Varan (film)

Varan Alternate titles Giant Monster Varan (1958) Varan, the Unbelievable (1962) See alternate titles Directed by Ishiro Honda Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka Written by Ken Kuronuma, Shinichi Sekizawa Music by Akira Ifukube Distributor TohoJP Crown International PicturesUS Rating Not Rated Running time 87 minutesJP (1 hour, 27 minutes) 70 minutesUS (1 hour, 10 minutes) Aspect ratio 2.00:1

“	When modern navy scientists defy the unknown mysteries of the past, perpetuated by centuries of native belief, then nature strikes in all its vengeance in Varan, the Unbelievable! For generations, the legend was passed on. They said Varan was there, deep in the still waters. They said, "Let Varan sleep!", but the navy commander would not heed their warning. He moved forward, ever searching, ever going deeper and deeper, until it was too late! Varan rose from the depths slowly, unrelentingly, to wreak its vengeance on the civilization that wanted to know too much. Tumultuous! Terrifying! So awesome it will shock you to the core! Varan, the Unbelievable!	„
	— Trailer for Varan, the Unbelievable

Varan (大怪獣バラン,   Daikaijū Baran, lit. Giant Monster Varan) is a 1958 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Toho, and the company's last black-and-white kaiju film. It was released to Japanese theaters on October 14, 1958.

Plot

Professor Sugimoto, a biologist, sends two scholars to Iwaya Village in the Tohoku region of Japan to investigate the appearance of a butterfly normally native to Siberia. The expedition ends in tragedy when the two men are killed under unexplained circumstances. The superstitious natives blame the mountain god Baradagi, an angle played up in the press. Yuriko Shinjo, a reporter and sister of one of the deceased students, intends to solve this new mystery and sets off for Iwaya Village with Horiguchi, a cowardly photographer, and Kenji Uozaki, one of Professor Sugimoto's pupils.

While hiking to the village, the trio meets Gen, a native boy, who brings the group to the site of a ritual meant to appease the wrath of Baradagi. A frightening noise sends the villagers into a panic and Chibi, Gen's dog, chases after the source of the bellowing sound. Despite pleas from the priest, Kenji leads Yuriko, Horiguchi, and a group of natives into Baradagi's forest to rescue the boy. Gen, his mother, and Chibi are reunited at the edge of the foggy lake. The reunion is short-lived, however, as a monstrous creature, identified as Baradagi by the natives, rises from the water and advances on the mountain village. The natives can only watch helplessly as the monster demolishes the small town before returning to the lake.

Professor Sugimoto deduces the creature is a Varanopode, a reptile family that had lived 185 million years ago, and gives it the name Varan. The Defense Agency dispatches troops to the lake to counter the threat. Chemical explosives are effective in luring Varan from the bottom of the lake but enrage the monster. Varan easily survives the artillery assault and the Defense Forces order a retreat, during which Yuriko is separated from her colleagues. Kenji manages to rescue her, and to evade the advancing monster the two take shelter in a nearby cave. Varan pursues them, finally distracted by the JSDF's flares long enough for the duo to get to safety. The monster climbs the mountain. It spreads its limbs, displaying a thin membrane that allows it to glide away.

Varan is next spotted in the Uraga Channel, heading southwest towards Tokyo. The combined forces of the Navy and Air Force set up a defense line to stop the monster at sea. Bombs, missiles, and depth charges all prove ineffective on the prehistoric monster. Scientists infer that Varan's tough exterior is responsible for its apparent immunity to conventional weaponry. It seems nothing will work against the creature until Dr. Fujimura reveals that has invented an explosive designed to demolish rocks from the inside out. The Defense Agency gets to work adapting it as a weapon while simultaneously evacuating the coastal regions of Tokyo in preparation for a full-out assault on Varan at Haneda Airport.

