The World Cinema Series continues with a FREE screening of Ishirō Honda's 1966 kaiju classic, "The War of the Gargantuas" on Thursday October 15th at 7pm!
This was one of my later kaiju discoveries. Nearly 20 years ago, I accidently discovered this cult classic when I bought "Rodan" on DVD! "The War of the Gargantuas" was literally the bonus feature on the set! What an incredible surprise! The film was a modest success at the time, but now it's a revered cult classic!
The film is highly regarded for its stellar miniature effects, intense choreography, and an atmospheric score by Akira Ifukube. It stars an international cast, including American actor Russ Tamblyn ("West Side Story", "Twin Peaks", etc.) alongside Toho regulars Kumi Mizuno and Kenji Sahara. The suit acting is equally legendary, with Haruo Nakajima (Toho's primary Godzilla performer) bringing a fierce, terrifying energy to Gaira!
This is such a great film and I'm glad I took the time to watch it. There's plenty of classic kaiju destruction, director Ishirō Honda infused the movie with heavy psychological, moral, and sociological layers. Nature vs. Nurture, the moral ambiguity of violence, and the also the theme of logic & power that needs empathy.
