Furankenshutain no kaijû: Sanda tai Gaira (1966) Online

This is one of the more original Toho productions out there, and it's also one of the more frightening. The Green Gartantua is the bad one, and he is only too happy to eat people whole whenever he gets the chance. The classic seen in this movie is when the Green Gargantua comes ashore near a hotel/apartment complex and tears the walls off exposing people inside. Then he grabs one and pops them into this mouth, chewing with gusto! To top off this great scene he *spits out* the chewed clothes of the person he ate, sort of like a person would spit out a cherry pit.

This movie really needs a re-release on DVD!

I am a huge Godzilla fan and Gamera fan I grew up with Godzilla and Gamera. I have a;ways been a big monsters fan to begin with. I just love seeing these awesome monsters just destroy cities and fighting other monsters. I also like other monster films especially Toho's other monster movies!

This monster film is one most exciting giant monster films ever in My opinion! The story is excellent! The Gargantuas are cool looking. I love it when they roar and run. The fights between the two monsters and the army is really good. The special effects are outstanding in My opinion. The acting by the film's human stars are also good. The music is great by Akira Ifukube! I really love this monsters film for many reasons and its arguably the best ever! If you love Godzilla, Gamera, and other giant monster film I strongly recommend that you do what I did and buy War of the Gargantuas today!

I ranked this movie so high because it's a must-see for anyone who likes horrible movies. As Japanese monster movies go, this ones a classic. Russ Tamblyn, five years after his bold and exuberant role as "Riff", the leader of the Jets street gang in West Side Story, has been down-graded as an actor by the time he takes the role of the intense doctor in War of the Gargantuas. His total disgust at having to compromise his earlier aspirations of stardom are clearly reflected in his WOTG performance where every one of his lines seem spoken while trying to stifle projectile vomiting. My guess is that the only reason he doesn't break down in tears in front of the cameras while muttering "Why me? Why me?" is because he didn't cash his paycheck from the Toho producers before filming. For this reason alone, WOTG is an example of Mr. Tamblyn's best acting.

This is just one aspect of why this movie is a gem. I first saw the film during a late night horror show in the 70's. The Green Gargantua (the bad guy in the movie) was perhaps the ugliest thing I had ever seen and the star of many nightmares for months afterward. He looks like a giant hockey player covered in green carpet and scales and sporting a face that's a cross between an angry Frankenstein and a cosmetic surgery addict (you know the ones I mean). Green Gargantua is unstoppable as he teases the unsuspecting citizens by periodically popping out of the ocean only long enough to run across the tarmac of Tokyo International Airport and munch on the occasional lounge singer before jumping back into the safety of Tokyo Bay. Can you imagine how much of an inconvenience this must have been for the air traffic controllers? I mean, it's hard to plan for that kind of thing.

As usual, mankind gets sick of being treated like Crunch'n'Munch and eventually lures G.G. into the countryside where they are hoping to destroy him by performing the gargantuan equivalent of throwing a toaster into a bathtub and carving him up with those handy-dandy masers (those giant flashlights on trailers that shoot lightning). Man, if only the Japanese would have had that technology 20 years earlier. The outcome of WWII would have been mighty different, I tell you. Anyway, G.G. gets torn up and Brown Gargantua (the good guy in the movie)finally shows up to save him. We see Brown Gargantua once earlier in the film as a baby when we discover that Russ Tamblyn's character (along with his assistant, the beautiful Akemi) used to be kind of like his Au Pair when the little bugger was just a Springer Spaniel-sized, milkshake-drinking squirrel monkey. B.G. is much bigger than G.G. (and comparatively more handsome by Gargantua standards) and is able to talk the Japanese army into stopping their assault on G.G. by waving his hand and yelling (B.G. is much more of a diplomat than his green flesh-eating brother).

