Monster From A Prehistoric Planet Remastered Tamio Kawaji Yoko Yamamoto.
An expedition in the South Pacific lands on a tropical island where the natives worship the mysterious deity, Gappa. An earthquake opens up an underground cavern and a baby reptile is discovered inside. The natives warn the foreigners to leave the hatching alone, but they don't listen and take it back to a zoo in Japan. Soon after, Mom and Dad Gappa start smashing Tokyo looking for their kidnapped child.
Also known as Gappa: The Triphibian Monster.
A 1967 Japanese kaiju film directed by Haruyasu Noguchi. The film is about a group of Japanese reporters who discover an infant monster called a Gappa on Obelisk Island. The reporters cage the creature and take it to Japan where it becomes a media attraction. This angers the natives of the island and Gappa's full-grown parents, who head toward Japan to find their child. Its plot virtually duplicates that of the 1961 British film Gorgo.
Long summary:
A businessman/publisher sends a team to the South Pacific island of Obelísk to collect exotic animals and birds for the tropical-themed Playmate Park he is planning to open in Tokyo. While there, an earthquake topples a statue that has been hiding the entrance to a steaming cave. Inside the team observes a gigantic egg hatch. Yet another earthquake dislodges the egg from its resting spot. It rolls down a slope, hits some large rocks that crack the shell, and releases a small, bird-like, winged lizard. Thinking this is a sensational discovery, the team cages the hatchling to ready it for transport back to Japan. The local chief begs the group not to remove the baby from their island. It will make Gappa mad, and they will be destroyed. The Japanese ship leaves with the baby and that doesn't sit well with the parents. They suddenly surface on Obelísk, wreak a bit of havoc with the natives and quickly depart for Japan. They come ashore at a port city where the two, adult sized Gappas knock buildings over at will. Tanks and aircraft are unable to stop them. An attempt to lure them out a lake so that they can be targeted with rockets also fails. Does a young boy hold the secret to taming the raging monsters?
In contemporary reviews, Variety stated that the creature Gappa makes an "auspicious debut and reveals itself as "best monster" so far". Variety concluded that "these are the only Japanese monsters one might like to see again" and that "Most effects are well done, a few superb" noting the destruction of Atami as one of the highlights.
Trivia:
Kaiju (Japanese: 怪獣, Hepburn: Kaijū, lit. 'Strange Beast') is a Japanese media genre involving giant monsters. The word kaiju can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monsters. The kaiju genre is a subgenre of tokusatsu entertainment.
The 1954 film Godzilla is commonly regarded as the first kaiju film. Kaiju characters are often somewhat metaphorical in nature; Godzilla, for example, serves as a metaphor for nuclear weapons, reflecting the fears of post-war Japan following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Lucky Dragon 5 incident. Other notable examples of kaiju characters include Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Gamera.
Kaiju Etymology
The Japanese word kaijū originally referred to monsters and creatures from ancient Japanese legends; it earlier appeared in the Chinese Classic of Mountains and Seas. After sakoku had ended and Japan was opened to foreign relations in the mid-19th century, the term kaijū came to be used to express concepts from paleontology and legendary creatures from around the world. For example, in 1908 it was suggested that the extinct Ceratosaurus-like cryptid was alive in Yukon Territory, and this was referred to as kaijū. However, there are no traditional depictions of kaiju or kaiju-like creatures in Japanese folklore; but rather the origins of kaiju are found in film.
Director: Haruyasu Noguchi
Cast: Tamio Kawaji, Yoko Yamamoto, Yuji Okada, Koji Wada.
Gappa, the Triphibian Monster
The Giant Beast Gappa
Argentina: Gappa: ¡El monstruo del horror!
Brazil: Gappa, o Monstro Gigante
France: Gappa, le descendant de Godzilla
Germany: Gappa - Invasion der fliegenden Bestien
Greece: Gappa, to teras tis thalassas
Italy: Gappa il mostro che minaccia il mondo
Japan: 大巨獣ガッパ
Mexico: Gappa, los monstruos del Pacífico
Philippines: The Triphibian Monster
Poland: Gappa
Soviet Union: Гигантский монстр Гаппа(Russian)
Spain: El monstruo que amenaza al mundo
United States: Gappa the Triphibian Monsters, Monster from a Prehistoric Planet
Also known as Gappa: The Triphibian Monster.
