Movie: (1966) In the second outing of the series, a group of conspirators travels to a remote jungle island to retrieve what they believe is a giant opal. They’re wrong: it’s actually the egg of mythical lizard-dog creature, Barugon.
First shown: 6/22/91
Opening: Crow and Tom argue the merits and drawbacks of computer interfaces
Invention exchange: The interface war continues; Joel demonstrates his animated soda can, while the mads show off their disco cumber-bubble-bund
Host segment 1: Fast-talking Tom announces the “5000-piece fightin’ men & monster set”
Host segment 2: Crow and Tom are Midwestern monster women (?) eating at TGI Tokyo’s
Host segment 3: Enjoying a simulated day at the beach, Joel tells Tom and Crow about the big celebrities in the movie, then vapor locks
End: Joel helps Tom and Crow read more about monster movies, Joel reads a letter, Frank has gotten Dr. F a book to read at the beach
Stinger: Opal guy seems happy
(138 votes, average: 4.10 out of 5)
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• While not really a bad episode, after last week’s iconic outing this one’s a bit of a letdown. On the other hand, compared to the LAST time they riffed this, back in episode K04, it’s leaps and bounds better. The riffing is steady and funny, but there’s not a lot that’s memorable. The movie itself is strange, but reasonably watchable. And the host segments, typically, are a mixed bag.
• One nice thing about this outing is the absence of any sort of squeaky deranged kid.
• Following a repeat of this episode (some time in ’92, I think), the user interface sketch sparked an actual “Mac vs. PC” flame war on the MST3K newsgroups. Ah, simpler times. And in case you forget how long ago this was, note that when this sketch was written, the now-long-forgotten Mac OS System 7 was still in the future (though, by the time this show aired it had been released for about a month). And remember when people called PCs “clones”?
• Joel is very funny in the opening. His mannerisms and delivery are just great.
• In the opening, Tom is typing “wp51.” He’s running Word Perfect?
• At the beginning of the invention exchange, Crow calmly suggests rewriting the autoexec.bat file–a suggestion that probably sounds crazy to modern computer users. And what the heck is a “memory manager”? (A commenter explained.)
• Also, early in the invention exchange, Crow’s arm accidentally disconnects from his body and hangs from the desk. Eventually Joel grabs it and tosses it on the floor.
• Frank’s paltry bubble-making efforts are augmented by extra bubbles coming in from stage left.
• We get another look at Tom’s “rockem-sockem-robot” neck extension. Only the most obsessive bot maker felt it necessary to include this function.
• Joel mumbles that the cumber-bubble-bund looks familiar…it should, they demonstrated a similar item in season one.
• What does the chant “Charbroiled cities!” refer to?
• Callbacks: Tom mentions “Jungle Goddess” as the helicopter lands; “a thousand wonderful hours” (Rocketship XM).
• Crow and Tom give us a little preview of segment 2 in the theater as they lapse into their Midwestern middle-aged lady voices.
• We have another case here where maybe a different host segment order would have worked better: Segment 1, which is very fun and frantic, by the way, mentions Barugon’s ram tongue action–but we haven’t seen it in the movie yet.
• The desk on the SOL was removed in order to shoot the photos for segment 1 and again for segment 3.
• Note the presence, in two sketches, of the partial air filter that was used in the “cheap Halloween costumes” sketch in season two.
• Segment 2 is a bit baffling. What is with the weird masks the bots are wearing? In the ACEG, Kevin calls the faces “awfully and inexplicably weird.” So I don’t even know if THEY know why they did it. I do love the dessert descriptions. Mike probably had a lot to do with that one.
• In segment 3, Joel recalls going to a drive-in “in Buffalo.” “The Lucky Twin on Route 5.” He probably means Buffalo, Minn., not New York. But I suspect he means Route 55 (which runs right through Buffalo) and he appears to remember the name wrong. See the comments for more on this.
• There’s a funny outtake to segment 3 in the poopie reel. (Help me!)
• Joel rips Crow’s arm off again in the theater!
• Joel declares an official ban on the “By this time…” riff.