Varan surfaces and is met with a fierce barrage of artillery. Meanwhile, the JSDF rigs a truck carrying a payload of Dr. Fujimura's explosive to collide with the monster once it reaches the shore. Kenji drives the truck into position and escapes in the nick of time, but the explosive does no damage to the creature's hardened shell. A backup plan is devised to make Varan swallow the explosive attached to a flare, but the JSDF has to stall until the new device can be equipped on a helicopter. This second attempt proves successful: the charge detonates inside the monster's body, resulting in massive injuries to the creature. Mortally wounded, Varan crawls out to sea as a second charge detonates, killing the ancient menace.

Staff

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

• Directed by   Ishiro Honda
• Written by   Ken Kuronuma, Shinichi Sekizawa
• Music by   Akira Ifukube
• Cinematography by   Hajime Koizumi
• Film Editing by   Kazuji Taira
• Production Design by   Kiyoshi Shimizu, Akira Watanabe
• Assistant Director   Koji Kajita
• Director of Special Effects   Eiji Tsuburaya

Varan the Unbelievable

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

• Producer/Director   Jerry A. Baerwitz
• Screenplay   Sid Harris
• Photography   Jack Marquette
• Special effects   Howard A. Anderson Co.,
• Supervising film editor   Jack Ruggiero
• Assistant editor   Ralph Cushman
• Music editor   Peter Zinner
• Sound recording   Vic Appel
• Wardrobe   Robert O'Dell
• Makeup   Robert Cowan
• Assistant director   Leonard Kunody

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

• Kozo Nomura   as   Kenji Uozaki
• Ayumi Sonoda   as   Yuriko Shinjo
• Fumito Matsuo   as   Horiguchi
• Koreya Senda   as   Doctor Sugimoto
• Akio Kusama   as   Military Officer Kusama
• Yoshio Tsuchiya   as   Military Officer Katsumoto
• Akihiko Hirata   as   Dr. Fujimura
• Minosuke Yamada   as   Secretary of Defense
• Fuyuki Murakami   as   Dr. Majima
• Takashi Ito   as   Ken
• Fumiko Honma   as   Ken's Mother
• Akira Sera   as   Village Priest
• Hisaya Ito   as   Ichiro Shinjo
• Nadao Kirino   as   Yutaka Wada
• Akira Yamada   as   Issaku
• Yoshikazu Kawamata   as   Jiro
• Yasuhiro Kasanobu   as   Sankichi
• Yoshifumi Tajima   as   Uranami Captain
• Shoichi Hirose   as   Fisherman
• Toshitsugu Suzuki   as   Fisherman
• Haruo Nakajima, Katsumi Tezuka   as   Varan

Varan the Unbelievable

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

• Myron Healey   as   Cmdr. James Bradley, U.S.N.
• Tsuruko Kobayashi   as   Anna Bradley
• Clifford Kawada   as   Captain Kishi
• Derick Shimatsu   as   Matsu

Appearances

Monsters Varan Godzilla (stock footage, erroneous)

Weapons, Vehicles, and Races M24 Chaffee Tank F-86 Sabre 24 Twin Rocket Car Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw M4A3E8 Sherman Tank Lockheed P-2 Neptune 155mm Howitzer M1 (stock footage) Landing Craft

Gallery

Main article: Varan (film)/Gallery.

Soundtrack

Main article: Varan (Soundtrack).

Alternate Titles

• Giant Monster Varan (Literal Japanese title)
• Varan, Monster from the East (東洋の怪物 大怪獣バラン,   Tōyō no Kaibutsu Daikaijū Baran, Original television version title)
• Varan, the Unbelievable (United States)

Theatrical Releases

• Japan - October 14, 1958
• United States - December 7, 1962

Cancelled Television Version

Toho originally prepared Varan as a two-part television film with American cooperation. Because it would be a television production, Toho decided to forego shooting in color (as with Rodan) and Tohoscope (The Mysterians). After the American production company, believed to be the short-lived AB-PT Productions, backed out during filming, Toho decided to restructure the project as a theatrical release. New footage was shot and all Academy ratio footage that was already in the can was reformatted as "Toho Pan Scope", a faux-anamorphic process similar to Superscope in which 1.37:1 footage is cropped during editing to 2:1. Akira Ifukube also recorded a brand new score for the new theatrical version of the film. An incomplete reconstruction of the original television version was included as a special feature with Toho's DVD release of the film and was later ported to the Region 1 release from Tokyo Shock.

