiger is a large, quadrupedal reptile, with a head adorned with quills protruding from her face. Along her back is a long dorsal fin, and on sides of her body, behind the head, are a pair of organic thrusters that enhance her jumping ability and is also the first female kyju in the gamera series.Jiger is a bizarre creature with bizarre powers. She can fire projectile quills from her nose that have deadly penetrating power. In addition, she can fire an energy beam from her head that can vapourise a whole city block and all the people in it. Finally, nestled within her tail is a secret weapon - a stinger-like ovipositor
Ovipositor
The ovipositor is an organ used by some animals for oviposition, i.e., the laying of eggs. It consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages formed to transmit the egg, to prepare a place for it, and to place it properly...
which can inject an egg in order to breed. She can use a form of suction
Suction
Suction is the flow of a fluid into a partial vacuum, or region of low pressure. The pressure gradient between this region and the ambient pressure will propel matter toward the low pressure area. Suction is popularly thought of as an attractive effect, which is incorrect since vacuums do not...
to hold an opponent in place to inject said egg. This parasite can render her opponent comatose in minutes.
Jiger's weakness lay in an ancient statue which emanated a wavelength to which Jiger was susceptible. When this statue was dug up for the 1970 World's fair, she was released, but in the end, Gamera recovered the statue and killed her with it, by using it to stab her in the head.
Distribution
AIP-TVAmerican International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
distributed the film directly to television in the United States, as Gamera vs. Monster X. A monster with the same name would later be featured years later in Godzilla: Final Wars
Godzilla: Final Wars
is a 2004 Japanese science fiction-kaiju film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, written by Wataru Mimura and Isao Kiriyama and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. It is the twenty-eighth film in the Godzilla film series, and the sixth in terms of the series' Millennium era...
(2004), but with no similarities. This was the last Gamera film released by American International.
2010 DVD Release
Shout! Factory has released the film on September 21, 2010 on DVD as a double feature with Gamera vs. GuironGamera vs. Guiron
, is a 1969 kaiju film, the fifth entry in the original Gamera series. It was one of five Gamera films to be featured as episodes of movie-mocking television show Mystery Science Theater 3000.-Plot:...
. The films include the original Japanese dialogue with English subtitles. It also has the original AIP-TV English dub by Titra Sound.
DVD releases
Image Entertainment- Released: January 20, 2004
- Note: Features the American version of the film, Gamera vs. Monster X. Double feature with Daikyojū GappaDaikyoju Gappais a 1967 Kaiju film. The film was produced by Nikkatsu Corporation, and was their only foray into the giant monster genre. The foreign sales title for the film was Gappa: The Triphibian Monster, and was dubbed into English...
St. Clair Entertainment
- Released: February 19, 2008
- Note: Monsters Unleashed nine-film DVD set. Features the American version of the film, Gamera vs. Monster X. Also includes GameraGamera (film)is a 1965 daikaiju eiga about a giant turtle named Gamera. The film is similar in nature to the popular Godzilla films, and is also the first in a series of films about Gamera...
, Gamera vs. BarugonGamera vs. Barugonis a 1966 daikaiju eiga featuring the giant turtle Gamera produced and distributed by Daiei Motion Picture Company. The film is the second to feature Gamera. Gamera vs. Barugon was released in the United States by AIP-TV as War of the Monsters, and then later by Sandy Frank as Gamera vs. Barugon...
, Gamera vs. GyaosGamera vs. Gyaosis a 1967 daikaiju eiga featuring the giant turtle Gamera by the Daiei Motion Picture Company. Gamera vs. Gyaos was released in the United States by AIP-TV as Return of the Giant Monsters, and later by Sandy Frank as Gamera vs. Gaos...
, Gamera vs. VirasGamera vs. Virasis the fourth entry in the original Gamera film series.-Plot:A deadly alien force approaches earth. Gamera intervenes and destroys the alien vessel; but before the ship is destroyed, the aliens broadcast a warning to their world stating Gamera as their enemy....
, YonggaryYonggaryYonggary or Yongary , also known as Yongary, Monster from the Deep, is a 1967 South Korean Kaiju film directed by prominent genre-film director Kim Ki-duk...
, Daikyojū GappaDaikyoju Gappais a 1967 Kaiju film. The film was produced by Nikkatsu Corporation, and was their only foray into the giant monster genre. The foreign sales title for the film was Gappa: The Triphibian Monster, and was dubbed into English...
, Warning from SpaceWarning from Spaceis a Japanese science fiction tokusatsu film released in January 1956 by Daiei, and was the first Japanese science fiction film to be produced in color. In the film's plot, starfish-like aliens disguised as humans travel to Earth to warn of the imminent collision of a rogue planet and Earth...
, and The Giant Gila MonsterThe Giant Gila MonsterThe Giant Gila Monster is a 1959 black-and-white science fiction film directed by Ray Kellogg, and produced by Ken Curtis. It stars Don Sullivan, Lisa Simone, as well as Fred Graham, Shug Fisher and Bob Thompson. This low-budget B-Movie featured a cast of unknown actors, and the effects included a...
.
Shout! Factory
- Released: September 21, 2010
- Note: Features the original Japanese version of the film with English Subtitles, English dubbing by AIP ProductionsAmerican International PicturesAmerican International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
, and a Publicity Gallery on Production Stills.