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WAR
OF THE GARGANTUAS- (Video
Dungeon) 1966. Japanese monster romp. Approx. 90 min. After being paid
a few visits from a green, human eating, man-like monster from the sea
(named Gaira), Japan prepares to battle the creature with the latest in
war technology. Using helicopters, the Japanese army lures Gaira into a
trap and begins to pummel him with large laser beams shot from hi-tech
trucks. As the near death Gaira begins to helplessly stumble, a large
brown monster (named Sanda) comes out of nowhere and rescues him. The two
peacefully disappear into the mountains. Sanda, who was raised by man and
is very peaceful, nurses the man-eating Gaira back to health. However,
Sanda doesn’t remain peaceful when he realizes that Gaira’s snack of
choice is humans. Sanda starts a fight with his evil counter part and the
fight spills into the city of Tokyo.
I remember watching this movie as a child on Saturday’s Creature
Double Feature, and boy it messed with my mind. That’s why this flic is
my all time favorite Japanese monster movie. This movie stands out from
the rest of those Japanese monster movies because Gaira’s only reason
for entering Tokyo is eat humans. He hunts them down and devours them. I
can’t think of another movie, in this genre, where humans are the
monster’s only target. Not only are the two Gargantuas cool looking, but
Sanda has an uncanny striking resemblance to Nicholas Cage (below right).
The opening shot of Gaira, waist deep in the ocean, chasing down swimming
men and eating them is so damn freaky. This version is in Japanese,
includes two trailers, and deleted/extra scenes. If you dig Japanese
monster movies, this one is a must!- Denis Sheehan |