The last act of the movie has B.G. breaking his leg while saving Akemi from a fall, then giving G.G. his walking papers (a tree to the face) after discovering all his new room-mate does is lay around the forest apartment all day eating up everything in the frig (aka, hikers and boaters). G.G. tears back to Tokyo (and I don't mean that slow, cocky saunter we get from other Japanese monsters, but an all-out sprint the likes you have never seen) while a limping B.G. pursues him (I don't know if it's to talk some sense into G.G. -- "Hey, eating people is BAD" -- or what, but it's a needed plot point for a dramatic ending). B.G. catches up to G.G. in Tokyo and they duke it out to a standstill (and you can't tell me B.G. wouldn't have mopped the floor with G.G. if his leg weren't broken). Russ Tamblyn's character and Akemi do their best to keep the armed forces of Tokyo from killing B.G. in the chaos, but are unsuccessful. Obviously, the military has caught wind that Russ Tamblyn is no longer the leader of the Jets street gang and has no authority over them. The two gargantuas continue to fight through the city and into the bay where, low-and-behold, a volcano has just decided to erupt and boil the two monsters as they flail away at each other. The ending shot is of the erupting volcano and the boiling bay accompanied by very sad music. I'm sure the music is designed to keep the audience from following their instinct to say "Yea, the Green Gargantua is getting boiled!", but instead, motivate them to say "Darn, the Brown Gargantua is getting boiled!". My eyes are getting misty just thinking about it.

So, there you go. Enjoy it for what it's worth -- a testament to the importance of more enlightened Gargantua conservation laws.

This is certainly one of the better non-Godzilla kaijus. It has plenty of action and in some ways it has a love story within it. The character Akemi has a deep motherly affection for Sanda (the Brown Gargantua) and is willing to do anything to protect it from the wrath of the army who see him as nothing but a menace. In the meantime, Gaira (the Green Gargantua) is the true evil. He sees man as nothing but food and this brings him into conflict with his brother who is gentle in nature but results to violence as a last resort.

"War Of The Gargantuas" comes from my favorite era of Toho's kaiju flicks, the 1960s, when the emphasis was relatively straightforward action and fun, and thankfully no annoying little kids making friends with the monsters. And this time, we have a monster in the Green Gargantua (Gaira) who is really frightening and who eats people to boot (not even Godzilla ever went that far). It left me unnerved the first time I saw it as a kid.

Like most kaiju films, the original Japanese version is much better than the later dubbed American version. Russ Tamblyn (generally okay but clearly bored and resentful of his sudden fall from the heights of "West Side Story" and "The Haunting") might have gotten his own voice back in the U.S version (the Japanese actor who dubs him in the original doesn't sound anything like him at all and in Toho's European market English dub they used another actor), but everything else about it is decidedly inferior. The dubbing is awful, and sections of Akira Ifukube's score are replaced with an endless, monotonous theme for the military that I think was first used in "Earth Versus The Flying Saucers." Cropped and faded, as existing American video prints are now, the film really looks cheap and silly and the flaws are magnified. The original Japanese version in widescreen format, has beautiful color and sound that immediately conjure the image of a stylish late 60s action flick with reasonably good FX for the time, and the results far more entertaining in the end. Also in the Japanese version, we learn that this movie is actually a sequel to "Frankenstein Conquers The World" since the monsters are referred to as "Frankensteins" rather than "Gargantuas" as they are in the dubbed version.

As for the infamous nightclub scene featuring ex-Fox starlet Kipp Hamilton's infamously bad song before she gets attacked (but contrary to what others say here, not eaten), even that somehow comes off better in the Japanese version. When you stop to think of it, the Japanese audiences had it better since they couldn't understand a word of those inane lyrics when they were watching! But what the heck, how many other bad songs did we suffer through in all those James Bond film knockoffs in the late 60s? ("Your Zowie Face" in "In Like Flint" anyone?) I prefer to write that off to the goofy spirit of the times. And "War Of The Gargantuas" is in the best tradition of the goofy spirit of fun 60s kaiju that remains a guilty pleasure to savor again and again in my book.

For monster lovers, this has to rank up there as one of Toho Studio's greatest and most satisfying giant monster movies. For those looking for it, there's plenty of nonstop monster mayhem and devastation on tap. However, it's hard for me to decide which of the two versions I prefer; the Japanese original (which calls our creatures "Frankenstein's" and is a direct sequel to Toho's own FRANKENSTEIN VS BARUGON, aka FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD) or the U.S. edition (which christens the beasts "Garganutas" and works better as a separate stand alone story). This may be a rare occasion where the American rendition proves to be more entertaining, for a few reasons...

