Battle In Outer Space

This was the second space alien (non-kaiju) movie by the Ishiro Honda/ Toho Studios team. Battle In Outer Space (BiOS) is loosely a sequel to their first space drama, The Mysterians ('59). BiOS does not re-use the Mysterians, but introduces a new alien threat -- beings from the planet Natal who want to conquer Earth. This was hardly a new trope when BiOS was filmed in 1959, but Toho jazzed up the old story with lots of action. The film included a battle on the moon, a dogfight in space and another battle on the earth. Some traditional themes were integrated too. Columbia Pictures released an english dubbed version in the summer of 1960, along with 12 to the Moon to make a double feature.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The year is 1965. Three flying saucers come to earth. They destroy a big-wheel space station, then cause several disasters. Experts decide that they were caused by an anti-gravity beam. At a UN-like meeting, the Iranian delegate slips away and tries to sabotage the earth's heat ray experiments. He is caught before completing his mission. He briefly takes Etsuko hostage and monologues about Natal making a colony of Earth. The Natalians vaporize him, but forensics find a tiny radio transmitter. The transmissions locate the suspect aliens on the moon. Earth sends two rockets for reconnaissance. En route, Iwomura, a member of team 1, is also radio controlled by the aliens. He is caught trying to disable the rocket's weapons and is tied up. Once the rockets land on the moon, the two teams look for the alien base in tracked rovers. On foot, through a long cave, they find the base in a deep crater. Etsuko is temporarily captured by the midget Natalians. A beam weapon battle erupts as the teams attack the base. Meanwhile Iwomura has untied himself and blown up Rocket 1. He is caught trying to do the same to Rocket 2 when the teams return. The saucers attack. Iwomura, free of alien mind control, stays behind to give covering fire. He dies, but Rocket 2 escapes. Eventually, the saucers and mother ship approach the earth. Squadrons of space fighters (X-15s) are sent up. The mother ship sends 'torpedoes' that hit New York and San Francisco. The mother ship tears up Tokyo with its anti-gravity beam. The X-15s and saucers have a massive dogfight. The remaining saucers and mother ship advance on the Tokyo space base. Large dish beam weapons finally destroy the mother ship. It is a bittersweet victory, but the earth is safe, for now. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Unlike many invasion movies where the alien threat is off camera, BiOS has lots of combat action. The aliens give it a good try and we earthlings do a lot of shooting back. The miniature work is not quite as extensive, but still fun to watch.

Cold War Angle
Most of Honda's movies have a blatant anti-war tone. BiOS is a little different. Honda reuses the notion of the earth united against a common foe, as he had in The Mysterians. The result is more of an encouragement (see what we can do if united?) than the more common dour warnings. There is also something vaguely McCarthyesque about a ruthless enemy "turning" loyal citizens into spies and saboteurs.

Notes
Etsuko Grows Up -- Pretty young Etsuko Shirashi and Professor Adachi are characters reused from The Mysterians. Adachi is pretty much his old sagely self, full of knowledge, stoicism and wisdom. Etsuko has grown up from her old fashioned girl role. In BiOS, she is a researcher at the Tokyo Space Center and even qualifies to go on the moon mission. Once there, however, she is still given the traditional "woman's work" of getting captured and needing to be rescued.

Redeeming Sacrifice -- The heroic self-sacrificing character is fairly common in Japanese sci-fi. Here, too, the man has past sins for which he must nobly atone at the cost of his life. Dr. Serizawa, guilty of inventing the deadly Oxygen Destroyer, gives his life to destroy Godzilla. In The Mysterians, Etsuko's brother aids the aliens out of naive optimism. Realizing his error at the end, he sacrifices himself, allows the women to escape and blows up the alien base. The crewman Iwomura is in the same mould. His only way to regain honor is to single-handedly hold off the saucers with his beam rifle. The saucers eventually get him, but his sacrifice allows Rocket 2 to escape. Error atoned for.

New Old Menace -- The Mysterians were a homeless race, looking to make Earth their new home. Rather than bring them back for another try, a new foe emerges. Beings from the planet Natal want to make Earth one of their colonies. By 1959, this is hardly a new trope. A minor twist, is that the Natalians are, themselves, not much of a personal threat. They're just little men in orange space suits without any personal-sized weapons. It's their large-scale technology that's deadly.

