Varan the Unbelievable
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- For lizards from the family Varanidae, see Monitor lizard
| Varan the Unbelievable | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster for Giant Monster Varan (1958) |
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| Directed by | Ishirō Honda Jerry A. Baerwitz (USA) |
| Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka Jerry A. Baerwitz (USA) |
| Written by | Ken Kuronuma (story) Shinichi Sekizawa Sid Harris (USA) |
| Starring | Kôzô Nomura Ayumi Sonoda Fumito Matsuo Myron Healey (USA) Tsuruko Kobayashi (USA) |
| Music by | Akira Ifukube Albert Glasser (USA) |
| Cinematography | Hajime Koizumi Jacques R. Marquette (USA) |
| Editing by | Kazuji Taira Rudolph Cusumano (USA) Jack Ruggiero (USA) |
| Distributed by | Toho Crown International Pictures (USA) |
| Release date(s) | October 14, 1958 December 7, 1962 (USA) |
| Running time | 83 min. 70 min. (USA) |
| Language | Japanese English (USA) |
| Followed by | Destroy All Monsters |
Varan the Unbelievable, released in Japan as Daikaijū Varan (大怪獣バラン Daikaijū Baran?, lit. "Giant Monster Varan"), is a 1958 daikaiju eiga (giant-monster movie) directed by Ishiro Honda (drama) and Eiji Tsuburaya (tokusatsu), and their last black-and-white monster film. The title character Varan is one of Toho Studios' least-famed creations. Although shown in Japanese-language theaters in the USA, the film saw general U.S. release in 1962 only after being heavily revised, in the manner of Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, to have all principal scenes reshot with American actors. Indeed, the plot itself was generally revised, and the Japanese material consisted only of special effects, a few incidental shots, and the ending scene.
The 2005 subtitled DVD release of Daikaijū Baran was titled Varan the Unbelievable, leading to confusion as to which version of the film (Japanese or American) was presented on the disc.
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[edit] Story
Varan was supposed to be a demon god that lived under the Kitami River. The village that lives near the river worshipped him. At first, he kills an expedition team and then destroys the entire village once disturbed. Varan started wreaking havoc throughout the country. Varan eventually reaches the Haneda airport, where The JSDF tricks him into eating two bombs out of the sky. The bombs explode one by one, weakening Varan. In pain, Varan retreats to the sea, then the final bomb explodes, destroying the beast.
[edit] Versions
- Toho Co. Ltd.: Japanese (83 min.; original version)
- Crown International Pictures: English (70 min.; released to American theaters)
[edit] US release
- Akira Ifukube's score was removed, and replaced with B-movie stock music by Albert Glasser.
- Dialogue was dubbed into English.
- Scenes with US actor Myron Healy was added in to replace various footage removed from the Japanese version.
- All footage showing Varan flying was removed.
- the US version runs 13 minutes shorter than the Japanese version.
[edit] Trivia
- If you listen carefully, you can hear a version of Akira Ifukube's famous "Giant monster war" theme, that will be eventually heard in several future Toho Daikaiju films, including those of Godzilla.
- Varan's name is a reference to Varanidae, the family of reptiles that includes monitor lizards and goannas.
- Varan has made two appearances in toho-related video games: Godzilla: Monster of Monsters (1988- Nintendo) and Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1993-Gameboy)
[edit] External links
- Daikaijû Baran at the Internet Movie Database
- Varan the Unbelievable at the Internet Movie Database
- DVD review at DVD Drive-In