One grisly sequence shows the evil monster chewing a woman victim up like a piece of meat and spitting something out; in the Japanese version it's a bouquet of flowers, while in America it works more effectively as the girl's clothes.

Another quality I prefer in the U.S. edition is some of the music. Just works better for me during the action sequences of the monsters being fought off by the army as well as when they're beating each other up.

In the American film, Russ Tamblyn is especially funny to hear while looping his own embarrassed voice into English. And no matter which version you settle on, you'll still get the treat of hearing a female nightclub singer belting out that horrendous and long-vilified classic tune with hilarious lyrics that include "the words get stuck in my throat"! Worth watching for this alone! *** out of ****

I finally bought the collector's edition of "Rodan" and "War of the Gargantuans". Thanks, Classic Media. Damn, what a good way to waste $25 bucks but the movies are so good it was totally worth it. The DVD is of good quality, although lacking the usual special features I was expecting. I was really hoping to hear the G-experts view on the two films but there is a nice hour-long documentary included. "Bringing Godzilla down to size" tells the complex story of Godzilla's rise to fame and tragic fall, yet soon return. "War of the Gargantuans", another Honda-flick, is a real treat, the unofficial sequel to "Frankenstein Conquers the World". With practically the same production team, the film is pretty damn good. Odako ( the giant octopus) is great in this movie. The last time I saw him was what, 62', back in "King Kong vs. Godzilla"? Sanda and Gailah are a nice break from the onslaught of reptilian and insect monsters, both looking nice and thankfully realistic. The "brother's" conflict is an interesting part of the story, and, like "Rodan", the human carnage really gives a more adult feeling while watching. We see some great action sequences, this movie starring the Maser tank, which will star in the exact same scene in "Godzilla vs. Megalon" thanks to horrendous stock-footage. Because of their "human" appearance and characteristics, the gargantuans can interact with the protagonist in a way a giant dinosaur, three-headed dragon, or giant moth just can't. This film is also one of the few to star an American actor, who fits in nicely. The music is dope, Ifukube delivering a nice and dark score. He even includes a spunky JSDF march, as he did in many of Honda's "Golden Age" movies, a nice edition. To be clear this American version was better than "Rodan"'s, but once again the score is heavily edited, not even including the JSDF theme at all! Either way, that annoying song at the nightclub is included, but seeing as Gailah kills the braud I'll let it go. As I watched it, one can't help but feel such disappointment with Godzilla. After "Invasion of Astro-Monster", the series went to total crap thanks to Jun Fukuda and the crappy scores. 1967, "War of the Gargantuans" was released, compared to "Son of Godzilla". Damn...... If Toho had simply let Honda continue doing the films without the sacrifice of the serious tone for a childish one that soon became played out; maybe Godzilla would've never even had to cut his Showa era short. Just a thought that was on my mind. Back to the 2-disc set, damn, good work Classic Media.

I saw this movie when it was in theaters in Queens, New York around 1968 and the promotional ad stated that the first 100 movie goers will receive a free pet monster. Well, my monster loving friends & myself were all over that. Turned out that the pet monster was a silly little rubbery goofy animal. Everyone loved them nonetheless! We all enjoyed the movie & it was billed as a second feature along with D.A.M. Destroy All Monsters! What a blast! War of the Gargantuas was definitely the better of the two flicks and every time I went to the beach after that kept hearing that eerie music and waited for the green gargantuan to rear his big ugly head out of the ocean. The ultimate battle between good (brown gargantuan) and evil (green gargantuan) as can best be done in Japanese monster fashion. Russ Tamblyn was popular at the time after appearing in West Side Story and Tom Thumb. I would say this was his best movie. I recommend it to any monster movie buff. MikeW

A fond and nostalgic personal memory, "War of the Gargantuas" was a welcome treat in my family's living room (they had more console television sets back then; am I getting old or what?), and is one of my favorite Japanese monster movies. When they aired it, which was often, I'd get a chance to watch it five times during that week, at 8:00pm on a KTLA (Los Angeles area Channel 5) Movie of the (whole) Week (I was just a kid then, and before anybody was able to rent videos at Blockbuster).

