The War of the Gargantuas

Director Ishirô Honda gave birth to the kaiju film, i.e., the giant monster movie, with Godzilla (1954), a film which conceived of its eponymous monster as an all-purpose metaphor for nuclear weapons at a time when the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were still fresh in the national psyche. Circa 1966, Honda was still at work in kaiju movies, which by that point had solidified into a routine genre replete with its own formulas and conventions. But while the powerful metaphorical heft of the original Godzilla was no longer integral to the genre, Honda was still an industrious craftsman who had by no means exhausted his arsenal of directorial effects, and The War of the Gargantuas (1966) has endured to this day as a cult kaiju favorite. The film was intended as a sequel to Honda's earlier Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965), which arose from a partnership between Toho and UPA president Henry G. Saperstein, who was committed to repackaging kaiju productions for the American market. The fraught contingencies of international co-production, including the decision to cast Russ Tamblyn as an original character named Dr. Stewart, effectively blurred the continuity between the two films. While the Gargantuas are apparently extensions of the earlier film's Frankenstein monster, the designs are completely different - these giant, hairy, multicolored humanoids (an aggressive green Gargantua named Gaira vs. a peaceful brown Gargantua named Sanda) are altogether new creations. An action spectacle through and through, The War of the Gargantuas makes the most of its set-pieces. In the opening sequence, a giant octopus attacks a fishing boat during a dark and rainy night. When the green monster shows up to dispose of the octopus, it appears to have rescued the crew from their grisly fate. This momentary solace is instantly dashed as the monster then finishes the onslaught, massacring all but one of the remaining crewmembers. Honda and company clearly saw an opportunity to bolster the conventions of kaiju with deft horror-suspense touches. Accordingly, each of the giant monster battles is uniquely compelling, this in spite of budgetary restraints and a very tight shooting schedule. Director Guillermo del Toro has cited The War of the Gargantuas as one of his chief influences, particularly on his kaiju homage Pacific Rim (2013). The film's fans also include Quentin Tarantino and Brad Pitt, who has cited the film as the childhood inspiration for his love of cinema. Tamblyn, for his part, is said to have looked down on the material, deeming it far inferior to his work in Hollywood. Tamblyn was resistant to Honda's direction and often refused to follow the script, an issue that was compounded when the actor was asked to redub many of his lines for the American release. However, one of the film's actors is said to have relished the experience. Haruo Nakajima specialized in performing the roles of the giant monsters throughout the Toho kaiju cycle, but particularly loved the part of Gaira - supposedly because the flexibility of the costume gave him freer rein to emote. By Stuart Collier