• The movie was originally titled “Dai Kaiju Keto: Gamera Tai Barugon” (“Great Monster Battle: Gamera vs. Barugon” ) ; it was released in the U.S. as “War of the Monsters.” You might also see it listed as “Gamera vs. Baragon (instead of “Barugon”) . That’s a typo stemming from confusion between Daiei Studios’ monster Barugon and rival Toho’s Baragon, which appeared in “Frankenstein Conquers the World” a year earlier. The two monsters are somewhat similar looking, but they are not the same monster.
• Cast/crew roundup: (I won’t repeat the credits for anybody who was listed in the episode guide for 302- Gamera.) Special effects guy Kazufumi Fujii also worked on “Gamera Vs. Gaos,” “Gamera Vs. Guiron,” and “Gamera Vs. Zigra.” Special effects guy Masao Yagi also worked on “Gamera Vs. Gaos.” In front of the camera, both Kojiro Hongo and Kyoko Enami were also in “Gamera Vs. Gaos.”
• Creditswatch: Additional contributing writer: Jef Maynard. Guest “Villians” (misspelled) again. Two new credits appear: “Online Editor” (this week it’s Tim Paulson); and “Audio Editor” (it’s always Tim Scott). Barb Oswald is Prop Assistant again. Disco ball courtesy of: Teener’s Theatrical Department Store.” (They moved in 2007 and may have closed.) Another new credit: “Additional Music Written and Arranged by.” This week, and most weeks, it’s Mike, but later in the season others will get it. The voice of Meryl Streep reading “The Velveteen Turtle” is not credited, but it sounds like Magic Voice, who was Alex Carr at this time.
• Fave riff: “Solipsism is its own reward.” How true that is. Honorable mention: “Hey, I listened to the diamond thing, but I’m NOT going to arouse him.”
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While I’ve always been a Gamera lover, I really don’t think I’ve ever seen this experiment before. So I watch it this time with the eyes of a newbie.
That opening segment about operating sysetems sure brings back memories. Ah the days when people still used DOS. I was once somewhat handy with it myself. But today, forget about it. I guess that Tom Servo was right in a way. The Microsoft people would spend years making Windows Mac-like. So was this bit done solely in jest was it reflective of some debate around the Best Brain offices? Anyway I love the ironic statement by Tom. “You have to be a machine to use this machine.”
I’m not going to try to list off all my favorite lines in the army men segment. But it is really good. I’m glad it’s in Ward E.
Look at all that flair Joel is wearing in host segment two. That’s got to be Mike’s influence.
Who in the writing room just watched the Abyss that week? They got a bit more mileage out of the “live damn you live” and “you never gave up on anything in your life” quotes than perhaps this film actually deserved.
Favorite Riffs:
Tom as Radar O’Reily “Attention personnel. Tonight’s movie is the Jungle Goddess…”
Karen: “It’s called Rainbow Cave.” Crow “The Care Bears live there.”
As the dynamite is lit. Crow “the Roadrunner is never going to fall for this.”
Joel “Hey Jake and Elwood.” Tom “Cab Calloway.”
Crow as Barugon “It’s 10 o’clock. Do you know where your kids are? Ha! I ate ‘em.”
There’s the line from the movie about the missile attack being unsuccessful against “Barugon’s Rainbow.” Where was the Thomas Pynchon riff? Or at least Servo singing “How Are Things in Glocca Morra?” as he’s done in other eps?
This movie made no sense to me, with no shrill Japanese children to lead the way during a crisis. I felt lost and alone.
“Barugon’s Rainbow.” Heh.
“Segment 2 is a bit baffling. What is with the weird masks the bots are wearing? In the ACEG, Kevin calls the faces ‘awfully and inexplicably weird.’ So I don’t even know if THEY know why they did it.”
It took me years before I figured out the premise behind Segment 2, but here it is: Servo and Crow are a pair of Japanese movie monsters who went to lunch together, and Joel the waiter brings them chocolate buildings for them to eat – based on the idea that Barugon can “destroy anything with his tongue”. It’s a long way to go for that bit of wordplay, but it’s still pretty funny. (And yes, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Mike wrote this sketch.)
I’ve only seen this one once and it was quite a while ago so I don’t remember much. However, I do have to wonder how many takes it took for people to say the lines among the, “Barugon is readying his ultimate weapon: the rainbow!” with a straight face.
