Gamera versus Barugon - Frankenstein's dragon from the jungle
| Movie | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| German title | Gamera versus Barugon - Frankenstein's dragon from the jungle | ||
| Original title | 大 怪 獣 決 闘 ガ メ ラ 対 バ ル ゴ ン , Daikaijū Kettō: Gamera Tai Barugon |
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| Country of production | Japan | ||
| original language | Japanese | ||
| Publishing year | 1966 | ||
| Age rating | FSK / JMK 12 | ||
| Rod | |||
| Director | Shigeo Tanaka | ||
| script | Nisan Takahashi | ||
| production | Masaichi Nagata | ||
| music | Chūji Kinoshita | ||
| occupation | |||
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| chronology | |||
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Gamera against Barugon - Frankenstein's dragon from the jungle ( Japanese 大 怪 獣 決 闘 ガ メ ラ 対 バ ル ゴ ン , Daikaijū Kettō: Gamera Tai Barugon , dt. "Duel of the giant monsters: Gamera against Barugon") (alternatively: Dragon Godzilla - war of the monsters of horror, Godzilla - The dragon from the jungle or panic! Dinosaurs threaten the world) is a Japanese monster film ( Kaijū Eiga) from 1966 and the second film in the Gamera series. It is the first color film in this series. The film was produced by the Daiei Studios.
action
The film begins with a short summary of what happened in the first part. Gamera is a huge, fire-breathing, flight-capable turtle that was trapped in the ice of the Arctic for thousands of years. When a plane crashed there and its charge, an atomic bomb, exploded, the monster was freed, which then attacked Japan. Only through Operation Z , in which Gamera was trapped in a rocket and shot to Mars, was humanity able to save itself from him. This is where the plot of the second film begins.
The rocket collides with a meteor, allowing Gamera to break free and return to Earth in Japan. To satisfy his hunger for warmth and energy, Gamera attacks the Kurobe dam and destroys it. He then turns to an erupted volcano on the other side of the world.
The pilot Keisuke Hirata has since quit his job in Osaka and is investing his last salary on an expedition by his brother Ichiro. He found an opal the size of a football in New Guinea during the Second World War . But since Ichiro was taken prisoner by the Americans, he hid the jewel and now wants to sell it dearly to an interested party. Keisuke will take part in the expedition for his disabled brother and will be accompanied by the boat officer Kawajiri and the devious Onodera. The plan calls for Kawajiri to smuggle in Keisuke and Onodera with forged papers as sailors on board the Awaji Maru.
After 25 days of crossing, the ship reaches New Guinea. Kawajiri, Keisuke and Onodera go ashore under the pretext of recovering the bones of their comrades who died in the war, and there they reach a native village, the inhabitants of which supported the Japanese army. In addition, the Japanese researcher Dr. Matsushita has been in the village for ten years, where he and his wife, who has since passed away, have been researching tropical diseases and how to combat them. When Keisuke tells the researcher and his Japanese-speaking assistant, Karen, that they want to investigate a nearby cave, the two try to dissuade them, since the cave is in the Valley of the Rainbow and no one has returned from there. However, Onodera uses his firearm to determine the irrefutability of her expedition.
The group then travels to the cave, they have to overcome many obstacles such as the jungle and quicksand on the way there. But they manage to find both the cave and the opal. However, the finder Kawajiri does not notice that a scorpion is crawling up his legs. Only Onodera notices this and hides it from both him and Keisuke out of greed. Kawajiri is then stabbed and dies shortly afterwards. While Keisuke is still mourning him, Onodera wants to examine the opal. However, Keisuke finds his behavior suspicious and demands the surrender of the pistol that Onodera hands him over. The suspicion is confirmed when Onodera blows up the cave with hand grenades and thinks Keisuke is dead or buried.
Keisuke survived, however, and was taken to the native village for medical treatment. When he wakes up, he tells Karen the real intentions of the expedition and the discovery of the opal. Karen and Dr. Matsushita ask Keisuke to bring the stone back to the cave, as it will cause great misfortune and is not a gem. But they cannot say what it is. However, since Onodera has the stone, Karen and Keisuke decide to follow him to Japan to get the stone and avert a disaster.
Onodera is meanwhile back on the Awaji Maru on the way back to Japan. The ship's doctor Dr. Satō treated with suspected malaria and this prescribed him infrared radiation therapy due to a budding skin disease on his feet. During therapy, Onodera is invited to a game of mah- jongg by a sailor . He hides the opal in his jacket pocket, which the infrared light is now pointing at. This has the effect that the jacket burns, the opal falls out and is also irradiated. Then a reptile hatches from the supposed gemstone, which grows quickly and leaks the ship. The Awaji Maru sinks in the port of Kobe , but the crew, including Onodera, can save themselves.
Ichiro and his prospect find Onodera, who lies to him that Keisuke and Kawajiri died when they fell off a cliff. Since the supposed gem is now on the bottom of the harbor, the prospect puts the purchase on hold. Shortly afterwards, they see a huge reptile with a big horn that strides through the port of Kobe and destroys it and the city. Ichiro and Onodera flee to Osaka while the army tries to kill the monster, which has a very long tongue. The monster then moves towards Osaka.
