In the late 1950s, a rare Siberian butterfly is found in a remote region of Japan. A scientist sends some researchers into the area, known as “The Tibet of Japan”, to see if any more of the rare butterflies can be found. Unfortunately for them, they are killed by what the local villagers refer to as a god, with their jeep crushed “like a paper toy.” When the news of their death travels back to their employer, he sends three more researchers to look into the area to determine the source of the superstitions surrounding the “god” of the area.
Upon their arrival, they find the local villagers praying to keep the god away from the village. The intrusion of the researchers has angered the god and the villagers fear they will be destroyed as a result. Kenji (Kôzô Nomura), one of the search party, dismisses their beliefs and insults the villagers, claiming that they can’t possibly believe in something they’ve never seen now that it’s the Twentieth Century. Amazingly, half of the villagers believe him and when a boy follows his dog into the wilderness, Kenji convinces the villagers to join in the search for him. Shortly after the boy is found, the god rises from the lake and destroys the village. This time, he is definitely seen. In fact, the search party takes pictures of the monster, now dubbed Varan, that appear all over newspapers.
Immediately, the Japanese Defense Force fears that Varan will attack the cities of Japan. So what do they do? They travel to Varan’s hiding place in the lake and force him to the surface to bombard him with mortar and cannon fire. Predictably, the weapons of man have no effect on Varan, who is now angry and sets off to wreak havoc on the cities of Japan. Can the JDF come up with a way to defeat him?
As with any Japanese kaiju (giant monster) film, Varan the Unbelievable requires you to shut off any rational thought processes you apply to any other movie. Unfortunately, unlike other kaiju films, Varan the Unbelievable doesn’t really end up being enjoyable, even as a guilty pleasure.
There is no real explanation of the existence of Varan or the reason behind his attempt to destroy Tokyo. He possesses no interesting powers, other than the ability to fly, and he isn’t exactly the most exciting monster to watch. Varan sort of lumbers around and bumps into buildings and structures, knocking them over almost by accident. Unlike fellow Toho Studios monster, Godzilla, Varan doesn’t give you any sense that he’s a force of nature bent on destroying mankind for tampering with nature. Varan is more like a drunk relative bumping into your living room furniture in slow motion.
The special effects, usually a problem with Japanese monster movies, are marginal at best. Only a few shots of Varan moving through the ocean look realistic. Some footage of the military moving into place and destruction of the city is culled from 1954’s Godzilla. Seeing the movie on the newly released Media Blasters DVD is a treat, however, because the print is in fantastic shape and restores the original Akira Ifukube score which is, by far, the best thing about the movie.
If you’re not a fan of the kaiju genre, you probably wouldn’t even know of this film’s existence. If you are a kaiju otaku, then you should see it but don’t expect much. Varan the Unbelievable is disappointing even for fans who are used to less-than-stellar movies.
2.0 out of 5.0 stars
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