This one’s pretty sweaty. I remember the ‘Cheers’ TV (maybe the first episode?) they had a argument over Sweatiest Movie with front runners Body Heat and Ben Hur. Our chunky villain is constantly wiping his brow, as is our hero, esp. on their expedition to the opal cave. I like the weirdness of this movie; and has anyone figured out what in the Hector Elizondo Karen is doing when she sucks his wound after the fistfight? (“You’re beautiful when you’re bloody…”) So I think spooky Karen raises this a notch above your generic Nippon monster movie.
The toy commercial segment is awesome, I only wish they could slow it down a bit so we can follow along, but I know then it wouldn’t be as funny.
That should be “Dai Kaiju Ketto…” for the Japanense title (note double ‘t’). Or “Dai Kaijuu Kettou” or “Dai Kaij? Kett?” if you want to bother noting elongated vowel sounds.
With that nitpicking aside, this one kind of stands out as my least favorite of the Gamera episodes. It’s great not to have an annoying kid, but I think the movie is a little too serious and subdued to be really first-rate riffing material. Though we do get plenty of the Gamera series’ trademark goofy monster-killing plans, but even Project Rearview Mirror despite its name is actually pretty sensible compared to Z Plan or Operation Whirlybird.
Speaking of Z Plan, in this movie Gamera’s rocket gets busted up midway to Mars, and he just flies back to Earth. If he can fly through space like that, even if the rocket had deposited him on Mars couldn’t he have just flown back to Earth from there? Unless the idea is Gamera wouldn’t have the stamina for a full interplanetary journey, but then he flies from Earth to Terra in Vs. Guiron. OK, I’m probably putting wa~ay too much thought into this.
Hey, System 7 introduced a lot of awesome stuff like … uh … well, now we finally had Balloon Help, so we could turn off Balloon Help.
The most serious of the Gamera films. Mostly due to lacking little kids. As such its also the weakest of the Gamera movies because it lacks the more inexplicable moments of Japanese cinema where children are allowed into the highest levels of government for consultation. That’s not to say its a bad episode, but it could have been stronger with more plot goofiness.
Where was Gamera during most of this movie? And what was with the girl sucking on that guys wound? She sucking the poison out? Spooky chick.
Good riffing and sketches round out this episode, but its not in the same realm of classic status as previous season 3 material.
This one is my least favorite of the Gameras and one of the toughest episodes to get through for me. Nary a laugh for me the whole way through.
And this is why “Preview” is your friend. Those ? in the post above should be a ‘u’ and ‘o’ with microns above them. Guess that’s what I get for nit-picking.
As long as I’m making another post, I might as well ask: in later episodes when Joel/Mike and the bots wish to invoke Gamera, they usually say “the turtle called Gamera is approaching the city” or otherwise use the phrase “the turtle called Gamera”. They use that same phrase or minor variations so often it sounds like references to a specific line, but having seen all the Gamera episodes a few times I’ve never noticed such a line said in the actual movies. Am I just missing it, is it from footage that was cut from the MST3K version, or this a similar situation to the “You and your daughter are doomed” deal where they created a phrase parodying the sorts of things said in the movie and apparently forgot later on that the phrase was never in the movie itself? “The monster called Gamera” does sound like the sort of stilted dialogue that these poorly dubbed films are full of, and they may even be conflating the Gamera films with that other Sandy Frank offering Mighty Jack, which featured the “organization known as Q”.
This is one of the weird episodes, given that it’s Gamera with no little kids. They were clearly still trying to figure out what Gamera’s goal in life was, I suppose. They decided afterwards, I guess, that friend to all children was the way to go.
That being said, I wanted to say that I absolutely love the cadence of this season. The back and forth between Sandy Frank films and Western films is pitch perfect.
This continues that trend and has some fun stuff in there. I really like the “Oh, come on, they’re not that bad!” when the guys are meeting in the room near the musicians.
Spalanzani–I have been wondering the same thing, and have been watching for that line this time around. So far I haven’t caught it.
Skittles: Taste the Rainbow…OF DEATH!
#3 Considering how often Japanese movie monsters destroy buildings, EATING buildings doesn’t seem like too big a stretch. See also the book “You’ll Never Eat This Town for Lunch Again” from another episode. Someone ought to use that book title in real life.
