The War of the Gargantuas (1966)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Ostensibly a sequel to 1965's "Frankenstein Conquers the World", the connection between "War of the Gargantuas" and that film is pretty tenuous (especially if watching an English-dubbed version* in which the name 'Frankenstein' is never used). Apparently, despite Frankenstein's supposed demise at the end of FCtW, some of his tissue developed into a savage green clone named 'Gaira' AND either the original Frankenstein survived to become the mellow brown giant 'Sanda' OR both 'Gargantuas/Frankensteins' are clones grown from the discarded tissue (this is far from clear). The evil Gaira dispatches a giant octopus, sinks a ship (where he demonstrates an appetite for humans), and then attacks an airport (an amazing miniature set considering its brief screen-time). As usual, the JDF's conventional weapons are useless against the marauding colossus but the new maser cannons carve him up pretty badly. At this point Sanda appears and the two monsters go into hiding. An American professor working in Japan (a non-dancing Russ Tamblyn) points out to the military that, if a fragment of the original Frankenstein's tissue begat the behemoths (one or both), then blowing Gaira to pieces would be ill advised. This complicates anti-Frankenstein strategies, but the gigantic pair begin to fight each other so the JDF is off the hook for saving Japan (yet again). The humanoid 'Gargantuas/Frankensteins' are a bit of a departure for Toho's monster factory but are surprisingly engaging. The miniature cityscapes that they destroy are as good as any in the Showa-era Godzilla films and in general, the optical effects (maser beams, back projections, mattes, etc) are quite effective. The presence of Russ Tamblyn (best known for his energetic choreography in "West Side Story" (1961) or "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1954)) adds little to the film (apparently he was a pain in the ass to work with) and the American professor character was likely included to make the film more marketable in the USA. His assistant (Akemi Togawa (Kumi Mizuno)) supposedly worked with a young Sanda (hence the inconsistency with Sanda being a clone of the original Frankenstein), which is all very confusing, as Kumi Mizuno was in FCtW and did interact with the young Frankenstein, but as a character named Dr. Sueko Togami. While definitely a kaiju film not to be thought about too carefully, "War of the Gargantuas" is fast-paced, well-executed, and quite entertaining in a silly sort of way. * there appear to be a number of versions in circulation, I am commenting on the Classic Media subtitled Japanese version on DVD.

I finally bought the collector's edition of "Rodan" and "War of the Gargantuans". Thanks, Classic Media. Damn, what a good way to waste $25 bucks but the movies are so good it was totally worth it. The DVD is of good quality, although lacking the usual special features I was expecting. I was really hoping to hear the G-experts view on the two films but there is a nice hour-long documentary included. "Bringing Godzilla down to size" tells the complex story of Godzilla's rise to fame and tragic fall, yet soon return. "War of the Gargantuans", another Honda-flick, is a real treat, the unofficial sequel to "Frankenstein Conquers the World". With practically the same production team, the film is pretty damn good. Odako ( the giant octopus) is great in this movie. The last time I saw him was what, 62', back in "King Kong vs. Godzilla"? Sanda and Gailah are a nice break from the onslaught of reptilian and insect monsters, both looking nice and thankfully realistic. The "brother's" conflict is an interesting part of the story, and, like "Rodan", the human carnage really gives a more adult feeling while watching. We see some great action sequences, this movie starring the Maser tank, which will star in the exact same scene in "Godzilla vs. Megalon" thanks to horrendous stock-footage. Because of their "human" appearance and characteristics, the gargantuans can interact with the protagonist in a way a giant dinosaur, three-headed dragon, or giant moth just can't. This film is also one of the few to star an American actor, who fits in nicely. The music is dope, Ifukube delivering a nice and dark score. He even includes a spunky JSDF march, as he did in many of Honda's "Golden Age" movies, a nice edition. To be clear this American version was better than "Rodan"'s, but once again the score is heavily edited, not even including the JSDF theme at all! Either way, that annoying song at the nightclub is included, but seeing as Gailah kills the braud I'll let it go. As I watched it, one can't help but feel such disappointment with Godzilla. After "Invasion of Astro-Monster", the series went to total crap thanks to Jun Fukuda and the crappy scores. 1967, "War of the Gargantuans" was released, compared to "Son of Godzilla". Damn...... If Toho had simply let Honda continue doing the films without the sacrifice of the serious tone for a childish one that soon became played out; maybe Godzilla would've never even had to cut his Showa era short. Just a thought that was on my mind. Back to the 2-disc set, damn, good work Classic Media.

I recently watched this for the first time since I was a small boy and was surprised at how actually scary parts of this film is. I've been a fan of the giant monster film since I was a small boy, Godzilla especially, but was never once scared by any of the films. Instead I appreciated them as fantasy. However, the green Gargantua in this film is scary. The monster costume is scary, the fact he eats people is scary, and the film itself is just fun to look at. The scene early in the film where a fisherman's boat is stopped dead in the water when he hooks something, and we see this ugly creature gazing up from under the ocean, remains one of the creepiest and most effective images from a movie I've seen.The movie becomes a bit cheesy towards the end when the heroic brown Gargantua shows up to battle the green one, but all in all I recommend it to anyone who's a fan of Toho's Godzilla series, or anyone with slightly unusual tastes in movies. Good luck finding a copy tho. Toho hasn't released it on DVD and the old VHS tapes are pricey. Keep an eye out on cable for it!

This wonderfully ridiculous Japanese giant monsters wreaking mucho mondo destructo havoc hoot was originally done as a sequel to "Frankenstein Conquers the World" until American distributors momkeyed around with it and omitted any connections this baby has with that previous picture. That minor issue aside, what's left is quite simply one of the wildest, most energetic and brutally violent behemoth beast bashes to ever grunt, growl and glower its way across the big screen.The titular titanic terrors represent the two radically contrasting polar opposite sides of the existential coin; i.e., any living, sentient animal's latent capacity for being either very good or extremely evil. A decidedly malevolent hairy, scaly, uglier-than-dirt green leviathan fights an octopus and ravages the countryside before engaging in a rousingly savage and lengthy toe-to-toe, claw-to-claw, thingo-to-thingo knock-down, drag-out climactic confrontation with its more gentle and benign brown brother. The monster fight seriously smokes something stirring: Our two beastly behemoths vigorously mix it up and lay waste to half the landscape while beating the living tar out of each other like a couple of deranged wrestlers in a totally uninhibited anything-goes cage match. An insufferably smug'n'smirky Russ Tamblyn looks and acts properly embarrassed as the absurdly earnest young scientist who created the leaping, roaring and running simian humanoid Goliaths. Musical guest star Kipp Hamilton warbles the unforgettably atrocious'n'asinine ballad "The Words Get Stuck in My Throat" while doing the twist on stage at a swanky nightclub. A great, delectably dopey humongous creature feature treat.