AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

tomhershberger This is a really great Toho monster movie, one of their best from the 1960's. The Green Gargantua is a truly frightening creation. There is no attempt to give him too many human attributes in order to diminish his malevolence. He and his more sympathetic "brother" are truly effective especially during those scenes where they suddenly appear,seemingly,out of nowhere or are hidden in the mist.I must admit, however, that the special effects are a mixed bag. There are some excellent scenes, but many with the usual "toy" tanks and other equipment. The acting (I've only seen the English-dubbed version) is fine, including Russ Tamblyn as the doctor. The scene with Kipp Hamilton is pure "camp". My only regret is not seeing it when it first came out in the U.S. in 1970, double-billed with MONSTER ZERO.

irishm I've never liked Tamblyn much anyway, but he was still below his normal level of performance here. I'm sure a lot of it had to do with the dubbing, but still… some of it was just Tamblyn. He looked bored and self-conscious. I don't think his facial expression changed once in the hour and a half running time. He looked like he was waiting for a bus, and that saying his lines posed something of an inconvenience.A few outstanding moments: love the scene where the fisherman looks into the water and sees the green gargantua glaring up at him; that was a real nice "jump". I also like the scene where the green one is emerging from the sea at a distance; it's not clear (aside from the title of the film) what exactly that thing is at first since it's so far away, and it gives quite a creepy effect. And, of course, the scene where the green one runs away, leaps off the land and into the sea is just hilarious… that was the scene my little brother and I always waited for and then howled at.The brown one took longer to show up than I remembered from previous viewings; I almost forgot he was coming. The interaction between the two is nice… not all that subtle, perhaps, but subtle for a Japanese monster movie. The usual big mess is made by the warring creatures, with much destruction of model buildings and vehicles. I got a chuckle out of the female lead's plea not to kill the "good" gargantua… lady, the two of them are rolling all over the entire city locked in mortal combat; if we don't do something pretty darn quick, they're going to level the whole metropolitan area! The less that is said about the female lounge singer, the better. I'd like to stick something in her throat that would preclude her from ever singing again; she has absolutely no talent whatsoever. Yes, the song was terrible, but that wasn't where the entire fault lay.I don't know how it would be to watch this for the first time as an adult. As an adult who loved it as a kid, it's a fun way to spend 90 minutes. First time I'd ever seen it with the proper aspect ratio; I was so used to watching it on a small, square analog TV that it really seemed new and fresh on a 32" flat-screen… not to mention that it's much easier to tell the gargantuas apart in living color!

ferbs54 Up until last week, I was probably the only baby-boomer fan of Japanese monster movies ("kaiju-eiga," I believe they're called) who had never seen the 1966 Ishiro Honda cult favorite "The War of the Gargantuas." Though the film had been lauded by numerous friends and coworkers, and though I have read many good things about it over the years, it has taken me all these many decades to catch up with it. And now that I HAVE finally seen it, I am not sure how to go about writing these comments, as no less than three versions of the film seem to exist! I have just watched the original Japanese print with English subtitles from 1966, as well as the 1970 English version with added sequences, different music, new translations and a reedited story line, and find much to criticize and commend in both. (There is also a straight English dub of the 1966 version, too, it seems.) Unlike 1965's "Frankenstein Conquers the World," whose international cut is virtually identical to the Japanese version, with the exception of an additional five-minute battle tacked on at the tail end, the two versions of "Gargantuas" feel very different indeed, and any fan of the one would be very surprised, I feel, to take a look at the other.In the film, as most folks already seem to know, an enormous, green, hairy giant arises from the sea and proceeds to cause all kinds of mayhem. To the film's credit, we don't have to wait long to catch our initial glimpse of this not-so-jolly green giant; five minutes into the picture, he wrecks a steamer after doing battle with a humongous, red-orbed octopus (sadly, a cooler monster than Greenie, and one who promptly disappears for the duration of the film). While most citizens, scientists and the military believe the creature to be the Frankenstein monster of the 1965 film, Prof. Paul Stewart thinks differently. He and his assistant, Akemi, believe the Frankenstein monster of their acquaintance to be too decent and gentle to be responsible for such carnage. And their theory is soon borne out, as another Gargantua, a brown one, soon turns up, is revealed to be their old pal Franky, and goes on to do battle with his evil Gargantua brother. I should perhaps add here that while the 1965 film had featured a lead professor named James Bowen, who was played by American actor Nick Adams, "Gargantuas" has that Prof. Stewart, played by American actor Russ Tamblyn, who should have sued his agent. I mean, from the heights of "West Side Story" and "The Haunting" in the early '60s to THIS, just a few years later?!?! Adding to the confusion is the fact that the professor's female assistant in both films is portrayed by Kumi Mizuno, but in the first, her character's name is Sueko Togami, and in the latter, as mentioned, it is Akemi; she is the sole actor common to both films. So is "Gargantuas" a sequel to "Frankenstein" or not? The answer is not a simple one, as the 1970 version, in addition to all its many other differences, completely excises any reference to the notion of "Frankenstein" whatsoever!So which version of "Gargantuas" do I find preferable? To my very great surprise, it may be the latter, English one. The English edition seems more compact, with far fewer lines like "Target is moving north on Interstate 4 towards Ohta Bridge...roger," of which the Japanese version is supersaturated. Russ seems more likable in the English cut, with more amusing lines, and the English version is also more understandable in parts, such as when it clearly delineates Brownie's leg injury. The English version that I just watched, on the Classic Media DVD, is a lot brighter looking than the Japanese, a big help in the film's many nighttime scenes. On the other hand, the Japanese cut DOES feature that wonderful martial music by Akira Ifukube running through it (I believe the name of the piece is "Operation L March"), music that is, sadly, completely lacking from the English. Too, it is nice that the Japanese version gives actual names to Green Gargantua and Brown Gargantua (Gaira and Sanda, respectively), and also nice that it makes a definitive link with the earlier film. So take your pick...both should have something to offer to the adult fan of kaiju-eiga.As for the commonalities between the two, both feature too many darn sequences in the near dark, and both feature that absolutely ridiculous and way too abrupt deus-ex-machina volcano ending. The best scenes in both, of course, are the Japanese army's attack on Gaira with laser beams and electricity (a fairly awesome spectacle, especially when Gaira starts chucking around tanks and wrecking houses!) and the final dukeout between Sanda and Gaira at the Tokyo docks. And who could ever forget what appears to be everybody's favorite sequence, the one in which Gaira busts up a Tokyo nightclub while a chantootsie warbles the now-classic ditty "The Words Get Stuck in My Throat"? No wonder a coworker raved about this scene to me for years; no wonder the New Wave band Devo chose to perform this song in concert years later! Fun stuff, indeed! The bottom line, however, is that whichever version one watches, "War of the Gargantuas" cannot hold a candle to some of director Honda's previous efforts, such as the monumental "Gojira," "The Mysterians" and "Mothra." It is more on a par with such fare as "King Kong vs. Godzilla" and "Atragon," and really, that ain't too bad. "Frankenstein Conquers the World" may have been a tad more imaginative than this (possible) sequel (I love the idea of the Hiroshima-radiated heart of the original Frankenstein monster turning into a new creation!), but "War of the Gargantuas" surely does live up to its cult reputation. The film is best watched, of course, with lots of popcorn AND your 8-year-old nephew sitting beside you....

