Destroy All Planets (1968)

Gamera vs. Viras
Gamela vs. Bairus

Cast:

Kojiro Hongo is Scout Master Mr. Shimida
Tôru Takatsuka is Masao Nakaya
Carl Craig is Jim Crane
Peter Williams is Dr. Dobie
Carl Clay is Carl Crane

What the box says:

Gamera, the giant flying turtle returns to save humanity when an alien spacecraft approaches Earth intent on world domination. Gamera destroys the alien ship, but a second craft captures two boy scouts to shield them from Gamera. The aliens then place a control device on Gamera to make him attack Tokyo. The boys foul their plans when they manage to reverse the controls and Gamera confronts the squid-like beings in a climactic battle.

Plot:

A spaceship is orderd to conquer Earth. Things would be in bad shape if not Gamera flies up and destroys the ship.

In Japan, at a boy scout camp, Masu and Jim, the 2 troublesome scamps sneak off and tinker with the controls of a mini-sub by wiring them in reverse. They're found later. The scouts are supposed to pilot the mini-sub and are able to talk the Troop Commander and the sub designer into letting them take it for a test run.

A second spaceship arrives and must locate Gamera.

The sneaky kids spot Gamera while in the sub.

Gamera: Isn't a submarine supposed to have some kind of killing like a Spam can?

The ship finds Gamera and uses some energy beam to hold Gamera. The aliens decide to read Gamera's mind to learn of his powers, birth, and weaknesses. If anyone thinks this is the best way to replay footage from other Gamera movies like Gamera fighting Barugon, the ice monster, and Gaos, the supersonic monster, you deserve a promotion. The aliens then realize that Gamera has an overpowering kindness towards children. The energy beam wears out, and Gamera flies off.

The ship catches Masu and Jim. The aliens then contact Gamera and threaten the boys if he attacks their ship. The boys look around the ship and find the aliens preparing a mind control device for Gamera.

Who says I had enough energy drinks? The boys keep snooping around the ship which don't bother the aliens.
Scouts roaming around a spaceship aren't going to get into any trouble... The kids find a alien-squid-Cthulu monster caged up before, they're captured by the aliens.

The aliens order Gamera to start destroying various things on Earth including a dam and a city. Finally we get some more sweet Kaiju destruction. The aliens demand that Earth surrender because they control Gamera by threatening the 2 boys. If Earth doesn't surrender, the boys will be killed.

The military is waiting for orderes from the UN to decide whether or not to attack or surrender.

The boys escape the alien's straps.

The UN orders to surrender when the Troop commander is able to raio the boys and convince them to rewire the circuits on the Gamera mind control by setting them in reverse. After doing that, the boys beam back to Earth.

Unaware, the aliens order Gamera to kill the boys. However, since the friend to all children is freed, Gamera attacks the ship. The aliens report to the alien-squid-Cthulu leader that absorbs the underlings and grows into a giant-squid-Cthulu-alien.

I'm a giant monster squid before lame CG effects ruined us all...

Finally, Gamera versus the giant-squid-Cthulu-alien battle.

Call 911, Gamera's having deep stabbing chest pains... The wounded Gamera flies up with his giant flying rocket turtle trick as the giant-squid-Cthulu-alien falls off and into the ocean.

Gamera flies off as all celebrate.

What I say:

Destroy All Planets is Gamera's movie while Destroy All Monsters is Godzilla's battle royale. Even stranger, both movies were made the same year. It almost seems as if Gamera's was titled to rip off big G's... Trying to rip off from another character isn't enough. Let the stock footage run wild. Stock footage of volcanoes errupting is done in many low-budget sci-fi movies from the 1960s. Trying to figure ways to replay monster stock footage from Gamera Vs Barugon and Gamera Vs Gyaos as being replayed as Gamera's memories is a uniquely cheap way of getting it done. Still figuring a way to tack in 20 minutes of other movie should be awarded some sort of Roger Corman award...

Friend to all children is the rocket-powered-flying-giant-turtle: Gamera, the second most known Japanese monster movie after Godzilla. It has been a long time since Gamera the Invincible and Gamera Vs Monster X. What can really recharge the batteries after months of DVD diving into the pile scattered around the TV? We all need some old school-Kaiju fighting. Well, Gamera recovers from this movie to return in Attack of the Monsters.

Masu and Jim are the kids who get into and out of trouble. They aren't quite into the "Kenny" level of the kid that is defended by Gamera in previous movies. The kids prowl around the ship, testing the replicators and learning that they can't fly out of the ship like the aliens. The scamps have the scientific know-how of every scientific field as they are able to re-wire submarine controls, re-wire alien technology, and teleportation beams.

Aliens hold the 2 kids hostage to mind-control Gamera and even have the planet Earth surrender or else the 2 boys won't survive...The UN and everyone want to surrender for them. What's the Star Trek philosophy? "The needs of the few outweight the needs of the many..." The boys even wanted the military to attack the spaceship...They knew they weren't worth the conquest of the entire planet...

OK, it's not quite a giant alien Cthulu squid monster fighting Gamera...However, how often do I get to watch a movie and describe it with a Kaiju flying-fire-breathing turtle against a giant-alien-Cthulu-squid monster? Wouldn't you want to tack on "Cthulu" as an adjective to giant-squid-alien as much as possible, too?

Quotable Dialogue
"Put out their jet planes."
"Gamera is a standing over by those stones."
"Activate the super-catch ray."
"Why do you think they save all the good things for the grown-ups?"
"Activate the brain control device."
Morals of the Story
Giant flying space turtles are rocket-powered.
Japan has a alarge number of boy scouts.
A compass can be used as a 2-way radio.
Scientist is a expert in every field of a science.