Plot summary
Boy Scouts Masao and Jim visit an aquarium to see a two-man mini submarine, and they talk their way aboard for a ride. In the water they meet Gamera. Earlier, a spaceship from Planet Viras arrived to occupy Earth for its nitrogen, and Gamera destroyed it, though the aliens warned their world that he is their enemy. A second vessel traps the scouts in a Super-Catch Ray. Gamera frees the boys but is held in the field while the aliens scan his memories for a way to control him. What they find is his fondness for children, so they seize Jim and Masao and demand his obedience.
Cast
- Munehiko Takadaas Jim's Father
- Chikara Hashimotoas Doctor A
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Gamera vs. Viras (1968)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- With the agreement between Daiei and AI-TV requiring an American boy in one of the two main child roles, and no American child actors who spoke Japanese available, the part went to Carl Craig, the 11-year-old son of a US military officer. He had no acting experience and this was his only role.
- Daiei was in financial trouble at the start of 1968 and cut the film's budget to ¥20 million, about $56,000 at the time; footage from earlier Gamera films was re-used in parts of the movie.
- The film was such a big success in Japan that the studio asked director Noriaki Yuasa to make two more Gamera films a year. He said that was impossible, but it opened the door to further Gamera films being made.
