{"id":366,"date":"2020-03-04T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/?p=366"},"modified":"2020-03-04T01:33:11","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T06:33:11","slug":"jimmys-notes-on-episode-11-varan-the-unbelievable-mini-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/04\/jimmys-notes-on-episode-11-varan-the-unbelievable-mini-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Jimmy&#8217;s Notes on &#8216;Episode 11: Varan the Unbelievable&#8217; (Mini-Analysis)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"783\" height=\"327\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/JIMMYS-NOTES.jpg?resize=783%2C327\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-188\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/JIMMYS-NOTES.jpg?w=783 783w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/JIMMYS-NOTES.jpg?resize=300%2C125 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/JIMMYS-NOTES.jpg?resize=768%2C321 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 783px) 100vw, 783px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello again! It is time\nonce again for another installment of \u201cJimmy riffs Nathan and publishes his\nunused notes.\u201d Better known as Jimmy\u2019s Notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/26\/episode-11-varan-the-unbelievable-mini-analysis\/\">Last\nweek Nathan covered the nearly forgotten kaiju film <em>Varan the Unbelievable<\/em><\/a>.(He\nalso <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Y42IT1n9aHU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">talked about it on Geek Devotions<\/a>,\nusing it to discuss how faith and science are not incompatible, which I enjoyed\nfilming). I will just be sharing his unused notes from when he re-watched the\nfilm as part of his grad school independent study on Ishiro Honda. He did\nhighlight portions of his sources for that paper, but since he included them in\nthe shownotes, I will not post them. (Besides, my previous Jimmy\u2019s Notes blog was\n<em>huge<\/em>, and I already know my next one\non Peter Jackson\u2019s <em>King Kong<\/em> will be\nas long as that film).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, without further ado\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nathan\u2019s Notes on the Film:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>One of the highlights of this lackluster film is [Akira] Ifukube\u2019s score. It\u2019s quite good and would be recycled later. Music after credits reminds me of destroying the controller in <em>Destroy All Monster<\/em>. <em>(That control device is on display in a small museum here on the Island, by the way. \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>Talks  about spaceflight but says there are still mysteries on earth; \u201cmost mysterious story ever told.\u201d Hyperbole. <em>(I have been to Venus. The mysteries there are far more interesting\u2014like how it is somehow still there despite, you know, exploding during the War in Space. \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>Villagers think the outsiders are monsters. Ignore them.<\/li><li>\u201cIt\u2019s too early for monsters.\u201d Did you forget you\u2019re in a Toho movie? <em>(To paraphrase a once-popular meme about video games: \u201cKaiju are common and frequently fight in public.\u201d \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>Varan\u2019s intro is actually pretty good. <em>Jaws<\/em>-like.<\/li><li>Yuriko is surprisingly calm considering her brother died. Bold girl reporter. Sekizawa trademark.<\/li><li>Bus driver says no one goes to the village. <em>(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. \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>Similar to Ainu; Ifukube infuses Ainu music in this score.<\/li><li>Dog is named Chibee. Japanese word for small. <em>(Except it is actually spelled \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chibi_(slang)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">chibi<\/a>\u201d and is Japanese slang. \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>These first three characters are entertaining and funny and actually have some vim. Then they disappear halfway in.<\/li><li>Varan appears 21 minutes in. <em>(Nathan has clocked the monster\u2019s 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. \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>This film has lots of issues, but suit\/creature design isn\u2019t one of them. Varan is quite impressive. Too bad he never came back. <em>(Except in <\/em>Destroy All Monsters<em>, or did you forget that? And he almost came back, along with  Anguirus, in <\/em>GMK<em>. \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>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 \u201cForgive them! Forgive them!\u201d<\/li><li>Varan\u2019s rampage through the village is a highlight. Great suit, great destruction. [Haruo] Nakajima being awesome.<\/li><li>Another all-knowing dinosaur scientist.<\/li><li>\u201cIt\u2019s big. You better get yourself a wide-angle lens.\u201d Sekizawa humor.<\/li><li>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.<\/li><li>The gas bomb mortars going into the water do look good. Classic Tsuburaya effects.<\/li><li>34:00: \u201cThat\u2019s a lot of fish.\u201d <em>(And all of our readers\/listeners groan. \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>The three best characters get steadily less screen time as film progresses.<\/li><li>Professor wastes no time saying to kill monster. The Anti-<a href=\"https:\/\/wikizilla.org\/wiki\/Kyohei_Yamane\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Yamane<\/a>.<\/li><li>These soldiers have the aim of Stormtroopers. <em>(The Messiah 13 Aliens were not much better from what my War in Space buddies tell me. \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>Varan coming out of water at 35:00 or so looks quite good.<\/li><li>Wind accompanies Varan. Supernatural? <em>Godzilla<\/em> 2014 with tsunami?<\/li><li>The first half of this movie feels unique. <em>Godzilla<\/em> meets <em>Half Human<\/em> or <em>Rodan<\/em>. Second half is run-of-the-mill monster stuff.