Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

For the discussion of Toho produced and distributed films or shows released before 1980.
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Gailah 1966
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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by Gailah 1966 »

HAPPY 50th ANNIVERSARY "SPACE AMOEBA"
One of the most underrated kaiju movies in my eyes. Watched this great movie yesterday and I`m still loving it. Great Soundtrack, great monster design, great actors. Absolutely underrated...
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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by Terasawa »

I don't think it's a particularly good film but it's fun. It was the second Japanese-language movie I saw, after Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II.
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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by LSD Jellyfish »

It succeeds at being a crazy adventure film, but doesn't work as a monster film. It's sort of Ebirah Horror of the Deep done poorly.
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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by Voyager »

Squidward vs Not-Gamera vs Not-Ebirah
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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by Terasawa »

^ Only briefly under the main title. Otherwise it's only Not-Gamera vs. Not-Ebirah in a not-exciting final showdown.
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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by Spuro »

I love this movie and I have no idea why.
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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by The Octopus »

Ganime is cooler than Ebirah.
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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by edgaguirus »

Terasawa wrote:^ Only briefly under the main title. Otherwise it's only Not-Gamera vs. Not-Ebirah in a not-exciting final showdown.
I enjoy the film and the animal based kaiju in it, but that fight just drags down the climax.
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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by Gailah 1966 »

LSD Jellyfish wrote:It succeeds at being a crazy adventure film, but doesn't work as a monster film. It's sort of Ebirah Horror of the Deep done poorly.
You could call it a sci-fi movie or even a love drama, too.

I like the destruction scenes when Gezora attacks the village. Every kaiju has it`s own "entrance music" and this music is made by the grandmaster himself Akira Ifukube. How cool is that?
Director Inoshiro Honda did a great job back then. It was surely not easy to keep the genre alive when all the "highlights" have been in the 1960s.

I`m happy that I can still enjoy this movie and watch it with no regrets or bad feelings. 50 years space amoeba and 50 years of Kameba, my favorite underdog kaiju.
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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by Omegazilla »

It isn't anything special but it gets the job done. Perhaps in the future Ganimes and Gezora will be in a film, even if it is a brief and degrading cameo as a corpse like Kamoebas

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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by edgaguirus »

I always like to see obscure kajiu get more screen time. Hopefully something other than a beach corpse.
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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by The Killer Meteor »

I do question why Toho thought Space Amoeba was the best title to sell the film internationally.

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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by Dinoskell »

I love the design aesthetic of Yog Monsters: designs that would be haunting and incredibly naturalistic..except for at least one thing undermining it slightly or wholly,

Gezora’s awkward shuffle on land
Ganimes’s eyes and antentnae bouncing around like deedly boppers
And Kameobas, the most badass of them all, still has his accordion neck.

It kinda makes them feel like an alien force altered these beings without having a full idea what it was doing.

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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by Legion1979 »

To be honest...EVERYTHING about Gezora is awkward. And that's why he's great!

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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by edgaguirus »

The Killer Meteor wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 11:42 pm I do question why Toho thought Space Amoeba was the best title to sell the film internationally.
The title does describe the main villain somewhat; It is an alien parasite.
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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by Legion1979 »

Just finished this one. As dumb and uninspired as it is I've always really loved it.

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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by Major sssspielberg! »

Legion1979 wrote: Thu Sep 08, 2022 6:33 pm Just finished this one. As dumb and uninspired as it is I've always really loved it.
It is kinda dumb, but it's also a lot of fun! I love so many little bits of the film, the monsters, some of the characters, raiding the WWII weapons to fight the monsters...
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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by Follinollante »

Thread bump.
Just watched this one after getting intensely curious about it.
Honestly, it was pretty underwhelming, although I came out of it in a good, warm feeling inside.

