YMMV / Varan, the Unbelievable

• Awesome Music: Seriously, this is Akira Ifukube's most reused and referenced score, next to his work for King Kong vs. Godzilla in 1962.
  • The Fierceness of Varan I and Fierceness of Varan II would both later be edited and modified to become Godzilla's theme in King Kong vs. Godzilla and Mothra vs. Godzilla. Another modified version of it can be heard as the Gotengo's theme in Atragon, specifically during the test run.
  • Mystery of the Twentieth Century would later be used in Dogora as the music when the military is creating the synthetic wasp venom. Hell, this theme has been featured in some form in at least four more films:
    • Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster - Matsumoto City and King Ghidorah
    • War of the Gargantuas - Wiring Complete
    • Destroy All Monsters - Remote Control Destruction
    • Space Amoeba - Launching of the Helios
  • The first few seconds of the opening music would later be expanded and modified to become Rodan's theme.
  • Varan vs. Fighter-Bomber Neptune would be reused and modifed in Frankenstein vs. Baragon when the ship transporting Frankenstein's heart is traveling across the ocean and again in Battle in Outer Space as the Battle in Outer Space March.
  • The first twenty or so seconds of Varan Lands at Haneda Airport would later be reused in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah when Emmi pushes the Dorats out of the ship and onto Lagos island, as well various moments inside of the Futurian Mothership and outside when the military is setting up camp around the vessel.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Varan himself is this amongst the Kaiju community for his interesting backstory and unique design, with many wishing he return again in another Toho film.
• Most Wonderful Sound: Varan's roar, which is quite distinctive and unique despite being partly modified from Godzilla's roar. It'd actually be reused by Baragon in Frankenstein Conquers the World and by several Ultra Series kaiju as well (starting with Peguila) and even Bakuryuu Styracosaurus in Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger.
• Padding: Due to the film originally being a TV movie, the Japanese theatrical version reluctantly had to pad something that was originally just an hour long. On the plus side, some of the new scenes are the fairly exciting naval battles with Varan, and Ifukube got to refine his score even more.
• So Okay, It's Average: Varan is often seen as a decent Kaiju movie with some good visual effects and an amazing score, but doesn’t have the same pizazz as some of Toho’s earlier or later work.

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