This is one of the more entertaining (and yet still bonkers) Toho monster rallies and at some points you can actually feel your grip on sanity beginning to weaken. Like many Frankenstein movies you do feel a certain amount of sympathy for the monster (not Baragon though, who looks like he escaped from a toy shop) and actually wish he would deliver a massive ass-kicking to the immaculately dressed, white gloved troops who are shooting at him. Baragon spitting feathers and the pig-on-rails scenes alone are worth the admission price. The sheer lunacy of this movie even exceeds that of King Kong Lives! Sadly the best scene is missing: the one in which Nick Adams' agent persuaded him to turn up for this particular engagement.
63 Reviews
Frankenstein Conquers The World: Toho does Frankenstein
Platypuschow19 February 2019
The legend of Frankenstein and his various adventures have been covered to a crazy degree over the years but right here we have horror legends Toho take a stab at it. Sadly it appears they weren't told very much before they wrote the screenplay.
Assisted once again by a US studio (Which has always been to their detriment) this tells the story of a young boy who is discovered and found to be growing at an incredible rate. Before they know it he's grown disastrously large and broken free of his constraints, just at the same time as a giant monster has appeared on a rampage as well.
You can immediately tell that it's a Toho film, from the sfx to the one bit of score they keep using or mildly remixing. Several of the usual faces are also present including Takashi Shimura who has a blink and you'll miss it role.
The storyline is actually more competently done than many of these Toho monster films but in its place the sfx are a tad worse. The creature effects and that of our Frankenstein are fine, but every once in a while you'll spot something so bad it should have got someones butt fired (I'm looking at you shifty Boar and awful Horse).
What drew the most ire from me were certain logistical issues. For example Frankenstein is of course the name of the Scientist who created the monster not the name of the monster itself. As the boy grows the clothes grow (Hulk style) and various other little things that bothered me more than they perhaps should.
It's more Toho monster cheese, if you like that stuff this will likely appeal otherwise you'll probably scratch your head in amazement just how ridiculous it all is.
The Good:
Fairly well made stuff
The Bad:
Takashi Shimura is wasted
Frequent logistical flaws
Some really poor sfx
Assisted once again by a US studio (Which has always been to their detriment) this tells the story of a young boy who is discovered and found to be growing at an incredible rate. Before they know it he's grown disastrously large and broken free of his constraints, just at the same time as a giant monster has appeared on a rampage as well.
You can immediately tell that it's a Toho film, from the sfx to the one bit of score they keep using or mildly remixing. Several of the usual faces are also present including Takashi Shimura who has a blink and you'll miss it role.
The storyline is actually more competently done than many of these Toho monster films but in its place the sfx are a tad worse. The creature effects and that of our Frankenstein are fine, but every once in a while you'll spot something so bad it should have got someones butt fired (I'm looking at you shifty Boar and awful Horse).
What drew the most ire from me were certain logistical issues. For example Frankenstein is of course the name of the Scientist who created the monster not the name of the monster itself. As the boy grows the clothes grow (Hulk style) and various other little things that bothered me more than they perhaps should.
It's more Toho monster cheese, if you like that stuff this will likely appeal otherwise you'll probably scratch your head in amazement just how ridiculous it all is.
The Good:
Fairly well made stuff
The Bad:
Takashi Shimura is wasted
Frequent logistical flaws
Some really poor sfx
Silly but fun.
Boba_Fett113819 April 2010
This movie seems like a silly project on paper but the eventual movie is nevertheless still quite fun to watch.
This movie is a Japanese attempt to blend in the Frankenstein creature with the Japanese monster movie-genre. It's like Frankenstein meets Gojira, only the creature in this movie is named Baragon, who looks like a giant armadillo, or of course better said a guy in a rubber suits that looks like a giant armadillo.
It's all quite silly of course but yet the movie works on a certain level of entertainment. You could basically say that this movie is just as good and fun to watch as basically any other Japanese monster movie from about the same time period.
You could tell that in the first halve of the movie they somewhat tried to remain faithful to the Frankenstein movie. They also tried to give the character a heart and let him struggle with the same emotions and difficulties the character has always struggled with in the Mary Shelley novel and all of the Frankenstein movies and tried to make the movie somewhat intelligent and scientific. It's not like it ever works out well enough or becomes believable but this is mostly because they did not go all the way with it. After all, it seemed more important for them to make a monster movie, so here we have a Frankenstein creature that suddenly starts to grow 4 times his normal size and battles Baragon, a prehistoric creature from the depths of the Earth, who has been awakened by oil drillers.
Therefore the lovers of these Japanese monster movies will be the ones to most likely enjoy this movie. It all builds up to its obvious ending, in which the Frankenstein creature battles the man in the rubber suit. The fight is literally laughable to watch but this is of course also part of the charm of movies such as this one.
It's all pretty silly but it was fun to watch!
6/10
http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
This movie is a Japanese attempt to blend in the Frankenstein creature with the Japanese monster movie-genre. It's like Frankenstein meets Gojira, only the creature in this movie is named Baragon, who looks like a giant armadillo, or of course better said a guy in a rubber suits that looks like a giant armadillo.
It's all quite silly of course but yet the movie works on a certain level of entertainment. You could basically say that this movie is just as good and fun to watch as basically any other Japanese monster movie from about the same time period.
You could tell that in the first halve of the movie they somewhat tried to remain faithful to the Frankenstein movie. They also tried to give the character a heart and let him struggle with the same emotions and difficulties the character has always struggled with in the Mary Shelley novel and all of the Frankenstein movies and tried to make the movie somewhat intelligent and scientific. It's not like it ever works out well enough or becomes believable but this is mostly because they did not go all the way with it. After all, it seemed more important for them to make a monster movie, so here we have a Frankenstein creature that suddenly starts to grow 4 times his normal size and battles Baragon, a prehistoric creature from the depths of the Earth, who has been awakened by oil drillers.
