 This movie was originally released in Japan in 1958 as Daikaijû Baran ("Giant  Monster Varan"). The American version has a heavily altered plot, tons of  additional footage featuring American actors, and most of Akira Ifukubes  music is replaced. All in all, Varan The Unbelievable features only about  fifteen minutes of footage (mostly shots of the monster) from the original  Japanese film.