Barebones Summary (without spoiling it for the inexperienced viewer):

A beautiful young female scientist, Akemi (pronounced ‘ uh-kay-mee '), does research on a docile, missing-link-like monster child -eventually called `The Brown One.' (There is a cute scene in which Akemi feeds it a chocolate bar, soon after it has played with children's toys). One day the small and hairy young creature escapes the laboratory and grows up alone in the forest. Some years later Akemi meets an American scientist, Paul Stewart, and you just know these two lovebirds are going to fall in love.

Meanwhile at Tokyo International, a huge green monster pops out of the ocean and proves everybody wrong when they say Airport food is lousy. The ugly sea titan sticks its hand in an office window, pulls out an even uglier cleaning lady and shoves it in his mouth. As it munches away and spits out the wrapping (clothes), the clouds overhead start to clear (Ouch, it hates the light!), so it peels-off down the runway and dive-bombs into the ocean.

Elsewhere that evening, aboard a luxury yacht, an American singer belts out a corny love ballad to her formal audience-`The words get stuck in my throat…' (And you just know someone--or something--will soon put a stop to her awful singing).

Before you know it, the behemoth brothers meet several times to resume their sibling rivalries by knocking the wind out of each other, smashing military vehicles of all shapes and sizes, and knocking over downtown buildings.

I believe WOTG offers considerably more than your usual Toho Studios/Japanese Monster Movie, and could do with a modern spin (provided the original plot is not much altered as to seem another film entirely). It certainly has its comedic moments, as already mentioned. There are infinite possibilities in remaking it. The Japanese are great at creating model tanks and realistic building models… all that stuff. And the title creatures are scary looking… ‘Green' looks like a gargoyle without horns, and ‘Brown' looks like a somewhat frightening, foreign version of Frankenstein's montster

This film was a standard feature in the early 70's on Chicago's Creature Features (WGN). The dubbed American story added a bit of corniness, and some changes to the script which hurt the feel of it. Years later I saw the original subtitled, and was not disappointed at all. One feature that stands out from all other kaiju features is this; the giant monsters ran in this film. In all other giant monster movies I've seen, the monsters are slowly lumbering giants. They gave you a chance to get away. Not these monsters, these monsters friggin' ran! How scary is that? Pretty scary actually. This is another one for the 30-40 somethings to put in the DVD player to release the childhood memories!

Yep, another monster is menacing Japan. This time it's a large ape-like monster called "Gargantua" After it causes some havoc, the military chases it down in a forest and believes they have killed it. Just then, a larger gargantua comes in, tears the place apart, and rescues it's monster brother.

A visiting American scientist (Russ Tamblyn, who is likable here) deals with the conflict of keeping the military from making hash of the monsters.

The film is fast paced, has the energy of a children's story. From the first moment, there's excitement. Try and catch the original Japanese language version, with the better music score. Another fun building-smashing fest by Inoshira Honda.

In case you've been asleep for a while, this is the sequel to Frankenstein Conquers the World, in which the Frankenstein monster has grown into two giant creatures. You see, it was established in the first film that the monster, if in parts, would continue to regrow itself, and so that's what happened. A part grew into a creature in the ocean, and another as a land creature, one good and one not. The creatures have a fondness for each other, basically being brothers of a sort, but the evil one eventually disappoints the good one, and then hell breaks loose with one of the best giant monster battles ever from Toho, second only to Kong and Godzilla. These monsters are the type that would make any creature fan proud and a vast improvement over the original Toho Frankenstein. They must have been listening to the fans about the first one's appearance because they did it right this time.

From the masters of kaiju films comes the sequel to the thrilling movie "Frankenstein Conquers the World aka Frankenstein vs Baragon". For longest time, I never gave this classic Toho film any serious thought for some reason. However, having recently saw various reviews as well as learning that celebrities like Tim Burton grew up loving this flick, I decided to give this Japanese classic another try and boy was my mind changed for the better. Get ready to crumble because this is "War of the Garnagtuas" (known as "Frankenstein's Monsters: Sanda vs Gaira" in Japan).