Therefore the lovers of these Japanese monster movies will be the ones to most likely enjoy this movie. It all builds up to its obvious ending, in which the Frankenstein creature battles the man in the rubber suit. The fight is literally laughable to watch but this is of course also part of the charm of movies such as this one.
It's all pretty silly but it was fun to watch!
6/10
http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
More Toho fun!
Tin Man-54 January 2000
Deep within the heart of me exists a love for films featuring giant creatures battling it out for supremecy in the streets of Tokyo. I just remember watching them with anticipation as a small child, waiting in anxiety to see who the victor would be of these mommoth clashes. Of course, with familiar characters like Gamera, Rodan, Mothra, Ghidra, Gigan, Baragon, King Kong, and, of course, Godzilla stomping Tokyo in each film, this one, titled "Frankenstein vs. Baragon" here in the U.S., takes the cake for taking the most risks.
This film sets up many important things for the Toho universe: It introduces Baragon, who would later become a favorite of the genre. In additon, it makes political statements on nuclear testing. Oh, and on a side-note, it also *takes Frankenstein's monster, grows him to giant heights, pits him against Baragon, and puts a classic Gothic monster's face into the gallery of gigantic monsters to rummage Japan.* If you aren't impressed by the first two factors, at least appretiate the third one simply for its camp value.
AND WHAT CAMP VALUE IT IS! The fights in this are some of the best of the Toho universe. Frankenstein looks like an overgrown caveman, and Baragon is effectively established as a leading monster. And while most of the battles simply take place in a few mountains outside of-- you guessed it-- Tokyo, the fun still exists, and its as just as a good time as you'll find in any given Godzilla or Gamera flick.
Silly, cliched, stupid, pointless...and one heckuva good time! LOOK OUT FOR THE BEATING HEART OF FRANKENSTEIN! AND WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T EAT IT!
*** out of ****
This film sets up many important things for the Toho universe: It introduces Baragon, who would later become a favorite of the genre. In additon, it makes political statements on nuclear testing. Oh, and on a side-note, it also *takes Frankenstein's monster, grows him to giant heights, pits him against Baragon, and puts a classic Gothic monster's face into the gallery of gigantic monsters to rummage Japan.* If you aren't impressed by the first two factors, at least appretiate the third one simply for its camp value.
AND WHAT CAMP VALUE IT IS! The fights in this are some of the best of the Toho universe. Frankenstein looks like an overgrown caveman, and Baragon is effectively established as a leading monster. And while most of the battles simply take place in a few mountains outside of-- you guessed it-- Tokyo, the fun still exists, and its as just as a good time as you'll find in any given Godzilla or Gamera flick.
Silly, cliched, stupid, pointless...and one heckuva good time! LOOK OUT FOR THE BEATING HEART OF FRANKENSTEIN! AND WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T EAT IT!
*** out of ****
The Clothes
gierran30 July 2004
This seems like a dreadful film, but can we really be sure about that. It's dubbed. Maybe the acting is brilliant but most of us will never know because we don't speak Japanese. Wouldn't that be embarrassing? To rant and roar about how bad these Japanese giant-monster-on-the-loose films are only to have them actually be works of art? Another thing I don't understand: The Frankenstein monster grows bigger and bigger in the most amazing growth spurt since "Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman" and his pants grow too? Shouldn't they have just split at the seams at some point, leaving him to strut around nude? And all the food he is consuming! It doesn't say much for the Japanese military that they can't find a 100 foot monster roaming the conutryside, leaving a trail of turds the size of busses.
Several Cuts Above The Usual Kaiju Eiga
ferbs5430 March 2008
Well, he may not exactly conquer the world in this picture, but at least he gets off his usual home turf! In the very imaginative opening of "Frankenstein Conquers the World" (1965), you see, the living heart of the Frankenstein monster is taken from Germany at the end of World War II and transported by submarine to Japan, where it is promptly exposed to A-bomb radiation at Hiroshima and eventually grows, to become a giant, gap-toothed male waif. This lumbering doofus (who ultimately reveals himself to be the nimblest, most energetic Frankenstein ever shown on film) soon has a dukeout royale with Baragon, a sort of giant, spiny-backed, (heat?) ray-spewing, burrowing armadillo dinosaur, with no holds barred and no quarter given. Anyway, this picture strikes me as being several cuts above the usual kaiju eiga. It has been fairly handsomely produced, features very adequate FX (despite the Maltin book's claim to the contrary; well, that bucking horse excepted), and makes excellent use of its CinemaScope frame. Director Ishiro Honda, composer Akira Ifukube and the great actor Takashi Shimura, who all contributed so much to the original "Gojira" film in 1954, here bring their talents together again, with highly entertaining results, and American actor Nick Adams does his best playing Dr. James Bowen, a scientist working at the Hiroshima International Institute of Radiotherapentics (sic). The picture offers several striking visuals, none perhaps as impressive as the awesome spectacle of Franky and Baragon going at it with a flaming forest as a backdrop. The pristine-looking DVD from Media Blasters that I just watched offers both the "international" and the "theatrical" versions of the film, which differ only in the final five minutes. I much prefer the "international," if only because we get to see Franky (ridiculously) battle yet another monster in it. Either version, however, should provide an evening's worth of good mindless fun.
Strange, but strangely compelling
MightyGorga25 July 2000
There's no denying that this movie is one of the oddest of Toho's creations, but it's surprisingly moving in some ways. The all-consuming, rock'n'roll-loving "Frankenstein" is a truly pathetic figure (as is Nick Adams, though in a different way), and his fight with Baragon, cheap as it is, is still impressive, something of a low-budget gladiator match. I actually felt sorry for the big lug. I'm not saying this movie is "Citizen Kane," but neither is it as terrible as, say, "The Starfighters" or "Night Train to Mundo Fine".
