AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

JLRVancouver Unfortunately, my introduction to this Toho kaiju offering was a poor quality on-line copy of the 'Americanised' version entitled "Varan the Unbelievable" (odd: despite the title, the monster seems to be called 'Obaki', not 'Varan'). An intrepid American scientist and his wife are running a desalinization experiment on a remote island when they awaken the 'devil monster' which sleeps beneath the lake. After numerous futile attempts by the military to vanquish the creature, the American figures out how to destroy it. English scenes (including excessive voiceovers) are interspersed haphazardly with the original Japanese footage and include lot of shots of the scientist driving around in his jeep. The overall outcome of this hybridisation is a simplistic, somewhat incoherent, poorly-paced, and not particularly interesting monster movie. Only worth watching if you need to get Varen on your kaiju life-list and can't find the Japanese version.

jerekra Varan came out after the successes of the films Rodan and Godzilla. Would it continue the success of Toho MOnster flicks? The answer is, for the most part no. Varan is not one of the better Toho Films and it is one of those films that many people have only seen once.Varan himself is based off of both Godzilla and Rodan. He is a large lizard like monster with sharp spines on his back and skin that runs from his arm to his legs like a flying squirrel. This allows him to fly around in the Japanese version but not the American version. Watching him fly around is ridiculous but worth watching in the same way that watching Godzilla fly in Godzilla vs Hedorah. It defies the rules of physics.So they tried to combine Rodan and Godzilla and they got Varan. Varan though seems to be missing something. He does not really stand out, he does not do anything that no other monster can do. I guess that is why they do not bring Varan back much later. Other monsters are significant, Rodan can fly fast, Ghidorah has three heads, Mothra is stunningly beautiful (despite being my least favorite monster), and Baragon can burrow. But Varan does not stand out and has no special abilities or powers besides being able to fly like a squirrel. I guess Toho was hoping that the idea would make Varan stand out but it did not work really.OK enough about the monster, time to talk about the film. It is OK, not that bad. IT is just that I have seen similar films to this one before in Godzilla and Rodan. So watching this film did not create any new thrills or moments to me. It is not bad, just ordinary and nothing spectacular. So is this film awful, no. Is it one of the best Toho Monster films, no. Is it a movie that you will always remember, probably not. But are there worse monster films, yes! Check it out on a rainy day or a lazy Saturday. It is worth watching once.Further note, I had not seen the Japanese version of the film when I reviewed it. The above review is about the American version. A lot still holds true tho when watching the Japanese Version. The Japanese version I would say is quite better than the American version. I would say the American version is not worth seeing per say, but the Japanese version is good. Mainly because in the Japanese version Varan has a cool roar he emits and in the American version he does not. Also the Japanese version is longer.

kittenpower The DVD is now available! The original Japanese film with English subtitles. The classic monster from "Destroy All Monsters" is born or at least awakened. This movie has everything, a great monster, battleships, tanks, and you guessed it explosions! If only Godzilla showed up at the end it would be perfect! I give this movie a monster A+. Varan is unbelievable! I noticed that IMDb said this movie was produced in the early 1960's however I believe it actually arrived in theaters in 1958. Special Features on the DVD included the original broadcast television version of the film. It also has promotional trailers and a lecture from the Creature sculpture Keizo Murase, and audio commentary by the same.

HankCoolV If you share an odd and rare hobby like me- collecting B-movies, this is a movie to own. As one of my 100 B-movies, this is quite entertaining. Of course, I find this movie entertaining because it is bad and low-budget, Toho has done a great job once again! It is available on VHS and a great B-movie to add to your collection of giant monster films of Japan and America, PURCHASE! "So bad its good." AKA, "Best of the Worst."