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Reviews
Dai Nippon teikoku (1982)
Fantastic, exploitative war movie from Masuda
This movie is sort of a sequel/sister film to Port Arthur(1980) with much the same cast and crew, director Toshio Masuda and effects director Teruyoshi Nakano. The story is told from 3 perspectives in 3 parts. You have Minister of War Hideki Tojo, played masterfully by one of my absolute favorites Tetsuro Tamba, who gives a very sympathetic performance as it shows Tojo as a family man in addition to being the minister of war. Second is Kokichi Kobayashi, who gets married right before war begins and must stay with his wife throughout. I found this to be my favorite of the three stories presented. And then there's Goichi Odajima, who plays a young Japanese Christian drafted into war. The twist presented in this one is interesting.
The film is filled with bloody violence and quite a bit of nudity from a couple female characters. It makes the film feel like an exploitation flick in addition to the serious stuff. It doesn't detract from the film in any way, just thought it'd be an interesting point to bring up.
Special effects are handled by effects master Teruyoshi Nakano, who integrates the actors quite well with the effects footage via green screen that is barely noticeable. The miniatures all look nice and a bit of stock footage is used from Pearl Harbor film Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970).
The film's third act deals with something rarely shown in Japanese film; the war crimes trial Japanese troops underwent. The acting from all sides is great here, and you may find yourself tearing up at points like I did.
Masuda does something very brazen and has Emperor Hirohito portrayed with his face shown by a master actor. Masuda had little respect for military authority, and was actually expelled from the kamikaze for being a liberal. I can't help but wonder how Japanese censors reacted to this.
Overall a fantastic film, not to be missed for fan of World War II movies or Japanese cinema fans in general!
Gojira tai Hedora (1971)
A unique entry in the Godzilla series.
For Godzilla's first entry into the 1970s, amateur director Yoshimitsu Banno was chosen to direct. Banno was a rather different breed of director, inspired by films such as Africa Addio and other exploitation and art-house cinema. Helping him create the story was veteran Godzilla screenwriter Takeshi Kimura, who read Rachel Carson's call to arms for the environmentalist movement Silent Spring as inspiration for his story treatment. Banno created an extremely unorthodox film, combining split-screens to show people's reactions to Hedorah's rampage with odd anime sequences to show random parts of Hedorah's attacks, as well as poetry in one scene. What is unique about Godzilla vs. Hedorah's story treatment is how the film parallels to the original 1954 opus. The scientist Dr. Yano (played by television star Akira Yamaguchi) is an eye-patched scientist, and the devastation wrought by Hedorah has elements unseen since the original namely on screen human deaths, depicted in rather graphic fashion by effects master Teruyoshi Nakano, who specialized in showing hideous injuries to both monsters and humans as well as pyrotechnics. Godzilla is portrayed as a hero for the first time in the series, an image which both benefits and harms the character. Providing the music for the series was Riichiro Manabe, a composer known for being Nagisa Oshima's composer of choice. His Godzilla theme, derived from a cue culled from the 1970 war film A TURNING POINT IN SHOWA HISTORY: THE MILITARISTS, is unorthodox, utilizing trumpets, light synthesizer work, and pipe organ. The films theme song, Taiyou Kaese, is sung beautifully by famed nude model and singer Keiko Mari(with backing from the male choral group Honey Knights, who also do renditions of the song in various points of the film), who also acts in the film. His score is very fitting for such an unorthodox film. The acting is well directed, with Hiroyuki Kawase being not that annoying as young Ken Yano. Also in a lead role is teen idol Toshio Shiba, who seems rather happy and carefree as Ken's uncle. Teruyoshi Nakano's effects are well done considering the restraints put on him time-wise. He filmed much of the scenes with director Banno, giving them a much larger scope.
I recommend this film, it's bizarre and very avant-garde but very fun.
Densô ningen (1960)
Who says Toho makes B-movies?
One of Jun Fukuda's first films, this effects-laden affair with special effects sequences done by Eiji Tsuburaya and Teruyoshi Nakano has two versions, a severely chopped up and mangled B&W version and a beautiful Tohoscope version that is rare to find, but I have it. This is quite a suspenseful flick even today. It is about a serial killer who teleports himself to his victims and stabs them to death. One of the better films from director Jun Fukuda, this film combines elements of horror and police drama to create a thriller. The music from Sei Ikeno is enjoyable to listen to- having quite a rustic and unique feel. The overall film feels very dark and creepy, perfect for a non-gory Halloween flick. The effects are very well done, especially the optical effects such as the electricity that envelops Sudo as he hunts down his victims and strikes them.
Recommended!
Kaijû daifunsen: Daigorou tai Goriasu (1972)
Perfect for a lazy day-Better than most Gamera films!
Daigoro vs. Goliath is Tsuburaya's 10th anniversary film. Intended originally to be a Godzilla film, for unknown reasons the film was never done in this fashion. However Toho still distributed the film and Eiji Tsuburaya's protégé at Toho, Teruyoshi Nakano(or as he was credited at this time, Shokei Nakano) was retained as special effects director. The basic plot of the film is that an orphaned kaiju(Daigoro) is orphaned by a Self Defense Force attack on it's mom and raised by a human family until he becomes too big to manage. A new monster named Goliath pops up and rampages, duking it out with Daigoro.
The plot is extremely childish, however it's much more fun and watchable than any of the Showa Gamera films except the first two. The effects by Teruyoshi Nakano are the film's standout. Nakano does an excellent job on the film's miniatures and scenes where water effects are used.