Great Movie. Buy The 2 Disc Release
richardbutch6914 November 2010
This is one of my favorite films as a kid. I have always been a big Toho fan. Godzilla of course was/is my favorite "Actor". It would have been nice if Godzilla would have been in this film as originally planned, but Baragon is just fine. Why this film has such a low rating of 3.7 is beyond me.
I have an original full screen terrible transfer copy of this film on VHS but I still enjoyed it. When I found out that this movie was coming to DVD I bought it as soon as I could. Boy was I surprised when I opened the DVD case. Inside were 2 DVD's. Disc 1 was the original uncut version of the film in Japanese with optional English subtitles and disc 2 was the English dubbed edited version. Both are 2:35 widescreen versions!!! If you want to buy this movie make sure it is the 2 disc release. You will be glad you did.
Later that night I put disc 1 in my DVD player and watched the movie for the first time in it's original version with subtitles on my big screen TV with popcorn by my side enjoying every minute of it.
This movie was made for kids and the young at heart. It is a fun movie and nothing more. I give this film a 7.0 rating.
I have an original full screen terrible transfer copy of this film on VHS but I still enjoyed it. When I found out that this movie was coming to DVD I bought it as soon as I could. Boy was I surprised when I opened the DVD case. Inside were 2 DVD's. Disc 1 was the original uncut version of the film in Japanese with optional English subtitles and disc 2 was the English dubbed edited version. Both are 2:35 widescreen versions!!! If you want to buy this movie make sure it is the 2 disc release. You will be glad you did.
Later that night I put disc 1 in my DVD player and watched the movie for the first time in it's original version with subtitles on my big screen TV with popcorn by my side enjoying every minute of it.
This movie was made for kids and the young at heart. It is a fun movie and nothing more. I give this film a 7.0 rating.
Yeah, the pacing's good
ericstevenson19 July 2018
This movie features the heart of Frankenstein that later grows into a person. Actually, Frankenstein was the name of the doctor. Actually, he was just a medical student and not a doctor. Whatever, this film has Frankenstein's monster grow into a giant. There's a bunch of destruction going on that's blamed on him, but it's then revealed to be caused by another monster. The effects are really bad.
We get these scenes that obviously took place on a bluescreen. You can even see the bits of blue coming out of the sides of the screen. It's pretty typical of a Japanese monster movie. I'll give credit that it is a well paced film. The action is set up pretty well, even though it's bad in execution. I don't know how I missed this for Giant Monster Month. **
We get these scenes that obviously took place on a bluescreen. You can even see the bits of blue coming out of the sides of the screen. It's pretty typical of a Japanese monster movie. I'll give credit that it is a well paced film. The action is set up pretty well, even though it's bad in execution. I don't know how I missed this for Giant Monster Month. **
Underrated and Entertaining
rogmeistr22 March 2003
As a fan of the genre. I had the opportunity recently view this film. As a child I remembered watching this film during the days of "Afternoon Movie Theater" I believe that it was called at Channel 7? It was known as "Frankenstein Conquers the World" and it was quite entertaining. I was young and things of that nature would entertain me. Anyway, back to my review. The movie starts out with a very eerie tone accompanied by very chilling and memorable music, thanks to maestro of music, Akira Ifukube. I believe the score of this music was excellent which I believe help or even save the movie at times. The audience is presented with a World War II torn Germany who gives up Frankenstein's heart to the Japanese. After it's arrival in Japan for experiments, Hiroshima is destroyed by a A-bomb and shifts to present day in Japan. Helps the movie in the fact that gives off enough background information. Anyhow, the Frankestein's heart was supposedly eaten by a young boy who survived the destruction of Hiroshima. Scientist's find the boy for further experiments after he has committed criminal activities (eating dogs, rabbits, etc..)for his survival. The boy grows in a rapid pace and has to be placed in a larger cell for his own protection. He escapes and hides in the forest and hills of Japan. The second monster introduced and first appearance ever in the Kaiju genre is the ever popular, Baragon. He does his monster destruction and eventually meets up the overgrown and poorly designed Frankestein. Of course this is main attraction of this film. The fight scenes are pretty kool and enjoyable. I don't ever remember seeing two monsters going at it as much as this movie, maybe the exception of Baragon and Godzilla in "GMK: Giant Monsters All Out Attack". Sufficed it to say, Frankenstein wins out and kills Baragon surrounded by a forest of fire. I happen to watch the Japanese version where the Giant Octopus appears and engages in combat with Frankestein and eventually fell off the cliff, taking its entangled prey with him into the sea. A prequel to "The War of the Gargantuas"!! Although I've seen the "Americanized" version of this film with the ending deleted, an earthquake type scene. With the flames in the background, the land would open up and engulf both Baragon and Frankenstein to the bottom of the earth. I still prefer the Japanese version. Overall, very underrated and entertaining film. But, believe me, the score of the film is what gives an added punch. More like, destruction, despair and sadness with a touch of domination. If you're a fan of the Japanese Sci-Fi genre, I would view this one.
Strange Japanese Fare
Hitchcoc31 March 2018
This Frankenstein grows out the Hiroshima bombings. It involves a boy who ingests radioactive material and who begins to grow dramatically. He is a sad figure who is left to fend for himself, and, of course, bothers the locals. Nick Adams (Johnny Yuma, the Rebel) is the only American actor and finds his talents wasted. I have a feeling he was a decent actor who had to grab on to junk like this so he could keep eating. I believe he eventually took his own life. He isn't asked to do much and doesn't. It's not an awful movie, but it isn't really very memorable.
The King of the Underground World
jerekra6 September 2008
Frankenstein vs Baragon is one of the most under rated of the Toho Series. It is a highly entertaining film and one of only two Toho Films to star actor Nick Adams. Adams adds something special to the Toho Films he is in. Maybe because he is an American Actor who does not need his lines to be voiced over when the Japanese movies he is in are transferred over to English.
