The War of the Gargantuas (1966)

[menschenjaeger]

Am I the only one who doesn't think Russ gave a horrible performance? He played his character as kind of a dick, but...it was a believable performance if that's what he was shooting for.

After finally seeing the Japanese version, I can say that the interchangeability of the names "Gargantua" and "Frankenstein" got kind of frustrating, making the Japanese version more confusing in the backstory dept (Sanda was supposed to be something that originally grew from Frankenstein's cells and they were studying him in the lab but he escaped? Or were liberties being taken with the ending of the original movie, and Sanda was what Frankenstein became after a while? Maybe I got distracted while making popcorn...)

[edgaguirus]

Gargantuas is thought of as a sequel to Frankenstein conquers the world. While working as seperate films, it's implied by the film that Sanda is related to Frankenstein.

[obsidian1200]

Gargantuas is thought of as a sequel to Frankenstein conquers the world. While working as seperate films, it's implied by the film that Sanda is related to Frankenstein.

Actually, the film implies both gargantuas, Sanda and Gaira, are related to Frankenstein, if not remnants of Frankenstein himself. It's implied that Gaira and Sanda came from genetic parts of Frankenstein that replicated and reproduced on their own, kind of like the heart from the beginning of FCTW, except there were multiple fragments in War of the Gargantuas. And I think the relationship between the three monsters makes quite a bit of sense. Consider the alternate ending to FCTW and the opening scene from WoG. How perfect is it that Gaira fights off a giant octopus in his first appearance? It's almost poetic to a point, like Gaira is getting revenge for what happened to Frankenstein in that alternate ending. Plus, in that scene, there's a lot of cuts to lightning in the sky, which I think might be referencing the lightning that gave the original Frankenstein monster life. But I could be reading a bit much into that

Anyway, on the topic of the thread, I really enjoy this film. The story was pretty good, but it did drag in certain scenes. The special effects were very good, and the set details were impressive. The monster interactions and fights were fun to watch, and I don't recall disliking any specific scenes aside from the "stuck in my throat" part, but I got on the edge of my seat when things went blue screen. But I think that scene would've been fine if the singer in the dubbed version wasn't so horrid.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

I was pleasantly surprised to hear Brad Pitt speak about seeing War of the Gargantuas as a child during the Academy Award broadcast. Pretty cool, and certainly an unexpected mention.

[menschenjaeger]

Expect a slight boost in DVD/Netflix sales.

[Goji]

I was pleasantly surprised to hear Brad Pitt speak about seeing War of the Gargantuas as a child during the Academy Award broadcast. Pretty cool, and certainly an unexpected mention.

Yeah dude, I was definitely all when I realized what he was talking about.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

Expect a slight boost in DVD/Netflix sales.

Fingers crossed. Anything that gives Toho a bit more attention is great in my book.

[Kaiju-King42]

I was pleasantly surprised to hear Brad Pitt speak about seeing War of the Gargantuas as a child during the Academy Award broadcast. Pretty cool, and certainly an unexpected mention.

Yeah dude, I was definitely all when I realized what he was talking about.

Does anyone have a video of that? I missed it.

[hammysammy59]

I posted about this on the General Toho board (if that needs to be locked or whatever, no worries): "Between this and the fact that the Beatrix/Elle fight in Kill Bill Vol. 2 was inspired by WoG's final battle has me convinced that 90%* of people in show biz secretly love War of the Gargantuas. So cool to see this movie get love from Hollywood heavyweights."

*exaggeration for comedic effect

[crockalley]

What's the relationship between Frankenstein vs Baragon and War of the Gargantuas? I see a lot of websites say that Sanda and Gaira are some sort of offspring from the first Frankenstein. But having just watched WotG, I don't see that. I see Sanda as being the original Frankenstein, being raised in the lab by an American scientist and his female assistant. The monster runs away, and dies in the mountains. That's what happens to both Frankenstein and Sanda. Is WotG a sort of remake of FvB? I don't think the events of the two films can be literally connected.

[Goji]

All of Toho's films from this period are loosely connected, including the Godzilla films, however WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS has always been considered a sequel to FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON.

There are plenty of fans theories about which one of them was originally Franky, or if both of them were simply formed from shed cells. The alternate ending to the FvsB has many fans beliving that Franky became Gaira, but nobody involved with either film has ever confirmed that. Even then, it's unlikely the alternate ending would be considered canon anyway.

