Story |
A fishing
boat, drifting through Japan's waters, is attacked by
a Giant Octopus. The attack is interrupted by another giant who quickly dispatches
the mammoth octopus. The other monster, called Gaira, then proceeds to devour the
ship's crew, as only one survivor manages to swim to
safety. The lone fisherman, now hospitalized, tells
his story: of a Frankenstein-like monster that attacked
the ship. The authorities begin to assume that this
creature has some relation to the one which appeared
a year ago, while similar attacks begin to occur near
Japan's waterfronts.
Eventually, one such raid leads the beast inland, where
the Self Defense Force unleashes a giant assault against
the creature. The attack is nearly successful, until
a second, larger, monster emerges. This creature, called
Sanda, saves the smaller Gaira and leads him to safety.
It's then theorized that Gaira was born from the same
cells of Sanda, in a similar fashion that the creature
was bore from the cells of Frankenstein.
However, the creatures' genetic origin doesn't stop
them from eventually battling one another, after the
gentler Sanda learns of his "brother's" taste
for human flesh. The two monsters' epic battle eventually
leads them to Tokyo, where, against advice that continued
attacks could severe more cells that would grow into
other Frankensteins, the SDF assaults the pair. The
confrontation eventually leads out to Tokyo Bay, where
helicopters armed with bombs continue to shower the
waters near the two. Unfortunately, the bombs activate
a giant underwater volcano, which quickly engulfs the
monsters as it continues to emerge above the surf. Eventually,
the volcano expands into Tokyo Bay, decimating the city
in a torrent of lava as the last of the Frankenstein
cells are destroyed with it.
|
Background |
First
proposed in 1965 by writer Takeshi Kimura, Frankenstein's
Sons would eventually go on to become The War
of the Gargantuas (1966) after a number of revisions.
The first draft was submitted on January 26th, 1966,
which changed the title to The Frankenstein Brothers
while Ishiro
Honda also took on some of the writing. A second
draft was then done, which again changed the title,
this time to Clash of the Frankensteins. More
changes were made, as a third draft was commissioned,
which again changed the title as the project now became
The Duel of the Frankensteins. A title that almost
stuck, although a last minute change, which was literally
written onto the already finished script, gave the film
it's final title: Frankenstein's Monsters: Sanda
vs. Gaira.
In terms of content, early drafts of the script included
a lot more references to Frankenstein
vs. Baragon (1965) than would end up in the
finished product, with some even utilizing the same
characters for the sequel. Most of these elements didn't
make it far into the development process, though, as
The War of the Gargantuas ends up being fairly
detached from the events that occurred in the previous
film. One major change to note, though, was the very
different closure to the movie that earlier drafts had.
It was director Honda's original intent that the SDF's
second assault, against scientific advice, would be
met with dire consequences as the lava then seals the
fate of future Frankenstein monsters. This more elaborate
ending was dropped by producer Tomoyuki
Tanaka, though, citing that it would be too expensive
to lens such a sequence, even though Honda suggested
that stock footage from the climax of the 1961 film,
The
Last War, be utilized for the destruction of
Tokyo.
|
Monsters |
Aliens, SDF, Misc |
Gaira,
Sanda, Giant
Octopus |
Type
61 Tank, M4A3E8
Sherman Tank, Type 66 Maser Beam Tank, Sikorsky
H-19 Helicopter, Trip Wire Cannons |
|