Varan the Unbelievable (1958/1962) Movie Review
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- Опубликовано: 12 июн 2020
- Here's one of those "if you like Godzilla, you might like this" videos! Enjoy. :)
Every time I say the title I feel like I'm announcing a magician... 
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Varan was originally planned as a TV movie produced for ABC television, supposedly the first in a series of movies for ABC. According to the IMDB Varan page (and other sources) ABC pulled out just before shooting. My guess is that Toho followed through on plans for an American version but placed little stock in it, concentrating their efforts on salvaging it for Japanese audiences. I had a childhood memory of Godzilla attacking a building where you could see the silhouettes of people running around through the building's windows. As an adult I searched for that scene in all Godzilla movies to no avail. Imagine my shock upon learning that it was actually Varan I was remembering. Memory can be a strange thing! I'm so glad you're continuing your journey through Japanese monster movies - there's still a lot out there to see once you're past the Big G!
@King Kong Fan what sources say otherwise?
Awesome channel, instant sub! Varan is one of my favorites. Here in Germany it took almost 60 years till it got a official release and german dub. They did a good job with making it sound like a 50s dub. Thankfully they used the Japanese version for it.
Thank you and welcome to the channel!
Hurray! It’s Varan! Great review!...Fun fact! Originally it was going to be Varan, Angurius, and Baragon in the original script for Godzilla, Mothra, King Girdorah all monsters attack film.
The movie is really a "by the numbers" kaiju flick. Which is strange cause the movie was made extremely early in the Toho kaiju rooster. I personally like it, but then again I am easy to please. I mean I just got through watching Attack of the Crab Monsters and a host of other bad monster flicks on Amazon prime in the last few days lol.
I personally am glad to see ya give these films a chance. Some are pleasant surprises and some are not. But that is the role of the dice with any movie. Verily, you do a excellent job at getting your feelings and jovial personality across when do these videos. So it makes me smile, and starting off the day with a smile is not a bad way to begin it. So I guess thank you for starting me day off on a incredible and joyful way. Starting on the right foot :). I always find old monster movies to be engendering to feeling happy lol.
One of these days I would love to see you start going through some of the most "notorious" black and white monster flicks on Amazon Prime. Stuff like the aforementioned Attack of the Crab Monster, The Giant Gila Monster, Killer Shrews. Movies that are bad, but fun to riff on when you are watching them and end up being a lot of fun :)
Prime keeps recommending Attack of the Crab Monsters to me and I keep saying, "Okay, but I'm not that desperate yet!" :) I'm sure I'll watch it eventually. I feel like just about every movie has something to offer, even if it's just a good unintended laugh. I'm glad I helped brighten your day!
@@JeromeWeiselberry "Attack of the Crab Monsters" is surprisingly decent.
Thank you for the double review ! I was wondering why the title had two dates ha,ha. Enjoyed your topic . Be well :)
Ha, yes, that was tricky. Thanks; same to you!
I've never actually seen Varan the Unbelievable.
Only bits and pieces.
Looks like I'll be paying a visit to the Internet Archive tomorrow.
You put a smile on my face again, lol! Thanks!
Thank you for this review, I have been looking for someone to do a comparison review. I’ll be keeping up with your reviews and will look at your other content. Hope you have a wonderful day!
Thank you!
I never even knew Varan The Unbelievable existed so thank you for that. And thank you for going the extra mile and reviewing both versions. I really liked your "alternate universe" black and white segment. I don't know if it was your intent but it made me laugh a little. Good stuff!
Great review! You know your stuff! Subscribed! 🙌🏽
I do the best I can. :) Thanks!
This is the one TOHO Godzilla universe movie I haven’t seen. Thank you for this review. Glad I didn’t waste my time with the US version
Thanks for this, and your diligence in watching both versions. I think i would have given up on the Americanised one! I really enjoyed Varan when i saw it mainly for the atmospheric first half. I was only at the beginning of my kaiju journey when i did, so I enjoyed the second half a lot too. That flying reveal kept me going for ages!
Aww poor Varan, I think it's hard to introduce any new kaiju successfully! Never seen this one though, thanks for the review J! I have to look for it now.
I’ve been putting off this Toho film because I couldn’t find the original and I didn’t want to see a chopped up version...hopefully they will release a high def original version in the future..until then thanks for the aaaa-hhuuumm recommendation 😉 on where to find an original version!
I watched it from Amazon as well. When I showed this film to my cousins, they mistook Varan for Godzilla.
