Hello again! It is time once again for another installment of “Jimmy riffs Nathan and publishes his unused notes.” Better known as Jimmy’s Notes.
Last week Nathan covered the nearly forgotten kaiju film Varan the Unbelievable.(He also talked about it on Geek Devotions, using it to discuss how faith and science are not incompatible, which I enjoyed filming). I will just be sharing his unused notes from when he re-watched the film as part of his grad school independent study on Ishiro Honda. He did highlight portions of his sources for that paper, but since he included them in the shownotes, I will not post them. (Besides, my previous Jimmy’s Notes blog was huge, and I already know my next one on Peter Jackson’s King Kong will be as long as that film).
So, without further ado….
Nathan’s Notes on the Film:
- One of the highlights of this lackluster film is [Akira] Ifukube’s score. It’s quite good and would be recycled later. Music after credits reminds me of destroying the controller in Destroy All Monster. (That control device is on display in a small museum here on the Island, by the way. –Jimmy)
- Talks about spaceflight but says there are still mysteries on earth; “most mysterious story ever told.” Hyperbole. (I have been to Venus. The mysteries there are far more interesting—like how it is somehow still there despite, you know, exploding during the War in Space. –Jimmy)
- Villagers think the outsiders are monsters. Ignore them.
- “It’s too early for monsters.” Did you forget you’re in a Toho movie? (To paraphrase a once-popular meme about video games: “Kaiju are common and frequently fight in public.” –Jimmy)
- Varan’s intro is actually pretty good. Jaws-like.
- Yuriko is surprisingly calm considering her brother died. Bold girl reporter. Sekizawa trademark.
- Bus driver says no one goes to the village. (Probably because Varan kills people over butterflies. You should see how he reacts to other kaiju pestering Mothra. It is not pretty, but the tourists get a kick out of the occasional fights. –Jimmy)
- Similar to Ainu; Ifukube infuses Ainu music in this score.
- Dog is named Chibee. Japanese word for small. (Except it is actually spelled “chibi” and is Japanese slang. –Jimmy)
- These first three characters are entertaining and funny and actually have some vim. Then they disappear halfway in.
- Varan appears 21 minutes in. (Nathan has clocked the monster’s first appearance in all of these movies since fans complained about Godzilla not showing up for 45 minutes in the 2014 film. He argues this was done in the Japanese films, he seems to be right. Wow. I said something nice. I am losing my touch. –Jimmy)
- This film has lots of issues, but suit/creature design isn’t one of them. Varan is quite impressive. Too bad he never came back. (Except in Destroy All Monsters, or did you forget that? And he almost came back, along with Anguirus, in GMK. –Jimmy)
- When they return to the village, the priest is waving branch and chanting by fence as if that will stop Varan. Varan kills him while he chants “Forgive them! Forgive them!”
- Varan’s rampage through the village is a highlight. Great suit, great destruction. [Haruo] Nakajima being awesome.
- Another all-knowing dinosaur scientist.
- “It’s big. You better get yourself a wide-angle lens.” Sekizawa humor.
- After the village destruction, it starts to feel more padded as it goes. It gets really bad after they leave the village. A little too much detail with military.
- The gas bomb mortars going into the water do look good. Classic Tsuburaya effects.
- 34:00: “That’s a lot of fish.” (And all of our readers/listeners groan. –Jimmy)
- The three best characters get steadily less screen time as film progresses.
- Professor wastes no time saying to kill monster. The Anti-Yamane.
- These soldiers have the aim of Stormtroopers. (The Messiah 13 Aliens were not much better from what my War in Space buddies tell me. –Jimmy)
- Varan coming out of water at 35:00 or so looks quite good.
- Wind accompanies Varan. Supernatural? Godzilla 2014 with tsunami?
- The first half of this movie feels unique. Godzilla meets Half Human or Rodan. Second half is run-of-the-mill monster stuff.
- Varan’s roar is just a remixed Godzilla roar.
- “Varan is indestructible!” No, you just have bad aim!
- I see where Son of Godzilla got it with Kumonga getting in cave. Effective scene.
- Professor just knows that Varan will respond to light. It’s what animals do, apparently. (The scientists here on the Island use some weird stuff—like bird calls—to maneuver the monsters around. –Jimmy)
- Varan can fly! Cut from US version. Well, he glides. How does he sound like a jet?
- 47 minutes in, and it gets a heck of a lot less interesting.
- [Akihiko] Hirata is in this! Barely.
- This professor just exists to spout exposition and say you can’t kill Varan.
- 51:00: Varan approaching fishermen is very Jaws-like. The music especially.
- 55:00: Why would you fly that low and that close?! (A common problem when fighting kaiju. It seems soldiers forget basic tactics when fighting monsters. My military buddies cannot figure it out, either. –Jimmy)
- Second half is largely action. Feels like a completely different movie. The music is still good.
- 63:00: Are they playing a miniatures game with a Varan figure? (You would buy that game in heartbeat, Nathan. You already have a few stuffed in your closet. –Jimmy)
- 65:00: Expertly edited home movies.
- Super-bomb is weird. How does it explode better inside something? Makes no sense. (I was on a ship that inexplicably had a planet-busting bomb on it. All that to say, I do not get it, either. –Jimmy)
- Climax is at Haneda Airport. Sky background is lacking. Can see strings pulling tanks. Not meant to be scrutinized. (Or seen in high-def, as you mentioned. –Jimmy)
- Interesting how soldiers chicken out saying it’s beyond the call of duty, so Kenji the reporter has to drive the bomb to Varan. Sekizawa commentary?
- Wow, that wasn’t suspenseful. He jogs away unharmed. (This is more common than many people realize. –Jimmy)
- Rare time Nakajima got hurt on set when bomb explodes under Varan. (#firecrotch –Jimmy)
- Sometimes Varan stands and sometimes he’s on all fours. Poor editing.
- Now the military has good aim. 😛 (Varan lost his plot-armor. That is more durable than adamantium! –Jimmy)
- Varan: “Stop attacking me with stock footage!” (Stock footage is the worst. The Messiah 13 Aliens’ attack on New York looked like The Last War and…my…family…died…).
- This movie has such truncated time. Bomb explodes in 30 minutes but 15 have already passed.
- 84:00: Varan becomes Godzilla for a second! (To quote MST3K, “Space is warped and time is bendable!” –Jimmy)
- What a horrible way to die: exploded from the inside after swallowing bombs. Varan retreats to water. Ambiguous? (Well, he was brought to Monster Island in 1999, so he survived…somehow. I just work here, people! –Jimmy)
- Announcer declares that mankind has won. (For now…. 😛 –Jimmy)
There you have it!
And now for the moment you have all been waiting for! The winner of the Batman Meets Godzilla T-shirt is Celeste Mora!
Congratulations!
The “Kong Quest” continues in the next episode when Nathan is joined by the creator/author of The Godzilla Novelization Project, Daniel DiManna to discuss the epic 2005 remake of King Kong.
Our next mini-sode will cover another epic: 1959’s The Three Treasures.
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