Talkback: The War of the Gargantuas (1966)

[Gojira1963]

The random volcano thing that happens in more than one Toho kaiju film is, well, random, but having both die was a fitting ending for what is in a way a tragedy film. I don't necessarily have any ideas for a different ending off the top of my head.

I did notice that then ending was identical to Rodan. That didn't bother me at all. Yeah, I agree with you that the film was a tragedy and you really feel for both monsters which is why I think the movie is so good.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

War of the Gargantuas ending really pisses me off and kinda ruins the film for me. The film was building up the tension and suspense better than any other monster film had done before, and presented some of the best monster action I've ever seen...and then the ending had to show up and just got it cut right then and there, with no proper falling action or resolution. It really just comes off like the writers thought about the ending of the film for about 15 minutes, and then said, "Screw it! We can't come up with anything, so let's just have a volcano come up out of no where and eat the two of them up! Damn, we're good at our jobs!!" Really? Having the two of them being killed by a random volcano was the best ending that they could come up with? They might as well have been killed by Godzilla just randomly popping up and shooting them with his ray, and then leaving. That would have at least provided me with a laugh. But this? This is just sad and kind of depressing, but not for the monster. I'm sad and depressed at the ending, because these fantastic filmmakers, who were doing such a great job with the film up until that point came up with such a crap ending. All of the creativity and thought that these filmmakers put into the film, but they can't come up with a proper ending.

[GodzillaDude]

War of the Gargantuas ending really pisses me off and kinda ruins the film for me. The film was building up the tension and suspense better than any other monster film had done before, and presented some of the best monster action I've ever seen...and then the ending had to show up and just got it cut right then and there, with no proper falling action or resolution. It really just comes off like the writers thought about the ending of the film for about 15 minutes, and then said, "Screw it! We can't come up with anything, so let's just have a volcano come up out of no where and eat the two of them up! Damn, we're good at our jobs!!" Really? Having the two of them being killed by a random volcano was the best ending that they could come up with? They might as well have been killed by Godzilla just randomly popping up and shooting them with his ray, and then leaving. That would have at least provided me with a laugh. But this? This is just sad and kind of depressing, but not for the monster. I'm sad and depressed at the ending, because these fantastic filmmakers, who were doing such a great job with the film up until that point came up with such a crap ending. All of the creativity and thought that these filmmakers put into the film, but they can't come up with a proper ending.

I'm...actually gonna have to agree with you there. I still love the film but the ending seemed anti-climatic to me.

[ScootaVaran]

War of the Gargantuas ending really pisses me off and kinda ruins the film for me. The film was building up the tension and suspense better than any other monster film had done before, and presented some of the best monster action I've ever seen...and then the ending had to show up and just got it cut right then and there, with no proper falling action or resolution. It really just comes off like the writers thought about the ending of the film for about 15 minutes, and then said, "Screw it! We can't come up with anything, so let's just have a volcano come up out of no where and eat the two of them up! Damn, we're good at our jobs!!" Really? Having the two of them being killed by a random volcano was the best ending that they could come up with? They might as well have been killed by Godzilla just randomly popping up and shooting them with his ray, and then leaving. That would have at least provided me with a laugh. But this? This is just sad and kind of depressing, but not for the monster. I'm sad and depressed at the ending, because these fantastic filmmakers, who were doing such a great job with the film up until that point came up with such a crap ending. All of the creativity and thought that these filmmakers put into the film, but they can't come up with a proper ending.

I'm...actually gonna have to agree with you there. I still love the film but the ending seemed anti-climatic to me.

Yeah I gotta agree with that too. The ending seemed kinda rushed.
Volcanos seem to be the "go to" kind of ending for some of these movies. Just seems like the writers wrote themselves into a corner and cant find a proper way to get rid of these seemingly indestructible monsters they've created.


Still a fun movie though.

[Gojira1963]

War of the Gargantuas ending really pisses me off and kinda ruins the film for me. The film was building up the tension and suspense better than any other monster film had done before, and presented some of the best monster action I've ever seen...and then the ending had to show up and just got it cut right then and there, with no proper falling action or resolution. It really just comes off like the writers thought about the ending of the film for about 15 minutes, and then said, "Screw it! We can't come up with anything, so let's just have a volcano come up out of no where and eat the two of them up! Damn, we're good at our jobs!!" Really? Having the two of them being killed by a random volcano was the best ending that they could come up with? They might as well have been killed by Godzilla just randomly popping up and shooting them with his ray, and then leaving. That would have at least provided me with a laugh. But this? This is just sad and kind of depressing, but not for the monster. I'm sad and depressed at the ending, because these fantastic filmmakers, who were doing such a great job with the film up until that point came up with such a crap ending. All of the creativity and thought that these filmmakers put into the film, but they can't come up with a proper ending.

I don't disagree with you that the ending isn't too great. I don't think it bothers me like it bothers you. Just curious, can you think of a different ending?

The volcano isn't too bad, although it is contrived, I would liked to have seen Sanda throw Gaira into the volcano in a symbol of good triumphant over evil.

[Tamura]

I thought it looked cool. I like it.

[Gojira-Fan]

Yeah, the ending is probably the biggest reason I didn't like the movie.

[edgaguirus]

Having Sanda die along side Gaira is a sympathetic moment. The death of hero and foe, though, gives a certain closure to the film.

To be honest, I don't mind the volcano. It's a gimmick for Toho when needing to finish off kaiju, but like Rodan, there's an emothional element with the lava and smoke.

