Talkback: The War of the Gargantuas (1966)

[Carthormerr]

For continuity purposes, Sanda and Frankenstein are the same creature. The scenes of Sanda/Frankenstein as an infant in WotG are, in the context of that movie, essentially replacing the events of FCTW.

Sanda grew from some left-over bit of Franky (maybe the severed hand?), was raised briefly in captivity as we see in the flashback (I guess they did still have the hand, right?) and was referred to as Frankenstein by this new team of scientists. Eventually, Sanda gets free and disappears, but along the way manages to leave a bit of himself somewhere in the sea which will eventually grow into Gaira.
Once Gaira shows up and Sanda returns to the scene, they realize that neither is really Frankenstein anymore, and as such begin referring to them as different creatures altogether.

If you like continuity, this seems to be the smoothest way to reconcile it all. Frankly, all it would take is one line, "Well, I guess neither of them is really Frankenstein anymore. Now they're some kind of...Gargantuas."

eabaker you're probably right I suppose, but my mind just has to make some coherent timeline to the Showa era when watching them all through. I'll use Captain Aktion's reasoning next time I watch it.

[wrongnote85]

if the ending pissed you off and NOT 'the words get stuck in my throat' than i think you need to reevaluate your life.

best part of that song is when he shows up and grabs that bitch.

[eabaker]

if the ending pissed you off and NOT 'the words get stuck in my throat' than i think you need to reevaluate your life.

best part of that song is when he shows up and grabs that bitch.

I have a strange fascination with that song. It's bad, sure, but it's so audaciously bad...

I mean, "If I had a hidden microphone inside of my heart/I would turn the power on/It would amplify my love for you and swear to always love you/And you'd never be gone"???

What the Christ? What the Devil? Who puts those words in that sequence and calls himself a songwriter? Who accepts money for having done such a thing?!

[wrongnote85]

if the ending pissed you off and NOT 'the words get stuck in my throat' than i think you need to reevaluate your life.

best part of that song is when he shows up and grabs that bitch.

I have a strange fascination with that song. It's bad, sure, but it's so audaciously bad...

I mean, "If I had a hidden microphone inside of my heart/I would turn the power on/It would amplify my love for you and swear to always love you/And you'd never be gone"???

What the Christ? What the Devil? Who puts those words in that sequence and calls himself a songwriter? Who accepts money for having done such a thing?!

it's not as good as the king cesear song, thats for sure.

[The One and Only]

^I don't find the person who accepted the money for writing the crappy song stupid at all. It the person who wrote the freaking check for the tune that I have more problems with than the writer. Anyone can write any wacky thing they want to, but they shouldn't expect to get paid for it. It's when people pay for this stuff that gets my goat.

[eabaker]

^I don't find the person who accepted the money for writing the crappy song stupid at all. It the person who wrote the freaking check for the tune that I have more problems with than the writer. Anyone can write any wacky thing they want to, but they shouldn't expect to get paid for it. It's when people pay for this stuff that gets my goat.

I was in no way suggesting that the songwriter was stupid. Evil maybe, but not stupid.

[Carthormerr]

it's not as good as the king cesear song, thats for sure.

"Words Get Stuck in my Throat" is horrible nodoubtaboutit, and not even in the same league as King Caesar's song. The King Caesar tune is pretty doggone catchy if you ask me

[Captain Aktion]

^Well...actually, I think that the surf-guitar riff in Words is pretty catchy too...

EDIT: C'mon, Devo dug it. http://youtu.be/bo_zfUnz4_M

[eabaker]

^Well...actually, I think that the surf-guitar riff in Words is pretty catchy too...

EDIT: C'mon, Devo dug it. http://youtu.be/bo_zfUnz4_M

See? Devo understood the kind of strange fascination to which I referred.

[wrongnote85]

^Well...actually, I think that the surf-guitar riff in Words is pretty catchy too...

EDIT: C'mon, Devo dug it. http://youtu.be/bo_zfUnz4_M

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

[edgaguirus]

The song is annoying, though thank goodness we have mute buttons.

[Terasawa]

A video I made comparing the rare Toho international dub to the American one.

And here's the international trailer.

[Arbok]

I think that's probably the correct answer. However, I like that the door is open for interpretation.

I've pretty much always read it this way: The events of FCTW happened. Sanda grew from some left-over bit of Franky (maybe the severed hand?), was raised briefly in captivity as we see in the flashback (I guess they did still have the hand, right?) and was referred to as Frankenstein by this new team of scientists. Eventually, Sanda gets free and disappears, but along the way manages to leave a bit of himself somewhere in the sea which will eventually grow into Gaira.
Once Gaira shows up and Sanda returns to the scene, they realize that neither is really Frankenstein anymore, and as such begin referring to them as different creatures altogether.

If you like continuity, this seems to be the smoothest way to reconcile it all. Frankly, all it would take is one line, "Well, I guess neither of them is really Frankenstein anymore. Now they're some kind of...Gargantuas."

I always subscribed to this theory as well, and would make sense that they would call the creature Frankenstein up to that point as they knew it was a offshoot.

Continuity is very loose in the Showa series anyway, when it is there, but my mind always linked the two films in this way.

[Gojira1963]

I never cared for FCTW so I ignore it and see War ofn the Gargantuas as a stand alone film.

[eabaker]

I never cared for FCTW so I ignore it and see War ofn the Gargantuas as a stand alone film.

That's one of the lovely things about the loose continuity of the Showa era kaiju flicks. You can take each one as an independent entity, and not have to deal with the baggage of the prior or subsequent flicks if you don't want to.

[Gojira1963]

I never cared for FCTW so I ignore it and see War ofn the Gargantuas as a stand alone film.

That's one of the lovely things about the loose continuity of the Showa era kaiju flicks. You can take each one as an independent entity, and not have to deal with the baggage of the prior or subsequent flicks if you don't want to.

I completely agree!

[KaijuFiend]

*Dusts off old thread* I hope it's okay to reply to old threads, I'd assume it's better than starting a new topic. I watched this film for the first time the other day and loved it. Let's get discussion going on this excellent film again!

[Space Hunter M]

Let's get discussion going on this excellent film again!

Well let's not waste too much time wondering. Let's get down to work and see if we can find the answer.

[ThunderScore]

I recall seeing an old 16mm Film Rental catalog in which WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS was listed and apparently (according to them) the special effects were nominated for an Academy Award - Who Knew? I sure didn't.

[Space Hunter M]

I'm not overly fond of the U.S. version of the film. The alternative/extended scenes are nice, but they don't add that much, and the music tampering is amusingly stupid. I actually don't mind the overuse of Terror Hunt. It's the MZ additions that bother me.

It was probably wise to jettison the Frankenstein references, though, since the Japanese/international cut retcons any sort of real connection to the previous film anyway. The designations for the monsters could've been kept at least.

Really one of Toho's better looking monster movies. Koizumi's set and location stuff looks great. I'm fond of the daylight Haneda Airport sequence cause everything from the drama and effects units is match cut together so well.