The plot is really slow and thin. The story starts out fine (if generic; another reporter who inadvertently winds up chasing monsters?), and feels like it'll go somewhere. Instead, once they get to the island and Gezora re-appears, the plot progression grinds to a halt. The rest of the movie is just "how to deal now with the situation as it is?" The subplot with Obata's possession had some potential and honestly led to a legitimately heartfelt moment, but in the end, it just didn't matter. Also, Obata 100% should have killed himself by jumping into the fire he has intended for the bats. It would have added even more weight to the moment, and it would have made his death far more impactful compared to what we got. One other scene that did shine, though, was the underwater scene, which was legitimately intense, at least until Gezora appeared. On that note, the monster scenes are both sadly tame and surprisingly uninteresting, with the primary exception of the final fight. Beyond that, there are only a few bright kaiju moments overshadowed by the lackluster nature of the rest of the sequences.
The characters are pretty barebones and generic. The male reporter. The male scientist. The male sleazy businessman. The male aged tribe priest. The female... person who is there. In the end, the only character who matters is Obata, the anti-hero. Honestly, he was legitimately entertaining, in addition to actually pushing the plot forward essentially on his own. He also is the only character with any character progression. Of course, he isn't fully done justice here (see above), but he was definitely the highlight for me. There was also the Rico/Saki subplot... actually, that might have been from a different film, for all I know.
The acting was also pretty bad across the board. That's never a good thing to be able to say, especially when the actors are speaking in a foreign language. Not much to say here.
The writing I obviously can't accurately comment upon, but, going by the subtitles, it was kind of just... there. Apart from the (again aforementioned) Obata possession—specifically the climax of his sabotage attempt—nothing stuck out, either positively or negatively.
The music is quite uninteresting and unmemorable, even though the song that plays at the opening makes it feel like that will be the case. That being said, the music isn't bad. It's just not that good, either. The songs all fit the scenes and moods well without doing anything else. Like a lot of this film, the soundtrack just feels like it could be from literally any other monster film.

But, of course, this is a kaiju film. How do they and the effects stack up?
Honestly, good to "mid."
The effects for both the kaiju and film in general are very solid. The titular kaiju become more and more impressive as the film progresses.
Gezora is initially rather unimpressive, and some of the shots only serve to make him cute or laughable. (Look at his little eyes peeping out of the water like some kind of curious kitten!) Once he starts walking, though, he can be taken much more seriously. The suitmation is surprisingly and effectively aided by some clever puppetry which really helps sell the movements. Sadly, the suit never looks wet or slimy, which is rather essential for a creature like Gezora. I do like how the eyes can move, but they never fully realize the potential of this; Gezora could have been really creepy had his eyes focused on the humans he was attacking. His roar is also fun, memorable, and fairly unique, at least as far as film kaiju go.
Ganime is a rather impressive construction, marred only by its obvious lack of physical weight. Watching poor Haruo Nakajima swinging his arms around, trying to knock stuff down despite the sets (and opposing kaiju) not really cooperating is both rather piteous and pitiful, to say the least. Also, while I realize the importance of not fully revealing too soon, when Ganime appears, it just feels like a forced attempt to hide the kaiju, instead of feeling like the characters can't see the whole body yet. Ganime's face- and leg-work are both quite impressive (shades of Kamacuras!), and seeing Kudo blast his eyes out is one of the film's most memorable and deliciously visceral moments.
The real star of the show, however, is undeniably Kamoebas. The incredible facial (or, rather, faciocervical!) suitmation, with the actor still inside, I presume, is a sight to behold. The suit itself is incredibly well-crafted, and never really looks like a suit (except for one shot where you can tell Haruyoshi Nakamura is on his knees). He even has a working tongue which looks just like a turtles', which really added some wonderful immersion. Not much to complain about here.
The effects otherwise were fairly unremarkable. Rather uninteresting (bordering upon lazy) rotoscoping a couple times, average-looking bat props, swimming-pool water, etc. It's all rather average. One highlight was the pyrotechnical work in one shot with the characters shooting Ganime. It truly looks like gunshots are hitting the giant crab beast.

Last but certainly not least, the final fight. I really enjoyed it. I thought it was incredibly unique; two semi-aquatic, raving mad kaiju battling in broad daylight on a volcano with steaming vents and avalanches? That is just pure, genuine tokusatsu goodness. While I would have perhaps enjoyed more "kaiju tai kaiju" action (preferably spread across more of the movie), it definitely was the high point of the film for me, and ultimately helped come out of the film in a good mood.

In the end, then, would I recommend this film? Decisively only for average to hardcore tokusatsu/kaiju fans who are willing to put up with almost an hour and a half of mid- to low-tier monster-ish slog to see about 5 minutes of really good action. Did I enjoy the film? Well, all's well that ends well, so, I suppose I did. I don't really regret watching it.
Last edited by Follinollante on Sun Oct 29, 2023 5:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by edgaguirus »

Kamoeba is the best of the trio. My favorite part of the design is the forward pointing spikes of the shell. It gives the turtle an intimidating look.
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Re: Talkback: Space Amoeba/Yog, Monster from Space (1970)

Post by MC_Lovecraft »

This is the only Toho kaiju film I've never seen. I feel the lack, even if it's apparently not that great. One of these days...

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