Plot: From the remains of the Frankenstein monster spawns a hairy brown gargantua named Sanda. Though raised by kind scientists in captivity, he escapes one day and a part of his flesh was snagged off a rock and made its way into the sea, spawning a green gargantua called Gaira. Gaira goes on a rampage through Japan killing countless civilians, but soon finds himself overwhelmed by man's great weapons. Before the military could finish off the beast, Sanda arrives to help his brother. However, it becomes apparent that while Sanda is kind and gentle, Gaira is savage and violent and so their opposing personalities clash as the two behemoth brothers have a vicious fight to the death for the fate of the world.

On the surface, "War of the Gargantuas" may seem like a typical monster movie, but that description would not do this film justice. There's a good deal of thought-provoking dialogue and some surprisingly well-done social commentary regarding the nature of humanity, reflected by both the humans and the gargantuas, which can be interpreted in a variety of levels. One example would be that while the military and Gaira represent the people/country that is eager to go to war, the scientists and Sanda represent a people/country that prefers a more peaceful solution to a problem. That's what's great about many of these kaiju flicks, they're not just simple, mindless entertainment but rather allegories for varying aspects of life.

The special effects are definitely impressive. Since the gargantuas are smaller than most kaiju, the miniatures and sets are made larger for a more accurate scale and they all look great, especially when they're destroyed. One noteworthy thing to point out is that this is the first appearance of the famous maser cannons, which later appear throughout the Godzilla series. Sanda and Gaira look fantastic, having a combination of fur and scales and being more slim than other kaiju, allowing the actor greater mobility. Given the humanoid nature of the creatures, you basically get to see the actors' faces, especially their eyes, and this allows them to better convey emotions.

As one might expect from the title, there's tons of action throughout the film. This is some really top notch kaiju action and this time the military isn't completely helpless as the gargantuas are actually harmed by their weapons. The battles between Sanda and Gaira are awesome as they are fast-paced and really vicious as they roll around, bite each other, toss one another into buildings, etc. Throw in some military in between and it becomes more than just fight, it's an all-out war.

With good kaiju, lots of impressive action scenes, interesting social commentary, nice acting, great special effects, and fitting music by Akira Ifukube, it's easy why "War of the Gargantuas" has had quite the impact on pop culture. Even if you're not a kaiju fan, this film will be worth your time, though you should fast forward through the song "The Word Get Stuck in My Throat" sung by this terrible American singer. Check it out for some good old-fashioned, building smashing fun.

Well, I have an awfully big spot in my heart for the Toho Godzilla films of the 60's and 70's. I had never seen this one, learned it was a sequel to a film about Frankenstein I also had never seen, and ended up thoroughly enjoying it. I saw the American version where just about every vestige that might relate itself to Frankenstein Vs. Baragon had been eliminated. Here we have two gargantuas - Gaira and Sanda - clearly related yet very different. One is green. The other beige if you will. One, the green one, spends most of its time in the sea, the other on land. One hates bright lights. The other does not mind at all. One eats people. The other is friendly toward people. The list of comparisons and contrast could go on even longer. What does appear to be true is that the green one came from the brown one when it scraped some of itself somewhere or somehow its cell scattered thus creating Gaira. Gaira is the bad one. Sanda is the good one. Anyway, before we get to their "epic" battle we find that the brown one had once been small and studied at a scientific institute led by the blandest, hip-looking scientist alive - Amerian Russ Tamblyn. Tamblyn looks SO bored throughout the picture and utters his lines with absolutely no conviction at all. He is just awful in this. Fortunately for us, his pretty assistant does a good job. Toho regular Kumi Mizumo gives this film some much needed pulse. But lest you believe the living humans are the most important characters in the film - they are really the two monsters and director Ishiro Honda. The opening scene with Gaira and the squid and the ship was very compelling. The miniature sets and those cool tank-like machines that emit electrical currents also were most impressive. Honda was always a very good director. American producer and president of American International Pictures Henry Saperstein barely gives Honda any credit for his name is jumbled with all the other film credits while his name(Saperstein's) is huge - several times. Yeah, he was a big shot! This is a pleasant film with some great scenes and also some funny scenes - not though I am sure they were meant to be. As I said the opening scene is probably the best. But the scene where Gaira is temporarily defeated by those cool machines is another great scene as is the scene where the two monsters meet in the deserted city and finally take their fight to the sea. Gaira also eats a woman on screen - something I never recall seeing in a Godzilla picture. But we also get a ridiculous scene of a beautiful American redhead(the lovely and unfortunately shortly-lived Kipp Hamilton) crooning a ridiculous song("The words get stuck in my throat") when Gaira comes up from behind and attacks. How about the scene with the uber-happy hikers? And there is Russ Tamblyn. He is VERY bad. Notwithstanding all of that, I enjoyed War of the Gargantuas immensely.