Fascinating review ! This foreign film was totally unknown to me before now ! Myron Healey of course looks very familiar since he appeared in a LOT of movies and TV shows ( I looked him up online and his career ran from 1943 to 1994 !). Seemed to have made a guest appearance in almost every 1960s TV series ! In fact I saw him just recently in a late 50s episode of "Perry Mason" & in the classic 1958 Western "Rio Bravo". Thanks for another very enjoyable video, young lady ! KUDOS !! :-)
The libraries in your area are still closed? That's too bad. Any idea when they will open back up? Just last week my local library reopened but just for curbside pick up. I finally got my hands on a book I've had on hold since March.
That's great! I hope it turns out to have been worth the wait! My library just opened for curbside pickup last week. There's still no inter-library loan service, though, and that's what I use the most.
Brilliant!
I just talked about Varan on one of my last videos discussing movies that need a updated release :)
Just subbed. Love the channel
Thank you!
Thank you for satisfying my hankering to see your Varan the Unbelievable review! 🙆♀️
Hey Jerome....you said you couldn't find sources for movie review request.
I recommended " The Incident" ( that one you can see on youtube) hard to find a US DVD version).
" David and Lisa" is on DVD and blu ray.
" A time to live, And a time to die" WW2 movie, is available on DVD.
" Blow up" is available on DVD.
"It, the legend of the Gollem" is here on youtube.
This is the Kaiju review version of Double Indemnity so I shall call it Double Reviewnity or maybe Double Kaijunity lol. This review has mystery, intrigue, a secret site filled with missing data and footage revealing what was cut and by whom, our star reviewer/investigator taking us viewers through the case in black & white for the US version like a film noir PI and into colour for the original Japanese version of Varan the Unbelievable like The Wizard of Weis lol. Such an interesting and creative review. I had never heard of the Internet Archive before today and have spent quite a while this evening looking through its goodies lol, the way I see it a site with the image of an ancient Greek temple on its homepage must be legitimate, the temple has columns, it looks like the temple of Zeus, you can't turn down an invitation from Zeus, I think it's a law in Greece lol. Woodward and Bernstein had Deep Throat for essential and insightful information and we viewers have Jerome Weiselberry, I think we win lol. As soon as I get through some more Godzilla films I intend to watch the outliers like Varan and now know the Japanese version is the one to see.
Having looked into the Internet Archive a little more the intention behind its creation appears to be genuinely legitimate, and legally it also looks that way, initially at least, being non profit, seemingly no add revenue and set up by well meaning people. It has on its site things like digital copies of fangoria magazines from the 60's and 70's, to some they'd be called old rubbish you might find in the rubbish bin or on EBay for 50 pence, to others they're gold, but users have also uploaded copyrighted books and such, some authors and their publishers are currently in the process of taking legal action against them understandably and the site maybe shut down, it may stay standing but have less content available. I will use it for goodies like magazines and articles that have been out of publication for decades and attempt to avoid possible copyrighted material. What I am 100% SURE about is that Director of Varan the Unbelievable Ishirō Honda would be honoured that you reviewed his original version of the film the way he intended it to be alongside the less flattering US version, not only that but I'm also sure the Studio, if it still existed in its 50's form and filmmaker if he was still living would've been delighted to send you a copy to review for free like Studios do all the time for other RUclips reviewers, sending them the newest released bad Fast and Furious blockbuster to sell, plus the original Japanese version is harder to find than the Ark of the Covenant, absolutely no reason to feel any way awkward about it. Ark of the Covenant, a box filled with the lost commandment stone tablets, aka the original Internet Archive lol. ~ Thank you Ms Weiselberry ~
The music in this film is amazing
Hope you can find & watch Toho's HALF HUMAN which came out at the same time & stars Akira Takarada (who gets rescued by the Yeti after being suspended over a cliff by villagers)
Your Right. I saw both versions and The Japanese cut is The Superior version. In The English version most of the scenes are cropped. And he doesn't even fly. But The most annoying thing about it is that you can tell the scenes from The Godzilla movie. The building collapsing is shown at least 3 times. Boring. The Japanese version is better but not by much. Love your review.
