Frankenstein Conquers the World or War of the Gargantuas?

[Jory]

Yeah, another effing this-or-that poll. Forgive my boredom.

I used to think that pretty much everyone liked War of the Gargantuas more than Frankenstein Conquers the World, but in recent years I've noticed plenty of folks ranking the latter higher than the former, and I'm curious to see what the ratio looks like today.

[Terasawa]

Is the question which is better or which do I (personally) prefer? WOTG is the superior movie, but I'd rather watch FCTW.

[Jory]

Is the question which is better or which do I (personally) prefer? WOTG is the superior movie, but I'd rather watch FCTW.

The older I get and the more I ponder the differences between "favorite" and "best," the more I go with which one I get the most entertainment value out of, regardless of any kind of "objective" quality.

[20th Century Boy]

I vastly prefer FCtW over WotG. FCtW has great characters, a phenomenal score, satisfying monster action and suspense, and an overall fun tone. I find WotG to be pretty boring, save for a few minutes of monster action.

[edgaguirus]

FctW has much going for it, and is enjoyable, but I prefer WotG. I like the story and the relationship between the two kaiju is different than what we usually see. They also have a pretty dynamic fight, which ends in a tragic and moving death for both good and evil.

[GodzillaDude]

Gotta go with War of the Gargantuas. The relationship between the two brothers is compelling, contrasting and interesting. I also loved the suits (especially Gaira). The fights are memorable and I enjoy Gaira's attack scenes quite a bit and the opening with the Giant Octopus is pretty cool as well.

[eabaker]

No contest for me; FCtW all the way. I like the characters more, I find the dramatic arc of the human/Franknestein interaction way mroe compelling than anything in the sequel, I like the cinematography more, and I really dig Baragon (even if he is an awkward fit into the plot).

WotG has some great moments, but I never care about the human characters and find them at best of secondary importance to the movie.

[Dust_pan]

I love them both for their suspense, likable human characters, and sympathetic monsters (Even Baragon and Gaira had qualities that made me feel sorry for them.). But I guess I'll go with WotG. Sanda and Gaira's relationship with the humans was more interesting to me than Frankenstein's.

[Showa Gyaos]

I enjoy FCTW more. I grew more attached to the characters in that movie.

[Kaiser]

War of the Gargantuas

While it may not have Nick Adams in it, I find it better paced than Frankenstein Conquerors the World which tends to drag at times. I also feel like Baragon is a somewhat random addition to the plot and makes the film feel cluttered.

[Breakdown]

Frankenstein Conquers the World for me. I haven't seen it since 2008, but from what I remember I really enjoyed it. WoTG is a fantastic film in it's own right. I'd say they're on par.

[Gojira1963]

War of the Gargantuas is one of my all time favorite Giant monster movies!!! I only watched Frankenstein once and really didn't care ffor it that much. Maybe I need to give it another try.

[GodzillaDude]

War of the Gargantuas is the superior film, for the reason that it really makes the kaiju actual characters and not just monsters there for special effects and fun fights (which they also provide). The story of brother against brother makes for an even more intriguing battle.

[GodzillaDude]

War of the Gargantuas is the superior film, for the reason that it really makes the kaiju actual characters and not just monsters there for special effects and fun fights (which they also provide). The story of brother against brother makes for an even more intriguing battle.

That is true, the brother against brother plot has given the kaiju personality and character.

Exactly. Somewhat of a rare commodity in these types of films. Frankenstein just doesn't have this same effect. Add that to the fact that the suits are much more unique and cool to look at!

I really wish Baragon had his own film. Anyway, because of Baragon, I like Frankenstein Conquers the World more. War of the Gargantuas is just, weird. I never liked either of these films, but Baragon makes it for me.

Weird? What do you mean by that exactly? Why is it weird to you?

[GodzillaDude]

Weird?

Two half human beasts are weird, but all monster films are weird, just this one is more.

It has the opposite effect on me. It's different because of that. They're not just random creatures that were created.

[eabaker]

War of the Gargantuas is the superior film, for the reason that it really makes the kaiju actual characters and not just monsters there for special effects and fun fights (which they also provide). The story of brother against brother makes for an even more intriguing battle.

I find Frankenstein in FCtW to be much more of an actual character - certainly a lot more nuanced and complex - than either of the Gargantuas. Hardly just there for the spfx and fights.

[GodzillaDude]

I find Frankenstein in FCtW to be much more of an actual character - certainly a lot more nuanced and complex - than either of the Gargantuas. Hardly just there for the spfx and fights.

I should have phrased it differently. I didn't mean Frankenstein's only use was for the effects and things like that, but that the Gargantua film (and the Frankenstein film in a sense) isn't what we normally get out of a kaiju film.

[eabaker]

I find Frankenstein in FCtW to be much more of an actual character - certainly a lot more nuanced and complex - than either of the Gargantuas. Hardly just there for the spfx and fights.

I should have phrased it differently. I didn't mean Frankenstein's only use was for the effects and things like that, but that the Gargantua film (and the Frankenstein film in a sense) isn't what we normally get out of a kaiju film.

Ah! Gotcha, and I agree.

[GodzillaDude]

Something else that puts War of the Gargantuas over Frankenstein for me is just the monster designs in general. Gaira and Sanda look like they could be extremely heavily mutated humans, where as Frankenstein almost looks too human to be a monster like he is. I just find the suits of Gaira and Sanda to be more interesting to look at.

[Tamura]

It really depends on the versions here... I love the US version of FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON and feel pretty much the same for its Japanese version, but watch the US version more often because of Nick Adams' original voice and the dubbing. The US version of WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS starts off great, with really novel, arguably superior editing that offers an interesting alternate viewing experience, but it just gets tiresome after a while... the library cue isn't bad, but it gets old after the 100th repetition. The inclusion of alternate scenes with more Russ Tamblyn is very interesting, but I dislike his performance and fairly douchey character, so the less he's on screen, the better. I prefer the original version with the international dubbing for its more conventional editing and smaller amount of Tamblyn. I like both cuts of FRANKENSTEIN a little more than the original version of WOTG (with the US cut of WOTG in last place overall). FRANK succeeds more at telling a shocking horror story and being an entertaining kaiju film; however, both films in their various versions are still classics of the genre.