[menschenjaeger]

That's what makes it somewhat confusing. It's been a long time since I've seen FCTW, but he never went through a little fuzzy SD bigfoot phase in that movie, as far as I remember. For something that is supposed to be a direct sequel, there isn't much continuity. It seems that many kaijus eiga are more "based on" the movies that came before, rather than direct continuations - almost fanfic-ish; reinterpretations of events/characters, or re-imaginings.

[crockalley]

I found this thread today on google:
http://www.tohokingdom.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=180&sid=14d8f4c163afac2d1ad35578c07a52f0

I agree with this poster:

To me, WOTG was sort of a hybrid remake,sequel,spinoff of FCTW. ... The Frankenstein Dr. Stewart is the same one (Sanda) who Mizuno's character is referring to.

Watching the Japanese version, if one takes WotG as a straight sequel to FvB, then the characters in WotG never mention the original Frank from FvB. Every time they talk about the monster that ran away and died at Mt. Fuji, they're talking about Sanda (as per Akemi's flashback). It makes more sense to be that the second movie is loosely "based on" the first, as menschenjaeger put it above, with Frank recast as Sanda.

As a side note, I read a lot on the Internet that Sanda and Gaira were spawned from a severed hand of Frankenstein. But I didn't see this mentioned anywhere in the Japanese language (English subtitles) film. Where does this come from?

[Goji]

^ I suppose you missed the part where I mentioned that the filmmakers at Toho at the time didn't really care about continuity?

The reference of the severed hand from FvsB is from a scene that's only in the U.S. version, which is mentioned by Dr. Stewart. There is no mention of it in the Japanese version.

[Patrick Alan]

This video along with the song prove how awesome War of the Gargantuas was!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC7Im-G9mDs

[Poe Ghostal]

I just watched this straight through for the first time this past weekend. It's definitely an enjoyable kaiju flick. I don't think Tamblyn was as bad as most people seem to think he is - I suspect he was mumbling his lines so as to make the Japanese dubbing work better. But then, I'm fond of Tamblyn from his appearance in Cabin Boy as the shark-man. Yes, I'm that one person in the world who loves that movie (it has an awesome snow-monster, btw).

Frankly I'm a bit bummed Sanda and Gaira were never brought into the Godzilla monster universe proper - I'd love to see them pop up in the new IDW Comics (and get a throw-down between Gaira and Godzilla). Kind of odd, really, given that Baragon became a beloved Godzilla gang member. I guess they were "dead," though.

I'm also bummed we never got a Bandai vinyl of either Gargantua. Seems like a no-brainer since you automatically get two uses out of the sculpt.

I've never seen Frankenstein Conquers the World. Just added it to my Netflix queue.

[menschenjaeger]

Yes, I'm that one person in the world who loves that movie (it has an awesome snow-monster, btw)

You might be. I like it, but I can't go all the way to "love." The bit with Letterman and Elliot is the purest gold. If you grew up watching Letterman and enjoyed Elliot's many appearances during that show's heyday, it's pure platinum

I'm bummed about how much one has to pay for a vinyl Sanda + Gaira set.

[Goji]

I suspect he was mumbling his lines so as to make the Japanese dubbing work better.

Part of the reason I think he "sounds so bored", as some people like to say, is that his original was lost, and had to be re-recorded prior to the film's Japanese release. I can't imagine he was too thrilled about the idea.

Frankly I'm a bit bummed Sanda and Gaira were never brought into the Godzilla monster universe proper - I'd love to see them pop up in the new IDW Comics (and get a throw-down between Gaira and Godzilla).

I think integrating them into the IDW comics would be a great idea, actually. You probably already know this, but Gaira actually does exist in the universe of the two Kiryu films, and is mentioned (and shown) in a flashback sequence in GODZILLA X MECHAGODZILLA, though, it's just that; a flasback.

[Poe Ghostal]

I think integrating them into the IDW comics would be a great idea, actually. You probably already know this, but Gaira actually does exist in the universe of the two Kiryu films, and is mentioned (and shown) in a flashback sequence in GODZILLA X MECHAGODZILLA, though, it's just that; a flasback.

Right, they're only ever shown in stock footage. I wonder why they were never used in the regular Toho-verse - unless, again, Toho's official position is that they're dead. Maybe they're just honoring Sanda's heroic sacrifice.

[The H-Man]

I watched the Japanese version, so I didn't have to deal with the lackluster Tamblyn dub. I admit to hoping the female nightclub singer would get eaten by Gaira, it would have been a just punishment for singing that horrendous song.

And I enjoy Cabin Boy as well, actually saw it in the theater when it first came out.