This is one of the few films among the Japanese giant monster genre that, to me (as a person working in the field of visual effects and design) had some of the most believable "monster costume" action and, as importantly, photographic lighting and angles. Well, here I am almost entirely talking about the scenes in the jungle environment. I think this was one of the better-designed and constructed creations from Toho studios, tho, as you point out, the face is not the best: However re the face, to me the problem is just when it is shown straight-on, since from off-axis angles I think it looks pretty good. Mostly here I'm talking about BELIEVABILITY. The man-in-suit seldom works for a 4-legged creature, but it is pretty believable as it moves thru the hills and smashes the village. One very outstanding thing to me is the use of very low, human-perspective angles, meaning the monster is shown in "down on the ground" human-oriented pov's. These to me represent some of the most effective shots in any of these 50's-60's Toho projects, especially when the shots are framed from under the trees, with leafy branches in the foreground, which puts you, the audience member, in the same exact situation as the characters witnessing the action. These angles are unique (mostly) to this film, and feel (to me) very frightening/threatening. When I first saw this film on its initial release I almost jumped up and exclaimed "why don't they shoot more of their films like this!??". It was my reaction to Toho's traditional use of camera angles during monster romps being shot all too often from the same camera height as the actual men in the suits moving thru the miniatures. I always saw that as a huge mistake, and I found it very distracting. Not to take away from the fun entirely from these later films, which, after the first few (the original Godzilla, Rodan and The Mysterians, mainly) weren't meant to be taken very seriously at all.
Anyway,I'm on the same page with your other comments about this film, but do find the actual monster footage in the first part very very well done, all things considered. Thanks for even looking at it, and for your detailed overview. (and apologies for any typos or grammar problems/didn't have time to edit ;-7
Poor Varan received scant respect from Toho. His "role" in Destroy All Monsters (1968) is so minor you will miss him if you blink; he was in early draft of what eventually became Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) but was scratched due to the low budget, and was slated to be one of the Guardian Monsters in GMK (2001) - along with Angilas - but were replaced by King Ghidorah and Mothra.
Fun fact: King Ghidorah's faces in GMK were actually based on Varan's head design...
Yea, they originally wanted Varan to be the monster in that movie instead of Ghidorah, which would have been AWESOME! Here's another fun fact: the actor who played Baragon in that movie is a girl-the only girl in a Toho monster suit-and she was CUTE! If you watch the behind the scenes, she makes a cute roaring sound when she is in the suit
@@SJHFoto Rodan and Minya in "Godzilla: Final Wars" was also played by a woman.
You should watch The Last War (1961), another Toho tokusatsu film, even if it has no kaiju in it.
It's a really great film and I first heard of it when I played Metal Gear Solid 3.
I keep meaning to! I just haven't gotten a chance yet. SOON.
I LOVE Varan-I especially like that they used him in the Marc Cerassi novels! (These are VERY hard to find-they were made around the turn of the century, and until recently, they were the only adult series novels made in the Godzilla universe in English. I have them, and they are GREAT! The only downside is that they only released 4 of the 5 so the story is unfinished (The 1998 Godzilla movie was such a flop that Toho took back the license, and the novels weren't allowed to be published. I have the 4, and they REALLY are excellent)
I agree. Slightly underdeveloped, given that Cerasini was pumping them out to keep up with the schedule, but still very good. Realistic depictions of monster action, with particularly well written military battles, and a cool universe of characters that keep popping up in later books.
I hope that you'll eventually review the Gamera movies some day.
The original film was pretty good.
The rest of the Showa era sequels aren't too great.
But the Heisei Era Trilogy is superb.
And so is the Millennium Era film.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on them.
I've got the first one and the Heisei trilogy on my to-do list. The Showa sequels aren't a definite. It kind of depends on how I feel about the first one. But I don't think I'm aware of a Millennium-era Gamera film...
@@JeromeWeiselberry from 2006. It's called "Gamera the Brave" it does an awesome job of capturing the kid friendly feel of the Showa era and the action and more mature elements of the Heisei era.
It plays out almost like a Kaiju movie in the style of Steven Spielberg's E.T. *(group of kids befriending and helping a creature).
@@JeromeWeiselberry I highly recommend trying out the Showa Gamera sequels. The first one, *Gamera vs. Barugon* is serious in tone, and very long for a kaiju movie of the time, but after that they decided to strictly target kids. The results are hilarious, but probably not in the way they intended.
If you only watch one, I would vote for *Gamera vs. Jiger.* I remember that one being the most entertainingly ridiculous. Or maybe *Super Monster Gamera,* which is mostly a clip show of all the preceding movies, with some *Star Wars* and superhero stuff thrown in. But pretty much all of them recap all the previous movies, so it's easy to cut the runtime down by skipping past what you've already seen.
I'll have to make sure "Gamera the Brave" is on the list then so that I get a sample of Gamera from each era. As far as the Showa sequels go, I figured once I did a couple Gamera movies, people would want me to do some (or all) of the sequels. Since I'm kind of overwhelmed by the number (and the low IMDb ratings), I thought I might do a viewers' choice thing and let you all pick which ones I review, for better or worse. We'll see what happens when I get there. :)
@@robertrodriguez7087 Gamera vs Barugon is pretty good. That's true. It's the best of the Showa sequels.