Basically the story goes that part of the Frankenstein Monster is taken over seas during a war and spawns into a giant monster. Basically this monster does not do anything wrong, he is just out of place. But he is blamed for many different incidents that are not his doing but actually the doing of the burrowing dinosaur Baragon.
For the most part I like this movie because Baragon is my favorite monster/kaiju. Baragon is what makes this film, not Frankenstein. Baragon looks awesome, has great abilities,(breathing fire, burrowing, jumps far) and has a great roar. THe Frankenstein monster just looks like a guy who has big teeth, bad hair, and walks around in a caveman outfit.
Baragon gets to have his only starring role in a movie, and I know I am being biased but I think that it is one of the best villain roles for a Toho Monster ever. THis is mainly because he is so secretive by burrowing underground and is undetected. Baragon gets in a lot of solid action towards the final half an hour. The fact that Baragon is responsible for the destruction that Frankenstein is blamed for is very similar to some parts of the original Frankenstein book by Mary Shelley. Strangely enough Baragon is not referred to by his name in this film.
The final battle between Frankenstein and Baragon is pretty good. Having to wait until the end to witness it definitely is worth it.
SO for the most part, the Frankenstein Monster is not what makes this film. Baragon makes the film. Watch it for my favorite monster Baragon.
Basically the story goes that part of the Frankenstein Monster is taken over seas during a war and spawns into a giant monster. Basically this monster does not do anything wrong, he is just out of place. But he is blamed for many different incidents that are not his doing but actually the doing of the burrowing dinosaur Baragon.
For the most part I like this movie because Baragon is my favorite monster/kaiju. Baragon is what makes this film, not Frankenstein. Baragon looks awesome, has great abilities,(breathing fire, burrowing, jumps far) and has a great roar. THe Frankenstein monster just looks like a guy who has big teeth, bad hair, and walks around in a caveman outfit.
Baragon gets to have his only starring role in a movie, and I know I am being biased but I think that it is one of the best villain roles for a Toho Monster ever. THis is mainly because he is so secretive by burrowing underground and is undetected. Baragon gets in a lot of solid action towards the final half an hour. The fact that Baragon is responsible for the destruction that Frankenstein is blamed for is very similar to some parts of the original Frankenstein book by Mary Shelley. Strangely enough Baragon is not referred to by his name in this film.
The final battle between Frankenstein and Baragon is pretty good. Having to wait until the end to witness it definitely is worth it.
SO for the most part, the Frankenstein Monster is not what makes this film. Baragon makes the film. Watch it for my favorite monster Baragon.
Frankenstein returns kaiju style.
kevinxirau16 March 2012
Wow, just when I thought I've seen it all. This 1965 Toho classic brings the reanimated corpse to the world of giant monsters and elaborate miniatures, an oddball idea. Believe it or not, Frankenstein was originally suppose to fight the likes of Godzilla at the time, but the concept was sorta dropped and instead Godzilla ends up fighting King Kong, Mothra, and Ghidorah. Without wasting the basic idea, however, Toho created this film and the result was "Frankenstein Conquers the World aka Frankenstein vs Baragon."
Plot: During WW2, the Nazis deliver the still-beating heart of the Frankenstein monster to Japanese scientists in Hiroshima who plan to use it for medical purposes. However, the heart was presumed lost in the nuclear explosion that destroyed Hiroshima. Years later, scientists discover a strange wild boy running around and find out soon that the missing heart grew a new body resistant to radiation. With greater access to food in captivity, Frankentein grows rapidly and soon escapes. Then, mysterious, destructive incidents have occurred and everyone's quick to blame Frankenstein. That's not the case as it turns out that Baragon, a subterranean fire-breathing dinosaur, is the real culprit. Soon a battle between Frankenstein and Baragon commences and the fate of Japan hangs by a thread.
Overall, this is an interesting film. It's pretty scientifically accurate and the miniature sets are fairly impressive seeing as how the monsters are smaller that their larger kaiju brethren. The story is also good and the music by Akira Ifukube is a real treat to listen. Frankenstein does look a little goofy with his buck teeth and unsettling shriek.
The monster that steals the show, however, is Baragon. Arguably one of my favorite monsters, Baragon has a great design, cool roar, and a nice set of abilities. The movie starts out a little slow, but once Baragon shows up things get pretty exciting, especially when Franky and Baragon have their awesome lengthy fight. They pretty much beat the living crap out of each other, making this one of my favorite kaiju battles.
This is a fun edition to Toho's roster of creature features. Baragon became so popular thanks to this film that he actually now stars in a few Godzilla films and video games. If you're a fan of giant monsters, then check this action out. I recommend getting the 2-disc special edition for this one. Enjoy!
Plot: During WW2, the Nazis deliver the still-beating heart of the Frankenstein monster to Japanese scientists in Hiroshima who plan to use it for medical purposes. However, the heart was presumed lost in the nuclear explosion that destroyed Hiroshima. Years later, scientists discover a strange wild boy running around and find out soon that the missing heart grew a new body resistant to radiation. With greater access to food in captivity, Frankentein grows rapidly and soon escapes. Then, mysterious, destructive incidents have occurred and everyone's quick to blame Frankenstein. That's not the case as it turns out that Baragon, a subterranean fire-breathing dinosaur, is the real culprit. Soon a battle between Frankenstein and Baragon commences and the fate of Japan hangs by a thread.
Overall, this is an interesting film. It's pretty scientifically accurate and the miniature sets are fairly impressive seeing as how the monsters are smaller that their larger kaiju brethren. The story is also good and the music by Akira Ifukube is a real treat to listen. Frankenstein does look a little goofy with his buck teeth and unsettling shriek.
