1966 Japanese film
The War of the Gargantuas
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/39/War_of_the_Gargantuas.jpg/220px-War_of_the_Gargantuas.jpg) Theatrical release poster
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Kanji
| フランケンシュタインの怪? サンダ?ガイラ
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Directed by
| Ishir? Honda
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Screenplay by
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Produced by
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Starring
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Cinematography
| Hajime Koizumi
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Edited by
| Ryohei Fujii
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Music by
| Akira Ifukube
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Production
companies
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Distributed by
| Toho (Japan)
Maron Films (United States)
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Release dates
|
- July 31, 1966
(
1966-07-31
)
(Japan)
- July 29, 1970
(
1970-07-29
)
(United States)
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Running time
| 88 minutes
[2]
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Countries
| Japan
United States
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Language
| Japanese
[a]
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Box office
| $3 million
(United States)
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The War of the Gargantuas
(
Japanese
:
フランケンシュタインの怪? サンダ?ガイラ
,
Hepburn
:
Furankenshutain no Kaij?: Sanda tai Gaira
,
lit.
'
Frankenstein's Monsters: Sanda vs. Gaira
'
)
is a 1966
kaiju
film directed by
Ishir? Honda
, with special effects by
Eiji Tsuburaya
. Referred by film historian
Stuart Galbraith IV
as a "quasi?sequel" to
Frankenstein vs. Baragon
,
the film was a Japanese-American co-production; it was the third and final collaboration between
Toho Co., Ltd
and
Henry G. Saperstein
.
The film stars
Russ Tamblyn
,
Kumi Mizuno
and
Kenji Sahara
, with Yu Sekida as Sanda and
Haruo Nakajima
as Gaira. In the film, scientists investigate the sudden appearance of two giant hairy humanoid monsters that culminates in a battle in Tokyo.
The script's final draft was submitted in April 1966.
Tab Hunter
was originally hired by Saperstein, choosing to replace
Nick Adams
. However, Hunter was replaced by Tamblyn during pre-production. Honda's contract was not renewed and he had to seek employment by speaking to Tanaka on a film-by-film basis. Honda, Saperstein, and chief assistant Seiji Tani noted that Tamblyn was difficult to work with. Tamblyn did the opposite of Honda's instructions, and improvised his lines without Honda's approval. Principal photography began in May 1966 and wrapped in June 1966, with effects photography concluding in July 1966.
The War of the Gargantuas
was theatrically released in Japan on July 31, 1966, followed by a theatrical release in the United States on July 29, 1970 on a
double feature
with
Monster Zero
. Since its release, the film has been regarded as a
cult classic
, drawing admiration from artists such as
Brad Pitt
,
Hajime Isayama
,
Guillermo del Toro
,
Quentin Tarantino
and
Tim Burton
.
Plot
[
edit
]
During a rainy night, a fishing boat is attacked by a
giant octopus
. The giant octopus is then attacked by a giant green-haired humanoid monster. After defeating the giant octopus, the green monster then attacks the boat. A survivor is recovered, who reveals to doctors and police that Frankenstein attacked his boat and ate the crew. The press picks up the story and interviews Dr. Paul Stewart and his assistant, Dr. Akemi Togawa, who once had a baby Frankenstein in their possession for study five years before. Stewart and Akemi dispel the idea that the attack was caused by their Frankenstein, postulating that their Frankenstein was gentle, would not attack nor eat people, nor would he live in the ocean as he was found in the mountains and likely died after he escaped.
Another boat is attacked and villagers see the green Frankenstein off the coast at the same time that a mountain guide reports seeing Frankenstein in the
Japanese Alps
. Stewart and Akemi investigate the mountains and find giant footprints in the snow. Their colleague, Dr. Majida, collects tissue samples from the second boat. The green Frankenstein attacks
Haneda Airport
, eats a woman and returns to the sea after the clouds clear. Stewart and Akemi leave for
Tokyo
for a meeting with the military to discuss plans to kill the monster. Majida deduces that the green Frankenstein is
sensitive to light
. The green Frankenstein briefly appears in Tokyo, but is driven away by bright lights. It retreats to the mountains, where the military counterattacks it. Then a second Frankenstein, brown-haired in appearance, appears and comes to the green Frankenstein's aid, helping it escape.
