Varan: The Unbelievable Thread

[Reddu Kingu]

Sort of off topic, but those Komodo monitors are one of the most brutal creatures living on this planet, pound-for-pound. They're 300 lbs. of sheer muscle armed with serrated teeth and streptococcus bacteria in their saliva. When rutting, the males fight like sumo wrestlers!

[planetxman]

[Gigan71]

[tylerpistol]

I find myself wondering if the use of stock footage from Godzilla '54, which was a black and white film, may have contributed to the decision not to go with color.

I believe the reason the film was shot black and white was because it was actually originally being produced for ABC television in the states. At that time, there was no color tv, so it was done in black and white. That deal fell through, but Toho finished production, and cropped a lot of it to widescreen.

I ordered my copy off Ebay, and I'm looking forward to seeing it. I can honestly say I never had any interest in non-Godzilla Toho kaiju films until Media Blasters did such a great job on "the Mysterians". The trailers on that DVD really sold me.

And speaking of which, what's up with the "Varan" trailer? There's no titles, it appears to freeze in the middle and ends rather abruptly....anyone know if there's a story behind that?

[GFan]

[August]

If VARAN ever played in a US theater, it was most likely a Japanese-American theater... but, there is no proof that it ever did. Trailers: the original theatrical trailer is on the DVD, but the second, shorter and incomplete one, seems to have been made later, since it features music from KING KONG ESCAPES... This could be a re-release trailer for a re-release that never happened, an aborted attempt for one of the Toho Champion Matsuri -- since the Toho logo at the start is the standard one for the mid-to-late 1960s. Or this was intended as a trailer for the television version (the film was never re-released in Japanese theaters and the television version was never completed).

Unless there is some textual information in the R2 booklet, the world may never know...

[August]

VARAN was not made originally for ABC Television in the US, it was made for AB-PT Pictures, the motion picture division of ABC Television, and intended for theatrical release. AB-PT Pictures was the same company that planned to take GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN and turn it into "The Volcano Monsters"...

[August]

[GFan]

[Monsturra-Jake]

[August]

[Xenorama]

[Monsturra-Jake]

[August]

[GFan]

[Tyler E. Martin]

I've never seen the American version and don't think I'd want to, but as many cool points the original version has to it, it just doesn't hold a lot of water in my opinion. Ifukube's magnificent music (definitely some of his best), the excellent monster design, and Tsuburaya's effects are the only truly good points of the movie. The shot of Varan as he first marches into Iwatani Village is definitely one of the coolest shots in kaiju history. But story-wise, I think it drags something awful, and the acting is terrible for the most part. You never get any feel for the characters at all. In pretty much any other Toho kaiju film, you get characters that may not be very well-developed, but are nonetheless at least somewhat likeable because of their mannerisms and what not. But with Varan, nada. As great as the music and effects are, they're not enough to save this movie from being lame for me.

[planetxman]

[Tyler E. Martin]

[tylerpistol]

[Destroyer D]

[Giganfan]

[JimPV]

[ryuuseipro]

Posted my review of Varan (both the movie and DVD) on my blog! Read it at:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/ryuuseipro/44679.html

[Danny B]

Poor Varan. First his theme music is stolen by Rodan, then his roar is stolen by Baragon.

[Legion]