The monster that steals the show, however, is Baragon. Arguably one of my favorite monsters, Baragon has a great design, cool roar, and a nice set of abilities. The movie starts out a little slow, but once Baragon shows up things get pretty exciting, especially when Franky and Baragon have their awesome lengthy fight. They pretty much beat the living crap out of each other, making this one of my favorite kaiju battles.
This is a fun edition to Toho's roster of creature features. Baragon became so popular thanks to this film that he actually now stars in a few Godzilla films and video games. If you're a fan of giant monsters, then check this action out. I recommend getting the 2-disc special edition for this one. Enjoy!
Bizarre & Awful
AaronCapenBanner30 April 2014
Ishiro Honda directed this incredibly bizarre and perfectly awful film that starts off in WWII, where Dr. Frankenstein(!) has been working with the Japanese, and created a living heart, but it is later taken to Hiroshima where it is irradiated by the H-bomb being dropped. Years later, that heart has somehow grown into a full-sized boy, who then mutates even more into a giant man, who attacks the city, then battles a giant lizard named Baragon, also recently awakened. Preposterous story and poor F/X make this a tacky and laughable effort, that only gets worse as it goes along. No relation to Mary Shelley or Boris Karloff at least!
Guilty Pleasure.
boris-261 March 2001
Here's a movie about a radioactive child growing into a large, homeless 100 foot tall looking brute who grunts, and then fights a nappy looking dinosaur. Okay, it's not Ingmar Bergman, but damn, is it silly, fun and entertaining. It's chock full of cliches, but the pace is amazingly fast. One of the best elements of this happy cinematic misfire is actor Tadao Takashima. His normally bland white-lab coated scientist has some fascinating charcater elements (He's an alky, and has an interesting dark streak) The VHS copy I have has tacked on the ending where Frankenstein vs. A-Big-Octopus-That-Comes-Out-Of-Nowhere. Silly, and fun. Cool party movie.
Atomic-Age Battle Between Franken-Kong and Goofy Godzilla
Cineanalyst24 September 2019
I missed this one, with the Americanized title "Frankenstein Conquers the World," in my reviewing of a bunch of Frankenstein films last year, but wanted to see it for the treatment of a fictional 19th-century man-made monster, Frankenstein's creature, updated as a reflection of a real-life, man-made monster of the 20th century, the atom bomb. Director Ishiro Honda's prior "Gojira" ("Godzilla") (1954) is famous as a metaphor for the dropping of nuclear weapons on two Japanese cities during WWII. Frankly, "Frankenstein Conquers the World" is no "Godzilla," but it does contain a watered-down treatment of the same theme--and more along the lines of the adulterated American version of the 1954 classic, "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" (1956). Both even feature an American white man for, presumably, American audiences to identify with as their surrogate observer within the picture. There's another allegory here, too, which comes from the original giant monster movie, "King Kong" (1933), but which also shares similarities with the most famous adaptation of Mary Shelley's story, Universal's 1931 "Frankenstein." It's the monster as movies.
I want to say, first, that "Frankenstein Conquers the World" begins with an appealing set-up: Frankenstein's (monster's) heart, which in this case cannot die, has a precarious voyage where two mad doctors run afoul of bad timing preventing them from carrying out their experiments. The Nazis steal the heart from the German one, send it via submarine (which is duly sunk by the Allies after the handoff) to the Japanese, whereupon the doctor from Hiroshima has his procedure interrupted by America's dropping the bomb. Unfortunately, if understandably, the pacing throughout the rest of the picture is never quite as good as with this initial sequence. The middle section, especially, between the time of Frankenstein's King-Kong-like escape to his inevitable battle with "Baragon," a prehistoric dinosaur type creature in the vein of Godzilla, seems unnecessarily padded.
Anyways, Frankenstein's heart finds its way into a boy's body, who thereupon, I suppose, has developed the typical flattop forehead à la the much-imitated Boris Karloff-Jack Pierce incarnation. Also akin to Universal's creature, he's chased by a mob of townsfolk at one point and, inevitably, emerges as a monster on the loose terrorizing people. The feral boy also has a peculiar prehistoric aura about him in that he likes to live in caves and dress like a caveman. The scientists want to study him because he's resistant to radiation--or something to do with potential treatment for nuclear-fallout patients. But, then, the boy inexplicably--or presumably due to the atomic radiation (maybe the original Japanese version explains some of this more explicitly, but I viewed the American print)--begins growing to gigantic proportions. So, the scientists chain him in a jail cell and consider going Josef Mengele on him by chopping off his limbs to prove he's Frankenstein.
During this, a TV crew shows up to film the monster, bright lights and all, which disturbs Frankenstein into breaking out of his bars and chains--much like King Kong did in 1933 from the stage after docudrama filmmakers captured him. The implication here is that Frankenstien or Kong are the movie, and the horror, or thrill, is that the movie has broken free to wreak havoc on the audience. I wrote about a similar subtext in my review of the 1931 "Frankenstein," too, where the creature was "edited" together from different body parts (as here, too, with the heart transplanted into a child), brought to life by electricity (in this case, atomic energy), which eventually catches fire and burns, as the nitrate film stock used in early filmmaking sometimes did. Tellingly, the 1931 film ends with a windmill ablaze--turning like a film projector. Moreover, the Kong connection is further evidenced by the monster visiting the apartment building of the Fay Wray type soon after he breaks loose, although the sex and "Beauty and the Beast" parts from the 1933 picture are absent here.
"Frankenstein Conquers the World," however, features mixed metaphors. While there's Frankenstein as film, there's also him as atomic accident turned potential atomic-age savior. Meanwhile, Baragon emerges from his subterranean habitat during an earthquake--a prehistoric beast arising of a natural disaster, although he oddly breaths red laser-ish beams like later incarnations of Godzilla, which is a remnant of the monster's affinity to the atom bomb. Indeed, if we could associate Baragon with the bomb, then Frankenstein's battle with him would be an abstraction of his potential as savior in the post-WW2 era. This isn't handled so cleanly, though, with a fiery climax akin to the 1931 "Frankenstein," except, here, the natural landscape goes up in flames. Ironically, Frankenstein seems to think "fire good" now and so employs it in his monster mash against Baragon. He also enjoys campfires earlier on.