Stewart and Akemi conclude that the brown Frankenstein is their former subject. To distinguish the monsters, the military designate the brown and green Frankensteins as Sanda and Gaira, respectively. After collecting and examining tissue samples from both monsters, Stewart concludes that Gaira is Sanda's clone. He theorizes that a piece of Sanda's tissue made its way out to sea, where it survived off
plankton
and evolved into Gaira. During a hiking trip, Stewart, Akemi and several hikers run away from Gaira. Akemi falls off a ledge, but Sanda saves her in time, injuring his leg in the process. Stewart and Akemi try to convince the military that only Gaira should be killed while Sanda should be spared, but the army ignores their pleas, unwilling to risk letting either monster live. After discovering that Gaira devoured people, Sanda attacks him. Gaira escapes with Sanda pursuing and heads towards Tokyo, no longer deterred by the city lights as they now alert him to the presence of food.
During the evacuation, Akemi vows to save Sanda, but runs into Gaira instead. Sanda stops Gaira from devouring Akemi and Stewart carries her to safety. Sanda tries to plead with Gaira, but the green monster engages Sanda in battle. Stewart tries to convince the military to give Sanda time to defeat Gaira, but fails. However, the military aids Sanda as his battle with Gaira moves from Tokyo to
Tokyo Bay
and further out to sea. As the military drops bombs around the battling Frankensteins, an underwater volcano suddenly erupts, swallowing up both monsters. Majida informs Stewart and Akemi that the monsters' deaths could not be confirmed due to the intense heat, but stresses that nothing could have survived the eruption.
Cast
[
edit
]
Cast taken from
The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography
.
Production
[
edit
]
The War of the Gargantuas
was the third and final co-production collaboration between Toho and
Henry G. Saperstein
's
UPA
.
Towards the end of 1965, Toho informed director
Ishir? Honda
that his director's contract would not be renewed and Iwao Mori told him that he would need to speak with producer
Tomoyuki Tanaka
about each assignment.
Seiji Tani, Honda's new chief assistant, spoke about actor
Russ Tamblyn
and Honda not agreeing on set, with Tamblyn often doing the exact opposite of what Honda instructed, Tani stated: "Honda-san had to hold back and bear so much during that one. [Russ Tamblyn] was such an asshole".
Tamblyn felt his lines in the film were so bad that he improvised them all.
It was co-producer Saperstein's choice to replace
Nick Adams
with Tamblyn, later stating "Tamblyn was a royal pain in the ass".
The film was originally announced as
The Frankenstein Brothers
, then
The Two Frankensteins
,
Frankenstein vs. Frankenstein
,
Frankenstein's Decisive Battle
, and
Frankenstein's Fight
during script writing processes.
The film was originally intended as a sequel to
Frankenstein vs. Baragon
, with Honda biographers Ryfle and Godziszewski noting that the continuity between the two films was "somewhat fuzzy".
The film was created quickly, with writer Kimura's final draft on the screenplay being dated 23 April 1966.
Honda shot the film's dramatic footage between May 9 and June 4, with Tsuburaya's special effects crew finishing in mid-July.
The American version had Honda shoot additional scenes and UPA had Toho release the negatives, outtakes and other footage such as sound and music elements.
Tab Hunter
was originally cast as Dr. Stewart, but was replaced by Tamblyn during pre-production.
English versions
[
edit
]
Toho commissioned an English dub, referred to as the "international dub", for overseas markets. The international dub is a direct translation of the Japanese version, keeping references to the monsters as Frankensteins and having Tamblyn's English dialogue dubbed over by another actor. In 1998, film historians Stuart Galbraith IV and Steve Ryfle named
Frontier Enterprises
, a Tokyo-based company, as the studio that dubbed the international version.
The international dub remained unreleased
until late 2017, when the film
Rodan
and several Godzilla films appeared on
Starz
's streaming service after
Janus Films
and
The Criterion Collection
obtained the rights to the films.
[14]
Co-producer
Henry G. Saperstein
commissioned a separate English dub from
Glen Glenn Sound
, a
Los Angeles
-based company, for the film's American release.
This version omits all references to
Frankenstein vs. Baragon
, with the creatures being referred to as "Gargantuas" instead of "Frankensteins" or by their names. This version also includes additional footage not featured in the Japanese version, making the American version run at 92 minutes.