They Might Be After Our Women -- A curious scene comes when Etsuko is walking back (alone) to the moon rover to fetch the heat ray gun. A swarm of little Natalians crowd around her and restrain her. Perhaps they were trying to capture her. Poor Etsuko has some magic allure to aliens. The Mysterians wanted her too.

Star Fighter -- Predating the space dogfight scene in Star Wars by 18 years, the squadrons of earth's 'star fighters' are none other than America's X-15. When BiOS was in production in 1959, the first X-15 had just made its maiden flight. As a space-capable rocket plane, it was the hottest thing in space-aviation. Little wonder Toho presumed that Earth would have a few squadrons of them (with ray weapons in their noses) by 1965.

Bottom line? BiOS is yet another aliens-attack-earth story, but with more action. Fans of model cities being destroyed get a triple helping. While not especially thought provoking, BiOS is still an entertaining movie.

Top 10 Visuals in 50s Sci-fi

A reader had asked what I thought the 50s best sci-fi visuals would be. There were so many, it was not easy to pare the list down. Doing so, however, was an interesting exercise. Like the Titanic, with too few lifeboats to save everyone, if you had to pick JUST TEN, which would they be? Top Ten lists are, by nature, subjective, so this is MY list. Use the comments feature to share your top ten best 50s sci-fi visual moments. Mine are in chronological order, not greater-to-lesser.

1. Destination Moon 1950 -- The sweeping moonscape vista paintings by Chesley Bonstell were magical. Many other offworld landscapes would come, in imitation, and dilute the impact. But, in 1950, they were powerful visuals. The space-walk scenes were captivating too, for their earnestness.

2. Invaders from Mars 1953 -- The slightly distorted sets gave this movie a subtly unsettled feeling. The forced perspective of the path & fence set was quietly surreal. The curiously tall, spartan and high-contrast interior of the police office contradicted the usual safe and secure mood. The whole disappearing into the dry sand pit scene, with the harshly discordant vocals was a scene impossible to forget.

3. War of the Worlds 1953 -- The gathering and throbbing hum of the heat ray "cobra head" and blasting of the three men, was one of those benchmark visual moments. The rise of the first swan ships from their glowing craters caused goose bump. The swan ships' slow and relentless blasting of the city was captivating. To be sure, many later movies would have their aliens blasting cities, but this was a powerful first for American audiences -- to be on the wrong end of big guns.

4. Creature from the Black Lagoon 1954 -- The gill man himself is an iconic visual. His image was powerful enough to spawn two sequels and numerous copies. But, it is the underwater scenes are the eye candy. The cinematography and clarity create an alternate world in which the gill man is at home.

5. Gozilla 1954 -- There were so many spin offs and poor copies of the scene, that its value has been debased into kitsch. But in 1954, when Godzilla rose from the sea and began laying waste to Tokyo, it was a powerful image.

6. Conquest of Space 1955 -- The magic and wonder of Chesley Bonestell's art was brought to life in the many shots of the giant wheel space station and winged Mars rocket. These and the vistas of Mars provided visual treats which helped carry a less grand plot.

7. Forbidden Planet 1956 -- Easily the most visually rich sci-fi of the decade, there were many captivating visuals. The vistas of Altair 4, Robby the Robot and vast underground Krell facilities. It is the battle of the Id monster, however, which is the most memorable moment.

8. Earth vs The Flying Saucers 1956 -- The plot and premise were fairly par for the course. It was Ray Harryhausen's stop motion flying saucers that stole the show. Particularly impressive, was the final scene in which the crippled saucers were crashing into Washington DC landmarks.

9. Incredible Shrinking Man 1957 -- Where the first half of the movie visually commonplace, the second half is another world. The "basement" sets were captivating. Giant matchboxes for Scott to live in, thread as rope, a cliff of dried cake for food and a giant spider enemy: it was a convincing other world within our own.

10. H-Man 1959 -- Blob creatures were not new when H-Man came out. What Honda and Toho gave us was a more insidious monster. It oozed along walls, took a gelatinous human-like form, but then could liquify itself and run down a storm drain. The visuals of all that were well done and intriguing.

Well, there you have my top ten visuals. What would your top ten visuals list include? Use the comments to share them.

