a.k.a. Gezora Ganime Kameba Kessan! Nankai no Daikaiju / Space Amoeba
company: Toho Co. Ltd
year: 1970
runtime: 84′
country: Japan
director: ISHIRO HONDA
cast: Akira Kubo, Atsuko Takahashi,
Yoshio Tsuchiya, Kenji Sahara
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The end of the 60’s was also the end of the Golden Era of Japanese tokusatsu. 1967 had come and gone with it’s kaiju boom in which every single major studio in Japan had released a monster movie. Toho had tried to end the Godzilla series in 1968 with DESTROY ALL MONSTERS for naught. Their collaboration with the Americans for LATITUDE ZERO [1969] had gone to seed, and even worse the film did poorly at the box office, resulting in the next Godzilla movie to be constructed of stock footage and aimed squarely at children. And now, refusing to slow down and take his doctor’s orders, the God of Special Effects, Eiji Tsuburaya, had literally worked himself to death. This is the stage set for Toho’s next monster foray.
Over footage of a brilliant sunset and a remarkably fake-looking rocket, an announcer tells us about how man is beginning to explore outer space. The rocket—one Helio 7—succeeds in making its way into space on a course for Jupiter to study the gas giant. However, once in deep space, Helio 7 is invaded by a gaseous cloud of glowing blue dots which proceeds to take over its mechanics. Helio 7 summarily turns around and heads back for earth.
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