Director: Samaji Nonagase
Year: 1966
Country: Japan
Alternate Titles: (Alternate DVD Title: Operation Light Speed/Operation Electric Stone Fire) (電光石火作戦 Denkōsekka Sakusen?)
Genre: Tokusatsu TV
Plot:
After a typhoons hits the area, the residents of a small fishing village finds that the damage has inadvertently awakened the monster Gabora from underground and sent it in a rampage looking for radioactive materials to eat, forcing the Science Patrol and Ultraman to stop it.
Story:
For the most part, this offers up a wholly solid and enjoyable story. The first half of the episode is a special and wholly intriguing slice-of-life piece that we never really see in these kinds of giant monster stories, detailing the exploits of the kids at the camp and the local villagers cleaning up after the typhoon that swept through the night before. Rather than show the monster as being responsible for this destruction which would've been a standard way of operating in such a situation, the fact that this one operates as a normal natural disaster for the country. Seeing that they're out of supplies and must trek through the woods, the journey the boys take going past the disturbed landscape and debris finds this one as a quite realistic and appreciated touch.
As well, these early scenes serve the purpose of the origin of monster tale. Originating as the springboard for Gabora's appearance as it interrupts the clean-up efforts and launches into the traditional monster-movie-of-the-week episode as the Science Patrol has to deal with the monster and it's threat offers up a solid backdrop in this kind of story. Given the added threat of the attraction to radiation, this adds a special purpose for the monster's appearance beyond just being awakened to go on a rampage and the group is called in deal with it's presence.
Moreover, the idea of tackling the two plotlines at once is quite enjoyable as the Science Patrol, in the course of dealing with Gabora, inadvertently lure it away from the city right into the kids' path, drawing them into a new battle as they have to protect the kids from the monster. Employing plenty of rather ingenious tactics luring the creature deeper into the forest with the helicopter dangling the uranium canister beneath it and the creature then sprouting it's true face to knock it out of the sky, there's a solid setup here that gives this the reasoning for the final fight at the end and really brings out quite a lot of substance in a shortened time as this encapsulates a rather lengthy and enjoyable mid-section of a normal kaiju film.
However, there are a few small mishaps with the story. The fact that Gabora is just dropped into the film with absolutely no lead-up or information about what's going on with his appearance or behavior makes very little sense at all as for why the townspeople automatically know about the creature. From the minute the creature arrived on-screen, everyone not only knows who he is but are able to determine his strategy regarding his interest in uranium which might be well-known to the locals yet is generally ignored here just makes the story feel weak and short-changed.
As per usual with the series, this has so much fun to like here with the special effects work. The main monster, Gabora, is rather impressive for the first half of the episode. Once again taking the Baragon suit to a new level with the grey spray-paint taking the creature to a nice level after the previous trip through Neronga and Magular, this time the head is slightly changed with a new head and a special adjustment to its neck. The hood around it's head looks impressive, with the arrangement of petals from it's neck coming up to form a cone of sorts around the head. Despite the impracticality of how that would work as it's a digging creature the effect looks impressive as it keeps the goofy-looking face hidden as it evokes a specific gigantic turtle of sorts when we finally see the true identity.
As well, we get plenty of fun work elsewhere in the episode. The miniature work throughout here is absolutely top-notch, with the fine town setting for Gabora to crawl through looking rather impressive as are the flame-thrower tanks that are pressed into service against the creature to stop it's rampage. Even the miniature helicopter and the carrying case of the radioactive container dangling underneath look impressive as they're combined alongside the footage of the real helicopter in the scene. The early shots of the village being overrun by the tidal wave blown ashore during the hurricane, a tactic long-mastered by the studio, is just as impressive here and the mountain-setting for the majority of the final half here looks lush and detailed like so many of the other playgrounds for the monster battles.
There's also plenty to like with some of the other effects methods in the episode. Due to the fact that Gabora directly affects humans several times, it means that there's a slew of extremely effective composite shots throughout here. The first attack on the small-town showing him rampaging in the background while the villagers flee in the foreground is an enjoyable offering that looks like the film versions, while a later sequence of Gabora in the countryside while the kids are shown on a mountain road in the foreground is incredibly effective showing it pass by behind them, which is nearly seamless. As well, a shot of Gabora crawling over Hayata in the forest as he waits in a ditch for the monster to pass in order for him to use the Beta Capsule looks really impressive and helps make for a fun episode.
Actors:
There isn't much to day about this one. Hoshino returns after a brief spell out of action here in a brief role where he stows away inside the copter with Hayata but doesn't really do much overall here. In fact, his role could've been written out and swapped with the kids under attack by Gabora without really changing the episode overall. Still, seeing him return and not really undergoing any kind of hero-worship for his actions is a nice touch. However, oddly it's Arashi who gets an extra quirk this time around when we get to see him react to situations with a great deal more anger and frustration than normal. His outburst at the fact that Hayata got to go in the helicopter was rather strange and really doesn't seem in character with his more level-headed reactions before, and his early situation with Ito in the headquarters is a little strange..
Other Factors:
This one really manages to work a fun and energetic fight into the end between Ultraman and Gabora which is quite hard-hitting and really fun. The tussling and roughhousing they do is the kind of brawl that works here, and with the child-friendly scene of Ultraman riding it like a bull there's a nice appeal to the kids that it really needs to be. The idea of ripping off the petals around it's neck to kill it makes for quite a unique concept that in practice manages one of the more brutal and gruesome ideas in the series which is rather shocking afterwards knowing the brutality that has just occurred and how little reaction Ultraman has.
As well, the other nice fact about the episode is the early slice-of-life that occurs for the villagers before Gabora appears. Showing them to be going about their routine during a hurricane that's striking their village, the matter-of-fact manner in which they try to ride out the night and then taking in the clean-up the very next day with all the aftermath and debris strewn around creates a fantastic lived-in world that gets captured at the start here. It's always fun to see people going about their mundane lives which gets interrupted by monster activity and the quickened nature of doing so creates a fine ease for getting into this episode.
Overview: ****1/2/5
With only a few minor elements holding this one down and a lot of highly enjoyable pieces throughout here, combined with stellar monster action, creates a wholly winning episode. This is one of the better entries here and is certainly worth a look for fans of the series overall.
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