<\/li><li>Varan\u2019s roar is just a remixed Godzilla roar.<\/li><li>\u201cVaran is indestructible!\u201d No, you just have bad aim!<\/li><li>I see where <em>Son of Godzilla<\/em> got it with Kumonga getting in cave. Effective scene.<\/li><li>Professor just knows that Varan will respond to light. It\u2019s what animals do, apparently. <em>(The scientists here on the Island use some weird stuff\u2014like bird calls\u2014to maneuver the monsters around. \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>Varan can fly! Cut from US version. Well, he glides. How does he sound like a jet?<\/li><li>47 minutes in, and it gets a heck of a lot less interesting.<\/li><li>[Akihiko] Hirata is in this! Barely.<\/li><li>This professor just exists to spout exposition and say you can\u2019t kill Varan.<\/li><li>51:00: Varan approaching fishermen is very <em>Jaws<\/em>-like. The music especially.<\/li><li>55:00: Why would you fly that low and that close?! <em>(A common problem when fighting kaiju. It seems soldiers forget  basic tactics when fighting monsters. My military buddies cannot figure it out, either. \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>Second half is largely action. Feels like a completely different movie. The music is still good.<\/li><li>63:00: Are they playing a miniatures game with a Varan figure? <em>(You would buy that game in heartbeat, Nathan. You already have a few stuffed in your closet. \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>65:00: Expertly edited home movies.<\/li><li>Super-bomb is weird. How does it explode better inside something? Makes no sense. <em>(I was on a ship that inexplicably had      a planet-busting bomb on it. All that to say, I do not get it, either. \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>Climax is at Haneda Airport. Sky background is lacking. Can see strings pulling tanks. Not meant to be scrutinized. <em>(Or seen in high-def, as you mentioned. \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>Interesting how soldiers chicken out saying it\u2019s beyond the call of duty, so Kenji the      reporter has to drive the bomb to Varan. Sekizawa commentary? <\/li><li>Wow, that wasn\u2019t suspenseful. He jogs away unharmed. <em>(This is more common than many people realize. \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>Rare time Nakajima got hurt on set when bomb explodes under Varan. <em>(#firecrotch \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>Sometimes Varan stands and sometimes he\u2019s on all fours. Poor editing.<\/li><li>Now the military has good aim. \ud83d\ude1b <em>(Varan lost his plot-armor. That is more durable than adamantium! \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>Varan: \u201cStop attacking me with stock footage!\u201d <em>(Stock footage is the worst. The Messiah 13 Aliens\u2019 attack on New York      looked like <\/em>The Last War<em> and\u2026my\u2026family\u2026died\u2026).<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-medium\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"276\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/3rcb5b.jpg?resize=300%2C276\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-367\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/3rcb5b.jpg?resize=300%2C276 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/3rcb5b.jpg?w=542 542w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>This movie has such truncated time. Bomb explodes in 30 minutes but 15 have already passed.<\/li><li>84:00: Varan becomes Godzilla for a second! <em>(To quote MST3K, \u201cSpace is warped and time is bendable!\u201d \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>What a horrible way to die: exploded from the inside after swallowing bombs. Varan retreats to water. Ambiguous? <em>(Well,      he was brought to Monster Island in 1999, so he survived\u2026somehow. I just work here, people! \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><li>Announcer declares that mankind has won. <em>(For now\u2026. \ud83d\ude1b \u2013Jimmy)<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>There you have it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>And now for the moment\nyou have all been waiting for! The winner of the <em>Batman Meets Godzilla<\/em> T-shirt is Celeste Mora!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Congratulations!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u201cKong Quest\u201d\ncontinues in the next episode when Nathan is joined by the creator\/author of\nThe Godzilla Novelization Project, Daniel DiManna to discuss the epic 2005\nremake of <em>King Kong<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our next mini-sode will\ncover another epic: 1959\u2019s <em>The Three\nTreasures<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow me on Twitter: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NasaJimmy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@NasaJimmy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>#JimmyFromNASALives<br>\n#WeShallOvercome<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hello again! It is time once again for another installment of \u201cJimmy riffs Nathan and publishes his unused notes.\u201d Better known as Jimmy\u2019s Notes. Last&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/04\/jimmys-notes-on-episode-11-varan-the-unbelievable-mini-analysis\/\">Continue Reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Jimmy&#8217;s Notes on &#8216;Episode 11: Varan the Unbelievable&#8217; (Mini-Analysis)<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"iawp_total_views":21,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,114],"tags":[69,297,257,298,19,66,16,299,79,288],"series":[],"class_list":["post-366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-jimmys-notes","tag-jimmyfromnasalives","tag-akira-ifukube","tag-batman-meets-godzilla","tag-haruo-nakajima","tag-jimmy-from-nasa","tag-jimmys-notes","tag-kaiju","tag-messiah-13-aliens","tag-toho","tag-varan-the-unbelievable","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":369,"href":"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366\/revisions\/369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}