War of the Gargantuas is a movie that stems from another dark-themed monster movie, 1965's Frankenstein vs Baragon. Even from the beginning it has a sort of dark theme, with a sinister looking Gaira attacking Oodaku (giant octopus). As Gaira thoughtlessly devours people, you're tempted to cringe. But the hero gargantua, Sanda, brings another piece into the story. It becomes a battle of brothers, one dark and evil while the other is for all intents and purposes good and pure.

This isn't your average monster movie, but in a lot of ways that's a good thing. This is one of those dark, near-horror style films that Toho produced in the 50s and 60s, such as 1954's Godzilla or 1958's H-Man. The more human like nature of the gargantuas draws the viewer in and draws out more emotions.

It's worth mentioning that although the film is a direct sequel to Frankenstein vs Baragon, almost all of the relationship between the two films is edited out of the American version, leaving a lone comment on the main protagonist discussing a 'hand' he's been studying. That would be Frankenstein's hand. Another thing mostly edited out of the American version is the more romantic relationship between the doctor and his assistant. You get that kind of vibe even in the edited region one release of the movie nonetheless.

If a lot of the campy 1960s or 1970s Godzilla films don't do it for you and you want something darker, more serious, near-horror, War of the Gargantuas is for you. It's a fantastic film with the only real weak point being lack of character development. You don't really care even when they're in danger, but otherwise there are few faults. I wouldn't even mind if Toho decides against ever creating a remake of the film, because its quality even roughly a half-century later is superb, and they probably wouldn't capture the spirit of the original, much like other classics such as King Kong (1933) or Godzilla (1954).

Looking outside of this specific film, I'm actually glad they elected not to place the gargantuas in a Godzilla movie (Toho originally had written up some loose plans to make a "Godzilla vs Gargantua(s)" for a 1978 theatrical release). In the 60s and especially by the 70s, Godzilla had become campy and "fun". While there's nothing wrong with that in itself, bringing a gargantua would weaken their story much like the campy Godzilla films greatly weakened Godzilla's (1954) reputation as a dark horror movie. Both monsters have their place, just not together.

Having first seen this movie as a young fan of all Japanese monster flicks,I was profoundly affected by the absolute ugliness of the green Gargantua,and his hideous practice of chewing people up and spitting out there well-gnawed clothing.Where I usually kind of rooted for the Tokyo-stomping monstrosities of the genre,I found myself really wanting the green beast dead.Even the atmosphere and shocking trumpet score that played when he showed up was creepy,and you kind of hoped that something really nasty was going to happen to him by movies end.Who can forget the scene at the airport when the green's eating habits are first shown in grim detail?Even though the creatures brown,mountain-dwelling cousin is no better,he still doesn't approach the absolute hideousness of the water-dwelling green.All-in-all,this is definitely one of the more obscure and ugly pictures of the Japanese giant-monster genre,and should give fans a bit of a thrill,and a profound happiness that 300 ft tall abominations aren't stalking the seas devouring hapless victims on boats and at airports.I highly recommend it to the true fan.

In my opinion ,any film that leaves an indelible impression on one`s mind cannot be passed off as trash. This is truly one of the GREATEST Japanese Monster Movies from Ishiro Honda.Once you have seen this film,you will never forget it.There is a definate message as well,the classic twin brothers,one brown (GOOD) and one green(EVIL).In the end,regardless of how evil his twin brother is,he shows compassion toward his kin. This may not be as good as some of the other Japanese monster movies to some;but in the end, which one will stick in your mind the most. " War Of The Gargantuas " BABY, " War Of The Gargantuas " will.