Although its conflation of cinematic narratives and allegories tends to be muddled, "Frankenstein Conquers the World" is an amusing monster movie, or "kaiju" film, if one can overlook its technical deficiencies, including extensive miniature work that varies in cheesiness, and appreciate the notions behind its homages to prior works, if not necessarily their sometimes slipshod execution. Although followed up by a seemingly-more-acclaimed sequel, Americanized as "The War of the Gargantuas" (1966), I have a somewhat contrarian viewpoint that this first film is better because of this foundation of interesting ideas.
I want to say, first, that "Frankenstein Conquers the World" begins with an appealing set-up: Frankenstein's (monster's) heart, which in this case cannot die, has a precarious voyage where two mad doctors run afoul of bad timing preventing them from carrying out their experiments. The Nazis steal the heart from the German one, send it via submarine (which is duly sunk by the Allies after the handoff) to the Japanese, whereupon the doctor from Hiroshima has his procedure interrupted by America's dropping the bomb. Unfortunately, if understandably, the pacing throughout the rest of the picture is never quite as good as with this initial sequence. The middle section, especially, between the time of Frankenstein's King-Kong-like escape to his inevitable battle with "Baragon," a prehistoric dinosaur type creature in the vein of Godzilla, seems unnecessarily padded.
Anyways, Frankenstein's heart finds its way into a boy's body, who thereupon, I suppose, has developed the typical flattop forehead à la the much-imitated Boris Karloff-Jack Pierce incarnation. Also akin to Universal's creature, he's chased by a mob of townsfolk at one point and, inevitably, emerges as a monster on the loose terrorizing people. The feral boy also has a peculiar prehistoric aura about him in that he likes to live in caves and dress like a caveman. The scientists want to study him because he's resistant to radiation--or something to do with potential treatment for nuclear-fallout patients. But, then, the boy inexplicably--or presumably due to the atomic radiation (maybe the original Japanese version explains some of this more explicitly, but I viewed the American print)--begins growing to gigantic proportions. So, the scientists chain him in a jail cell and consider going Josef Mengele on him by chopping off his limbs to prove he's Frankenstein.
During this, a TV crew shows up to film the monster, bright lights and all, which disturbs Frankenstein into breaking out of his bars and chains--much like King Kong did in 1933 from the stage after docudrama filmmakers captured him. The implication here is that Frankenstien or Kong are the movie, and the horror, or thrill, is that the movie has broken free to wreak havoc on the audience. I wrote about a similar subtext in my review of the 1931 "Frankenstein," too, where the creature was "edited" together from different body parts (as here, too, with the heart transplanted into a child), brought to life by electricity (in this case, atomic energy), which eventually catches fire and burns, as the nitrate film stock used in early filmmaking sometimes did. Tellingly, the 1931 film ends with a windmill ablaze--turning like a film projector. Moreover, the Kong connection is further evidenced by the monster visiting the apartment building of the Fay Wray type soon after he breaks loose, although the sex and "Beauty and the Beast" parts from the 1933 picture are absent here.
"Frankenstein Conquers the World," however, features mixed metaphors. While there's Frankenstein as film, there's also him as atomic accident turned potential atomic-age savior. Meanwhile, Baragon emerges from his subterranean habitat during an earthquake--a prehistoric beast arising of a natural disaster, although he oddly breaths red laser-ish beams like later incarnations of Godzilla, which is a remnant of the monster's affinity to the atom bomb. Indeed, if we could associate Baragon with the bomb, then Frankenstein's battle with him would be an abstraction of his potential as savior in the post-WW2 era. This isn't handled so cleanly, though, with a fiery climax akin to the 1931 "Frankenstein," except, here, the natural landscape goes up in flames. Ironically, Frankenstein seems to think "fire good" now and so employs it in his monster mash against Baragon. He also enjoys campfires earlier on.
Although its conflation of cinematic narratives and allegories tends to be muddled, "Frankenstein Conquers the World" is an amusing monster movie, or "kaiju" film, if one can overlook its technical deficiencies, including extensive miniature work that varies in cheesiness, and appreciate the notions behind its homages to prior works, if not necessarily their sometimes slipshod execution. Although followed up by a seemingly-more-acclaimed sequel, Americanized as "The War of the Gargantuas" (1966), I have a somewhat contrarian viewpoint that this first film is better because of this foundation of interesting ideas.
I do not understand the low ratings this film has gotten.
jaybob12 July 2007
Warning: Spoilers
My above summary does puzzle me. It could be that those that gave this bottom of barrel ratings saw the dubbed American International Release. the running time was also reduced.
I saw this last night(rental from NETFLIX) in Japanese with sub-titles & a 93 minute running time.
The correct title is FRANKENSTEIN vs. BARAGON
Granted the story line is very hokey, BUT there again MOST films of this type are & make no sense what so ever.
I liked the background story, it was at least interesting, I have seen more incredible plot twists than shown here.
The American actor Nick Adams has a major role & not just cast for Box-Office reasons.
The acting is OK for this type of film. One does not expect award winning performances, same for production values.
The special effects are good & final scene is the fight between ThE Monster (a mutant boy )& a giant reptile. we have seen these scenes many times. Nothing new or different..
My good thumbs up rating is mainly because I enjoyed it. & that is why we see movies, isn't it, to enjoy them.. So my fellow film buffs, be sure to see the Japanese Version & you will think like I do about this film.
Ratings *** (out of 4) 82 points out or 100) IMDb 7 (out of 10)
I saw this last night(rental from NETFLIX) in Japanese with sub-titles & a 93 minute running time.
