There is something within me which desires grim topics to be serious. Some part of me which says that a story ought to not only let you to tears, but also make you chuckle from how absurd it is. And here I do not speak of *[Evil Dead 2](/reviews/untill_dawn_is_good_if_you_cut_out_the_beginning)* by [Sam Raimi](). Nor do I of *[https://blenderdumbass.org/reviews/invasion_of_astro-monster_teletransported_to_brahe](/reviews/invasion_of_astro-monster_teletransported_to_brahe)*.

No, the titular movie in question is not any ordinary kaiju flick. It is Frankenstein wrestling film, *The War of the Gargantuas*.

[Start of the movie, clip](https://peer.madiator.cloud/w/otUAyMD6W7b6nfd2p4uNod)

It starts of like some kind of [Ridley Scott]() film, with a tentacle wrapping around a captain's leg. Maybe, the comparison to Scott is a bit far-stretched, but I can totally see him do something like that. There is also this horror-esque escalation of the problem. There come more and more tentacles. Until you have a giant octopus. And even that is overshadowed by an Atlantic Frankenstein. 


![Nom, nom, nom](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/B4CPTEF640PLV2DB.jpg)
*Nom, nom, nom*

After such a thrilling start, the film keeps its serious mask on. Which is assisted with the, as always, superb composition by [Akira Ifukube](). The mystery of the monster is slim with the big reveal being that the there are two Frankenstein's monsters. But that isn't much of a spoiler, since real charm of the film is not in the plot, rather in the **action**.

There's a lot of explosions, a plentiful amount of destruction, a grand amount of military, both in the air, on the ground and in the water. All the things you could ask for. And the Toho miniatures are incredibly detailed, as always. The scrupulous effort put into constructing them, to just be destroyed for a single shot never ceases to amaze me. 

![BAYHEM!](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/OG0JYYKQQR17RR00.jpg)
*BAYHEM!*

For all its worth, the movie truly delivers on what people came to see — monsters destroy the city. The ending really does give that. You have wrestling which absolutely demolishes all of the buildings and infrastructure. 

There are some hiccups here and there, the most apparent are the inconsistencies in motion. The gargantua Frankenstein does not feel so real when he walks like a normal human being. At least the [1954 Godzilla](/reviews/godzilla__1954__is_a_choir_of_destruction_and_loss) manged to compensate a human in a suit, by having such costume, which dragged the person [Haruo Nakajima]() to the ground. Who played the Atlantic monster, so poor skills in acting cannot be blamed.

![Is that a toy tank?! Why is the shot not in slow motion?](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/CNLQ019R6MP8HSZM.gif)
*Is that a toy tank?! Why is the shot not in slow motion?*

The movie may have begun and ended in a dramatic fashion, but everything in between underscored the real impact. The viewer was not able to get attached to the monsters. And this being a G rated monster flick, the corruption of the audience was basically non-existent. Even from the mid 60s perspective, I do not see much of what could be termed as shocking to the audience. 

The blame is on the scriptwriter [Takeshi Kimura](), who is best known for making light-hearted films. There were exceptions, such as *Attack of the Mushroom People*, but from what I read Kimura seems to have valued entertainment over everything else. Really, by this point [Ishiro Honda]() was very much tired of making the same old Kaiju films. He needed a break. For him, Kaiju and especially Godzilla films were like [Transformers](/search?text=Transformers&title=on&author=on&post=on&description=on&comments=on&tags=on) to [Michael Bay](): films created just so you could get capital to work on something else. And he did, in 1966 Honda directed the romance musical *[Come Marry Me](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_Marry_Me)*. Which may be the most obscure film his filmography, squeezed by science fiction Kaiju. This is just something I infer, it may be that Toho just used Honda's name for promotion, more than anything. After all, he did not even write the screenplay, which he usually does.

This internal exhaustion is why there is nothing too much to say about the film. 'Tis a good watch, it will entertain a crowd, but won't leave any lasting impression. 

*Fin.*