"War of the Gargantuas" is a film I haven't seen in over 30 years. I just purchased the film which is a double feature with "Rodan". The thing that really stands out are the fight scenes between Sanda(Brown Gargantua) and Gaira(Green Gargantua). They are some of the best I have seen with these types of movies. Sanda is shown as an infant-he looks like a teddy bear. He escapes and lives hidden in the mountains.Gaira is green, ugly and an offspring of Frankenstein from "Frankenstein Conquers the World"(in the Japanese version). He is seen attacking fishing vessels while munching on the fishermen. Scientists led by Russ Tamblyn try to figure out what is going on while the attacks keep coming. The brown Gargantua arrives to help his brother after it is attacked by the military. Sibling rivalry takes over and the two battle it out the rest of the way. The directing, music and pace of the film are well done. The acting is so-so thanks to Russ Tamblyn's boring dubbing tracks and emotionless facial expressions. It looks and sounds like he was doped up. He gives the impression that he didn't want to be in the film. The rest of the actors and dubbing is performed very well. This is a fun film to watch. It is now on DVD.

**May Contain Spoilers**

As originally scripted, this was going to be a sequel to FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD but extensive rewriting turned it into a turkey in it's own right. The two gargantuas look like giant sasquatches. The brown one is benevolent until pushed into violence. The green one, an accidental clone of the other, is lots more fun. He stomps on cars, eats humans raw and spits out their clothing, picks up army tanks and throws them into buildings and in general makes a nuisance of himself. The authorities try to destroy him with rockets fired from toy tanks with obvious model soldiers looking out of the hatches. They also lure him with food–a truck full of squealing pigs–and open up on him with laser rays, destroying most of a lush forest in the process. Taking a cue from the humans in the overkill department, the two gargantuas flatten half a city during their obligatory last battle. The action is frequent, fast and furious and the rare slow spots are redeemed by entertaining dialogue, as when one character asks egghead scientist Russ Tamblyn why the green gargantua takes to the ocean and the hero sagely replies "I dunno–maybe he fell in love with a whale!" If you can only see one post-Godzilla monster flick in your lifetime, this howler should be it.

I recently watched this for the first time since I was a small boy and was surprised at how actually scary parts of this film is. I've been a fan of the giant monster film since I was a small boy, Godzilla especially, but was never once scared by any of the films. Instead I appreciated them as fantasy. However, the green Gargantua in this film is scary. The monster costume is scary, the fact he eats people is scary, and the film itself is just fun to look at. The scene early in the film where a fisherman's boat is stopped dead in the water when he hooks something, and we see this ugly creature gazing up from under the ocean, remains one of the creepiest and most effective images from a movie I've seen.

The movie becomes a bit cheesy towards the end when the heroic brown Gargantua shows up to battle the green one, but all in all I recommend it to anyone who's a fan of Toho's Godzilla series, or anyone with slightly unusual tastes in movies. Good luck finding a copy tho. Toho hasn't released it on DVD and the old VHS tapes are pricey. Keep an eye out on cable for it!

This wonderfully ridiculous Japanese giant monsters wreaking mucho mondo destructo havoc hoot was originally done as a sequel to "Frankenstein Conquers the World" until American distributors momkeyed around with it and omitted any connections this baby has with that previous picture. That minor issue aside, what's left is quite simply one of the wildest, most energetic and brutally violent behemoth beast bashes to ever grunt, growl and glower its way across the big screen.

The titular titanic terrors represent the two radically contrasting polar opposite sides of the existential coin; i.e., any living, sentient animal's latent capacity for being either very good or extremely evil. A decidedly malevolent hairy, scaly, uglier-than-dirt green leviathan fights an octopus and ravages the countryside before engaging in a rousingly savage and lengthy toe-to-toe, claw-to-claw, thingo-to-thingo knock-down, drag-out climactic confrontation with its more gentle and benign brown brother. The monster fight seriously smokes something stirring: Our two beastly behemoths vigorously mix it up and lay waste to half the landscape while beating the living tar out of each other like a couple of deranged wrestlers in a totally uninhibited anything-goes cage match. An insufferably smug'n'smirky Russ Tamblyn looks and acts properly embarrassed as the absurdly earnest young scientist who created the leaping, roaring and running simian humanoid Goliaths. Musical guest star Kipp Hamilton warbles the unforgettably atrocious'n'asinine ballad "The Words Get Stuck in My Throat" while doing the twist on stage at a swanky nightclub. A great, delectably dopey humongous creature feature treat.

