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Varan
is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', which first appeared in the 1958 film ''Varan the Unbelievable'', directed by Ishirō Honda and produced and distributed by Toho. Varan is depicted as a giant prehistoric reptile capable of gliding flight, and would go on to appear in the 1968 film ''Destroy All Monsters'', the ninth film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise. Overview In its film debut, Varan is depicted as a kaiju that lives in a saltwater lake within the Kunishiroshima valley, where it is known to the natives as the god ''Baradagi-Sanjin'' and identified by an entomologist as a "Varanopode", a fictional reptile said to have lived during the Mesozoic Era. Varan kills an expedition duo and destroys a nearby village before attacking Tokyo until it is tricked by the military into eating bombs. After several of them detonate in its stomach, Varan is mortally wounded and escapes into the ocean, where the final bomb explodes and destroys it. Varan reappears in the film ''Destroy All M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monitor Lizard
Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and one species is also found in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are recognized. Monitor lizards have long necks, powerful tails and claws, and well-developed limbs. The adult length of extant species ranges from in some species, to over in the case of the Komodo dragon, though the extinct varanid known as megalania (''Varanus priscus'') may have been capable of reaching lengths more than . Most monitor species are terrestrial, but arboreal and semiaquatic monitors are also known. While most monitor lizards are carnivorous, eating eggs, smaller reptiles, fish, birds, insects, and small mammals, some also eat fruit and vegetation, depending on where they live. Distribution The various species cover a vast area, occurring through Africa, the Indian subcontinent, to China, the Ryukyu Islands in southern J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varan The Unbelievable
is a 1958 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it stars Kōzō Nomura, Ayumi Sonoda, and Koreya Senda, with Haruo Nakajima as Varan. In the film, authorities contend with the appearance of a giant reptilian monster as it attempts to reach civilization. In 1957, Toho was approached by American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres (AB-PT) to co-produce a new ''kaiju'' film for television. It was intended to be a three-part film, each 30 minutes with fade-in/outs for commercial breaks. However, AB-PT collapsed during production and Toho altered the film's status from a television film to a theatrical feature. As a result, the crew faced difficulties and filming lasted 28 days. The film was theatrically released in Japan on October 14, 1958. A heavily localized version, with new footage starring Myron Healey in the lead, was released in the United States on December 12, 1962 by Crown ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toho
is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer and distributor of many ''kaiju'' and ''tokusatsu'' films, the Chouseishin ''tokusatsu'' superhero television franchise, the films of Akira Kurosawa, and the anime films of Studio Ghibli, CoMix Wave Films, TMS Entertainment and OLM, Inc. All nine of the highest-grossing Japanese films are released by Toho. Other famous directors, including Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Masaki Kobayashi, and Mikio Naruse, also directed films for Toho. Toho's most famous creation is Godzilla, who is featured in 32 of the company's films. Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla are described as Toho's Big Five because of the monsters' numerous appearances throughout the franchise, as well as spin-offs. Toho has also been involve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keizō Murase
is a Japanese suitmaker, stuntman, sculptor, modeler, and film director. He is particularly well known for his work in giant monster films, including ''Mothra'' (1961), ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' (1962), and '' The Mighty Peking Man'' (1977). Career In 1958, Toho hired Murase to sculpt the Varan suit for ''Varan the Unbelievable.'' An amateur photographer, Murase extensively documented his work which was published in his 2015 autobiography, ''Monster Maker: Keizo Murase''. After working for Daiei Film on ''Gamera'', he, Masao Yagi, and Akira Suzuki founded the modelling company, Ex Productions, he later left in 1972 to form his own company, Twenty. Filmography Film * ''The H-Man'' (1958) * ''Varan'' (1958) - Varan sculptor / Miniature construction * ''Mothra'' (1961) - Mothra imago sculptor * ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' (1962) - King Kong and Godzilla sculptor * ''Gorath'' (1962) - Maguma sculptor * ''Matango'' (1963) - Matango sculptor * '' Mothra vs. Godzilla'' (1964) - ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Destroy All Monsters
is a 1968 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film, which was produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, is the ninth film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, and features eleven monster characters, including Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Anguirus, and Minilla. The film stars Akira Kubo, Jun Tazaki, Yukiko Kobayashi and Yoshio Tsuchiya. In the film, humans have achieved world peace by the year 1999, and various giant monsters are confined to an area known as Monsterland. The monsters are freed from the area and are mind-controlled by aliens known as Kilaaks, who send them to attack major cities. When the monsters are freed from the Kilaaks' influence, the aliens send King Ghidorah to challenge the other monsters. ''Destroy All Monsters'' was released theatrically in Japan on August 1, 1968. The film was released by American International Pictures with an English-language dub in the United States on May 23, 196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katsumi Tezuka
was a Japanese actor. He is best known for playing monsters in several Toho science fiction and horror films directed by Ishirō Honda. Career Tezuka was born in Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 .... His first credited role in a motion picture was in the 1940 film ''Haruyo Izuko''. He played a number of monster roles as an assistant to Haruo Nakajima. Filmography Film References Sources * * External links * * Year of birth missing Year of death missing Japanese male film actors {{Japan-film-actor-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ishirō Honda
