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The War of the Gargantuas

Original title: Furankenshutain no kaijû: Sanda tai Gaira
  • 1966
  • G
  • 1h 32m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
3.3K
YOUR RATING
The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
An experimental lab animal called a gargantua escapes from his captors and is suspected to be the creature that is killing people all over the countryside. But when the gargantua from the lab appears at the same time as the evil gargantua, the two begin to battle across Japan.
Play trailer2:19
1 Video
32 Photos
ActionHorrorSci-Fi

An experimental lab animal called a gargantua escapes from his captors and is suspected to be the creature that is killing people all over the countryside. But when the gargantua from the la... Read allAn experimental lab animal called a gargantua escapes from his captors and is suspected to be the creature that is killing people all over the countryside. But when the gargantua from the lab appears at the same time as the evil gargantua, the two begin to battle across Japan.An experimental lab animal called a gargantua escapes from his captors and is suspected to be the creature that is killing people all over the countryside. But when the gargantua from the lab appears at the same time as the evil gargantua, the two begin to battle across Japan.

  • Director
    • Ishirô Honda
  • Writers
    • Reuben Bercovitch
    • Ishirô Honda
    • Takeshi Kimura
  • Stars
    • Russ Tamblyn
    • Kumi Mizuno
    • Kenji Sahara
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.2/10
    3.3K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Ishirô Honda
    • Writers
      • Reuben Bercovitch
      • Ishirô Honda
      • Takeshi Kimura
    • Stars
      • Russ Tamblyn
      • Kumi Mizuno
      • Kenji Sahara
    • 81User reviews
    • 48Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:19
    Watch Official Trailer

    Photos32

    Haruo Nakajima and Yû Sekita in The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
    The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
    Kumi Mizuno and Russ Tamblyn in The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
    Kipp Hamilton in The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
    Kipp Hamilton in The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
    Haruo Nakajima and Yû Sekita in The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
    Haruo Nakajima and Yû Sekita in The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
    Haruo Nakajima in The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
    Kumi Mizuno and Russ Tamblyn in The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
    Kumi Mizuno, Kenji Sahara, and Russ Tamblyn in The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
    Kumi Mizuno, Kenji Sahara, and Russ Tamblyn in The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
    Kumi Mizuno and Russ Tamblyn in The War of the Gargantuas (1966)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Russ Tamblyn
    Russ Tamblyn
    • Dr. Paul Stewart
    • (as Rasu Tanburin)
    Kumi Mizuno
    Kumi Mizuno
    • Akemi Togawa
    Kenji Sahara
    Kenji Sahara
    • Dr. Yuzo Majida
    Nobuo Nakamura
    Nobuo Nakamura
    • Dr. Kita
    Jun Tazaki
    Jun Tazaki
    • General
    Hisaya Itô
    Hisaya Itô
    • Police Chief
    Yoshifumi Tajima
    Yoshifumi Tajima
    • Police Officer
    Ren Yamamoto
    • Sailor
    Kipp Hamilton
    Kipp Hamilton
    • Singer
    Kôzô Nomura
    • General's Aide
    Nadao Kirino
    • Soldier
    Shôichi Hirose
    Shôichi Hirose
    • Soldier
    Tadashi Okabe
    • Defiant Reporter
    Hideo Shibuya
    • Skeptical Reporter
    Yoshio Katsube
    • Reporter
    Yutaka Oka
    • Reporter
    Ikio Sawamura
    Ikio Sawamura
    • Fisherman #1
    Seishirô Kuno
    • Fisherman #2
    • Director
      • Ishirô Honda
    • Writers
      • Reuben Bercovitch
      • Ishirô Honda
      • Takeshi Kimura
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      During the process of dubbing the film for American audiences, Russ Tamblyn's audio track was lost, meaning that he had to re-dub all his lines, which might explain why he sounds so disinterested throughout the film. Due to improvising much of the dialogue, he had to rely on memory and reading lip movements to re-dub it.
    • Goofs
      In the scene where a helicopter is used to lure the green gargantuan into the laser attack, the wire used to suspend the model helicopter can clearly be seen.
    • Quotes

      Akemi Togawa: They don't seem to be afraid of Gaira.

      Dr. Paul Stewart: Ah, they're young; young people don't have too much fear... It's strange, you know. Whenever there's a strong evil force around, youth seems to blossom. Like when the Nazi's captured Paris. All of the night clubs and theaters were filled with young people.

      Akemi Togawa: Aren't we guilty of doing the same thing?

      Dr. Paul Stewart: I don't feel guilt; I don't think they do either...

    • Alternate versions
      Co-producer Henry Saperstein commissioned an English-dubbed US version using Glen Glenn Sound, a Los Angeles-based company. This version removes references to the preceding film, Frankenstein Conquers the World, with the creatures being referred to as "Gargantuas" instead of "Frankensteins." However, this version also includes additional footage not featured in the original Japanese version, including the scene where Dr. Stewart references a severed hand, supposedly Frankenstein's from the previous film.
    • Connections
      Edited into Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)

    User reviews81

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Another Classic 60s Kaiju Flick
    "War Of The Gargantuas" comes from my favorite era of Toho's kaiju flicks, the 1960s, when the emphasis was relatively straightforward action and fun, and thankfully no annoying little kids making friends with the monsters. And this time, we have a monster in the Green Gargantua (Gaira) who is really frightening and who eats people to boot (not even Godzilla ever went that far). It left me unnerved the first time I saw it as a kid.

    Like most kaiju films, the original Japanese version is much better than the later dubbed American version. Russ Tamblyn (generally okay but clearly bored and resentful of his sudden fall from the heights of "West Side Story" and "The Haunting") might have gotten his own voice back in the U.S version (the Japanese actor who dubs him in the original doesn't sound anything like him at all and in Toho's European market English dub they used another actor), but everything else about it is decidedly inferior. The dubbing is awful, and sections of Akira Ifukube's score are replaced with an endless, monotonous theme for the military that I think was first used in "Earth Versus The Flying Saucers." Cropped and faded, as existing American video prints are now, the film really looks cheap and silly and the flaws are magnified. The original Japanese version in widescreen format, has beautiful color and sound that immediately conjure the image of a stylish late 60s action flick with reasonably good FX for the time, and the results far more entertaining in the end. Also in the Japanese version, we learn that this movie is actually a sequel to "Frankenstein Conquers The World" since the monsters are referred to as "Frankensteins" rather than "Gargantuas" as they are in the dubbed version.

    As for the infamous nightclub scene featuring ex-Fox starlet Kipp Hamilton's infamously bad song before she gets attacked (but contrary to what others say here, not eaten), even that somehow comes off better in the Japanese version. When you stop to think of it, the Japanese audiences had it better since they couldn't understand a word of those inane lyrics when they were watching! But what the heck, how many other bad songs did we suffer through in all those James Bond film knockoffs in the late 60s? ("Your Zowie Face" in "In Like Flint" anyone?) I prefer to write that off to the goofy spirit of the times. And "War Of The Gargantuas" is in the best tradition of the goofy spirit of fun 60s kaiju that remains a guilty pleasure to savor again and again in my book.
    helpful•20
    1
    • Eric-62-2
    • Mar 29, 2001

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    FAQ2

    • Why do the two gargantuas begin to fight each other?
    • What are the differences between the Japanese Version and the US Version?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 29, 1970 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Frankenstein - Zweikampf der Giganten
    • Production companies
      • Benedict Pictures Corp.
      • Toho Company
      • United Productions of America (UPA)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 32 minutes
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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