Gorizard Reviews: GAPPA: THE TRIPHIBIAN MONSTERS (1967) dir. Haruyasu Noguchi

"Stupid bird lizard!"

English title: Gappa: The Triphibian Monsters
Also known as: Monster from a Prehistoric Planet
Original title: 大巨獣ガッパ
Released: April 22, 1967
Studio: Nikkatsu
Country: Japan
Genre: Kaiju, Sci-fi, giant monster, action
Cast: Tamio Kawaji, Yôko Yamamoto, Yuji Kodaka,
Music: Saitaro Omori
Special Effects: Akira Watanabe
Producer: Hideo Koi
Writer: Iwao Yamazaki, Ryuzo Nakaishi
Director: Haruyasu Noguchi

[Bisaju]

The us version "monster from a prehistoric planet"is actually longer. Has monster footage not in the Japanese version. It runs 89 minutes. Aip based theirs on a international print. But yeah it does admittedly make the film feel even longer. That being said I still had fun then again I'm a sucker for kaiju flicks. And this used to air often locally in the 80s.

[admiraltodd]

Still a great nostalgic film! It's all great stuff!

[Matkaizer]

this is kind of a guilty pleasure for me. The real stars in this movie were the Kaiju while people want to compare this to Gorgo I felt that the Gappa had more character then Gorgo and Ogra (Gorgo's mother) ever did. When Ogra was finally reunited with her son there's almost little to no reaction between them Gorgo is basically Ogra's property.

When the Gappa are reunited they are overjoyed to see each other the Baby flaps his wings and runs over to hug his mother and if you look closer the monsters are crying. And there's a scene where the father Gappa was looking at his son flying off.

[daseal]

This is Gigan pre-cyborg transformation in my headcannon.

[CaptainCanuck]

If the Gappas could fly, why didn't they fly to their baby instead of walking?

[Phantanos]

It's hard to believe this film was the reason for Toho making: Son of Godzilla!!🦖

[minicle]

Interesting fact: Footage from this movie was used in the British sitcom 'Red Dwarf'.

[oscarramos]

Gorizard, in 3:29, was the black and white footage in the DVD and Blu-Ray features of Gappa?

[UltraTitanZ]

Nice review. It wasn’t the most amazing kaiju film, but the monster designs were cool.

[adamtaylor]

Odd bit of trivia: while the influence from Gorgo seems pretty self-evident, the screenwriters for Gappa insist there was no influence, and that they'd never even seen Gorgo. I'm not sure how much I buy that though.

[dragonzilla]

Gappa kind off looks like Gigan but minus the cybernetic parts.

[saveriovinci]

I prefer Gappa over Gorgo any day. The ending in the movie is way more emotional compared to Gorgo, at least to me it is.

[HydraSpectre]

A Kenny who is also a racist stereotype?
He’s now the worst Kenny in any kaiju film.

[DaimosZ]

Gappa was a comedy movie parodying Rodan (which Gorgo partially ripped off due to Kings Brothers who adapted Rodan in the US wanting their own kaiju movie) in Japan but some dummy at AIP redid it as a serious movie which ruined it.

[davidstevens]

Steve Ryfle is right! They do look like a cross between Godzilla, Kermit The Frog, and a Rubber Chicken!