MST3K 302: Gamera

Even as other Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans discuss the episodes selected for a new collection from a new distributing company, I've been watching an episode not to be included in that set. "Gamera," following the two Godzilla movies shown at the end of the second season, was the first of not only five Gamera movies "riffed" on the show but also almost half a season of movies brought over from Japan by Sandy Frank. ("Hey, Sandy Frank! Isn't that when you drop your hot dog at the beach?") The Gamera series, at least as featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, got more and more ridiculous with each movie. (I have heard, though, that some new Gamera movies were made in the 1990s that seem to have been pretty well-received by fans of that kind of movie. Having my own interests that could be seen as odd from different points of view, all I want to do is report that.) In the first Gamera movie, things are filmed in black and white and Gamera is the lone threatening monster, not a big loveable battler for humanity itself. There's still ridiculousness to be found, though...
( 'Doesn't he look kind of like Godzilla with a backpack on?' )