Even the third movie is at least "famous" for introducing Gamera's main foe, Gyaos.
But they're just generally "so bad they're good".
After seeing them initially, I can't sit through them again without watching the MST3K versions of 3-7 & the Elvira hosted version of 8 ("Super Monster").
Varanus is a genus in the Varanidae family, which consists of large, predatory lizards (including the extinct mosasaurs). I've always assumed that's where they got the name from, but I don't actually know.
I have the American version on tape. Bought it in middle school, I think. All I remember is being bored by it. I've been trying to hunt down the Japanese version for years. I'm hoping Criterion will get the other non-Godzilla Toho Showa scifi movies and release them (they have Rodan and War of the Gargantuas, and have said they'll consider a physical release, but no other info yet). Tempting as it is to watch on Internet Archive, I'll wait until I can find a legitimate release.
I think the closest I came to a legitimate scientific explanation was something about monitor lizards. But not being into reptiles and amphibians, I didn't investigate much further after that. :) According to another viewer the Internet Archive isn't the sketchy site I thought it might be, and I've looked into it a little more myself and it seems to check out. I don't know if that changes your mind at all. Even if it's legal, you'd still be viewing the movie online, which isn't optimal.
@@JeromeWeiselberry Thanks for the response. There's actually an attempt going on to shut down the Internet Archive because of illegal movie uploads there, which is not what it was supposed to be used for. Either way, it's not that I'm worried about anything on my end, it's more an ethical thing. No shade on you if you want to use it though, there's pretty much no other way to see some of those movies right now. Maybe I can find it when I go to Japan in a couple of years.
Edit: Just looked it up, and apparently the Internet Archive e-book library is shutting down June 15 due to publisher copyright claims.
I understand; I feel uncomfortable watching movies on RUclips partly for that reason, and I try not to instruct or encourage people to do anything illegal. If it's defined itself as a library and isn't profiting from the content, I feel like that's different, but I'm sure film studios and other copyright holders don't agree. Unfortunately, it's just another aspect of media and file sharing on the Internet that's tricky to navigate.
Yeah. I mean, if I wrote a book or made a movie and then people started sharing it for free without my permission, I wouldn't be too happy. I'm on the side of the copyright owners. I do use the Internet Archive to find high quality downloads of movies I'm doing video reviews of, but only if I already own them or have access to them through a streaming service, and after I make the reviews, I delete them.
@@JeromeWeiselberry love not like and have FUN. You may never get off the computer again.
Hikeeba! Why do I get the sneaking suspicion that you're a mistie? BTW, is this a good time to mention that Joel Hodgson is a friend of mine?
More like "If you like Godzilla, you might watch this one to the end without switching to something else". Unfortunately it's canon (Showa-era, anyway) thanks to Destroy All Monsters.
Congratulations, you have now seen the two weakest Honda Sci-fi films with your last two entries - this one and Yog. This movie is okay - the Japanese version, that is. I've never seen the American version and never will. Don't know how I missed this before. I was a child of the 70's, so you would think I would have seen it once. Maybe I did and just forgot about it. This movie suffered from a few things. One being that it was supposed to be an American co-production, but they backed out, as another reviewer pointed out. That wouldn't be the last time they did that - see Atragon, which I recommend, by the way. Varan was also being shot as a TV mini-series so it was formatted for TV and not for the movies. Since they had no time, they were forced to use the footage they had, so they had to crop the pre-existing scenes to fit the movie screen ratio. This is also why it was shot in black and white. Most of their movies were being shot in color. Time constraints and budget constraints would rear their ugly head increasingly through the 60's and early 70's. Just think of the movies we could have gotten, if the studio would have let the artists be artists.
I personally like Varan's design. Especially considering the time when he was created. It would have been nice to see him really used again - not just cameos. I agree with you that the movie starts off good and then gets formulaic towards the end. They disposed of him a little too easily. Having him look up while dropping a bomb down his throat? Kind of weak. The main male actor also didn't get a lot a love from Honda, he only had bit parts in his other movies. Maybe you can find some other Honda movies on that internet archive? Let us all hope so.
Just found your channel and subbed :) I’d love to see your review more kaiju films! Would you ever consider doing the showa Gamera series? They’re awful and I almost feel bad asking you to put yourself through them but it would make for some awesome and funny videos! Or what about the hesei and millennium Godzilla films? The hesei gamera films are actually incredible you should check them out as well if you haven’t already. Cya!