#5 Yes, it was the pilot episode. The winner, offered by Diane’s then-boyfriend, was “Cool Hand Luke.”
Eh, you’ve seen one Gamera movie, you’ve seen them all. But I do remember a scene with a police officer named Cornjob. Which one was that?
My first.
We’d gotten Comedy Central June 1 – either just as it became Comedy Central, or thereabouts – and I’d seen a bit of it one of the previous Saturdays (I worked a lot of Saturdays, so I wasn’t always around for it), a black and white film that I couldn’t make out the silhouettes in left me baffled so I surfed on. This particular Saturday, I paused because I saw Gamera. I then noticed the silhouettes, and the commentary. The first line that I recall jumping out at me was the Rick James line, causing an involuntary snort. It was Segment three that was the real psychic lawn dart moment for me, “And Willem Dafoe!”, followed by Joel’s observation, “He’s drowning in his own gravy!” I couldn’t wait to see it again – and found out they ran other episodes on Friday nights.
It was only on a repeated viewing that I saw one of my favorite segments of all – Lights, Gamera, Action! “Twenty-four Mohawk Indians!” heh.
I think the reference to the Lucky Twin was a little bit of a mix up. There was a Lucky Twin Drive-In near the town of Burnsville on the south side of the Twin Cities. There was also a drive-in called the Cine Buff Drive-In near the town of Buffalo on the northwest outskirts of the Twin Cities area. Both theaters are long-since closed down. St. Paul, by the way, has an excellent drive-in called the Vali-Hi. It’s on the east side, just off I-94. It shows triple features and the party goes on to about 3:00 AM. 8-)
304- Gamera Vs. Barugon
First shown: 6/22/91.
Opening: The bots argue the relative merits of computer interfaces.
Invention exchange: Soda can animation, disco cumber-bubble-bund.
Host segment 1: 5000-piece fightin’ men & monster set.
Host segment 2: Crow and Tom are midwestern monster women having dinner.
Host segment 3: Joel reminisces about movies & big name celebrities.
End: Stories from behind the scenes of monster movies, letter.
Stinger: Opal guy goes nutzoid.
Memorable riffs:
Servo: “You know I THOUGHT he looked familiar.”
Servo: “Make sure they have Art Linkletter’s picture on them.”
Crow: “Even his royal neckbrace says so.”
Crow: “Aww, the Road Runner’s never gonna fall for this.”
Servo: “Hey, it’s the start of Bonanza!”
Joel: “Hi there. I’m a juicy new character. Enjoy me. I’m what’s known as the complication. The antagonist if you will.”
Servo: “Hot child in the city… running wild, looking pretty.”
Servo (imitating Marty Feldman): “Well, it could be worse… it could be raining.”
Fav. Riff
“A monster… can destroy anything with his tongue.”
Crow: “You try saying that without laughing.”
Comments:
-I’m watching this on YouTube. The user had to invert the image so it would get past security better. Man it it awkward watching the show this way.
-Servo’s head extends during the Invetion Exchange!
-Mannaequin is referenced AGAIN!
-I just love it whenever Joel creates dialogue for a monster character. He didn’t do it often unfortunately.
-I almost expected a Prince of Space reference after a character mentions weapons being useless, until I realized POS wasn’t riffed until season later.
Best Segment: Servo’s monster set bit is funny, and a great parody of those annoying toy commercials of the day.
Worst Segment: Segment 2 goes nowhere to die.
Overall: An average episode. Nothing spectacular.
Rating: *1/2
#14- Gamera versus Guiron, which is justifiably a fan favorite, in no small part to it being the most wildly oddball, insane entry in the series.
Traffic Accident obsessed boys, fake-Gaos, Gamera doing gymnastics, brain-eating aliens, Cornjob…it’s a load of fun.
Revlillo–What threw me off was his reference to “Route 5.” There IS a Route 5 in the Minneapolis area but it doesn’t go anywhere near Buffalo, MN. BUT maybe Joel meant Route 55, which appears to be the main drag in Buffalo. Oh, and since Joel grew up in the Green Bay area, I STILL wonder whose memory that is.