[2]
Tamblyn's original dialogue soundtrack was lost during production and he was called back to re-dub his lines. Tamblyn worked without a script and had to rely on improvising his lines based on the footage's lip movement due to his inability to remember his original lines.
[4]
Release
[
edit
]
Theatrical
[
edit
]
The film was released theatrically in Japan on July 31, 1966 by
Toho
.
The Glen Glenn Sound English dub received a theatrical release in the United States by Maron Films as
The War of the Gargantuas
on July 29, 1970,
where it was released as a double feature with
Monster Zero
, which was also dubbed by Glen Glenn Sound.
In the United Kingdom, the film was titled
Duel of the Gargantuas
.
The War of the Gargantuas
and
Monster Zero
were intended to be released earlier; however, distributors did not think that either film had potential until 1970, when Saperstein made a deal with Maron Films.
Home media
[
edit
]
In 2008,
Classic Media
released a two-disc DVD of the film as a double feature with
Rodan
. Both films included their original Japanese versions and American dubbed versions with
Rodan
presented in its native fullscreen scope and
The War of the Gargantuas
in its original widescreen ratio. This release also features the documentary
Bringing Godzilla Down to Size
, detailing the history and
tokusatsu
techniques of the genre.
[2]
In 2010,
Toho
released the film on Blu-ray, which includes special features such as an audio commentary by Kumi Mizuno, outtakes, trailers and behind-the-scenes photo galleries.
[17]
In 2017,
Janus Films
and
The Criterion Collection
acquired the international dub of the film, as well as
Rodan
and several Godzilla films, to stream on
Starz
and
FilmStruck
.
[14]
The international dub was made available on
HBO Max
upon its launch.
[18]
Legacy
[
edit
]
In 1997, filmmaker
Shusuke Kaneko
stated that when planning his
Gamera
trilogy with screenwriter
Kazunori It?
, he aimed to model it after
The War of the Gargantuas
.
[19]
The film inspired parts of
Quentin Tarantino
's 2004 film
Kill Bill: Volume 2
, such as a miniature shot of
Tokyo
made specifically for the film and the fight scene between
Uma Thurman
and
Daryl Hannah
which Tarantino dubbed the "War of the Blonde Gargantuas". Tarantino had screened the film for Hannah and Hannah's character uses the word "gargantuan" several times.
[20]
[21]
In 2011,
manga artist
Hajime Isayama
cited the film's titular monsters as an inspiration for the Titans in his best-selling manga series,
Attack on Titan
, stating: "When I was in the lower grades of elementary school, I happened to watch a film called
Frankenstein's Monsters: Sanda vs. Gaira
[
sic
] on a TV at a public hall during an evacuation drill. One of the two hairy monsters uprooted a tree and hit the other monster. That scene was really scary ... It was a long time ago, so it may not be an accurate memory, but it certainly influenced the making of the [Titans]."
[22]
When filmmaker
Tetsuya Nakashima
was attached to direct the live-action
Attack on Titan
film, producer Yuji Ishida suggested that Nakashima was drawing inspiration from
The War of the Gargantuas
.
[23]
In 2012, American actor
Brad Pitt
cited the film as his inspiration to pursue acting at the
84th Academy Awards
.
[24]
In an episode of
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated
titled "Battle of the Humungonauts", the episode parodies the film by featuring two hairy creatures similar in appearance to Sanda and Gaira, riffing the film's title and even featuring a cover of Kipp Hamilton's song "The Words Get Stuck In My Throat".
[25]
American film director
Tim Burton
noted the film was a favorite of his and his daughter's.
[26]
Mexican film director
Guillermo del Toro
cited
The War of the Gargantuas
and its predecessor
Frankenstein vs. Baragon
as two of his top five favorite
kaiju
films
[27]
[28]
and cited
The War of the Gargantuas
as an influence on the opening for his 2013 film
Pacific Rim
.
[29]
The American band
Devo
performed a live version of "The Words Get Stuck In My Throat" in 1978.
[30]
In August 2019,
Michael Dougherty
, director and co-writer of
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
, expressed interest in rebooting and adapting the Gargantuas for the
MonsterVerse
.
[31]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
During filming,
Russ Tamblyn
delivered all of his lines in English and even changed much of his lines without the knowledge or the approval of director Honda.
Tamblyn's dialogue was dubbed over by
Gor? Mutsumi
for the film's Japanese release;
however, his original dialogue soundtrack was lost and Tamblyn had to re-dub all of his lines for the film's American release. Without a script and unable to remember his original lines, Tamblyn had to improvise his new lines based on the footage he was watching.