The Leech Woman

Universal's B unit cranked out a second-feature film to package with Brides of Dracula. The resulting movie, Leech Woman (LW) was only peripherally a sci-fi story with stronger horror tone. Yet, despite its low budget secondary nature, LW manages to be cut above the average B movie. The premise isn't entirely new. It is a mash-up of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde ('31), Wasp Woman, ('59) She-Demons, ('58) and Womaneater ('59). The search for eternal youth has Faustian consequences.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Endochrinologist, Dr. Paul Talbot anticipates glory from his work on aging. He disdains his past-peak wife June. She longs for his love and is furious at his rejections. A shriveled old woman named Malla comes to Dr. Talbot. She is 152 years old. A mysterious powder from central Africa extends her life. It can restore youth. Paul decides to take June to Africa to see (and maybe get a hot wife to boot). Paul, June and Bertram their guide, are captured by the Nandos tribesman. Malla shows them the secret, though they'll never leave to tell anyone. The powder is mixed with the juice from the pineal gland of a young man victim. Malla becomes a lush young babe. She offers to let June try it. Paul hints at deserting June to save himself, so June selects Paul as her sacrificial pineal donor. June becomes a lush young babe. She and Bertram escape with a dynamite diversion. June discovers that babedom was temporary. Horrified and desperate for youth, she kills Bertram for his pineal juice. She returns to the States pretending to be June's niece, Terry. When age returns again, she kills a two-bit hoodlum for his pineal. Terry tries to seduce Neil. His finacee Sally intervenes and gets killed for it. The police come snooping around looking for June. They find dead Sally. Age returns to Terry/June. Sally's female hormone didn't do the trick. Terry/June jumps from a balcony and dies, her body that of a haggard old woman. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The premise isn't entirely new, but neither is it worn out (yet). Even if things are fairly predictable, there is enough food for thought in the script to make it rewarding. While the directing and cinematography are not remarkable, the pace seldom bogs down (other than some trudging through the jungle scenes).

Cold War Angle
This is a science-gone-wrong tale of vanity and hubris. There are no Cold War motives in play.

Notes
Pineal Power -- Nevermind that the pineal gland is several inches inside the brain, so a hooked ring could never get there. The pineal gland had some mystique about it. Decartes fancied it was the seat of the soul. In the late 50s, the pineal hormone melatonin was studied as a possible cure for some skin diseases. Melatonin does play a role in sexuality. Prepubescent youth had higher quantities of melatonin. As such, having pineal hormone tagged as youth secret was not so far fetched.

Encore Encore -- A couple 50s B sci-fi faces return. Grant Williams plays the young lawyer, Neil. Williams is more famous as the Incredible Shrinking Man. Gloria Talbot plays his fiancee, Sally. She starred the unfortunate bride, Marge, in I Married A Monster From Outer Space ('58).

Jekyll's Daughter -- The trope of body-changing drugs is not new. Here, instead of the Jekyll/Hyde duality of civilized vs. bestial, the dualism is youth-beauty vs. age-ugliness. As in Wasp Woman, ('59) the presumption is that only pretty, young, vivacious women are of value. June, not quite the innocent victim, becomes so obsessed with being "worshipped by men" that she easily becomes a serial killer.

Malla's Monologue -- Old Malla gives the rationale for the story in a monologue before undergoing her transformation. "For a man, old age has rewards. His gray hairs bring dignity. He is treated with honor and respect. But, for the aged woman, there is nothing. At best, she is pitied. Contempt and neglect." The nypee drug gives them one last fling at youthful lust before they die.

What's In A Name? -- Low-budget productions avoided retakes to keep costs down and schedules tight. Unless a scene went noticeably wrong, it was kept. When young-June and Bertram were running from the Nandos village, she called him John at one point (the actor's actual name). A short while later, she calls him David. The credits list him as Bertram. Oh well. He dies of a neck jab either way.

Bottom line? LW is actually a better movie than its title suggests. It is thin on the science in its fiction, but makes up for it as a commentary on obsession with youth. LW would make a fun triple feature with Wasp Woman and She-Demons. The deadly quest for youth and beauty.

