I thought this movie was going to feature the great Japanese monster Varan, as he flies and attacks a city, with a good and powerful plot. After sitting through this travesty, I learned that this is a highly edited American version of the Japanese classic. This version was butchered so badly that you hardly see any of the original Japanese cast and the soundtrack for Varan's roar sounded like somebody with a cold. The monster scenes were edited poorly and the story changes significantly from the original. From this database, I discovered that Akira Ifukube actually scored this movie. I only heard one small verse of Akira Ifukube's music in the movie. The rest of his music were replaced by stock music.
The American version tag-line for this movie is "Move over Godzilla! Varan is coming!" From the way Varan was executed out in this movie version, Varan wouldn't stand a chance against Godzilla. In addition, the acting was pretty dull and boring, which created an overall dreary picture. Therefore, I recommend you let this video, if you have it, gather dust and try to find the original version, titled "Giant Monster Baran." I haven't seen it by the time of this review, but I heard it is much better than this butchered version; for starters, you can see more of the monster in that version. I can't wait to see the original.
Grade D--