04.26.2013: Daikaiju Varan Discussion
Kyle, Martin & Jeff discuss the film and history behind Daikaiju Varan (1958)
Welcome to another installment of the Kaijucast… episode 81 in fact! In this episode, Martin, Jeff and I talk about the 1958 monster movie Daikaiju Varan. It’s one of those early Toho films that was made when the studio was still tinkering with their own interpretation of the giant monster movie formula. We had a great time watching the movie and then talking about it…because that’s what we do for our daikaiju discussions. I think we all found something to appreciate about the film. Out of the three of us, I was the only one who had already seen the film. Maybe this film isn’t as widely recognized as I had hoped. We did only get seven listener reviews, so that theory would work in this sense.
Unfortunately Jeff had to get back to his family, so Martin and I had to finish out the rest of the show together. But we had other items to talk about and of course, for the monster music lovers out there, we played the following tracks during the show.
MONSTER MUSIC:
1. The Confrontation at Fuji by Akira Ifukube from King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
2. Monster Match I by Riichiro Manabe from Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
3. Rebirth of Varan by Akira Ifukube from Daikaiju Varan (1958)
4. The Military’s Kiss by Big Pimp Episode from Kodoja: Terror Mountain Showdown (2012)
SUGGESTED READING:
Tsuburaya Announces new Ultraman and Series
SciFi Japan article on Men In Suits Documentary
BAFE’s An Evening of Rubber Monsters
Ultraman Panel Recap from Monsterpalooza
UPCOMING EVENTS:
4/26 & 4/27 Stumptown Comics Festival
5/24 – 5/26 Crypticon in Seattle
6/22 – Godzilla Night II in San Leandro
7/12 – 7/14 G-Fest in Chicago
7/18 – 7/21 San Diego Comic Con
DAIKAIJU DISCUSSION:
Next month, we watch Ghidrah, The Three-Headed Monster (1964) and I am pumped! I have been mentioning this film and its significance to the Kaiju film genre since I started the podcast back in 2009. This film has so much going for it – the first appearance of King Ghidorah, the last appearance of the Peanuts’ Shobijin, Godzilla battling Rodan, international intrigue! It’s going to be awesome and we want you to join in the fun by sending in your thoughts, questions and reviews for this discussion.
We’ll be watching the Classic Media version of this, which is quite possibly the best home video version outside of Japan. It has both the English dub and the Japanese language track to choose from (plus it has a great commentary by David Kalat!). If you don’t have it in your collection, make sure you track it down… it is also available on Netflix streaming, if you have that service! If you want to submit your homework for this film, please do so before May 23rd.
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