Visit To A Small Planet

Sci-fi comedy is a rare commodity. Jerry Lewis helped kick off the 60s with a fine example in Visit to a Small Planet (VtaSP). The premise is a bumbling alien (with amazing powers) comes to earth to study us. He wants to experience things as humans do, but comes to regret it. As one would expect, there are ample close-ups of Lewis making funny faces, and many physical humor gags.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Kreton (Lewis) is an errant student on planet K-19. He regularly exasperates his instructor, Mr. Delton, with his obsession with planet Earth. Mr. Delton decides to let Kreton go to Earth to teach him a lesson and get it out of his system. Kreton arrives in his saucer. He shows up at the Spielding home, dressed as a Confederate officer, expecting to watch the Civil War. His calculations were off by 99 years. Conrad (Earl Holliman) is forever trying to make out with Ellen Spielding, so Kreton decides to study human romance instead. Many sight gags hinge off of Kreton having an invisible force field that no one can penetrate. No one is permitted to tell anyone else that he's there. More gags stem from this. Ellen takes Kreton to a beatnik club. More gags flow at the expense of the beatniks. On the way home, they pass a lover's lane. Ellen coaxes Kreton to kiss her, but his forcefield stops it. He makes it go away and is swept away by passion. Mr. Delton makes it rain on them to cool Kreton off. Conrad, jealous of Kreton, convinces Ellen to elope with him that night. Mr. Delton allows Kreton to feel pain too. Conrad punches Kreton, chases him, and locks him in a barn. The state police are called in, but the tear gas blows back into the crowd. Kreton escapes in Mr. Delton's saucer. He's learned his lesson and won't visit Earth ever again. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
It's a comedy. It's supposed to be fun. Lewis still a young man, so many of the gags feature very physical humor. The pacing is brisk and the supporting cast good.

Cold War Angle
This is background material, but Mr. Mayberry as the ever vigilant Civil Defense spotter (complete with white CD helmet), always watching the skies with his binoculars, was an everyday part of Cold War culture.

Notes
Prop Watch -- Conrad comes in dressed in a Destination Moon space suit instead of an 1860 costume as everyone else was for the Civil War party. The clear spherical helmet was from somewhere else, but the old DM suit still looked good.

Adapted Play -- Writer Gore Vidal wrote the stage play upon which the screenplay was adapted. This gives VtaSP wittier writing and social satire beyond the usual B movies. The actors are veteran comedy actors, so the farce takes on a life of its own.

The Power of Love -- A familiar trope shines again. Earth women teach alien men about love. Here, it's comical, but the trope shows up in earlier 50s sci-fi in a more serious form. We earth men think our women are pretty special.

Pre-Carrey -- Modern viewers (born after 1980 or so) will see a lot of similarity between Jerry Lewis's style, facial expressions and mannerisms, with comedian Jim Carrey. But, Lewis came first. Carrey wasn't born until two years after this movie.

Pre-Hippies -- Seems each era has its mainstream and counter-culture. The 90s and 00s had their hiphop gangs, Goths and Emo. The 60s and 70s had their Hippies. The 50s had their Beatniks. The beatniks portrayed in the "Hungry Brain" scene in VtaSP are exaggerations of the stereotype, but interesting nonetheless.

Bottom line? VtaSP is a "lite" diversion for a sci-fi fan. Nothing too deep, though the writing is a cut above the usual B screenplay. If you're a Jerry Lewis fan, this is more of his usual gags and schtick.

