The Green Slime

Infobox Film
name = The Green Slime


caption =
director = Kinji Fukasaku
producer = Walter Manley
Ivan Reiner
writer = Bill Finger
Tom Rowe
Charles Sinclair
Ivan Reiner (story)
starring = Robert Horton
Richard Jaeckel
Luciana Paluzzi
music = Toshiaki Tsushima
Charles Fox
cinematography = Yoshikazu Yamasawa
editing = Osamu Tanaka
distributor = Toei (Japan)
MGM (US)
released = December 19, 1968 (Japan)
May 21, 1969 (US)
runtime = 77 min (Japan)
90 min (US)
country = Japan
United States
language = Japanese
English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:20891
imdb_id = 0064393

nihongo|"The Green Slime"|ガンマー第3号 宇宙大作戦|"Ganmā daisan gō: uchū daisakusen"| aka "Gamma 3: Operation Outer Space" is a 1968 science-fiction film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. It was co-produced by the Toei Company in Japan and MGM in the United States.

ummary

A group of astronauts set out to stop a giant asteroid on a collision course with the planet Earth. They land on the asteroid, plant explosive charges and destroy it. Afterwards they return to the staging area, a space station called Gamma 3 in orbit around the Earth. Unfortunately, a scientist from the mission has unwittingly carried a luminous-green substance on his back which quickly mutates into one-eyed, tentacled monsters with the ability to discharge lethal bolts of electricity. The Gamma 3 crew fend off the alien creatures with their laser-based weaponry, only to discover the creatures feed off the energy which, in turn, allows them to multiply rapidly, sprouting the new creatures from their blood. As the creatures overrun the station the crew continues to fight back against overwhelming odds.

Production

"The Green Slime" is a Japanese-American co-production financed by Toei in Japan and MGM in the United States.

It was filmed in Japan in 1968, under the title "Battle Beyond the Stars" using a largely American cast of B-movie actors, including Robert Horton, Richard Jaeckel, and Luciana Paluzzi. It was co-written by a group of screenwriters active in B-movies at the time: Charles Sinclair, who wrote Batman (1966 film), Bill Finger, and Tom Rowe. Ivan Reiner, who co-wrote "Wild, Wild Planet" and other Italian-made science fiction movies of the 1960s, is credited with the story. Finger reputedly co-created the Batman comic book character and wrote or co-wrote other B-movies, such as "Track of the Moon Beast". The director, Kinji Fukasaku, was a reliable and dynamic studio program director at the time, who was best known for his nihilistic gangster films (later unanimously lauded for "The Yakuza Papers" film series), maintains a frenetic pace for the narrative.

The American background players were recruited from the foreign community in Japan, as well as foreign amateur actors, which included Americans, Turks and Germans, many of who had extensive experience working for Japanese filmmakers. Background players were supplemented by USAF personnel from the Yokota Air Base near Tokyo, and female, American, fashion models based in Japan. Communication between the Japanese crew and the American actors was facilitated through ex-pat translators, namely production manager, William Ross, who founded his own English-dubbing facility in Japan, Frontier Enterprises.

The film's visual effects were provided by Japan Special Effects Co. and directed by Akira Watanabe, while the monster suits were created by Ekisu Productions; both companies formed by ex-Toho Studios employees, who worked under Eiji Tsuburaya, the acknowledged "Father of Japanese Special Effects." Children were recruited as "suit actors" to play the majority of the monsters.

The notoriously psychedelic theme song was composed by Charles Fox (composer), who made a name for himself creating high-profile soundtracks for films such as "Barbarella" and "The Incident".

Release

The Japanese version was released on December 19, 1968, under the title "Gamma 3: Operation Outer Space". This was intended for Toei's seasonal kiddie matinée series, Toei Chibiko Matsuri (Toei Children's Festival), which became the Toei Manga Matsuri (Toei Cartoon Festival), and is now known as the Toei Anime Fair. These are theatrical packages consisting of a feature film and several animated and live action shorts. The main feature was the U.S./Belgian co-production "Pinocchio in Outer Space."

The Japanese cut of "Gamma 3: Operation Outer Space" was 13 minutes shorter than the American version, and eliminated the Horton-Paluzzi-Jaeckel love triangle subplot (which would be boring for children), added different musical cues by Toshiaki Tsushima (notably absent was the infamous theme song), giving the film an increased action movie feel.

"Green Slime's" May 1969 U.S release was met with mostly negative critical reaction. "The New York Times" review was typical -- on May 22, 1969, reviewer Howard Thomson wrote, "The dialogue is wooden, so is most of the acting by a cast including Robert Horton, Richard Jaeckel and Luciana Paluzzi. And a dull and obvious romantic triangle continually squashes the terror potential at the ripest moments."

However, the movie did achieve a popular success with American matinée audiences due, in part, to an extensive advertising campaign aimed at children. The MPAA rated the film G.

In Australia, the film was triple-billed with "The Blob" and "Beware! The Blob" (aka "Son Of Blob").

"Mystery Science Theater 3000" featured a portion of the American version in its pilot episode.cite web
url=http://www.mst3kinfo.com/episodes/epktma.html
title = Season "Zero": KTMA-TV Channel 23 1988–1989
work = Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Unofficial Episode Guide
publisher = Satellite News
accessdate = 2007-08-27]

Cultural Influence

*The board game The Awful Green Things From Outer Space was inspired by this motion picture.
*It also provided the Genesis for the "Green Slime Awards" which honors the worst in science fiction from the past year and is presented at Bubonicon in Albuquerque, New Mexico

References

External links

* [http://twtd.bluemountains.net.au/Rick/liz_gs.htm Synopsis and review] from And You Call Yourself a Scientist
*
* " [http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1968/cr003620.htm The Green Slime] " ja icon at the Japanese Movie Database