In 1994 with Toho's Heisei era of Godzilla films coming to an end, Toho released Orochi the Eight Headed Dragon. While it's supposedly based on the ancient legend of Yamato Takeru I'm assuming some liberties are taken. Still, much of the film felt rushed as if we, the viewers, are already supposed to know the basic plot. It's as if a director decided to turn a Biblical epic like The Ten Commandments into a 90 minute film. Sure we'd lose a lot of the substance but most everyone knows the basic story.

For those unfamiliar with the plot, it goes something like this. In the 4th century AD Yamato Takeru is born as the younger twin son of the Emperor. Although ordered to be killed at birth by his father Yamato is saved by a giant metallic phoenix. Yamato's aunt, a priestess, pleads with the Emperor to forgive Yamato for being born cursed. At first the Emperor refuses so Yamato is raised by his aunt.

After growing up it becomes clear that Yamato is no ordinary prince. He has a magic amulet that protects him and also causes him to turn into a sort of demon who can shoot lasers from his eyes and other such powers. He goes on a journey to defeat a neighboring warlord and meets the lovely priestess Oto. Thus begins the story of monster fighting, swordplay and dragons.

The film is more sword and samurai than it is kaiju. Orochi is a decent looking monster but he is appeared to be made from the same mold as King Ghidorah with five extra heads. The lesser gods and monsters are decent enough but they look more like Ultraman foes than anything else.

All I can say is that if this were true to Japanese mythology then it sure as heck would explain a lot. There's giant monsters, samurai, people shooting fire from their hands and even a mecha. It seems as though every cliche of Japanese movies is there. You half expected a busty teen aged girl in a sailor suit to show up.

Overall it was a fun movie to watch. Much of the film's special effects are about what you'd expect to see in a Godzilla film of this era. As I mentioned before Orochi looks a lot like the Heisei version of King Ghidorah so if you felt that the Godzilla films of the 90's were decent then you should enjoy this one.

Labels: 31 days of film, Japanese, Kaiju, sci-fi

War of the Gargantuas (or Frankenstein no kaiju: Sanda tai Gaira) is a sequel of sorts to Frankenstein Conquers the World.

In this film a Frankenstein monster, now covered in a green algae like fur emerges from the ocean and attacks some ships and eating people. Frankenstein is blamed although scientists are baffled since Frankenstein neither lives in the ocean, nor does he eat people.

The military sets up attacks and does surprisingly well considering their record in past kaiju movies. All mysteries are solved when a second Frankenstein's monster, known as Sanda, shows up seemingly to help the sea-Frankenstein (Gaira.)

War of the Gargantuas was one of the last of the great Japanese kaiju films on my list to be watched. In a way, I'm almost a little sad knowing that the list is so small that when gems like this are finally released here my list gets shorter and shorter.

Either way, for a kaiju film it's a good one with plenty of monster scenes, tons of action and the human drama is kept to a minimum. It's defintely worth picking up.

Also, I've reviewed Rodan twice before so I'm not going to review it again. Just get this disc and enjoy!

Labels: 31 days of film, Japanese, Kaiju, Tokusatsu

Classic Media strikes again with another release from their line of classic Godzilla films but does it measure up to the high standards of the last two?

Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monsters is a milestone for Godzilla movies. This is the first film in which Godzilla is fighting on the side of the Earth. It is also the first Godzilla film to feature Rodan and the last film to feature the Peanuts.

While the film is quite interesting and a lot of fun at times it does drag quite a bit during the middle. I suppose I am a bit harsh on the film as it is, in my opinion, the weakest of the first half dozen Godzilla films.

The DVD itself is great. Classic Media has included both the original Japanese version as well as the classic English dubbed version. While I watched the subtitled version primarily, I did check the dub and it was just as I remember it from my old Vestron Video copy I bought years ago.

Godzilla fans have never had it any better, in my view. Right now the only film of the Showa series without a DVD release is Megalon (although there were versions put out by companies who thought the film was still in the public domain.) Of course King Kong vs. Godzilla and Destroy all Monsters are both dub only but at least they were released. As far as the Heisei series goes, Universe Laser and Video in Hong Kong has picked up the slack on that for the mediocre American releases. Yes, it is a good day for Godzilla fans.

