| This mid 1960's offering is
easily one of the better films of Ishiro
Honda's career, and certainly one of the more
likeable kaiju films out there. While the plot
is a slight rehash of its prequel, Frankenstein
vs. Baragon (1965), Honda manages to bring
new things to the table which make The War
of the Garrgantuas a worthy film in its own
right. The production excedes on several levels
as well, as the film does an excellent job of
updating its predecessor's plot to the point where
this story feels like a completely new offering,
while character development is adequate enough
to carry the picture and the acting, while not
top notch, is credible; furthermore, the special
effects by Eiji
Tsubraya are done very well from a contemporary
view point, and Akira
Ifukube's riveting score is arguably a career
high.
It's not hard to see the similarities
between The War of the Gargantuas' plot
and its predecessor. In both films, an offspring
of the Frankenstein's monster is falsely accused
for the actions of another monster, and in both
the protagonist kaiju has a group of human supporters.
However, beyond these very simple elements, the
two films differ greatly. This time around, the
story's villain is Gaira, another offspring of
the Frankenstein's monster whose diet consists
of human. While Gaira loses the nice contrast
that Baragon and Frankenstein had, his similarities
with Sanda, the film's protagonist, makes for
a more interesting rivalry. The fact that Sanda
first saves his "brother," and then turns on him
once learning of his eating habits is a nice story
element; furthermore, the scenes where Sanda appears
to be trying to reason with his brother in Tokyo
are a nice touch, and this is something the audience
has rarely seen amongst kaiju. The largest difference
between the two films, though, is the Self Defense
Force's presence. In The War of the Gargantuas,
audiences are introduced to Toho's famous Type 66 Maser Beam Tank, which would become a stable of
numerous kaiju films in the following years. Like
Mothra
vs. Godzilla (1964), the Self Defense
Force goes through a series of huge military strikes
against the film's antagonist. What makes these
sequences stand apart from other films in this
genre, though, is that the SDF's strikes show
signs of success against the film's kaiju, noticeably
injuring them. This is a refreshing change of
pace after the, seemingly, never ending onslaught
of unsuccessful military strikes that litter the
genre.
The War of the Gargantuas'
character development would easily be the film's
weak point. It's not bad, and is done so in a
manner that doesn't hurt the pacing of the film;
however, the audience never really feels any attachment
to any of the human characters found in the movie.
Akemi would unarguably be the film's most developed
character, and her feelings toward Sanda play
well into the film. In contrast, though, her relationship
with Dr. Paul Stewart seems more like an afterthought
here, and isn't explored nearly as well as it
should have been. Stewart himself is kind of a
generic scientist/hero type figure, which was
more common in the American monster movies of
the 1950's. The rest of the cast is paper thin
in terms of character development. It might have
been nice to explore the relationship between
the four scientists at the clinic, although at
the cost of the film's pacing, Honda seems to
have made the right descion.
The acting in the film is handled
well here, especially considering the multi-language
barrier present in the cast. Unfortunately, Russ
Tamblyn never really seems to get into his role,
and doesn't seems to be able to enjoy his character
quite like Nick Adams did in similar roles. His
inclusion over Adams is needed, though, to distant
the film from its prequel, and give the cast a
different feel. This brings up Kumi
Mizuno's performance in the film: many might
confuse her role here as a reprisal of the Dr.
Sueko Togami character from Frankenstein
vs. Baragon (1965), despite the fact
that this is intended to be an entirely different
character. One can't discredit Mizuno totally
for not developing separate identities for the
two characters, as the way the film is structured
places the characters in very similar situations.
Even an apartment scene, similar to Frankenstein
and Sueko's memorable scene from the first film,
is even hinted at in The War of the Gargantuas
when it goes over Sanda's background. The rest
of the cast isn't given much to work with here,
but they do an admirable job with what they are
given with, and the viewer can hardly fault any
of the supporting casts' performances in the film.
Tsubraya's special effect work
here is a notable high for his career. The holes
placed in the eye sockets of the kaiju, causing
the suitmation actor's eyes to be visible, adds
a great deal of credibility to the monsters. Allowing
the person inside the suit an opportunity to act
out their character more. Of the two kaiju in
the film, Haruo Nakajima gives the more memorable
performance as the monster Gaira, which should
be hailed as the best performance of his career.
The War of the Gargantuas' opening sequence,
in which the Giant Octopus attacks a ship and
is then beaten off by Gaira, is one of the film's
more memorable scenes. The Giant Octopus' special
effect work here is top notch, and the prop looks
much more imposing when wet, as it is in this
scene. Gaira himself, though, can be credited
with some impressive special effect work. Most
notable of which being the large, life size, hand
prop along with the memorable underwater shot
of Gaira looking up at his prey, before knocking
the crew in the water so he can devour them. The
monsters' final confrontation in Tokyo, followed
by Tokyo Bay, is a diverse action sequence, quickly
changing settings and adding elements, such as
the Type 66 Maser Beam Tank, through out. The most
notable aspect of the fight being the fluidity
at which the monsters move about, something which
the audience saw in the film's prequel, but the
situation has changed here as both monsters are
equally as nimble.
Akira
Ifukube gives a breakthrough performance on
the score of The War of the Gargantuas.
It should be noted, though, that Ifukube does
anything but restrain himself in terms of the
score's highly repetitious nature. The Self Defense
Force March and Gaira's theme are repeated countless
times here. However, the music found on the score
is so memorable that it never reaches that level
of irritation on the part of the viewer. The film's
most memorable theme, and a personal favorite
of many in terms of Ifukube's large portfolio
of work, is the riveting Self Defense Force March,
which manages to make the film's numerous military
preparation scenes interesting. It's easy to appreciation
Ifukube's work here when one watches the American
version of The War of the Gargantuas, which
completely removes and replaces the Self Defense
Force March (the added music for which also appeared
in the, horrific, 1972 film Blood Waters of
Dr. Z, or Zaat); consequently, these
scenes lose a lot of their flare without Ifukube's
work present. Unfortunately, one can't mention
the music in The War of the Gargantuas
without bringing up the song Feel In My Heart.
A song which, sadly, is best left unmentioned,
and is a huge reason as to why the film works
best in the DVD format with an ever helpful chapter
skip option, which should cut in right at the
end of the song.
In closing, The War of the Gargantuas
is one of those film's that has stood the test
of time, and is a classic Toho sci-fi film that
reminds the viewer just why they have come to
enjoy Toho's offerings so much. It's sad that
this film would mark the eventual end of Honda's
great sci-fi career, as his films would become
increasingly mediocre as time went on, but this
film reminds the audience why Honda will always
be Toho's greatest director of kaiju films.
|
(3.5/5)