PhantomoftheToilet This is one of those movies that all normally intelligent, mature, sensible folk will avoid like some mutant deadly strain of poison ivy, and that kids from 1 to 101 will lap up like they would a bowlful of chilled Hershey's chocolate milk on a hot, hot afternoon. Well, obviously, I'm among the later, or I wouldn't be typing these comments, I'd probably be writing some instead about, oh, "Brokeback Mountain" or "Munich" or "The Da Vinci Code" or other piece of critic-friendly equine slop. (God, I shudder to think what it must be like to be one of them intelligent, mature, sensible folk.) Yeah, and I'd probably avoid "War of the Gargantuas" like (WARNING: gratuitous reference to annoying right-wing female pundit ahead)—well, like Ann Coulter's bed. (shudder again) Okay, so what I wanna know is how in the place-Beelzebub-carries-a-mortgage-on does one comment on—let alone rate—a film like this? I mean, what it is, it IS, which to say it's preposterous, it's absurd, and it bears not the slightest resemblance to lived reality on this or any other (I'll wager) planet—which is precisely what makes it worth seeing once, twice, thrice for those of us who adore such stuff. Put another way: I canNOT imagine ANYone who would even conSIDer placing this flick in his DVD tray being reMOTEly disappointed, any more than I can imagine anyone whose idea of two hours well-spent at the cinema is something directed by Bob Redford getting past the opening sequence of the Green Gargantua wrassling a giant rubbery octopus, assuming such an individual had somehow been deceived by the packaging into thinking this was a prequel to "The Horse Whisperer." To sum up, then: too much talk, as usual, consisting of the usual observation, speculation, and needless EXplanation, regarding the whences and wherefores of the two title beasts, before the monster action heats up, but along the way there's some nice destruction of model tanks and such, an attack on a lady lounge singer aboard a cruise ship swallowed in the midst of crooning a swinging tune about how "the words get stuck in her throat", not to mention a blossoming love between the Brown (or benevolent) Gargie and the lady scientist who showed him kindness growing up. And when the title war, eye-filling and brain cell-killing, kicks off in earnest, you'll feel (I did) it's been worth the wait.So if you've ever enjoyed another Japanese giant monster flick, THIS one's not about to let you down. And if you're a fan of Ron Howard or Amy Heckerling or Rob Reiner movies—well, get help, A.S.A.P.P.S. By ALL means, seek out the Japanese-language version, available periodically on eBay, which features the late Akira Ifukube's menacing score whole and intact. Said score may well be the only reason a non-fan of the genre might be tempted to check this title out, though if you're a Redford fan, it may be a bit of stretch for you.