Japanese Cinema (sci-fi and superhero genre) (1 Viewer)

[Ren Cola]

Recently I have just been exposed to many Japanese films, mostly science fiction classics like "Attack of the Mushroom People" and their superhero genre (namely "Ultraman"). Are there any fans here of these types of films? And if so, what are your favorites and what do you like or dislike most about them.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Sean Campbell]

I'm a big fan of Japanese fantasy cinema, have been ever since I was exposed to 'Destroy All Monsters' when I was 10
Firstly, I think you should try to get subtitled copies of these movies if possible - it makes a BIG difference.
My personal favourites are:

Godzilla ( 1954 )
Mothra vs. Godzilla ( 1964 )
Ghidrah - The Three Headed Monster ( 1964 )
These are probably the three best movies in the Godzilla series. The first is dark and depressing, the latter two bright and colourful. Excellent films when seen in their original Japanese editions.

The Mysterians ( 1957 )
Check out this alien invasion flick if your looking for plenty of sci-fi hardware. There's flying saucers and model rocketships aplenty, not to mention a fantastic giant robot bird ( although it doesn't get much screentime ) and plenty of hi-tech military hardware

Kwaidan ( 1965 )
Excellent collection of ghost stories - genuinely hypnotic in places. One of the great fantasy masterpieces.

Onibaba ( 1965 )
Wonderfully atmospheric tale of terror set in feudal Japan. The ghostly elements are light, but it's well worth a look.

Majin ( 1966 )
Highly entertaining and colourful flick about a giant stone statue that comes to life in order to save a town from invaders.

Virus ( 1980 )
All star sci-fi disaster movie from the early 80s. Mostly filmed in English, it deals with a plague that wipes out 99.9% of all humans - the only survivors being those in below freezing climates. The 155 minute original cut is excellent, especially the final 15 mins where the main character WALKS from Washington DC to the tip of South America (!)

Time Slip ( 1982? )
I only saw this once when I was a kid and I'd love to see it again. A squad of Japanese soldiers on a military exercise get sucked into a timewarp and find themselves in medieval Japan. They decide to use their advanced weaponary to alter history and hopefully create another timewarp to get them home. Battle scenes aplenty as Samurai swords fight against machine guns and tanks. This was kind of like a Japanese version of 'The Final Countdown'.

There's many other movies that I'd love to see someday but haven't been able to find copies of - The Three Treasures ( 1959 ), The Last War ( 1961 ) and The Submersion of Japan ( 1973 )being but three examples

 

[Steve_Ch]

Rodan (1957).

 

[Larry Fletcher]

I am also a big fan of Godzilla/Gamera/Ultraman. If you want quality check out the Gamera Trilogy from the 1990's. In my opinion it is the some of the best Japanese kaiju films made in the last 15 years. Gamera 1 and Gamera 2 are currently out on dvd here in the U.S. Gamera 3 (the best) will be out in June.(ADV. Films has finally released these on dvd after having the rights for 3 years. What took so long?)

The more recent Godzilla movies are pretty good also. They do suffer from a limited production time however. (Toho is currently pumping out 1 every year.). The best Godzilla movie in the past ten years has to be the "GMK= Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah All OuT Monsters Attack. Directed by Shusake Kaneko ( I butchered his first name.) He directed the 1990's Gamera trilogy.

Recent Ultraman and Mothra nmoives are a little too kiddie for my taste but they are worth watching at least once.

P.S. SciFi channel is having a Mothra marathon on 05/31/2003. They will be showing all 3 of the new Mothra movies. Mothra 3 (Sony owns the rights to this in the U.S.) has not been released yet on dvd in the U.S. The first 2 have. Unfortunately these films will be dubbed and not subtitled.

one more thing We need the original Ultraman series (greatest TV show of all time)released on DVD in the U.S.!

 

[ArmandV]

FYI, G-FEST X will be showing the following:

"Godzilla, Mothra & King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack"

"Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys"

"Battle In Outer Space"

and many more. Noriaki Yuasa, the Showa Gamera series director will be one of the special guests along with Carl Craig ("Gamera vs. Viras") July 18-20 in Arlington Heights, Illinois. The convention will be held at the Radisson Hotel, Arlington Heights and the three films above will be shown at the Pickwick Theater.

For more information: G-FEST X

 

[Larry Fletcher]

Hey Armand, any update on the dvd release of GMK over here in the U.S.?

 

[ArmandV]

At present, Toho and Sony Entertainment are nearing the signing of the agreement to releasing "Godzilla, Mothra & King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack" (GMK) and "Godzilla X Megaguirus" here. Whether the release will be straight-to-video or theatrical or both is open to speculation.

These two films could not be more different from each other but both are very entertaining.

 

[Sean Campbell]

At present, Toho and Sony Entertainment are nearing the signing of the agreement to releasing "Godzilla, Mothra & King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack" (GMK) and "Godzilla X Megaguirus" here. Whether the release will be straight-to-video or theatrical or both is open to speculation.

No doubt part of Toho's terms will be that no original language track is to be included

 

[ArmandV]

No doubt part of Toho's terms will be that no original language track is to be included

Not necessarily. Toho provided the Japanese version of Godzilla 2000: Millennium to Sony but due to "time constraints," it was not included in Sony/TriStar's Godzilla 2000 DVD.