U.S. Release

American Poster for Varan the Unbelievable

The American version of Varan, titled Varan the Unbelievable, was distributed theatrically in the United States by Crown International Pictures on a double bill with First Spaceship on Venus beginning on December 7, 1962. This version was a co-production of Dallas Productions and Cory Productions with Jerry A. Baerwitz producing and directing a script by Sid Harris. Production of Varan the Unbelievable began under the title Odoroku on October 17, 1960, according to a report in the same day's issue of Daily Variety. Baerwitz's film is radically different from the Toho version, perhaps out of necessity: the sound design of all Japanese footage utilized in the American release (totaling some 30-minutes) is either completed jettisoned and rebuilt or left completely intact, suggesting that the production companies might have had only the completed Japanese version from which to work.

Harris constructed an entirely new story with new characters that still manages to follow the basic narrative of the Japanese version. The bulk of the new material is about chemical desalination tests carried out by Commander James Bradley, U.S.N. (played by Myron Healey), on the fictional Japanese island of Kunishiro Shima. These tests ultimately disturb the monster —called "Obake" in dialogue— until it's subdued in the city of Onita (Tokyo in Toho's version). While Bradley and his wife (Tsuruko Kobayashi) become the focus of Harris's screenplay, the Japanese protagonists are still present in archive footage, albeit as "Paul and Shidori Iso," college friends of Anna Bradley. Notably "Obake" is never seen flying in the U.S. release, although new special effects footage of the monster's claw was shot to replace a similar scene in the Japanese version. Akira Ifukube's score is mostly deleted, with music editor Peter Zinner tracking in library cues such as portions of Albert Glasser's score for The Amazing Colossal Man. Zinner later performed the same task on John Beck's Americanization of King Kong vs. Godzilla.

After its theatrical release, Varan the Unbelievable could be seen on television through the 1980s. Two video releases from VCI (Video Communications, Inc.) followed in the 1980s and in 1994, the latter being the final official release of the American edition. A 2005 DVD release through Media Blasters featured Toho's original Japanese version.

An English version of Varan, possibly different from the Crown International release, was advertised as available for export in the 1962 Toho Films Catalog.

Reception

Varan is often considered by many kaiju fans to be one of Toho's weakest films. One common criticism from fans stems from the film's story, claiming that it's a generic monster movie story, while other Toho kaiju and science-fiction films involved more complex and interesting stories. The film is still popular for introducing the monster Varan, who has only appeared in a cameo appearance and several non-film media since.

The American version of the film, Varan, the Unbelievable, is widely disliked and infamous among fans. It is often accused of ruining the entire film and copying the strategy used in Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, but executing it much less effectively. All of the changes, from Varan's roar to the added plotline about an American officer, are heavily criticized.

Video Releases

Tokyo Shock DVD (2005)

• Region: 1
• Discs: 1
• Audio: Japanese (2.0 Mono, 3.0 Stereo, 5.1 Surround)
• Special Features: Audio commentary by Varan suit maker Keizo Murase, lecture from Keizo Murase for High School Molding Seminar (29 minutes), reconstruction of the film's original TV version (54 minutes)
• Notes: Out of print. A 2007 release packages it with Matango and The Mysterians.

Synergy Entertainment DVD (2011)

• Region: N/A
• Discs: 1
• Audio: English
• Special Features: None
• Notes: Made-to-order DVD-R.

Reel Vault DVD (2015)

• Region: N/A
• Discs: 1
• Audio: English
• Special Features: None
• Notes: DVD-R.

Although Varan is not available on Blu-ray, an HD version can be rented or purchased on the Japanese versions of Amazon Video and iTunes.

Videos

Trailers

Japanese Varan trailer American Varan the Unbelievable trailer

Other

Ken Films Super 8 digest version of Varan the Unbelievable

References

This is a list of references for Varan (film). These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: ^[1]