Now where is my bilingual Mothra Trilogy set that I've dreamed of?

Labels: Godzilla, Japanese, Kaiju

Frankenstein Conquers the World:

The heart of the legendary beast Frankenstein is found in war ravaged Germany and smuggled to Japan for various experiments. However just as Japanese scientists start their experiments the atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima and the heart is exposed to massive amounts of radiation causing Frankenstein to regenerate and this time he grows and grows! Of course, he then has to fact the Godzilla-like monster Baragon who just happens to show up at the same time.

This is one of Toho's weirder movies but it's also one of the most fun. The Frankenstein monster isn't really the same as what we are used to and a giant monster version seems a bit ludicrous at best. Baragon isn't too inspired as a monster, but he looks cool enough on his own. On the flip side the special effects are typical for Toho and Eiji Tsuburaya in that period and finally seeing the infamous devilfish scene was quite a treat.

The biggest strength here is the cast. We have many Toho regulars including Tadao Takahima and Kumi Mizuno with many of the regular Toho actors in minor roles. Of course the notable addition to the cast is Nick Adams, whom I refer to as the most underutilized actor in history. Watching him and Kumi Mizuno together here (and in Monster Zero) it's no wonder the Japanese tabloids had a field day speculating on the two of them.

I really am glad that I can see the day that many of Toho's kaiju and tokusatsu (special effects) films can be found so freely in America. I remember back when people were buying bootlegged VHS tapes or, like me, buying raw Japanese copies on laserdisc or settling for English dubbed versions. Back then we would have killed for releases such as this. Big props to Media Blasters for giving us what we've wanted for so long.

Highly Recommended!

Labels: Japanese, Kaiju, sci-fi

Godzilla Raids Again: Directly on the heels of Classic Media's fabulous Gojira release is the second in the Showa Godzilla series Gojira no Gyakushu (known here in the states as either Gigantis the Fire Monster or more commonly now as Godzilla Raids Again.)

In this film Godzilla (or another of his species) is sighted and this time he is found fighting another prehistoric creature, Anguirus, in a battle for supremacy. Unlike subsequent Godzilla films the fighting between monsters is not the central part of the movie and, in many ways, the whole Godzilla story is a side story to the lives of those working for a small company of pilots who scout for fish schools.

This is, in my opinion, the biggest strength of the film. The human characters in Godzilla Raids Again are the most likable, in my view, over any other Godzilla film save perhaps the original. Hiroshi Koizumi makes his first appearance in what would become a long line of Toho kaiju films and he plays well but the most appealing character would be that of Kobayashi played by Kurosawa veteran Minoru Chiaki. His portrayal of Kobayashi is one that makes him one of the most interesting characters in any Godzilla movies.

The edited and dubbed version is on here but I would avoid it. The dub is too silly and it takes many liberties with the script. While it is better than the original "Volcano Monsters" idea, it still is bland and boring compared to the original.

Labels: Godzilla, Japanese, Kaiju, sci-fi

Gamera the Brave: Returning to his roots is the flying, fire-breathing turtle in his newest feature film.

The story centers around a boy named Toro. He finds a glowing red stone with an egg in it. The egg hatches into a turtle which he names Toto. Of course this is no ordinary turtle as he can fly and breath fire and grows at an alarming rate. Around this same time a giant monster, named Zedus, appears and starts to eat people. It becomes clear that Toto is in fact Gamera (or at least a spawn of Gamera) and that his destiny is to fight Zedus.

In contrast to the Heisei films, this Gamera film is much less violent in terms of human casualties. No longer do we see bodies flying in the air blown up by fireballs. What we do see is quite a bit of monster fighting, which is definitely a lot of fun. The other departure from the Heisei films is the fact that Gamera is once again motivated by, and in some ways gets his power from, the children. This is certainly bringing Gamera back to the old Showa films and is certainly a welcome change.

One last thing, Zedus reminded me a bit of Barugon due to the tongue. Too bad they didn't bring him back as he was my favorite monster.

Labels: Gamera, Horror, Kaiju, sci-fi