I suppose I can look at the “user interface war” host segment and reflect on how things have and haven’t changed since… although it did carry through into a fair number of MSTings (posted by people using computers and read by people using computers, after all), with Crow and Tom taking their appointed sides but the works themselves often still not letting one or the other “win.” Oh, and there was a movie too; I suppose I take note of how this one doesn’t have a kid taking Gamera’s side but still feel it has more than enough goofiness to serve the purpose of the series.
Thanks John, I do remember a part where this lady is saying “thank you” after every sentence she completes and Tom Servo keeps repeating it. That scene made me laugh out loud for awhile.
This was the only Gamera film not directed by Noriaki Yuasa which explains the lack of kids in it…
In this episode Tom Servo says why wasnt Gamera in this movie..
The REAL reason is those scenes wound up on the cutting room floor for the show. These scenes of course appear in the NON MST3K version where you can see how Gamera was frozen ..I think the KTMA episode also aired it uncut…
Ive seen this episode a lot and cant wait for the box set..I love all the Gamera titles
Joels Hair
Joels Knees
Uncut Gamera
Therapy time ! Ciao ! :)
Definitely the odd-man-out of the Gamera movies, but it’s not too bad. Actually, it’s closer to a later Godzilla movie then a typical (for the time) Gamera movie.
Segment one is one of my favorites, for both Tom’s rapid-fire delivery and Joel’s facial expressions, and I thought segment two was OK, even with the masks.
It’s tough to judge, but probably my favorite riff from this one is when the designated hero collapses in tears and Crow goes into Patton mode (“You’re just a galdarn coward! Send him to the front!” )
#3 jjb: thank you! I think that helps explain the masks, that they are Barugon-class monsters out for a bite. Hearing the Minnesota church accent with the skull death mask still is freaky funny. The real comedy in that bit is the over-the-top dessert offerings.
#13, touchesnooneslife: I thought it was an early ‘Cheers;’ thx for the closure. ahhh!
Also, Cool Hand Luke is another oft-referenced movie in MST3K, as is Jeremiah Johnson. (not very sweaty)
The mac-PC battle would continue, but in other weeks they keep hoping for system 7 (system 8.5 would be the most stable for a while, til they worked the bugs out of OSX) and even joke about installing a SCSI port and other upgrades. I was always astounded by the cavalier way PC people told me to just re-write your autoexec.bat file if something doesn’t work. If anything is wrong in that file, your computer won’t work!
Also, I think maybe I get the spooky chick scene: the girl Karen is bonding with our Hero because he is fighting to make up for his sins, and she just happens to get blood on her mouth while attending him in her own servile village way. And then he notices with bitter irony that he has drawn her further away from her island into his fallen and stained world. Or maybe he just thinks she’s pretty. BTW, I had a girlfriend that resembled this actress, and acted much the same, …and was named Karen.
I think the first host segment from this episode is one of the best of the whole series. “Watch from atop Tokyo Tower as the twisted world you created erupts in rivers of blood and endless pain!” I love the density of the writing, Kevin’s marvelous voice work, Joel’s hilarious expressions. Who’s with me?
I’ll agree with you, Justin – the first segment is so well done, and works beautifully. I hadn’t seen it in a while, and when I watched this ep again, that segment was pure pleasure.
I’m pretty sure the partial air filter was also used for the Jack Palance impersonation kit in #405 Being From Another Planet.
Also, I think the bridge in segment 1 is Frank’s Geordi La Forge costume from a easy to make costume invention exchange.
As for the movie, I always fall asleep on this one. All I remember is Mr. T shouting at some guys mopping a ship.
“Segment one is one of my favorites, for both Tom’s rapid-fire delivery and Joel’s facial expressions” – Kenneth Morgan
====================================
I loved his expressions here so much that awhile back I did a (low quality)screencap. It’s hilarious – he looks like the witch from Jack Frost here!
http://vivalaangeldust.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/mst3k.jpg?w=450
I can’t think of another movie of this type that’s quite so bleak. Well, maybe the original Godzilla, but it still wasn’t this bleak. Grimy, dark, full of betrayal and greed– it’s like Gamera had a head-on collision with Treasure of the Sierra Madre. And I think it makes for a middling episode, where the sketches outshine the movie.
