"As for the movie itself, like I said in another thread...this movie sucks. I wasn't expecting too much from the movie BUT I expected it to be along the lines of average. This movie is well below average... the movie is very slow paced."
While that is a matter of opinion, and you are entitled to that, IMHO I think that the film is far more fast-paced than the original GODZILLA or RAIDS AGAIN...
"In fact I don't understand how the Self-Defense Force could suck so bad either... when they attack Varan it's like all the bombs/missiles/gunfire missed him and hit the area around him but yet they say their weapons have no effect on him?!"
That's the difference between the screenplay and the way the effects were done... even in the original American version, they added superimposed explosions hitting Varan (ala the original BATTLESTAR GALACTICA), to give the effect that he was being hit... although, I see no difference between these scenes in VARAN and those with Mogera in THE MYSTERIANS... I just take it in stride.
"And can someone tell me why Varan eats flares?? I can only assume he mistakes it for food but I don't like to make assumputions."
Godzilla was attracted by light in both GODZILLA and RAIDS AGAIN, so one can assume that Varan, like a cat or dog that will chase a flashlight beam, goes after them and bites the flares. One must therefore assume that Varan must be iinvunerable to these relatively low-heat incendiaries. But, that could all be baloney. Since we know that the screenwriter and directors were intelligent people (Sekizawa, Honda and Tsuburaya), we cannot dismiss such things as "stupid" -- knowing the way that these films were made, we can be assured that the filmmakers discussed the logic of such things. But, as with many Japanese films, the filmmakers generally do not feel the need to hammer the logic of minor/major points over the audiences' heads.
"And why does Varan start heading towards Tokyo??"
Why does Godzilla do the same thing? Or any other Japanese monster?
"Better yet, how do the 2nd research team even know that Varan is a Varan as soon as they see him."
That was a mistake in the subtitling... Biologist, Kenji Uozaki (Kozo Nomura) identifies the creature as a species of dinosaur named "Varanus podder" (meaning "Father of Dragons" in Latin) which is quickly shortened to "Varan".
"The ending was ok, not great but not bad (like the rest of the movie). The slow pacing, the plotholes, the fact Varan flies only once and other things I don't care to get into just makes me want to throw this movie in my "Bin of Forgotten Movies"."
C'mon, it's not that bad... I really like the long stretch of Naval Self Defense Forces versus Varan, coupled with Ifukube's great score... it's not THE X FROM OUTER SPACE or GAPPA... in fact, IMHO, I think it's an important bridge between the 1950s films and the 1960s films; Sekizawa lays out the pattern for a trio of main characters that would dominate the 1960s films, and a lot of the atmosphere and story contours that would be perfected in films like MOTHRA and MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA. VARAN is not the best film of the period, but it is superior to RAIDS AGAIN and HALF HUMAN (Japanese Version).
But, I am not saying that you are wrong for thinking that it's a minor film, nor that you should be impressed in any way, shape or form, by VARAN. I simply find pleasure in the film itself, based on its own merits. Plus, I think that even two years ago, we would never have dreamed of a release such as this in North America... who knows what else Media Blasters is licensing the rights to (besides DOGORA, a minor film, to be sure, but I'm happy to have them keep discs like VARAN coming).
"But Kudos to Media Blasters for making a little something out of nothing."
All Media Blasters had to do was port the Toho Video R2 DVD...
) so things could be different once I watch this at home. But that's enough about the dvd...
