Godzilla X Varan, Baragon and Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

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Godzilla X Varan, Baragon and Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
Concept statues of Varan, Anguirus, and Baragon for the film
Alternate titles GVBA
Planned 2001
Concept history Godzilla vs. KamacurasGodzilla vs. MGodzilla X Varan, Baragon and Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out AttackGodzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

Godzilla X Varan, Baragon and Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (ゴジラ X バラン・バラゴン・アンギラス 大怪獣総攻撃,   Gojira tai Baran, Baragon, Angirasu: Daikaijū Sōkōgeki) is an unmade 2001 Godzilla film.

History

After abandoning his previous two proposals for a Godzilla film, director Shusuke Kaneko came up with the idea of pitting Godzilla against three "Guardian Monsters." Kaneko chose to have Varan, Anguirus, and Baragon act as the three Guardians who would battle Godzilla, with the three joining forces against him in a final showdown in Yokohama. Kaneko prepared a screenplay for the film with assistance from Keiichi Hasegawa and Masahiro Yokotani, and numerous concept models of the four monsters were completed. Kaneko pitched his concept to Shogo Tomiyama, who initially approved it, but Toho requested that Mothra and King Ghidorah be added to the film in order to increase marquee value following the disappointing box office performance of Godzilla vs. Megaguirus. Kaneko agreed, and replaced Varan and Anguirus with Mothra and King Ghidorah, but compromised by retaining Baragon in the final product. The Gotengo and Maser Cannons were also excised from the final story, with the Gotengo's role being filled by the smaller Satsuma and a D-03 Missile. Baragon's role was also substantially reduced, with him engaging in a single battle with Godzilla before being killed and only Mothra and King Ghidorah taking part in the final battle. The title was changed to Godzilla X Mothra, Baragon and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack before eventually dropping the "X" and Baragon's name from the title entirely.

Plot

A full English translation of the film's considered draft is available on Toho Kingdom.

In 1954, a giant monster called Godzilla attacked Tokyo and nearly destroyed it. However, a scientist created a weapon and apparently killed him.

Then, in 2001, the monster returns to ravage Japan, revived by the vengeful restless souls of those killed by the Japanese military during World War II. As a result, the three Guardian Monsters: the white wind monster, Varadaki; the red-hot monster, Baragora; and the golden freezing monster, Angira, awaken to fight the threat. Baragora, renamed "Baragon" by the JSDF, attacks Godzilla at Owakudani, but is defeated. Varadaki and Angira, renamed "Varan" and "Anguirus," respectively, engage Godzilla when he reaches Yokohama, and are later joined by Baragon after he is revived by a lightning bolt. The three Guardian Monsters combine their attacks and assault Godzilla with fire, ice, and wind, but in the end they prove to be no match for Godzilla and are all killed. However, their efforts are not in vain, as Godzilla is wounded enough in the battle for the JSDF's advanced battlsehip, the Gotengo, to arrive and finish him off.

Gallery

Trivia

  • Suit designer Fuyuki Shinada was disappointed that Varan, his all-time favorite monster, was excluded from the final film, so he compensated by sculpting facial fins similar to Varan's onto King Ghidorah's heads.
  • During production, Shinada experimented with different horizontal and vertical stances for Godzilla's design. Shinada considered giving Godzilla a horizontal stance similar to the TriStar Godzilla so he could more effectively battle the Guardian Monsters, which were all quadrupedal in the original story. Shinada prepared sculpts of Godzilla in both stances, but ultimately went with a traditional upright posture when creating the prototype suit. However, it was eventually decided to combine aspects of both horizontal and vertical stances, and the finished suit was given a pronounced hunch similar to Godzilla Junior from Godzilla vs. Destoroyah.[1]
  • Mothra and King Ghidorah are both portrayed as smaller and weaker than usual in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, which is likely due to the fact that their roles were filled by Varan and Anguirus, two monsters chosen specifically due to being smaller and weaker than Godzilla, in the original story.
  • In the story for this film, all three Guardian Monsters are given unique names spelled in kanji characters rather than their traditional katakana names. Varan is known as "Varadaki" (波羅蛇麒,   Baradaki), Baragon is known as "Baragora" (罵螺醍羅,   Baragora), and Anguirus is known as "Angira" (晏麒羅). The monsters would eventually be given their traditional names by the JSDF late in the story. In the finished product, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Baragon are all called by their traditional names; however, they are still spelled in kanji rather than katakana.
    • Varan's new name "Varadaki" is a reference to "Baradagi," a name used for Varan by the villagers who worship him in his debut film.
  • In GODZILLA: Monster Apocalypse, the prequel novel to GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters, Godzilla battles Varan, Baragon, and Anguirus at the same time as a reference to this unmade film.

References

This is a list of references for Godzilla X Varan, Baragon and Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. 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]

  1. GMK Super Complete Works. Shogakukan. December 2001. ISBN 409101481X.

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Unmade
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