[Rody]

The volcano in RODAN didn't feel tacked on like it did here, where it came out of nowhere. It's the one major flaw to the film, in my opinion. I think it would have been better if they had left the fate of the two Gargantuas ambiguous.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

War of the Gargantuas ending really pisses me off and kinda ruins the film for me. The film was building up the tension and suspense better than any other monster film had done before, and presented some of the best monster action I've ever seen...and then the ending had to show up and just got it cut right then and there, with no proper falling action or resolution. It really just comes off like the writers thought about the ending of the film for about 15 minutes, and then said, "Screw it! We can't come up with anything, so let's just have a volcano come up out of no where and eat the two of them up! Damn, we're good at our jobs!!" Really? Having the two of them being killed by a random volcano was the best ending that they could come up with? They might as well have been killed by Godzilla just randomly popping up and shooting them with his ray, and then leaving. That would have at least provided me with a laugh. But this? This is just sad and kind of depressing, but not for the monster. I'm sad and depressed at the ending, because these fantastic filmmakers, who were doing such a great job with the film up until that point came up with such a crap ending. All of the creativity and thought that these filmmakers put into the film, but they can't come up with a proper ending.

I don't disagree with you that the ending isn't too great. I don't think it bothers me like it bothers you. Just curious, can you think of a different ending?

Off the top of my head, I would have the main characters tell the military to stop firing on the Garganutas (that gives the main characters something to do), and then Gaira pulls Sanda under the water, where they continue to fight. After a few moments, Sanda emerges from the water, badly injured, but there's no sign of Gaira. Sanda then swims off, upset that he had to kill his brother, but glad that he won't hurt anyone else.

The problem with WoG's ending is that it comes out of no where and it doesn't resolve anything. It essentially takes a pair scissors to the film reel and cuts the film off right in the middle of Gaira and Sanda fighting. It looks cool, sure, but in terms of the story, it does more harm then good.

Its also weird that I have a problem with both of Toho's big endings that involve volcanos (WoG and Rodan), though for different reasons. While Rodan's ending does make sense and actually is kinda sad and touching, the scene is ruined by some really bad special effects work. Mainly, the large amounts of light coming from the volcano make the Rodan props look incredibly fake and ruins the dramatic tension of the scene. Whereas WoG's ending with a volcano doesn't really serve any good for the story.

[Goji]

Yeah, the ending is probably the biggest reason I didn't like the movie.

So, the ending completely ruins the movie for you?

Seriously? What about the rest of it?

[Julia Bristow]

The ending for WOTG doesn't ruin the whole film for me. I do agree that it does feel tacked on (unlike the deaths of the Rodans due to the volcano in Rodan) but other than that, WOTG is an entertaining film to watch regardless of the ending

[Giga Kaiju]

The ending is not bad. It doesnt ruin anything, The battle scenes make up for it.

[GodzillaDude]

The ending felt disappointing and anti-climatic to me, but it doesn't stop me from loving the movie and the characters of Gaira and Sanda.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

The ending is not bad. It doesnt ruin anything, The battle scenes make up for it.

I wouldn't say that. I would much rather have a film with average battle scenes and a proper ending, instead of a film with great battle scenes and no ending.

The ending of WoG doesn't ruin the entire film. It's still a fantastic film that I really enjoy. But, the ending does take the film down a few notches. It takes what would have been a great A+ daikaiju film, and makes it an average B. It's certainly not a bad film by any stretch, but it could have been much better.

[Gojira-Fan]

Yeah, the ending is probably the biggest reason I didn't like the movie.

So, the ending completely ruins the movie for you?

Seriously? What about the rest of it?

I didn't say that it completely ruined the movie for me. I said it was the biggest reason I didn't like the movie.

Other criticisms I have is the bland characterization for the characters and Russ Tamblyn's acting.

It wasn't a particularly memorable or engaging film for me. I watched it over a year ago, if I could remember some other reasons I didn't like it, I would tell you.

[Carthormerr]

I have some slight confusion after watching this again recently. Most of my confusion might be in how they use the name"Frankenstein" within the context of the movie. When they show a flashback scene with Kumi Mizuno with a hairy humanoid, they refer to him as Frankenstein. Now considering the creature is hairy, I in the past assumed it was Sanda, but they called him Frankenstein, and in movie wise they didn't know either of the two gargantuas had existed at this point in the movie.

1) Was this a re-shoot, and supposed to be from Frankenstein Conquers the World, due to another actor (besides Nick Adams) playing the doctor?... And at the same time made Frankenstein hairy in the footage to make it fit better within the context of the movie?
2) Just Sanda?
3) Something else???

[MaxRebo320]

Just think of it as its own movie. It's an off shoot of the previous Frankenstein film but not a complete sequel.

ZOMG BUTT WHY IT NEED'S CONTINOOITY!!!1

[eabaker]

WotG was designed as a sequel to Frankenstein Conquers the World. but it was made in a time before home video, without any expectation that audiences would be watching the two films back to back and noting the disparities in continuity. So, essentially, they re-staged/re-wrote a bit oft he previous movie.

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.

Kinda like the way that each Evil dead movie has the previous entries re-staged/summarized.

[Captain Aktion]

WotG was designed as a sequel to Frankenstein Conquers the World. but it was made in a time before home video, without any expectation that audiences would be watching the two films back to back and noting the disparities in continuity. So, essentially, they re-staged/re-wrote a bit oft he previous movie.

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.

Kinda like the way that each Evil dead movie has the previous entries re-staged/summarized.

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."