kevinxirau 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!

oscar-35 *Spoiler/plot- 1965, Rather mad scientist movie featuring Nick Adams in Tokyo trying to combat an over grown human monster terrorizing the country.*Special Stars- Nick Adams*Theme- Japanese people have the best of disaster films.*Based on- Frankenstein legends*Trivia/location/goofs- Japanese film. Very poor EFX*Emotion- A somewhat forgettable film, if only for seeing some early Nick Adam's acting. Nick Adams joins the ranks of American top stars to go to Japan to make a big budget super-sized monster film. Mr. Adam's acting career didn't suffer too much for doing this film. Still one to miss, if your time is valuable.

Jay Harris 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. BARAGONGranted 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)

Paul Andrews Furankenshutain tai Chitei Kaiju Baragon, or Frankenstein Conquers the World as it was renamed for American audiences, starts during '1945 - Somewhere in Germany' as a group of Japanese soldiers steal the immortal heart of the Frankenstein monster, they take it back to Japan & as they are about to start experimenting on it the Americans drop a load of atomic bombs... Jump forward 'Fifteen Years Later' at the 'Hiroshima Government Facility of Radiation Studies' where American scientist Dr. James Bowen (Nick Adams) along with his assistants Dr. Sueko Togami (Kumi Mizuno) & Dr. Yuzo Kawaji (Tadao Takashima) are unsurprisingly researching the effects of radiation, a young vagrant boy (Kenichiro Kawaji) who likes to eat animals catches the attention of Bowen who gives hims shelter at his hospital. However this is no ordinary boy, he seems to be growing at an incredible rate & once he outgrows his cage he breaks out & goes on a rampage across Japan. The Japanese military wants to kill him while the scientist dudes want to study it, who will win the war of wills?This Japanese production was directed by Godzilla veteran Ishiro Honda & I am pleased to announce that I saw the uncut, original language sub-titled full 2:35:1 widescreen version complete with Japanese opening & closing credits & if that wasn't enough folks I also managed to get hold of the deleted/alternate ending scene where Frankenstein fights a giant Octopus! The script by Jerry Sohl which was apparently originally going to have the Frankenstein monster fight Godzilla but was scraped because the studio felt it would be too implausible has one of the most bizarre & preposterous ideas behind it I've seen in a while, I mean the heart of Frankenstein stolen during World War II is taken back to Japan where radiation from American nuclear bombs makes it grow into a 100 foot Frankenstein monster with a distinctly Japanese complexion which then comes to the rescue of the country as an ancient dinosaur comes to life & causes havoc across Japan, they actually thought the Godzilla idea was implausible compared to what ended up on screen?! The first half of the film focuses on the Frankenstein monster & it's escape while the second half feels more like a Godzilla film as the dinosaur monster Baragon turns up to upset everyone, the film moves along at a decent pace & despite being one of the silliest films I've seen in a while it makes for good entertainment & there's some fun to be had here although how the Japanese military manage to keep losing track of a 100 foot Frankenstein monster is beyond me.Director Honda does an OK job, Baragon looks like a cute reptilian puppy with a glowing horn while the Frankenstein monster looks a bit silly with a huge gap in his front teeth & a poorly fitting skull cap. As mentioned I watched the Octopus deleted scene which is actually an extended ending, after Frankenstein defeats Baragon unlike the regular version where they are both engulfed in flames as the ground gives way Frankenstein throws Baragons body off a cliff & then turns round to see a giant Octopus crawling along the ground & they have a fight. The Octopus comes from absolutely nowhere & feels very odd, the Octopus special effects aren't too bad though & in fact are probably the best in the film.Technically the film is alright, some of the model shots are absolutely terrible as you would expect but you sense this had a budget. There's not much style here & it's certainly not scary but there's some fun to be had if you can enjoy it simply for what it is. Since I watched a sub-titled version it's difficult to tell about the acting.Furankenshutain tai Chitei Kaiju Baragon is childish silly fun that entertains to a degree but just can't be taken seriously, for monster film fans only really. Followed by the sequel The War of the Gargantuas (1966) which wisely plays down the Frankenstein connection in it's title.