A few notes: this isn’t the only restaurant-themed sketch we’d see, and both of them were about ten times funnier to me after I’d had my own stint as a waiter (“I’m in the weeds here!” ). With this sketch, it was about gaining an an appreciation for the sinking feeling you get waiting on “nice people” who run you ragged (bread and water, amirite?) then turn on you at tip time. That and the techniques waiters develop for wheedling bigger tips out of people. Joel spoofs that nicely here.
And I have to mention how much I loved the first segment, which resulted in me producing an audio-visual presentation on the “Tokyo Tower Mighty Monster Attack Action Playset” for an undergraduate business class. Fortunately, the professor was the avuncular, socially conscious type, rather than the stick-up-the-butt, corporate raider type. I got an A.
And to bring it down a bit, after living in Japan for a while, I realized that some segments of the population have a pretty strong attitude toward those killed overseas in WWII (not unlike the POW/MIA logos that used to be pretty common here, but are disappearing). Feelings ran pretty high regarding unrecovered remains (it’s also been a sore spot in Korean-Japanese relations from the other POV), which kinds of highlights just how bizarrely intense this movie is. Not even considering the issue of betraying comrades in arms. These movies are always kinda surreal, but that sort of heavy-duty issue is just not what you expect to see in a movie about a giant dog-lizard with a battering ram tongue fighting a flying, fire-breathing turtle. That’s just a stupefying level of weirdness. If the “turntable and fountain of blood” had been in this one, I think it would pretty much take the rice cake.
@13 – “You’ll Never Eat This Town For Lunch Again” was actually the Brains parodying what was a scandalous (and hugely popular) book at the time. That would be the bitchy Hollywood tell-all “You’ll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again.” Wikipedia has it as published in 1991, so the timing was certainly right.
Thank you Gamera for making us cry again
Thank you Gamera for making us laugh again
Thank you Gamera for making us able to love again…
Actually what makes this movie work is that there is a story of the greed, betrayal for an *opal* that is actually a monster egg…
Barugon is considered one of the big 3 Gamera films ( along with the first Gamera and Gaos) and it isnt really such a bad film other than a few cheesy effects, and in this movie the effects arent too bad at all..
It was the lack of the budget and the marketing of the films toward kids (in tiny pants?) that ultimately did in the Gamera series.
The actual decline in the series was a movie that was in between Gaos and Guiron and that was Gamera vs. Viras where kids and stock footage was used..This wasnt part of the Sandy Frank package so it wasnt given the MST treatment but in a stock footage scene during Gamera vs, Guiron
And that boys and girls, is the story of Gamera and his amazing children :)
@ Sampo (#12) and Spalanzani (#10): I don’t recall that line occurring in any of the Gamera films either. However, there is a line in the first Gamera in which someone (I forget who) says, “Oh, so the turtle you saw is called Gamera,” or something very close to that. I’ve always assumed the “turtle called Gamera…” riffs were misremembered or deliberately modified versions of that line. Anyway, maybe, maybe not!
I watched MST3k all the time in the 90s, went on to other things around 10 years ago, started in again this week, and watched this flick last night in a fevered sweat – not brought on by the movie, but still…stop monitoring my brainwave activity! Pose in the nude with the frisky kitten review! Trample the add-on Hapless Citizen Playset, then abhor the action with the fabulous Anti-War Protest Pack! (Senator Wellstone not included)
That’s Frank Booth in the movie Blue Velvet who self-administers oxy while screaming “MOMMMMY!,” too, in case anyone isn’t a fan of David Lynch and thought that was just Servo losing it. Didn’t they ref Lynch in the movie, too – when Baraugon’s all coated in blue slime?
Always loved the OS war skit, too. You Mac-o-Philes should read up on something called MS Clippy, sort of Redmond’s 1998 melding of Balloon Help with the motorcycle AI from Warrior of the Lost World…just transcendentally irritating.
The 50 lb edition of The Stand was good nyuks as well.
Sampo, I love the Comedy Central logo in the lower right corner!! Ah, the fond memories . . .
Still waiting for the box set…
This one seems to be the least memorable of the Gamera series.The host segments about computer interfaces are funny from a historical perspective but anyone under 30 probably won’t get it. Loved the “5000 piece fightin’men and monster” segment. Overall the riffing is okay in this one, and thankfully we don’t have to put up with any whiny kid in shorts, but this one just doesn’t stand up as well with the reset of the Gamera episodes, not that I was a particularly big fan of them in the first place. 2.5 out of 5.