I keep hearing that this is Frankenstein sequel but I don't see that. My interpretation was that this was a Godzilla spin off. There is a octopus like monster at the being the looks similar to a monster that was in King King vs Godzilla. And a reference was mad to it in Godzilla agents M.e.c.h.a. Godzilla. A Godzilla movie that came out after this movie. Anyway the plot is a giant green troll like monster is attacking Japan. And now a giant brown troll like monster most stop him. Very fun movie. A classic. See it. It is one of the beast monster movies from the 60's. So mush better when compared to crap like c.l.o.v.e.r.f.e.i.l.d. I don't way people like that one just because J.J. Abrams made it. This a great movie and I don't even know who the director is. I wonder if he directed any of the Godzilla movie I think I will go check right now

I've never liked Tamblyn much anyway, but he was still below his normal level of performance here. I'm sure a lot of it had to do with the dubbing, but still… some of it was just Tamblyn. He looked bored and self-conscious. I don't think his facial expression changed once in the hour and a half running time. He looked like he was waiting for a bus, and that saying his lines posed something of an inconvenience.

A few outstanding moments: love the scene where the fisherman looks into the water and sees the green gargantua glaring up at him; that was a real nice "jump". I also like the scene where the green one is emerging from the sea at a distance; it's not clear (aside from the title of the film) what exactly that thing is at first since it's so far away, and it gives quite a creepy effect. And, of course, the scene where the green one runs away, leaps off the land and into the sea is just hilarious… that was the scene my little brother and I always waited for and then howled at.

The brown one took longer to show up than I remembered from previous viewings; I almost forgot he was coming. The interaction between the two is nice… not all that subtle, perhaps, but subtle for a Japanese monster movie. The usual big mess is made by the warring creatures, with much destruction of model buildings and vehicles. I got a chuckle out of the female lead's plea not to kill the "good" gargantua… lady, the two of them are rolling all over the entire city locked in mortal combat; if we don't do something pretty darn quick, they're going to level the whole metropolitan area!

The less that is said about the female lounge singer, the better. I'd like to stick something in her throat that would preclude her from ever singing again; she has absolutely no talent whatsoever. Yes, the song was terrible, but that wasn't where the entire fault lay.

I don't know how it would be to watch this for the first time as an adult. As an adult who loved it as a kid, it's a fun way to spend 90 minutes. First time I'd ever seen it with the proper aspect ratio; I was so used to watching it on a small, square analog TV that it really seemed new and fresh on a 32" flat-screen… not to mention that it's much easier to tell the gargantuas apart in living color!

You have to simply take this type of movies for what they are. It's quite hard to say anything serious about them because they are all looking very outdated, features some bad acting and of course also don't have the most clever or original scripts.

What makes this movie very fun and watchable is the fact that it's almost non-stop movie monster action. Halve of the time during this movie you're watching a bunch of guys in suits walking around at a set with miniatures but it's all simply fun and good to watch. Lots of things get destroyed and the army is basically using everything it got to stop the two Gargantuas from reaching Tokyo. At the same time the two Gargantuas 'brothers' are also battling each other, so we have some action coming from basically every angle here.

It means that the 'human' story of the movie gets sort of pushed to the background but this is not necessarily a bad thing. It only means that the movie decided to go for entertainment rather than depth. Also not a bad movie, considering that the acting in this movie isn't exactly the best. Russ Tamblyn's overacting is quite laughable.

The movie is not necessarily a sequel to "Furankenshutain tai chitei kaijû Baragon", since this one doesn't even feature any of the original characters from that movie. It means that you don't necessarily need to see the first movie before watching and enjoying this one. The movie is from the same director and pretty much features the same crew as well, who did lots of movies like this together. Honda is also the director of the first original "Gojira" movie.

This movie is simply good and entertaining for what it is.

6/10

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