Review Varan: The Unbelievable film review by Durp004
Written By Durp004 on 2014-10-06 16:29:58
So when you think back to Toho's older monster endeavors most people would like the original Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, Frankenstein, but it would seem Varan doesn't come up that often. Strange really as most of the other monsters that got their own movies became prominant in the Godzilla franchise but besides a few shots Varan gets left out. When you see the movie you'll understand why.
Not to say this is that bad of a movie but while watching it I just want to watch the original Gojira. Literally if I'm watching the japanese version I want to watch Gojira, and if I'm watching the english version it makes me want to watch Godzilla: King of the Monsters. That's basically the overwhelming feeling I got as I sat through this movie. It's like eating something off the dollar menu and thinking there's a 5 star restaurant you'd rather go to. The english version is pretty bad, so I'll just skip it and talk about the Japanese one as the premise is better and the movie all around more interesting.
So the movie starts out with 2 scientists meeting their demise and when people go to investigate the villagers say it was a superstitious monster(sound familiar?) The monster eventually shows up and destroys the village before returning to the lake. I will say while, once again Varan just looks like a worse Godzilla I did like the suit and it was geniunely scary to see him rise out of the water. Then the military comes and the basic monster plot is followed. One thing I did like it Varan actively interacts with humans. Whereas Godzill and other monsters ignore them for the most part Varan chases and tries to kill them. I like that they come up with a plan to kill him as the oxygen destroyer that's used to kill godzilla doesn't seem to have any thought it's just an awesome weapon that they conveniently have. For Varan they have to come up with a plan. So feeding the monster explosives with special gunpowder is the idea.
Overall I would recommend one watch but if you can't find it on DVD or anything you aren't missing much. If you can only find the american one it's better just to save the money and buy a better movie.