was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 44 feature films in a career spanning 59 years. The most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki, his films have had a significant influence on the film industry. Honda entered the Japanese film industry in 1934, working as the third assistant director on Sotoji Kimura's ''The Elderly Commoner's Life Study''. After 15 years of working on numerous films as an assistant director, he made his directorial debut with the short documentary film ''Ise-Shima'' (1949). Honda's first feature film, '' The Blue Pearl'' (1952), was a critical success in Japan at the time and would lead him to direct three subsequent drama films. In 1954, Honda directed and co-wrote ''Godzilla'', which became a box office success in Japan, and was nominated for two Japanese Movie Association awards. Because of the film's commercial success in Japan, it spawned a multimedia franchise, recognized by ''Guinness World Records'' as the longest-r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monsterland And Monster Island
Monsterland and Monster Island are fictional locations in Toho Studios' ''Godzilla'' film franchise, both serving as nature reserves or homes for several giant monsters. Monsterland Monsterland was introduced in the 1968 film '' Destroy All Monsters''. The United Nations had decided to gather all the Earth's kaiju (giant monsters) and corral them into a single location, then keep them there. The Ogasawara Islands were chosen for the project and by 1999 ("at the close of the 20th century" according to the subtitles in the original Japanese version but on a newspaper it says 1994), Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, Anguirus, Gorosaurus, Kumonga, Minilla, Baragon, Manda, and Varan were all residents of Monsterland. Various security devices were installed on the island to make sure the kaiju wouldn't escape. Among the various devices were machines that sprayed different types of mist that Godzilla and Mothra shied away from, as well as a magnetic wall that prevented Rodan from flyin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haruo Nakajima
was a Japanese actor best known for playing Godzilla in 12 consecutive films, starting from the original ''Godzilla'' (1954) until ''Godzilla vs. Gigan'' (1972). He also played various other giant monsters in '' kaiju'' films, including ''Mothra'' and ''The War of the Gargantuas'' and also appeared in a minor role in the Akira Kurosawa film '' Seven Samurai''. Career Nakajima was born in Yamagata. His first credited role in a motion picture was in the 1952 film '' Sword for Hire''. He began his career as a stunt actor in samurai films and he acted in a small role in the 1954 film '' Seven Samurai'', portraying a bandit slain by master swordsman Kyūzo (Seiji Miyaguchi). He was considered by many to be the best suit actor in the long history of the Godzilla franchise. At the time, Toho's visual effects director, Eiji Tsuburaya considered him completely invaluable, and he was employed to essay the roles of most of the '' kaiju'' (Japanese monsters) during his career as a suit a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ken Kuronuma
was the pen-name of novelist, science fiction, and mystery writer in Shōwa period Japan. His real name was . His father, Sōda Kiichirō (左右田喜一郎), was an economist and a banker. Kuronuma was the writer of the ''Kaiju'' classic ''Rodan (film), Giant Monster of the Sky: Rodan'' (known in Japan as ), a 1956 ''tokusatsu'' film produced by Toho, Tōhō Studios. The film followed in the footsteps of Godzilla and was also popular in the United States. He followed on the success of ''Rodan'' with ''Varan the Unbelievable'' in 1958. It proved to be one of the least popular of the Tōhō movies of all time, and nearly destroyed his career. Kuronuma turned his attention to television drama, writing scripts for one of Japan's first science fiction series, , which ran for 26 episodes: from 3 January 1960 to 28 June 1960. In addition to writing for the series, he also helped to compose the music. See also * List of Japanese authors References *Bush, Lawrence C. ''Asian Hor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eiji Tsuburaya
was a Japanese special effects director and cinematographer. Known as the he worked on 250 feature films in a career spanning 50 years. He is regarded as one of the co-creators of the ''Godzilla'' series, as well as the main creator of the ''Ultra'' series. During his rise to post-war fame in the wake of ''Godzilla'' (1954), it was widely reported that Tsuburaya was born on July 7, which is the high day of Tanabata (star festival), a sign of good fortune. Biography 1901–1919: Early life Tsuburaya was born on July 7, 1901, in Sukagawa, Iwase, Fukushima Prefecture (present-day Sukagawa, Fukushima), to a merchant family that manufactured malted rice. He was the first son of Isamu and Sei Tsumuraya, with a large extended family. He described his childhood as filled with "mixed emotions." When he was three, his mother died, at the age of 19, after giving birth to her second son. His father, who had been adopted into the family through marriage, subsequently left the fami ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Godzilla (franchise)
franchise is a Japanese media franchise created and owned by Toho, Toho Co., Ltd., centered on the fictional ''kaiju'' character Godzilla. It is the longest-running film franchise, having been in ongoing production from 1954, with several hiatuses of varying lengths. The film franchise consists of 38 films; 33 produced by Toho, one produced by TriStar Pictures, and four produced by Legendary Entertainment, Legendary Pictures. The first film, ''Godzilla (1954 film), Godzilla'', was directed by Ishirō Honda and released by Toho in 1954. It became an influential classic of the genre. It featured political and social undertones relevant to Japan at the time. The original introduced an acclaimed music score by Akira Ifukube, reused in many later films. The 1954 film and its special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya are largely credited for establishing the template for ''tokusatsu'', a technique of practical special effects filmmaking that would become essential in Japan's film indust ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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