War of the Gargantuas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| War of the Gargantuas | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Ishirō Honda |
| Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka Henry G. Saperstein 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 UPA |
| Release date(s) | 1966 (Japan) July 29, 1970 (USA) |
| Running time | 90 min. |
| Language | Japanese English |
| Preceded by | Frankenstein Conquers the World |
| Followed by | Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla |
| IMDb profile | |
War of the Gargantuas, released in Japan as Frankenstein no Kaijū: Sanda tai 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?, lit. "Frankenstein's Monsters: Sanda Versus Gaira"), is a 1966 daikaiju eiga (giant-monster movie), and a semisequel 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 (or gai, for "stranger")), corresponding to Japanese characters for "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 climatic confrontation in Tokyo.
Several ambiguous references are made to Frankenstein Conquers the World, 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.
The movie itself is rather vague as to where (if at all) 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 franchise. 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) War of the Gargantuas is considered by Toho to be a legitimate part of the Godzilla universe.
Contents |
[edit] Additional Credits
- Teruyoshi Nakano- Assistant Director of Special Effects
- Yasuyuki Inoue- Special Effects Art Director
- Fumio Nakadai- Director of Wireworks
- Teisho Arikawa- Director of Special Effects Cinematography
- Sokei Tomioka- Cameraman
[edit] Trivia
 |
Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
 |
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008) |
- An elder scientist discusses the fraternal relationship between the Gargantuas, and in the English dub refers to Cain and Abel. Dr. Stewart replies, "Brother against brother, huh? Sounds like some countries I know." A reference to the state of International relations in the time.
- Masers are used as weapons for the first time in a Toho film.
- This is one of several daikaiju eiga with a volcanic climax; see also Rodan, Gamera vs. Gyaos, The Return of Godzilla.
- This is one of the few times that the Japan Self-Defense Foces actually succeed in hurting the monsters (partially via use of the new maser weapons).
- A song from the film, Feel in My Heart(often misquoted as being The Words Get Stuck In My Throat) was adapted by the band Devo, sung at concerts by the character of Booji Boy
- US producer Henry G. Saperstein had planned to make a sequel where either Sanda, Gaila or a similar, new creature were pitted against Godzilla.
- The original ending of the film was to not only have Sanda and Gaila 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" (Daikaiju Publishing, 1996).
- Sanda (repainted suit with a new head) appeared in Yuke! Godman episode 16 Godman vs Sanda and the following year in Ike! Greenman episode 31 Greenman vs Sanda.
- Gaira (repainted suit with a new head) appeared in Yuke! Godman episode 17 Godman vs Gaira and the following year in Ike! Greenman episode 4 Greenman vs Gaira
- Due to dialogue referring to the monsters as "Frankensteins", Russ Tamblyn had to re-dub his dialogue for the American version of the film.
- Quentin Tarantino (who himself is a big fan of Toho's monster and sci fi films, especially those of Ishiro Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya) based the fight between Uma Thurman and Daryl Hannah in Kill Bill Vol. 2 on the final battle in War of the Gargantuas. He showed his copy of the film to both actresses and told them he wanted it to be "War of the Blonde Gargantuas"
- The original intended title for this film was "Frankensteins' Duel".
- Gaira was taken as a pseudonym of the extreme Japanese movie director Kazuo Komizu.
[edit] U.S. release
- Several of Ifukube's were removed (including the removal that caused some fans the most anger, The Maser March), re-arranged and even some Ifukube themes from other kaiju films were added. The music that was deleted was replaced with stock music from the B-movie, Blood Waters of Dr. Z
- Deleted : Vocal sounds made by the child Sanda in the flashback scene.
- Dialogue was dubbed into English.
- Added : A shot of chewed-up clothes hitting the tarmac in the scene where Gaira eats a woman at Haneda International Airport.
- Shots of the Masers attacking Gaira were into some of the Godzilla films of the 1970s.
[edit] References and homages
Besides its cast and crew, War of the Gargantuas (WOG) makes several homages and vocal references to Frankenstein Conquers the World (FCTW), though none conclusively tie the two films together:
- an alternate ending of FCTW featured a battle between Frankenstein and a giant octopus called Oodako (a.k.a The "GiantDevilfish"); WOG begins with a battle between Gaila and the same Oodako (possibly the same prop).
- The young Frankenstein loses a (still-living) hand during his escape in FCTW; in the English dub of WOG, Dr. Stewart refers to a "desiccated" hand belonging to no "known creature".
- Akemi (Mizuno) flashes back to her experience with a Gargantua (the young Sanda) in the laboratory, scenes reminiscent of those of Sueko (also Mizuno) with the young Frankenstein in FCTW.
- Frankenstein fled to the mountains after his escape in FCTW; Sanda is discovered in the mountains in WOG.
- The U.S. release of FCTW ends when a sudden earthquake envelops Frankenstein after his bout with Baragon; another natural disaster (a volcano) destroys the Gargantuas when their battle takes them to sea.
[edit] References
- Galbraith, Stuart IV. Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, McFarland, 1994. ISBN 0-89950-853-7
- Pusateri, Richard (1998). "A G-Fan Retrospective: War of the Gargantuas". G-Fan 32: 28–33.
- 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) (Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