Angry Red Planet

The 1960s did not start off too different from the 50s. The decade's first sci-fi movie, Angry Red Planet (ARP) is solid 50s B sci-fi material. Coming ten years after Rocketship XM, ARP revisits RXM's premise of man's first manned mission to Mars. This time around, however, the advanced martian civilization is not wiped out, but still there. Instead of us learning from the martians' mistakes, the martians want nothing to do with us. Like RXM, all but two of the team are killed and the message is delivered via the surviving two returning in the rocket. This time around, however, the man and woman don't die, but live to develop their budding romance.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The earth rocket MR-1 is long overdue and found drifting in space. Mission control takes over remotely and flies it back to earth. The female astronaut, Dr. Ryan, staggers out. Colonel O'Bannion must be removed on a stretcher. He has a strange green globbish growth on his arm. Dr. Ryan cannot remember anything, and all the mission recordings are blank. The only hope to save O'Bannion is to force Ryan to remember. She does and the rest of the story unfolds as flashback. The crew of four successfully land on Mars. It has plant life, but is oddly still. The crew explore and Dr. Ryan is almost eaten by a carnivorous plant. Dr. Gattell is almost killed by a 40' "spider-rat-bat" monster. They try to cross a lake. Across the lake they can see a city of tall buildings. Between them, however, rises a giant ameoba monster. They rush back to the rocket, but Sam is grabbed by the ameoba and "digested". O'Bannion has a bit of the green slime on his arm. The ameoba engulfs the ship and will eventually dissolve through the hull. O'Bannion suggests electrifying the hull. The ameoba retreats. A voice tells them to leave and warns them. They take off and the story resumes in real time. Dr. Ryan, now recovered, works on a theory to save O'Bannion from the engulfing green slime. It works and the two can resume their flirtations. The last mission recording contains the full warning from the martians. Earth men are too immature, and should never come back to Mars, or Earth will be destroyed. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Missions to Mars were fairly common 50s fare, but ARM's Mars is surreal and clearly hostile. The color photography adds some interest, such as seeing the 'sky' turn from blue at night to red by day.

Cold War Angle
After ten years of continuing Cold War the cautionary message had changed tone. In RXM, we were optimistically expected to learn from the martians' tragic nuclear mistake. In ARM, the martians berate us as too immature and destructive, as if there were no hope of us ever growing up. Some Cold War frustration is expressed.

Notes
Women's Role -- ARM had the obligatory female astronaut. Her presence allowed for the usual stereotypes. When the RM-1 lands, and Dr. Ryan emerges, the General declares, "It's the girl!" When Dr. Ryan puts on her "space suit" (really just flight coveralls), Sam says: "You know,I can say I recommend space suits for beautiful young dolls. what happened to all your lovely curves?" Dr. Ryan actually basks in the male attention. She screams a moment later at the sight of the 3-eyed martian. Later she would tell O'Bannion, "I know you think I acted like a hysterical female there back at the ship, but I can assure you I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself!" This, just before needing to be rescued from the carnivorous plant. Typical prideful yet vulnerable female. Yet, despite all this, is a serious and determined Dr. Ryan who figures out in the lab how to save O'Bannion from the creeping green slime. She saves him.

Cinemagic -- Worth noting, is the photographic effect used to make the martian landscape look different. Besides the heavy red filter, "Cinemagic" took whatever tones were in the shadow range and partially reversed them. This gave a semi-solarized effect. While not especially successful, the effect did help the painted backdrops and fake plants meld into a more complete and surreal landscape.

Budget Bogart -- Gerald Mohr plays Colonel O'Bannian. His look is reminiscent of Humphrey Bogart. Mohr also tries to copy some of Boggey's mannerisms too. The result may have been more effective in 1960. Now, however, he comes across as somewhat greasy.

Monsters -- The "spider-rat-bat" is a show stealer. Clearly a marionette merged via green screen, the effect is low-budget, but unforgettable. The giant ameoba is harder to describe. It looms up out of the lake as a more solid beast. It has tentacles, a dorsal ridge and one eye that rotates like a radar array. Yet, when it surrounds the rocket, it's another blob. Professor Gattell theorized that the martians were somehow able to direct animal life on the planet.

Pilate, Not Savior -- The martians in ARP don't fit into either of the usual alien categories, neither friends nor fiends. They don't want to invade our planet (nor take our women). Nor do they want to help us like space saviors. Instead, like Pilate, they wish to wash their hands of us and leave us to whatever doom awaits us. Their warning (somewhat shortened here) was: "Men of earth, we of the planet mars give you this warning. .... For milenia we have followed your progress. ... learned your speech and your culture, and now you have invaded our home. Technological adults, but spiritual and emotional infants... Your civilization has not progressed beyond destruction ... Do as you will to yourselves and your own planet, but remember this warning: Do Not Return to Mars. ... We can and WILL destroy you...."

Bottom line? ARP is conventional 50s B sci-fi, but with some perks. The color is a step up from the usual low-budget fare, even if the plot, acting and props are not. Still, an entertaining addition to the 50s Mars lore.

