Read reviews of DAIKAIJU BARAN and see how confused they are. If I wrote one it'd probably be no less so. This is perfectly normal, because BARAN is a confused production for its type. I'd mean that in a good way if I could, so I'll distill my comments to the following points about it:
1) music score, Akira Ifukube going full tilt, heavily orchestrated. There're those out there not unlike me who'll just eat it up;
2) it's been written the aspect ratio changed from standard academy to widescreen anamorphic mid-filming when it became a theatrical product instead of TV release, necessitating cropping tops/bottoms off of scenes already lensed. Having examined the film myself many times I don't detect any hard evidence of this in the picture frame itself, it may be a false issue, or one confused with the use of some stock footage lifted from GOJIRA which of course was non-anamorphic and so required cropping for those shots alone;
3) until the advent of VHS tapes and home video, BARAN was largely forgotten in its home country, not having enjoyed any re-releases there over the years since 1958. Much to the ire of knowledgeable Japanese fans. So the scenes of monster Baran flying became the stuff of hardcore fan mythology;
4) I like DAIKAIJU BARAN; it is done serious and straight, is part of a beautiful Black & White & Cinemascope format genre (the only Toho monster movie filmed that way, the 1st GAMERA film being a B&W 'scope Daiei production), and has some exotic flourishes for director Ishiro Honda who frequently took the pedestrian route. Despatching the beast by dropping parachuted explosives for it to swallow and detonate within is an imaginative approach Toho never re-used;
5) how it started as a US co-production, then stranded mid-filming to 100% Japanese product, only to be largely re-shot a couple years later transforming into more a US film again, by Crown International Pictures as Varan The Unbelievable is bizarre production genesis. Greg Shoemaker publisher/editor of renown Japanese Fantasy Film Journal fanzine termed Varan a US production using Japanese stock footage, a fairly accurate estimation. To watch it (the US Varan) is to thrill to endless transition shots of a military Jeep riding actor Myron Healy around rocky terrain. At a fan convention Myron was asked about it and remembered actress Tsuruko Kobayashi was a terrific cook on the set. The 1962 Crown Int'l theatrical Varan trailer terms it 'Tumultuous' in a title slide. Believe me the English Varan is anything but tumultuous. If one listens to the soundtrack ever so carefully you'll detect a microscopic whisper of the original Ifukube music score buried deep there. Otherwise and overall its stock anonymous film library music;
6) when the Ifukube music score was 1st released on a Japanese CD, it contained a couple additional music cues at the end labeled 'intended for TV version'. Go figure.
1) music score, Akira Ifukube going full tilt, heavily orchestrated. There're those out there not unlike me who'll just eat it up;
2) it's been written the aspect ratio changed from standard academy to widescreen anamorphic mid-filming when it became a theatrical product instead of TV release, necessitating cropping tops/bottoms off of scenes already lensed. Having examined the film myself many times I don't detect any hard evidence of this in the picture frame itself, it may be a false issue, or one confused with the use of some stock footage lifted from GOJIRA which of course was non-anamorphic and so required cropping for those shots alone;
3) until the advent of VHS tapes and home video, BARAN was largely forgotten in its home country, not having enjoyed any re-releases there over the years since 1958. Much to the ire of knowledgeable Japanese fans. So the scenes of monster Baran flying became the stuff of hardcore fan mythology;
4) I like DAIKAIJU BARAN; it is done serious and straight, is part of a beautiful Black & White & Cinemascope format genre (the only Toho monster movie filmed that way, the 1st GAMERA film being a B&W 'scope Daiei production), and has some exotic flourishes for director Ishiro Honda who frequently took the pedestrian route. Despatching the beast by dropping parachuted explosives for it to swallow and detonate within is an imaginative approach Toho never re-used;
5) how it started as a US co-production, then stranded mid-filming to 100% Japanese product, only to be largely re-shot a couple years later transforming into more a US film again, by Crown International Pictures as Varan The Unbelievable is bizarre production genesis. Greg Shoemaker publisher/editor of renown Japanese Fantasy Film Journal fanzine termed Varan a US production using Japanese stock footage, a fairly accurate estimation. To watch it (the US Varan) is to thrill to endless transition shots of a military Jeep riding actor Myron Healy around rocky terrain. At a fan convention Myron was asked about it and remembered actress Tsuruko Kobayashi was a terrific cook on the set. The 1962 Crown Int'l theatrical Varan trailer terms it 'Tumultuous' in a title slide. Believe me the English Varan is anything but tumultuous. If one listens to the soundtrack ever so carefully you'll detect a microscopic whisper of the original Ifukube music score buried deep there. Otherwise and overall its stock anonymous film library music;
6) when the Ifukube music score was 1st released on a Japanese CD, it contained a couple additional music cues at the end labeled 'intended for TV version'. Go figure.