[4]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Felix, Justin (September 28, 2008).
"Rodan/War of the Gargantuas"
.
DVD Talk
.
Archived
from the original on October 3, 2020
. Retrieved
October 2,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
Cirronella, Jim (March 30, 2014).
"Interview: Russ Tamblyn and Haruo Nakajima"
.
Toho Kingdom
.
Archived
from the original on March 8, 2021
. Retrieved
April 21,
2018
.
- ^
a
b
Squires, John (November 8, 2017).
"Criterion Collection Has Obtained Most of the Sh?wa Era 'Godzilla' Films!"
.
Bloody Disgusting
.
Archived
from the original on December 6, 2021
. Retrieved
November 8,
2017
.
- ^
Portillo, Loren (April 7, 2010).
"Sanda Tai Gaira Gets Blu-ray Treatment"
.
SciFi Japan
.
Archived
from the original on November 27, 2021
. Retrieved
September 24,
2017
.
- ^
Alexander, Julia (May 18, 2020).
"Here are the hundreds of classic movies people can stream on HBO Max"
.
The Verge
.
Archived
from the original on June 18, 2020
. Retrieved
June 28,
2020
.
- ^
England 2021
, pp. 7?8.
- ^
Whitney, Erin (April 16, 2014).
"Here Are 31 Film References In 'Kill Bill: Volume 2'
"
.
Huffington Post
.
Archived
from the original on October 5, 2017
. Retrieved
April 26,
2018
.
- ^
Fitzmaurice, Larry (August 28, 2015).
"Quentin Tarantino: The Complete Syllabus of His Influences and References"
.
Vulture
.
Archived
from the original on November 16, 2016
. Retrieved
April 26,
2018
.
- ^
"「僕はまだ、思春期を こじらせている」『進?の巨人』諫山創"
.
Modern Business
(in Japanese). January 28, 2011.
Archived
from the original on December 16, 2021
. Retrieved
July 31,
2022
.
- ^
"中島哲也監督「進?の巨人」を邦?最大規模の製作費で??映?化"
.
Eiga.com
(in Japanese). December 8, 2011
. Retrieved
March 24,
2024
.
- ^
Faraci, Devin (February 27, 2012).
"War of the Gargantuas: The Movie That Made Brad Pitt An Actor"
.
Birth.Movies.Death
.
Archived
from the original on November 27, 2021
. Retrieved
November 27,
2021
.
- ^
Ryan, Michael (August 29, 2015).
"Obsessive, Compulsive, Procedural #5: Scooby-Doo"
.
Popoptiq
.
Archived
from the original on April 26, 2018
. Retrieved
April 26,
2018
.
- ^
Bell, Carrie (September 25, 2012).
"
'Frankenweenie' premiere: Tim Burton doesn't think 'the movie is scary at all'
"
.
Entertainment Weekly
. Retrieved
May 25,
2018
.
- ^
Blanco, Alvin (July 13, 2013).
"Pacific Rim Director Guillermo Del Toro's Top 5 Kaiju Films"
.
Hip Hop Wired
.
Archived
from the original on June 27, 2021
. Retrieved
November 27,
2021
.
- ^
Haas, Lupe (July 8, 2013).
"Pacific Rim's Guillermo del Toro on Remaking Classic Japanese Monster Movies"
.
Cine Movie
.
Archived
from the original on November 27, 2021
. Retrieved
November 27,
2021
.
- ^
mrbeaks (July 8, 2013).
"Mr. Beaks Talks Pacific Rim, World Building And Gargantuas With Guillermo del Toro And Travis Beacham! Part One Of Two!"
.
Ain't It Cool News
.
Archived
from the original on August 26, 2018
. Retrieved
May 25,
2018
.
- ^
Guest, Gutter (March 16, 2013).
"The Words Got Stuck In My Throat"
.
The Cultural Gutter
.
Archived
from the original on August 26, 2018
. Retrieved
August 25,
2018
.
- ^
Valentine, Evan (August 15, 2019).
"Godzilla Director Mike Dougherty Reveals The Kaijus He Wants To Introduce Next"
.
Comicbook.com
.
Archived
from the original on October 10, 2019
. Retrieved
October 10,
2019
.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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