Thank you! I've reviewed the Heisei and Millennium Godzilla films already, and I'm planning to review some Gamera stuff and other kaiju movies in the future. :)
Jerome Weiselberry my bad I didn’t see your other Godzilla videos 😂 I watched them all! And can’t wait to see your take on the showa gamera films :)
Hi 👋Happy you’re having a good day🙏you’re awesome👍 Rock on👋🙏😀👍🌈
You should watch THEM it's one of the best monster movies of the 1950s.
Such a boring movie. No wonder toho barely and when I mean barley used Varan in another movie. But that's not the characters fault it's the movie. And hey the Japanese version is way better then the American version. Also what do you think of godzilla vs kong being delayed till May 21 2021?
I hadn't heard that announcement. Too bad, but not surprising.
I'm kind of surprised you didn't enjoy Varan more. I thought it was very fun. I agree that the American version is quite lacking and has a disjointed plot.
I have the original Japanese version...its rare.
Not going to tell you the banned Japanese cut of half human is at the internet archive or all the Toho films. Nope, not telling you that.
...Interesting.
Oh my goodness, The Last War is there too. I've been looking for that one.
Jerome Weiselberry the Japanese version of Gorath as well. It’s the only way to see Gorath over here in the USA sadly (Never released over here). And Half Human was Ishiro Honda’s next Toho film after Godzilla with most of the same cast (and banned by Toho since 1960 for the same reason Gone with the Wind is being pulled, politically incorrect portrayals of minority people). Also the last war is a great film. Internet Archive shouldn’t be used for films that can be seen streaming/rented or seen through other means but I may use it for very old foreign films that aren’t available in any form over here. But if it is on dvd or streaming on Netflix or amazon do that instead.
The Three Treasures is also on I.A.
@@JeromeWeiselberry You have been missing out on the Internet Archive, the The Encyclopædia Britannica of the internet, or biggest library of the Internet, I kid you not. Books, new and old and antique, movies, same thing, games from...well if u ever want to play the old Pong again or 1st time they have it. They have, and this is an understatement, EVERYTHING, and they keep working on and improving it. Speeches, old newspaper clippings from way way back you can actually look at and read, like I said, EVERYTHING
@@noirgatherer "Gorath" absolutely was released in America. It was released in 1964 by Brenco (who also released "The Human Vapor" and "The Last War" here). And you can occasionally see the U.S. version broadcast on the Comet channel.
The Japanese version is much better. Check out the Daimajin Trilogy when you get a chance.
I second a Daimajin recommendation. They're basically three different directors' takes on the same overall plot. I'd say the first is the best.
I've still never seen the original version... But yeah, the American cut is pretty bad.
I did see this film on its original US/doctored release in the theater. It was double-billed with a very elaborately-done German-Polish SF film called FIRST SPACESHIP ON VENUS (original title THE SILENT STAR...and it's also known by a couple of other titles). Both of these films were picked up by the lowest of the low low-budget distributors, Crown-International, who was responsible for duplicating, "Americanizing", editing and releasing them here in the US. To say the least, they did a terrible job with both films. I feel they did even worse by the very interesting THE SILENT STAR---which is another film to pursue in its original foreign-language version: The US version is awful in every way, including extremely poor quality, contrast-y release prints. VARAN, in black and white, didn't suffer visually as much, but wound up being far more chopped up, dragged out and meh-ish. If it'd been a Chinese film I coulda said it was "Chop Phewy"!...er, sorry for that.)
I've never heard of The Silent Star. But I'll make a mental note that, if ever I should come across it, I must make sure it's the original version!
@@JeromeWeiselberry I don't believe that THE SILENT STAR has been released in a dubbed version. It was released in a 3-dvd SF set by DEFA studios some years ago. SILENT STAR is the only one of the 3 films worth watching----in my opinion/take with a pinch of salt ;-7. The science in the film is pretty abstract and hard to follow, but, at least visually, it is a feast for the eyeballs (tho some of the efx are a little shaky here and there. Exception to that is a wonderfully clever use of perspective very large miniatures dealling with the Venus-bound ship launch site on Earth that is still very impressive.)
Sometimes you are so adorable I can't stand it.
1958? Caucasian husband, asian wife? This is a rather open minded movie for that time period.
The American version is completely garbage, Watch the Japanese versions of Kaiju movies, this movie is one of my original favourite
I grew up with the US version but after seeing the orginal Japanese version,I can't stand the US version anymore.