After their escape, Ichiro and Onodera think about how they can still get the “gem”. To do this, they want to hire a diver who, if it were up to Onodera, should search the wreck during the turmoil caused by the monster. Ichiro wants to wait, but Onodera insists and accidentally reveals to himself that he is responsible for the alleged deaths of Kawajiri and Keisuke. In a rage, Ichiro attacks Onodera, but is subject to Onodera due to his walking disability. Ichiro's wife is also affected in the fight. Onodera throws two lockers at Ichiro, steals all of his money and leaves Ichiro to his fate, who, together with his wife, is killed by the monster.
The army is unable to harm the monster. This counteracts with a jet of cold that it sprays from the tip of his tongue and completely envelops Osaka in ice. The army is forced to change its tactics and attack the monster from a distance. For this purpose, some rockets are to be fired from a nearby launch base. But the monster uses a rainbow that comes out of its back and destroys everything it touches. The energy that the rainbow radiates attracts Gamera, who wants to satisfy his hunger for it. It comes to a fight between the giant monsters, which Gamera can apparently win. However, the monster uses its cold beam to freeze Gamera, which then collapses. The monster, identified by Karen, who has meanwhile arrived in Japan with Keisuke, as a barugon , turns the giant tortoise on its back and continues with its orgy of destruction.
After Karen and Keisuke find his brother and his wife dead, they find Onodera in his home. Keisuke tries to appease Keisuke and does not believe that the gem was an egg from which Barugon hatched. A fight ensues, which Keisuke can win with Karen's help. Just like Onodera did with Ichiro before, Keisuke ties him up and leaves him to his fate.
Keisuke and Karen then go to the army headquarters, where Karen explains Barugon's weaknesses: He is a land animal, he cannot use his skills in the water and dies. He also has a weakness for bright light, which inevitably attracts him. Karen wants to achieve this with a diamond from her village so that he can be lured into a lake and drowned there. A helicopter with the diamond immediately sets off, but Barugon ignores him, which is why the army has doubts about Karen. Only the involvement of Dr. Satōs makes it clear that Onodera and his infrared radiation are responsible for the monster's rapid growth. Then a machine is presented that can produce certain rays with the help of rubies, which could be modified so that an infrared ray could be produced with the help of a diamond. So that this change can be made and the machine can be placed on a mobile unit, another weakness of Barugon is exploited: Since it is unable to move when it rains, it is immobilized with artificial rain.
After the machine is completed, Barugon is illuminated with the rays that it actually follows. This plan is commented live by the radio stations, which incites Onodera, who has meanwhile been freed by his wife, to steal the diamond. Just as Barugon is on the shore of a deep lake, Onodera invades the mobile unit and steals the diamond. Keisuke can't stop him. Onodera flees, is caught by Barugon and eaten with the diamond. Keisuke is desperate and the army has no choice but to paralyze Barugon again with artificial rain.
When Keisuke and Karen visit the missile launching base destroyed by Barugon, Keisuke finds a car mirror. He got the idea that the rainbow of Barugon, which is able to destroy everything but is reflected by all mirrors, could be thrown back at Barugon. He demonstrates this using an example in the form of a welding torch, which would more or less destroy itself if the flame did not move away from the torch. Because of this, a satellite dish on the Kajika is converted into a giant mirror and surrounded by remote-controlled artillery pieces that fire at Barugon to provoke a rainbow. In fact, Barugon shoots you down and is hit and seriously injured in the mirror. However, he does not die, so the plan failed.
In Osaka, meanwhile, the frozen stretches of land are beginning to thaw, which is also bringing Gamera back to life. He immediately flies to the lake where Barugon is and challenges him to a second fight. In this, Gamera is clearly superior and also wins it by biting Barugon in the neck and pulling him into the lake, where he finally drowns. Gamera flies away. Keisuke decides to follow Karen to New Guinea and live there, as he can no longer bear the people's greed for money.
Confusion about the film title in the German-speaking film distribution
As with some of the Japanese monster films, the German film distribution company tried to increase sales with effective advertising brands from other monster names. For this film, the giant monster Godzilla , which competes with Gamera, was used, which itself is often advertised with other brands such as Frankenstein or King Kong . This film has an alternate title called Godzilla - The Dragon from the Jungle . In addition, the names of the monsters in this film were changed; Gamera is called here in the German synchronization after his opponent Barugon , while Barugon got the name Godzilla . Also on the 2003 DVD of the film, which here bears the name Dragon Wars - War of the Monsters , Godzilla is advertised on the cover and the back cover. The original monster of the Tōhō Studios , which competed with Daiei, is not shown here.
World premieres
- Japan: April 17, 1966
- Germany: May 3, 1967
criticism
"Primitive horror film that doesn't belong to the actual 'Godzilla' series and doesn't have its naive charm either."
Web links
- Gamera against Barugon - Frankenstein Dragon out of the jungle in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ World premieres according to IMDb
- ↑ Gamera versus Barugon - Frankenstein's dragon from the jungle. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .