The War of the Gargantuas | |
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File:War of the Gargantuas.jpg | |
Directed by | Ishirō Honda |
Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka Henry G. Saperstein (USA) Reuben Bercovitch (USA) |
Written by | Ishirō Honda Takeshi Kimura |
Starring | Russ Tamblyn Kumi Mizuno Kenji Sahara Kipp Hamilton |
Music by | Akira Ifukube |
Cinematography | Hajime Koizumi |
Editing by | Ryohei Fujii Frederic Knudtson (USA) |
Distributed by | Toho Benedict Motion Picture Corp. (USA) |
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Running time | 87 minutes (Japanese version) 91 minutes (U.S. version) |
Language | Japanese |
The War of the Gargantuas, released in Japan as Frankenstein's Monsters: Sanda versus Gaira (フランケンシュタインの怪獣 サンダ対ガイラ Furankenshutain no Kaijū: Sanda tai Gaira ), is a 1966 Kaiju film, sequel to Frankenstein Conquers the World.
It introduces two giant, hairy humanoids called Gargantuas, which spawned from the discarded cells of Frankenstein's monster from the previous film and are described as brothers. The Green Gargantua is violent and savage, preying upon human beings; as he lives in sea water, he is given the name Gaira (ガイラ , from kai, "sea"). The Brown Gargantua had been raised in captivity, and is docile and gentle; because he resides in the Japan Alps, he is called Sanda (サンダ , from san, "mountain"). The film follows the investigation and military engagements of these creatures until their climactic confrontation in Tokyo.
Several ambiguous references are made to Frankenstein vs. Baragon, such as the mention of a severed hand, but the only direct link between the films is the term "Frankenstein", which appears in the title and is used to refer to the Gargantuas ("Frankensteins") in the original Japanese dialogue. Like the previous film, which starred Nick Adams, War of the Gargantuas features a Hollywood actor (Russ Tamblyn) in the lead as a scientist, Kumi Mizuno as his colleague, and another Japanese scientist (previously Tadao Takashima, here Kenji Sahara). The similar casting has led to speculation that the film was intended to feature recurring characters. Eiji Tsuburaya helmed the special effects crew with monster suit actor Haruo Nakajima portraying the antagonistic Gaira. (Yū Sekida played Sanda.)
The film itself is rather vague as to where (if at all) The War of the Gargantuas falls in regard to the continuity of Toho's other kaiju films, or even if it should be considered a canonical part of the Godzilla series. In 2002's Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, however, specific reference to the Gargantuas is made, indicating that (in this variation on Godzilla continuity, in any case) The War of the Gargantuas is considered by Toho to be a legitimate part of the Godzilla universe. In addition, an image of one of the Gargantuas is shown in the movie "Godzilla: Final Wars", during a discussion regarding some of the Kiaju monsters that have plagued Japan in the past.
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Contrary to popular belief, both the U.S. and Toho cuts of the film begin rather abruptly: with the green gargantua battling and defeating a Giant Octopus, as well as the Japanese fishing vessel that the sea beast was just latched upon. The monster devours most of the crew members and then proceeds to the Japanese mainland.
First arriving at an airport, the sea beast made its presence known to the mainland. After eating a helpless woman he snatched up, Gaira finally retreated as the sun pulled itself from the darkened clouds. Mulling over the destruction, the Japanese military went into action shortly after and set a trap for the beast. Waiting for the right time, the JSDF soldiers lured the creature deeper and deeper into the mainland. Electrified with over a million volts of power, the monster seemed to be dying, that is until his brother Sanda intervened.
Apparently the second offspring of the giant Frankenstein monster, Sanda was discovered as a child living in the forest by Doctor Paul Stewart. The creature was taken to a research laboratory where he quickly befriend one of the doctor's aids: Akemi. Though Sanda was affectionate toward his captors, he eventually escaped back to his mountain home, where he grew to enormous proportions. He would not reappear until a while later, when he rushes to the aide of his brother, Gaira who is under attack by the JSDF.
However, Sanda later discovers his brother does not share his compassion toward humanity, after catching him in the act of devouring some people. The brown giant attacks his brother in anger, driving him out of the forest. Gaira retreats straight to Tokyo, traveling through the dark waters of its harbor. Sanda follows his brother, and attempts to convince him to end his bloodthirsty ways. Gaira pays no heed and the two engage in battle destroying and leveling much of the city before dying in the volcanic aftermath.
The original ending of the film was to not only have Sanda and Gaira swallowed up by the new volcano, but the lava was to have spread to Tokyo where it was to destroy the city as well as the remaining cells of the monsters; cited in an interview with director Honda in Guy Tucker's Age of the Gods: A History of the Japanese Fantasy Film.
US producer Henry G. Saperstein had planned to make a sequel where either Sanda, Gaira or a similar, new creature were pitted against Godzilla. It was called Godzilla vs. the Gargantuas.
Besides its cast and crew, The War of the Gargantuas makes several homages and vocal references to Frankenstein vs. Baragon, though none conclusively tie the two films together:
Toho also commissioned an international version from a Hong Kong studio. Author and kaiju-fan Steve Ryfle reportedly pushed for its inclusion on the recent Classic Media DVD release, though this didn't come to pass. In this version, Russ Tamblyn, who spoke English on the set of the film, is dubbed by another actor.
Classic Media
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