The Giant Behemoth

By the late 50s, the rampaging radiation monster was almost a cliche. Nonetheless, producer David Diamond gave us one more. The Giant Behemoth (GB) added nothing new to the trope. In fact, it is more of a hybrid remake of Beast from 20,000 Fathoms ('53) and Godzilla ('54) than anything new. The monster is (again) a dormant dinosaur which imprudent nuclear tests awakened and mutated. The monster rampages through London as most monsters-on-the-loose do. Yet, despite not treading any new ground, GB is a reasonable effort on a small budget. The science part of the fiction is a bit thin. It's mostly a monster-stomps-city movie. Yet the radiation-created-monster is traditionally put in the sci-fi realm.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The story starts with some quasi-doumentary recap of some Pacific nuclear tests. the narrator warns of radiation dangers. A Cornwall fisherman is found dying of radiation burns. "Behemoth!" he says with his last breath. Later, thousands of dead fish line the shores. Biologist Steve Karnes and radiation commissioner Bickford investigate. Local reports of a monster are laughed off until a steamship is found wrecked on the beach. A giant lizard-like footprint proves the monster is real. A paleontologist suggests that the beast will head for fresh water. The Thames estuary is fortified. Despite this, a ferry is attacked and sunk by the beast. London's river front is evacuated. Karnes says the beast is so radioactive, it must be dying. He thinks that a bit more radiation will provide the fatal overdose. A "radium" tipped torpedo is the plan. Meanwhile, the beast emerges and stomps up and down some London streets. People flee screaming. Cars are crushed. People who linger are killed by its projected radiation. It breaks a bridge and falls back into the river. Trackers locate the beast. The mini-sub with its special torpedo is sent in. After some underwater chasing, the torpedo is launched. It hits the beast in its open mouth. The dying monster writhes, and sinks back into the water. London is saved, but a radio report tells of dead fish on America's east coast. The End?

Why is this movie fun?
Fans of the rampaging monster trope will find GB comfortably familiar. The acting is reasonable enough and there are a few points of interest (see below).

Cold War Angle
GB is yet another nuclear cautionary tale. The opening few minutes leave no doubt of that. Like Godzilla, the behemoth is metaphoric for what nuclear fallout will do to civilians. It is interesting that one more nuclear weapon is deemed the solution to the nuclear threat. That is Cold War thinking at its finest.

Notes
Hybrid Remake -- There more than a passing resemblance to the story line in Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Like Godzilla, which itself was a reworking of the B20K story, the Behemoth is mutated into giant size by radiation and uses its radioactivity to kill. Also like Godzilla, Behemoth is a personification of deadly radiation. This time, it was London's turn to feel the rampage. From the extended shots of panicky civilians running, and the radiation burns, it is clear that the director is modeling what a nuclear attack on London would be like.

Beastly Trilogy -- Eugene Lourie directed Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, itself based on a short story by Ray Bradbury. GB was his second pass at the same story line (more or less). His pass a the third monster-on-the-loose story will be Gorgo in 1961. Interestingly, Lourie began his directing career with B20K and ended it with Gorgo.

Final Bow -- The stop-motion work was overseen by Wills O'Brien, who gained fame for his work on King Kong ('33). One of his pupils, Pete Peterson did most of the actual work. This was O'Brien's last public work. The stop motion work has moments of quality (such as the power line scene) but clearly rushed lesser-quality scenes, (such as the underwater swimming shots). GB was not O'Brien's crowning achievement. The puppet head shots and ferry scenes were not O'Brien's work.

Biblical Proportions -- Though nothing much is done with it, there is much quoting from the book of Job early in the film. Chapter 40 is where the creature called Behemoth is mentioned. In context, the biblical behemoth is not a terrifying tool of wrath or destruction. It is cited as a supremely huge, strong (land) animal. God uses behemoth as an object lesson. If He is powerful enough to create such a beast, and by extension how feeble Job is -- why does Job feel justified in telling God how the universe ought to be run?

Hit Me Again -- A little budget-saving bit of re-use is having the same model car being crushed footage used three times as Behemoth stomps up the streets.

Bottom line? GB is entertaining enough on its own, though not remarkably so. It does have some historical value for 50s sci-fi fans. For folks who like movies about giant monsters stomping up some major city, GB is a worthy installment.