I’m curious – who is Crow imitating during the scene where they try to lure Barugon down the highway? He sounds like Dr. Zoidberg, but this episode predates “Futurama” by eight years.
Good evening, ladies and germs. Billy West created Zoidberg’s voice as an amalgam of old time actors Lou Jacobi and George Jessel, according to Wikipedia. Jessel never said “A hoirm, a hoirm, a hoirm” far as I know, so that’s Jacobi? Check it out for yerself.
YouTube – Little Murders – Judge. Rant by Jacobi. Lower the pitch and it does sound more than a little like “So, now Zoidberg is big, huh? That’s more like it!”
Japanese monster movie, annoying little kids, guys in rubber suits wrestling interminably, weird plot and weirder dubbed dialog, plus the “5000-piece fightin’ men & monster set” advertisement sketch voiced by Tom Servo, 5 stars, ’nuff said.
#13: I did in fact use “You’ll Never Eat This Town for Lunch Again” as the title for a fanfic series I wrote for a Godzilla fanzine called G-FAN over a decade ago.
This is my favorite Showa Gamera movie but my least favorite MST3K Gamera episode for the same reason: It’s the most serious of the films, quite well done and no goofy kids. Onodera is one of my favorite villains in Japanese monster movies, a man so greedy he’s willing to let Japan get destroyed just so he can get a giant gem. And Kyoko Enami… hominahominahomina.
Barugon is one weird monster, huh? A tongue that spews frost and a back that fires a killer rainbow. Notice how he’s weakened by water, is drowned by Gamera in the end, but was able to swim ashore after sinking the ship in his first appearance? That’s been debated by monster fans for years, but August Ragone explaned that this was lost in translation in Shout’s DVD commentary.
One more thing: In the last host segment, one of the book covers has a drawing of what appears to be Toho’s Baragon instead of Daiei’s Barugon.
As a lifelong Buffaloian (New York), I got a kick out of Joel referring to “Route 5”
Route 5 is actually Main Street through downtown Buffalo (where much of it is actually has been turned into a pedestrian and Metro Railway) before running along the lake (in this case, Lake Erie) where it’s dotted with ice cream stands, beaches, and vacation homes. It runs East all the way to Albany, and Southwest all the way to the Pennsylvania border…
He probably misspoke, but it was still fun to get some recognition…
I just got done watching this one again; I’ve cued it up only once before and didn’t carry away too strong an impression. This time I found myself liking the episode quite a bit. It’s definitely more entertaining than Gamera vs. Zigra‘s episode and about par with Gamera vs. Gaos. The movie’s a bit of a downer in places–the comparison with Treasure of the Sierra Madre is apt–but the riffing is steady although maybe not particularly inspired or quotable. That’s one thing that the original Gamera has going for it as well as against it–thanks to Kenny there was a focus for the riffing which is lacking here.
Maybe Barugon is only vulnerable to fresh water? I don’t think the movie’s clear on this point at all but it would explain why Karen, when proposing the diamond-baiting plan, asked whether there was a lake around instead of suggesting the sea. Also the movie’s a little confused about the effects of infrared rays, which are somehow supposed to make the diamond “radioactive” as well as making Barugon into a superpowered freak.
Eh, another middle of the road episode for me. Just like #302 GAMERA, this one comes in at a 3/5. The movie itself is kinda of a bore, too much talky-talk and not enough monster mashing in my opinion. The ice-tongued, rainbow-backed, lizard dog Barugon is goofy enough to be likable, but still, nothing really happens in this one that makes me go, “YEAH! ROCK ON, BARUGON!”
Joel sure is rough on The Bots during the invention exchange; he rips Crow’s arm off! I always thought Joel was the more “fatherly” of the two (between him and Mike) but this weeks ep and last weeks make me second guess that. Joel was kind of a stinker sometimes.
Host Segment #1 is pretty okay, but they would do this type of “rapid-fire” sketch a few times (SPACOM comes to mind) and better in my opinion. HS#2 is not very good. The setup as to what is actually going on is not clear at all. And Servo’s creepoid face is distracting as all get out! HS#3 is great, a perfect example of Joel-era randomness. Lots of cool shout-outs, my fave being “Hank Williams, Jr. ”
RIFFS:
Crow: “All scale models were useless against him.”