Overall this is a recommended view for any fans of the 70s Godzilla films or the 60s Gamera films. More serious kaiju fans may pass it.
Faiyâman (1973)
Faiya!
This was Tsuburaya's 10th anniversary production, and worthy of the title. It featured many elements taken from the Ultra Series, such as the hero having a "time limit" to defeat his enemies. Fireman cannot stay in his Agon form for more than 3 minutes when in sunlight. Another element is the team that accompanies him, the SAF. Formed as a response to the attacks by the monsters, the SAF team features many Ultra-like vehicles but with more realistic, down-to-earth designs. They also have the trademark cool guns that most Science Patrols have. Fireman is from Atlantis and is of the Agon people, beings who cannot stay aboveground for very long. He has many powers and takes on human form in the form of Daisuke Misaki. The series ends on a low note-not gonna spoil it though.
Fireman is more straight-up sci-fi than most toku, and is more adult oriented than most Tsuburaya series, with lots less monster fighting and more focus on drama. Still an exciting series! A must-see!
Kagaku sentai Dainaman (1983)
Great sentai, one of the best
Featuring excellent pyrotechnics, this series was a landmark in the Super Sentai series in the fact it was the first to use spandex for the costumes. I love the explosion work. The plot follows the Dynamen and their mentor and suit creator Dr. Yumeno, in their attempt to stop the Tailed Clan and their shinkaiju(Evolved beasts). I love how each of them have distinct personalities and not generic like in later sentai. The mecha look great, easily ahead of the time. Unfortunately, six episodes were redubbed with parody English lines, ridiculing everything(which is a shame, because it's actually ahead for the time). However, Toei found out about this offense and threatened legal action, forcing USA to cancel the dubbing, thank God...
Great series, check it out. Better than the USA's Power Rangers, this is REAL sentai.
Uchû keiji Shaider (1984)
awesome series
Awesome series, was used in 1994's VR troopers in the second season. Dai/Shaider was played by Eiji Tsuburaya's son Hiroshi, who died unfortunately young at 37 of liver cancer. The special effects are really good for the time, utilizing early CGI like the stuff seen in Tron. The suits look great, and the camera-work is daring, especially in aerial battle scenes. By the way, the models used for the dogfighting scenes have a real sense of size to them. The theme song by Akira Kushida rocks, and is a really great way to get pumped up for the show. The show revolves around a Space Sheriff codenamed Shaider who is sent to earth with his lovely sidekick Annie. They have to stop the activities of an evil cult called Fuuma. I won't spoil any more.
Just see it!!!
Ultraman (2004)
A re-imagining of the original Ultraman...a powerful moment in Japanese cinema.
Ultraman the Next is a basic re-imagining of the original Ultraman. The acting is well done. Tetsuya Bessho does a great job as Shinichi Maki, the leading man who becomes Ultraman after a fighting plane accident. He portrays his role very emotionally, especially when he is captured by the government. The child actor in this is actually likable! He even brought a tear to my eye when he told his father Maki to go on being a pilot, even though he is sick and in the hospital. Moving on to the effects, they are amazing, rivaling Hollywood's work in the field. Using a flawless realistic suit, green-screen combo, they are able to produce monster effects that break the "Man-in-rubber-suit" stereotype. The CGI is amazing, though a bit sloppy during flying sequences. Ultraman Next's design is done amazingly well. I especially think the coloring of the armor plating is nice. The One, Ultraman's foe, is also very well designed. The second form looked too much like Zilla for my tastes, but the third form is incredibly solidly designed. Similar to the Balrog from LOTR, the design has a few unique things to it. 2 heads protrude from it's shoulders, and giant crow wings show up. The only thing that keeps this movie from getting a 10 from me is the score. Other than the Ultraman theme, none of the songs really "clicked" with me. Conclusion: Ultraman the Next was an amazing film, and is a must own for any kajiu fan.
My verdict: 9.5/10
Q.E.D.: A Guide to Armageddon (1982)
Tells just how useless nuclear survivalism is...Powerful
This film was part of the British program QED. It was directed by Threads director Mick Jackson. It tells the story of what happens to London after a nuclear attack. There is no acting; all of the people in it are real people. In one scene, the crew asks a young couple to build a shelter like in the useless "PROTECT & SURVIVE". To make a long story short, they survive-for 17 seconds. The effects in the film are relatively good for a TV movie. The most powerful effect for me was the miniature cars bursting into flame(DVD time 02:52). It was so realistic, and the stock music by Pendereski made it even more jarring. Another portion of "Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima & Nagasaki" is used in a similar scene where a double decker bus is shown bursting into flame. The false "glass" chars and melts, while the paint burns. The building miniatures are uneven. Some, like the Petersburg Cathedral replica are very good, while others fail to impress. The makeup used to portray the effects of heat and fallout are just plain scary. It looks very realistic.
I'd recommend it to see the nonsense of civil defense at work.
Chikyû Bôeigun (1957)
The defining moment for Japanese scifi
The Mysterians defined Toho scifi. If you watch this movie, you will notice a shocking similarity between Star Wars(1977) and this film. The Special effects are quite good. The only complaint I have is MOGERA's suit is a bit wobbly at times. The miniatures and sets, and matte shots are good. The score by Akira Ifukube is riveting. He composes many famous themes here. Some of which appear in 1991's Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. He even makes some stirring themes. I really like the direction and acting here. Ishiro Honda's favorite theme, the brotherhood of mankind, makes an appearance here. My favorite performance is that of the Mysterian leader. An actor from the classic Kurosawa film The Seven Samurai appears here.
I love this movie. Recommended.