I went on a MST3K spree yesterday and saw several episodes. The second of which was the 1965 Japanese classic Gamera. This was the MST3K-edited version of the US-edited version, so I can’t imagine how much was left out, but it doesn’t really matter. None of these movies are that great.
While in the arctic, a Japanese ship with an expedition are talking to Eskimos about a legendary turtle when strange jets fly overhead. The US launches fighters to run them off, but they fire on them. The US fighters return fire, one of the strange jets crashes and explodes, detonating its on-board atomic arsenal. This atomic blast creates Gamera, who is a giant mutant turtle. He flies by shooting fire out his leg-holes, and spins like a top. It’s really quite amusing.
Obviously, since this is a Japanese monster movie, Gamera heads to Japan to destroy its cities. Gamera saves a little boy (who was only endangered because of Gamera, but that’s moot), who champions Gamera’s cause. Since the military and scientists can’t figure out how to kill Gamera (everything seems to just make him stronger), they get him into a rocket and shoot him at Mars.
I rate this movie at about 53 empty seats, one for each crewman on the ship that Gamera immediately destroyed when he was freed/born/whatever from the ice by the atomic blast.