Varan (1958)

[Cimmerian Dragon]

The American cut is a certifiable disaster; unoriginal, boring, badly acted, terribly scored.

The Japanese cut is still unoriginal and boring. It's alright if you compare it to some tokusatsu television productions, but it's needlessly bloated and shoddy as a feature.

[therealmccoy]

It's been a while since I've seen it, but I remember thinking that they should have given Varan a bigger part in the movie. I know that sounds wierd, but Monsters need character development, too! It just seemed that he didn't show up soon enough, and the part in the city didn't last long enough.

[Tamura]

The American "version" is basically a separate film, and if any of you have actually seen it you would know that.

[Goji]

I thought the movie was boring. It's easy to see why he wasn't given another active role in a Godzilla movie.

What does the movie being boring have to do with Varan never getting another staring role? I don't see the correlation there.


It's been a while since I've seen the film, but I'm not really too fond of it. The Americanization is a joke, and the Japanese version is really nothing special. The best thing I can say about is is that the score is fantastic, and some of the sets/miniatures are really well done.

[Tyler]

I don't think Varan's terrible but it's certainly the poor man's Godzilla.

[tymon]

^The film isn't terrible, but it definitely ain't good.

Oxygen Destroyer? Epic. Volcano death? Epic. Flares down the throat? Um, yeah. Wtf.

I'll have to watch the movie a couple more times before I give a final score, though.

[NSZ]

^The film isn't terrible, but it definitely ain't good.

Oxygen Destroyer? Epic. Volcano death? Epic. Powerful bombs detonating in your throat? Um, yeah. Wtf.

I'll have to watch the movie a couple more times before I give a final score, though.

Don't mind me, just fixing something so the kiddies don't get the wrong idea.

[therealmccoy]

Yeah, a puppet swallowing flares was hardly epic.

[DaikaijuSokogeki!]

Oxygen Destroyer? Epic. Volcano death? Epic. Flares down the throat? Um, yeah. Wtf.

Don't forget decapitation by Markalite laser.

Anyways, Varan the Unbelievable. It's a boring mess, one of, if not Honda's worst hands-down. That's all that needs to be said.

[Showa Gyaos]

I'd still watch it over DAM any day.

[Goji]

That's kinda sad, actually. DAM is a much better film.

[Showa Gyaos]

That's kinda sad, actually. DAM is a much better film.

Not in my eyes. It bored me when I was young, and that hasn't changed; I'm going to be 20 in exactly two months.

[Goji]

And VARAN doesn't bore you even more..? Weird.

[therealmccoy]

DAM was much better. Varan just seemed to have a slower pace than other movies of that style.

[NSZ]

I'm like the only man alive that doesn't get bored while watching Varan.

And I'm the guy who avoids the Heisei series outside of Biollante due to it's ultimate boringness (and obvious fluctuating visual effects budget, but you get the picture).

Think there's something wrong with me?

[Sydney Aradi]

I'm like the only man alive that doesn't get bored while watching Varan.

And I'm the guy who avoids the Heisei series outside of Biollante due to it's ultimate boringness (and obvious fluctuating visual effects budget, but you get the picture).

Think there's something wrong with me?

Nah there isn't but some people will disagree

[therealmccoy]

I don't necessarily get bored while watching it, I just don't get into it as much as some of the other monster movies I like. And on second glance, a few of the Heisei movies do seem really bland.

[jdownham]

The problem with the Heisei series is that for all of their improved special effects and explosions, the films are bland in comparison to the Showa era Godzilla films. The battle scenes at times became unimaginative, with the monsters just blasting each other with their atomic rays until one was defeated.

I wonder why Varan wasn't shot in color, since it was made after Rodan and The Mysterians.

[therealmccoy]

I wonder why Varan wasn't shot in color, since it was made after Rodan and The Mysterians.

I've always wondered that... I wonder if it wasn't just preference? Yojimbo and Sanjuro were black-and-white, and they were made in '61 and '62. Maybe it's cheaper. It didn't really bother me, anyway. To me it was kind of the same effect as Gojira; the black-and-white added to the mysteriousness of the whole movie.

[Showa Gyaos]

Perhaps a tight budget called for a black and white movie?