The correct title is FRANKENSTEIN vs. BARAGON
Granted the story line is very hokey, BUT there again MOST films of this type are & make no sense what so ever.
I liked the background story, it was at least interesting, I have seen more incredible plot twists than shown here.
The American actor Nick Adams has a major role & not just cast for Box-Office reasons.
The acting is OK for this type of film. One does not expect award winning performances, same for production values.
The special effects are good & final scene is the fight between ThE Monster (a mutant boy )& a giant reptile. we have seen these scenes many times. Nothing new or different..
My good thumbs up rating is mainly because I enjoyed it. & that is why we see movies, isn't it, to enjoy them.. So my fellow film buffs, be sure to see the Japanese Version & you will think like I do about this film.
Ratings *** (out of 4) 82 points out or 100) IMDb 7 (out of 10)
Frankenstein as Godzilla but somehow better.
13Funbags24 April 2017
I had a feeling that making this my first Frankenstein movie was going to be a mistake and I was very right. The premise of a giant Frankenstein in Japan isn't too far fetched but the story is very weak and there's lots of plot holes. First of all, I have never seen a Frankenstein movie and I immediately recognize the monster but for some reason the people in the movie don't. They claim he's been running wild in Hiroshima for 15 years but all of a sudden he's very easy to catch. At first he's the size of a regular teenager but a day later he's 5 stories tall and he manages to escape. The guys sent to investigate how he got free decide that normal size handcuffs are too big for a 5 story monster.WHAT?!?!!?!? They employ all the usual Toho staples including using ancient camera tricks to get us to believe he's a giant, but he just looks like a scrawny teenager no matter what they do. To top it all off, they have one American and every one else is dubbed.Why?? My favorite part is that when the other monster shows up, people just call it "another monster". I always hated when a new monster showed up in Godzilla and all the people knew it's name. If you like Godzilla you will like this movie.
Better than you might think...
dsgraham21200230 January 2014
My rating is 2.5 points higher than the current average, and here's why: The title, premise, and most of the goings-on are a total hoot. The 'creature' is almost hilarious to look at and his antagonist in the picture is like a hungry dog-reptile hybrid. Both are giants and the battle scenes are like a WWE Wrestling match. Nick Adams is a doctor who lends some 'credibility' (tongue-in-cheek) to this unintentionally funny Manga-style monsterfest. If you accept this flick for what it is and just sit back, you could feel as entertained as I was. An ominous musical background score was provided by the late, great Akira Ifukube, of Godzilla movies fame (the better Japanese ones, of course!). Give FCTW a shot. You might just enjoy it, despite yourself.
what's up, Frankenstein?
tsf-196230 November 2006
Warning: Spoilers
"Frankenstein Conquers the World" was a one-shot attempt by Toho Studios (the same company that gave us Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, etc.) to re-invent the Frankenstein monster. It's easy to see why there weren't any sequels. While the opening sequences set in Nazi Germany are intriguing (if you've always wondered what Japanese actors look like playing Germans, here's your chance!!) and Nick Adams gives a fine performance as the token American (a role he was to reprise in "Godzilla v. Monster Zero") the sad fact is that Frankenstein just doesn't work in a Japanese setting. The movie becomes progressively sillier until it turns into a complete travesty. Even Inoshiro Honda, who directed the original "Godzilla," couldn't save this turkey. As late night horror movies go, this one's not too bad, and it has a certain campy appeal, but the more you see it the less there is to like about it. See it when it comes on TV, but don't waste your money on the DVD if there is one.
Weird even for Toho
JoeB13128 March 2010
Warning: Spoilers
The only conclusion I could come to on this film is that Toho concluded that Frankenstein was the big American monster, so they had to do a movie about him to sell in America. And if that doesn't work, hire Nick Adams.
The plot is that in the closing days of World War II, the Nazis transferred Frankenstein's heart to Japan, where it was brought to Hiroshima and irradiated for good measure. The heart was eaten by a war-orphan who mutated into a Frankenstein who looked slightly imbecilic, but grows to enormous size.
Then there is another subplot with a more conventional Toho Kaiju called Baragon who is tearing up the countryside so the new giant Frankenstein will have something to fight. They then capped it off with a giant Octopus... yes, a giant octopus in the middle of the mountains! I think the director subscribed to the Spielberg theory that if you have the audience for that long, they'll go along with anything.
The plot is that in the closing days of World War II, the Nazis transferred Frankenstein's heart to Japan, where it was brought to Hiroshima and irradiated for good measure. The heart was eaten by a war-orphan who mutated into a Frankenstein who looked slightly imbecilic, but grows to enormous size.
Then there is another subplot with a more conventional Toho Kaiju called Baragon who is tearing up the countryside so the new giant Frankenstein will have something to fight. They then capped it off with a giant Octopus... yes, a giant octopus in the middle of the mountains! I think the director subscribed to the Spielberg theory that if you have the audience for that long, they'll go along with anything.
It's a classic...uh, not really.
Sterno-212 January 2001
Sometimes, watching B movies can be difficult. This is especially so when the studio makes a movie, and later decides enough plots to make it so much cinematic stew. Such is the case of Frankenstein Conquers the World.
First, we have the Frankenstein monster's heart, which is taken by the German Gestapo. Why? Who knows? The heart is placed on Das Boot, and finds it's way to Japan...Hiroshima, Japan during the summer of '45. Being *anywhere* in Japan in the summer of '45 was not the place to be. And you guess it, the heart gets nuked by the Enola Gay. Of all the luck...
The heart now springs to life, and becomes a boy! This kid is growing faster & eating more than the Man from Mars in Blondie's "Rapture". About the only thing he's not eating is cars and guitars. Meanwhile, in another part of Japan, somebody blows something up, and Baragon appears, but only to one guy, so the guy thinks he's seeing things. While Baragon is going Camp Crystal Lake on people, the Frankenboy is taking the rap for it. How you confuse a giant mutated boy with a giant mutated lizard is something I'll not understand living outside of Japan. Eventually, the boy and the lizard do finally get it on, but the results are as disappointing as your average Don King-promoted fight.
