Varan the Unbelievable

VARAN THE UNBELIEVABLE was pretty scary stuff when I first saw it as a kid in 1962. A few years ago I picked the original Japanese version and the must say it proceeds at a ponderous pace and is much longer than the Crown International Pictures release. There are more battle scenes and Varan even flies in the Japanese version. The American distributor shortened the film considerably and added scenes with Myron Healey and maybe even Tsuruko Kobayashi. The monster is a neat-looking reptilian creature that one critic referred to as appearing like "a squirrel with jet propelled nuts." In any event, not bad stuff but it's not great either. For better Japanese sci-fi GODZILLA, RODAN, ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE and THE MYSTERIANS are much better. But VARAN deserves a break and was never seen again (except for a brief appearance in one of the GHIDRAH sequels). VARAN was meant for television release originally but never made it. See it anyway for its fun moments, and there are a few. With Katsumi Tezuka in a rubber suit as Varan. Also, catch the original Japanese version if you can!

This came out paired with CIPs also POSSIBLY recut version of the East German etc FIRST SPACESHIP ON VENUS-Der Schwagen Stern- (or SILENT STAR) In a theater full of candy and popcorn munching kids, i was in pure heaven -not one but TWO cool sci-fi pictures! Although VARAN seemed OK to me at the time, even at 10 years old I felt that the Freeze frame-pan-right(?) film technique brought the action to grinding halt, when transitioning back to the American footage. I briefly had the Japanese Laserdisc in 2.35 Scope, and was amazed to find BARAN flying like a squirrel! I guess we would have hooted that off the screen back then, but what did we know? It was a Saturday, and we wanted our candy, soda and(believable) action.

This is not a review, but I want to post this here to help stave off some confusion. The DVD called "Varan The Unbelievable", released by Tokyo Shock in May 2005, catalog number TSDVD-0511, is not the film listed on IMDb as "Varan the Unbelievable (1962)", or "The Monster Varan (1962)". It is instead the film listed on IMDb as "Daikaijû Baran (1958)". "Baran" is the Japanese word that has a transliteration in English as "Varan".

"Varan the Unbelievable" was an American-produced adaptation of the material, similar to the American adaptation of the original Godzilla (Gojira, 1954). Varan was originally to be a joint US/Japanese production, but that deal fell through. Toho, the Japanese production company, went ahead and did Varan anyway, and a few years later, the American version was produced, with a different title and with additional material directed by Jerry A. Baerwitz. It doesn't help the confusion that Tokyo Shock decided to release their DVD under the American title of "Varan the Unbelievable", but surely that was done because that's the title that Americans know the film under.

How do you know what version you watched? Well, the American version has an American actor, Myron Healey, and a plot about trying to desalinize water. It's also only 70 minutes long. The Japanese film is about 90 minutes long, has no American actors, and Varan (or "Baran") makes his first (offscreen) appearance when scientists from Tokyo make a trip to a remote, mountainous village to research the sighting of a butterfly previously only known to exist in Siberia. The Japanese version also has a different musical score, but since music is a bit difficult to describe well in words (other than technically), that's not a great way for most folks to tell which version they've watched.

To make matters even more confusing, the Tokyo Shock DVD has a truncated Japanese television version of Daikaijû Baran, clocking in at about 50 minutes, which dispenses with both the desalinization and the butterfly plots. Also, at least some people have reported seeing a color version of the film. I don't know which version that would be, but the Tokyo Shock DVD has the original, black & white widescreen Japanese version from 1958. I would have much preferred if Tokyo Shock would have put the American adaptation of Varan on the DVD as an extra, as the Japanese television version is just the same film with a bunch of edits for time and there are a few scenes rearranged to try to create something more coherent given the cuts. Tokyo Shock probably didn't put the American film as an extra because of some licensing or royalty issue. I can also imagine Toho objecting to it. Note that there's a good commentary track for the film with Murase Keizo, who was in charge of special effects models on the film (he's not credited on either IMDb listing).

We should reserve this listing for reviews of the American version, and review the Japanese original version at the listing for Daikaijû Baran (1958) instead.

In VARAN THE UNBELIEVABLE, the title monster is aroused from its lair at the bottom of a lake. It's disturbed by "scientific tests" that turn its watery home into a useless cesspool. Most of the movie's running time is taken up by the human drama between Cmdr. James Bradley (Myron Healey), his wife, the military, and the poor villagers who resist being relocated.

This is the "Americanized" version of the original Japanese film by Director Ishiro Honda. The "reworked" story has Healey's character spouting most of the dialogue / narration, much like Raymond Burr in the "re-imagined" American release of GODZILLA. Not surprisingly, this makes for quite a slog, since the movie is padded out with loads of dull situations added for American audiences of the era.

While Honda's movie has a reputation for being rather bland, it's difficult to see how this version could possibly be an improvement! Fragments of the original tale are shown as non sequitur scenes -usually of natives jumping around, or military HQ- here and there throughout the film. As for the monster, it's not bad, especially during the big finish.

A film for the true, giant monster completist... .

Varan The Unbelievable is a very enjoyable Japanese giant monster movie. This movie was practically re-shot for it's American audience so if you enjoy the American version then you diffenently need to check out the original Japanese version. It will be like watching two different films, Varan has the ability to fly in the original version. The U.S. version is good but the original is much better.