Crow: “He died as he lived. Goofy.”
Servo: “Somebody get that guy a bra.” ——> guy on screen in white shirt TOTALLY has visible nips!
SCARILY TOPICAL RIFF, at the sight of guy with glowing face, Servo: “Whoa, has that guy been near radiation?”
referencing a dudes gnarly ear,
Servo: “Look at that lobe!”
Crow: “And that Leopold, too!” ——-> Leopold and Loeb were famous murderers back in the 20’s; they killed a 14 year old boy because they were obsessed with committing “the perfect crime.” (wasn’t so perfect; they got caught and spent life in prison) Alfred Hitchcock’s ROPE is (loosely) based on their story.
During the weird as heck girl-bending-down-in-front-of-guy scene,
Crow: “This is one weird scene.”
Joel: “You are a spooky chick. Mind if I don’t call you again?”
Servo: “That’s right, talk it over with Jack Daniels.” ——>if I saw it correctly, that is actually a bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label that guy is swigging from. :liquor:
Joel: “He’s drowning in his own gravy!”
I too will chime in when the box set comes out. Having just watched these movies while commenting on the KTMA’s I need as much time away from them so I can enjoy the Season 3 versions.
I have not seen the Season 3 GAMERA’s since 2007. I want them as fresh and new to me as possible in August.
Almost every thing I’m going to discuss has been brought up already, but some of it hasn’t. Sitting down to my MPEG copy (UGH!) of “Barugon,” I remembered that this is no “Pod People.” The riffing is mostly observational, nothing too memorable. But I give it 3 stars based on the opening bit alone. Amiga? I LOVE this bit, it’s one of my favorite of the entire series. The computer argument is still relevant today, so I’m eager to see how newbs react to it when they get the box set. I had a friend back in ’91/’92 that had an Amiga, and we all thought it was the greatest thing ever. That cracks me up when I think about it now. Don’t even get me started on Commodore 64! ;)
Then, after a brilliant opening, we go downhill. They really don’t do much with the movie. Maybe it’s a leftover vibe of just watching the movie from the KTMA days. Definitely a weird movie.
@42, I totally noticed and wondered why if Barugon was on the boat that sunk, shouldn’t that have been the end of the movie? It’s interesting to know that it’s been debated for years. So it’s a lost in translation thing? Ok, so what’s the explanation then?
I few riffs caught my attention, and I laughed hard maybe 3 times. Mostly, I was paying attention to the movie and how weird it was. Dark, dark movie.
Here’s some of my favorite things from “Gamera Vs. Barugon”:
-I’m a danger to myself and others! (a preview of the great song from “Giant Leeches!” )
-Tonight’s movie is “Jungle Goddess”
-Some parts may not exist (from host segment 1)
-Host segment 2 has the creepiest, weirdest Servo head ever! I know it’s been explained already, but that doesn’t change just how bizarre Tom looks with that head! It reminded me of the Mike episode where Tom gets a new head and everyone freaks out. But I think this head is way creepier! (Where’s Frank’s spare head?)
-It’s our punishment for wanting to so much wealth. “So what’s going to happen to Donald Trump?”
-And a funny letter to polish the episode off, “Frank is kind of a crybaby and Dr. F yells at him too much.” Hilarious, I love viewer reactions like that.
-It’s down to me and you and me and part of your eye (*my favorite riff from this experiment, nice pan and scan humor)
I eagerly await next week.
jjb3k–Crow is imitating corny entertainer George Jessel. Here’s a fairly typical sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNbEZc-BGsI
>>>I always thought Joel was the more “fatherly” of the two (between him and Mike) but this weeks ep and last weeks make me second guess that.
Between him and Mike, I think he is. After all, Joel CREATED the Bots and watched them “grow up.” He was always an authority figure, whereas Mike tended to be more of a co-worker, and then a brother; he almost never acted “in charge” of them, and their interaction with him was very different than their interaction with Joel.
As for Joel’s occasional “mean” behavior, well, sometimes, parents feel a need to be mean…