Sterno says don't pay $49.99 to watch this movie on pay-per-view.
First, we have the Frankenstein monster's heart, which is taken by the German Gestapo. Why? Who knows? The heart is placed on Das Boot, and finds it's way to Japan...Hiroshima, Japan during the summer of '45. Being *anywhere* in Japan in the summer of '45 was not the place to be. And you guess it, the heart gets nuked by the Enola Gay. Of all the luck...
The heart now springs to life, and becomes a boy! This kid is growing faster & eating more than the Man from Mars in Blondie's "Rapture". About the only thing he's not eating is cars and guitars. Meanwhile, in another part of Japan, somebody blows something up, and Baragon appears, but only to one guy, so the guy thinks he's seeing things. While Baragon is going Camp Crystal Lake on people, the Frankenboy is taking the rap for it. How you confuse a giant mutated boy with a giant mutated lizard is something I'll not understand living outside of Japan. Eventually, the boy and the lizard do finally get it on, but the results are as disappointing as your average Don King-promoted fight.
Sterno says don't pay $49.99 to watch this movie on pay-per-view.
It's Alive, the Frankenstein Kaiju!
OllieSuave-0073 May 2001
This movie is Toho's version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It has a dramatic, war-themed script by Takeshi Kimura and a very masterful and marvelous music score by Akira Ifukube. The war scenes were thrilling and astonishing, especially the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing.
Frankenstein's beating heart and crawling hand are a unique experience to see in a Toho picture. The appearance of the mysterious radioactive boy, later known as Frankenstein, is intriguing-leaving you wonder what his purpose in the movie is.
The three lead actors of the film, Nick Adams, Kumi Mizuno, and Tadao Takashima delivered good comprehension. Frankenstein's good side could be seen in the eyes of Mizuno, while Adams shed new hope and light during the aftermath of the bombing, hence the part when he says science sometimes progresses from war and must turn the advantages of it into happiness for the future.
The special effects were again handled by Eiji Tsuburaya, who truly did a spectacular job, despite the fact that movie critic Leonard Maltin said this movie had poor special effects (he probably doesn't digest the fact that this movie was made in 1965).
There are plenty of monster action (though some do drag); Baragon wrecking havoc on villages and devouring living things depict true sci-fi horror.
Ishiro Honda did a terrific job on directing: All the actors, monsters, plot lines, drama, and effects were woven into to create a very entertaining movie.
Grade B+
Frankenstein's beating heart and crawling hand are a unique experience to see in a Toho picture. The appearance of the mysterious radioactive boy, later known as Frankenstein, is intriguing-leaving you wonder what his purpose in the movie is.
The three lead actors of the film, Nick Adams, Kumi Mizuno, and Tadao Takashima delivered good comprehension. Frankenstein's good side could be seen in the eyes of Mizuno, while Adams shed new hope and light during the aftermath of the bombing, hence the part when he says science sometimes progresses from war and must turn the advantages of it into happiness for the future.
The special effects were again handled by Eiji Tsuburaya, who truly did a spectacular job, despite the fact that movie critic Leonard Maltin said this movie had poor special effects (he probably doesn't digest the fact that this movie was made in 1965).
There are plenty of monster action (though some do drag); Baragon wrecking havoc on villages and devouring living things depict true sci-fi horror.
Ishiro Honda did a terrific job on directing: All the actors, monsters, plot lines, drama, and effects were woven into to create a very entertaining movie.
Grade B+
Better Than Average Subplot
scruffy581 March 2008
Warning: Spoilers
It was a treat to finally see this classic film from my childhood. Of course, I was previously exposed to the truncated American cut. I was delighted to see that there were some better than average scenes underscoring the (at times) silly monster plot. I was very impressed with the relationship between Dr. Bowen and Dr. Togami. The ongoing dialog concerning the two cultures differences in cooking and humor was refreshing. I was also impressed with the sequences with Kazuko, the young girl dying from her exposure to the radioactive fallout from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima 15 years earlier. When she presented her handmade pillow to Dr. Bowen (as a remembrance of her since she knew she was dying), it was quite moving. This was a serious sidebar to the confrontations between the unfortunate looking Furankenshutain and Baragon monsters. The sequence when Drs. Bowen and Togami visit the grave of Kazuko was beautifully filmed and scored. If one saw that sequence alone outside of the film, one would never know that is was from a Japanese monster film. The entire film features one of Akira Ifukube's very best scores. As in other Toho productions, he really helped to humanize the monsters and give some pathos to the proceedings. His somber themes really do create a fair amount of sympathy for Furankenshutain. The ending of the International version is very different from the American version that most people are familiar with. The appearance of the Devil Fish comes out of left field and is rather awkward. As with all Toho productions, some of the visual effects are outstanding while others are less than convincing. This film is a welcome addition to my Japanese science fiction library. The film is a more somber than usual entry and it should be noted that the acting is better than average from the two leads - an effective Nick Adams and the very lovely Kumi Mizuno.
The world became smaller
drwayne052 October 2006
Perhaps the people who named the film did not see it? Aside from inane titling, the viewer is in for a twist on the Frankenstein motif that adds absolutely nothing to the horror genre. The giant Frankenstein monster is done fairly well for its time though the viewer might wonder why anyone would go to the trouble to super-size him. Although the idea that Frankenstein is composed of corpses is totally lost, the Japanese version of the monster retains the original monster's ignorant innocence. The film is less an exercise in bringing Frankenstein under control than it is an exercise in retaining this spark of humanity for no real reason. For the viewer, the exercise is simply staying awake.
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