A 1967 Japanese kaiju film directed by Haruyasu Noguchi. The film is about a group of Japanese reporters who discover an infant monster called a Gappa on Obelisk Island. The reporters cage the creature and take it to Japan where it becomes a media attraction. This angers the natives of the island and Gappa's full-grown parents, who head toward Japan to find their child. Its plot virtually duplicates that of the 1961 British film Gorgo.
Long summary:
A businessman/publisher sends a team to the South Pacific island of Obelísk to collect exotic animals and birds for the tropical-themed Playmate Park he is planning to open in Tokyo. While there, an earthquake topples a statue that has been hiding the entrance to a steaming cave. Inside the team observes a gigantic egg hatch. Yet another earthquake dislodges the egg from its resting spot. It rolls down a slope, hits some large rocks that crack the shell, and releases a small, bird-like, winged lizard. Thinking this is a sensational discovery, the team cages the hatchling to ready it for transport back to Japan. The local chief begs the group not to remove the baby from their island. It will make Gappa mad, and they will be destroyed. The Japanese ship leaves with the baby and that doesn't sit well with the parents. They suddenly surface on Obelísk, wreak a bit of havoc with the natives and quickly depart for Japan. They come ashore at a port city where the two, adult sized Gappas knock buildings over at will. Tanks and aircraft are unable to stop them. An attempt to lure them out a lake so that they can be targeted with rockets also fails. Does a young boy hold the secret to taming the raging monsters?
In contemporary reviews, Variety stated that the creature Gappa makes an "auspicious debut and reveals itself as "best monster" so far". Variety concluded that "these are the only Japanese monsters one might like to see again" and that "Most effects are well done, a few superb" noting the destruction of Atami as one of the highlights.
Trivia:
Kaiju (Japanese: 怪獣, Hepburn: Kaijū, lit. 'Strange Beast') is a Japanese media genre involving giant monsters. The word kaiju can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monsters. The kaiju genre is a subgenre of tokusatsu entertainment.
The 1954 film Godzilla is commonly regarded as the first kaiju film. Kaiju characters are often somewhat metaphorical in nature; Godzilla, for example, serves as a metaphor for nuclear weapons, reflecting the fears of post-war Japan following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Lucky Dragon 5 incident. Other notable examples of kaiju characters include Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Gamera.
Kaiju Etymology
The Japanese word kaijū originally referred to monsters and creatures from ancient Japanese legends; it earlier appeared in the Chinese Classic of Mountains and Seas. After sakoku had ended and Japan was opened to foreign relations in the mid-19th century, the term kaijū came to be used to express concepts from paleontology and legendary creatures from around the world. For example, in 1908 it was suggested that the extinct Ceratosaurus-like cryptid was alive in Yukon Territory, and this was referred to as kaijū. However, there are no traditional depictions of kaiju or kaiju-like creatures in Japanese folklore; but rather the origins of kaiju are found in film.
Director: Haruyasu Noguchi
Cast: Tamio Kawaji, Yoko Yamamoto, Yuji Okada, Koji Wada.
Gappa, the Triphibian Monster
The Giant Beast Gappa
Argentina: Gappa: ¡El monstruo del horror!
Brazil: Gappa, o Monstro Gigante
France: Gappa, le descendant de Godzilla
Germany: Gappa - Invasion der fliegenden Bestien
Greece: Gappa, to teras tis thalassas
Italy: Gappa il mostro che minaccia il mondo
Japan: 大巨獣ガッパ
Mexico: Gappa, los monstruos del Pacífico
Philippines: The Triphibian Monster
Poland: Gappa
Soviet Union: Гигантский монстр Гаппа(Russian)
Spain: El monstruo que amenaza al mundo
United States: Gappa the Triphibian Monsters, Monster from a Prehistoric Planet
