Audience Member
A bland boring kaiju movie. Despite being an iconic Toho monster varan is not able to make this movie enjoyable in the slightest. The whole film feels lazy and lacking passion. Since the movie was made in a short time span and was meant for television the lack of effort from the actors and script can be some what forgiven. However this does not mean the movie is worth watching. I am a massive kaiju fan and enjoys some of the less popular movies as Atragon but even I struggled to stay a wake during Varan. The only positive I can promote is that Akira Ifukube's music is a s agood as always
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
02/20/23
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Audience Member
I enjoyed this movie to its fullest extent, this movie felt right for a 50s monster movie and made it a fun watch that reminds me of the original Gojira/Godzilla, all and all Varan is one of my favorite Kaiju and that love was greatly improved after watching this movie.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/17/23
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Audience Member
Only the most desperate, hardcore fans of Godzilla and other giant monster movies will be able to enjoy "Varan the Unbelievable", which is essentially just a dull rehash of better monster movies made before it. The plot is very thin: When two etymologist looking for a rare butterfly in a remote valley are killed by a mysterious creature, Yuriko (Ayumi Sonoda), the sister of one of the deceased men, Horiguchi (Fumindo Matsuo), a reporter that works with the woman and a scientist named Kenji (Kozo Nomura) investigate. They discover that the creature responsible is not, in fact a mountain god as the people in a local village claim, but a gigantic lizard with flying-squirrel-like membranes between its arms called Varan. The film follows the ensuing efforts to kill the monster.
The problems with this movie begin with the monster Varan. When you first see him, you think ok, a giant lizard. Not that original, but he's got some cool design elements to him, with the giant spines along his back and the ability to fly... but that potential is totally wasted. First of all, the creature spends nearly the entire movie swimming. SWIMMING! The one thing that could have made this monster unique would have been the ability to fly from location to location, switching from ground attacks to flying attacks and maybe even taking a dip in a lake to avoid detective when it isn't trashing the place but most of the movie it spends its time in the water, moving slowly while boats and planes bombard it. Considering the creature is discovered on the Japanese mainland and then escapes by running to the ocean, only for it to swim back towards Tokyo, it's a huge disappointment. The suit for Varan is fine, but doesn't particularly stand out as a landmark in technology and the origin of his this giant monster came to be is dull (I was even tempted to say nonexistent). Varan doesn't even go on a decent rampage. Sure, there's a scene early on where he totally trashes a village, but it's a primitive village of wooden huts so the destruction isn't very impactful (plus those people built their houses next to the lair of a gigantic lizard, they pretty much had it coming). There's not even a decent body count. Varan swats out a single plane out of the sky and kills the two explorers at the beginning. Oh, and a single villager. Otherwise, you've seen more people get killed by Hannibal Lecter than this guy... and he's a lizard big enough to eat a city by himself!
It doesn't get much better when it comes to the human plot. Whenever the camera is centered around the three people who discover Varan it's just lame filler between the scenes of Varan interacting with the military. A great example is Yuriko, who shows very little interest in the fact that her brother died. It feels like the death is more of a plot point than anything actually dramatic. I also have to highlight some of the acting, which is delivered by some of the most bored Japanese actors I've ever seen. Worst of all, you totally do not side with the humans in this movie. Not because you have grown to love Varan, but because all of the humans here are total jerks. Varan has been living in his valley peacefully for presumably a number of years, minding his own business. Sure, he's stomped on a couple of silly humans, but hey, accidents happen and it's just an animal after all. It doesn't know right from wrong. What do humans do as soon as they discover that a giant lizard is living in a mostly uninhabited valley though? They bring out all of their tanks and planes and bomb the crap out of it in an effort to kill the monster. They're setting forests on fire, killing all of the fish in the lake in order to drive Varan out and doing all sorts of other damage... to a creature that wasn't even looking for trouble in the first place. When Varan leaves the valley and heads for civilization, you don't blame him. They trashed his house! I realize that this film is set in the same universe as Godzilla, where giant reptiles coming to Japan and wrecking the place is more than enough reason to take pre-emptive measures but the actions taken by the military do not feel justified at all in this film. Then there's the ending of the movie. A total Deus ex-machina ripped right out of the original Godzilla but executed in a way that is totally lazy. It really feels like a cheap knockoff... until you learn that a lot of the people who worked on the 1954 classic also worked on this one, including the director! I guess that doesn't make it plagiarism as much as just a rehash.
Varan does go on to make an appearance in other Godzilla films, but unlike some of the more memorable monsters, like Mothra and Rodan (both of which were featured in excellent films), this character is almost better left as one of those background characters you pay little attention to. Appearing in three movies (including this one) and having no significant abilities or memorable moments to speak of, this is one of those obscure creations by Toho that you only need to see if you're really curious and you only need to have on your Dvd shelf if you are a hardcore fan of the Kaiju genre. "Varan the Unbelievable" is a poorly made, dull and unmemorable movie that you can easily skip. (Original Japanese with English Subtitles, April 5, 2014)
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
02/08/23
Full Review
Audience Member
An array of model tanks,toy planes, stock footage and hysterical Japanese actors face off against a man in a rubber Godzilla suit with some spikes stuck on it, all with the acompaniment of an all too serious soundtrack.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
02/24/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A decently entertaining "man in suit" giant monster flick. The plot is nothing special, but the title creature is endearingly silly, and some of the destruction the monster brings about is fun to watch.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/15/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A bit boring, and uses some stock footage from the original Godzilla, but it has good monster moments. Varan is an interesting kaiju who doesn't get used too much. The film is alright and the characters are decent, but it's not the best kaiju film.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/02/23
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