Zone Fight Power!
While I do ultimately feel that Zone Fighter is nothing more than an attempt by Toho to cash in on Tsuburaya Production's territory, Zone Fighter eventually manages to do enough to stand out amongst the seemingly endless surplus of Ultra shows with its family of superhero's dynamic plus some memorable guest stars in the form of Godzilla and company.The evil Garogas plan to take over Earth with their army of giant Terror-Beasts. They are opposed by the Zone Family, hailing from a planet called Peaceland that the Garogas destroyed. The family uses a variety of exotic vehicles and weapons. Still, their best defence against Garogas is their oldest child Hikaru, who is able to transform into the giant Zone Fighter.
The problem with Zone Fighter comes a lot from the tone, less so the production. It's a show that gets confused often as to what it wants to be. Some episodes are great, others border on unwatchable. It's a series Toho isn't especially proud of and director Jun Fukuda when asked about the show in interviews refused to even comment on its existence. Not really a good sign for the show in general.
The visual effects work stands up quite well for the most part with a multitude of different talents lending themselves to the series. Teruyoshi Nakano for 10 of the 26 episodes. Koichi Kawakita for 8. Yoshio Tabuchi for 6. Shinichi Kamisawa, who also wrote for the series, 2 episodes a piece. The direction is hit or miss, the ones directed by either Ishirō Honda or Jun Fukuda tend to be the more interesting ones and there are even two later episodes directed by Kōhei Oguri of House fame. So the show is hardly lacking in the visual department.
Further problems stem more from its writing and characters than anything else. At times juvenile and childish other times dark and sinister, the more childlike episodes stick out a lot more, it doesn't help one of the main characters is a child and his friends make frequent appearances with some godawful child acting to boot. Kazuya Aoyama, later appearing in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, as the titular Zone Fighter does pretty much carry the show for the most part alongside Shiro Amakusa even if his role is massively reduced to that of a mentor. The rest of the characters, especially the villains are very give or take.
The music by Go Misawa is fine overall, the main theme "Zone Fighter" and the insert song "Meteor Victory" however, are massive earworms that won't leave you alone no matter how hard you try to erase them. There's a large usage of horns and brass present throughout and it can get overwhelming at points.
What really got me interested was Zone Fighter's presence in the Shōwa era Godzilla timeline, taking place after vs. Megalon but before vs. Mechagodzilla. It features the likes of Godzilla himself, King Ghidorah making an appearance in two episodes duking it out with Zone Fighter and not Godzilla and ultimately remains the only monster to not be killed by either in the show and finally the final appearance of Shōwa era Gigan. What happens to Gigan in this is almost unacceptable in terms of how he's defeated by the villain's incompetence more than the abilities of Godzilla or Zone Fighter. My poor boy.
Zone Fighter is a very real oddity of Shōwa Godzilla. It doesn't utilise its unique selling point to its full potential, as the show always ensures that Hikaru remains front and centre as its main hero. As much as it would like to reassure you that Zone Angel and Zone Junior are a key part of the show, ultimately it's always Hikaru that saves the day whilst Angel and Junior are acting as support. It's a shame because the glimpses you see of these supporting characters taking centre stage show you exactly just how remarkable Zone Fighter could have been but it seems to have been destined to end on an unresolved cliffhanger which I imagine Toho have no intention of ending.
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So much hair
One of the better kaiju throwbacks I've seen in recent years, Geharha: The Dark and Long-Haired Monster owes a lot to the bigger name franchises containing a wealth of references and homages interspaced amidst its quirky camp. A short made-for-TV production by one of the more prolific modern Ultraman directors, Kiyotaka Taguchi, barely clocking in at 20 minutes in length, it's a fabulous little gem. The effects are a charming mix of old-school tokusatsu techniques and hilariously low-brow CGI which often add to the short's comedic value. While the stock library of music from the late Akira Ifukube fits quite nicely, Geharha is over just as it really starts to get going, leaving you wanting more and ripe for expansion in a feature-length presentation.Was this review helpful to you?
Crazy Biker Road
Often hailed as Japan's Mad Max, Crazy Thunder Road becomes all the more impressive the more you learn about its production. Being a graduation project by director Gakuryû Ishii, it may be a narrative mess but the highly experimental style and limitless rockabilly energy produced a movie that radiates of pure aggression. There's a rough and ready charm to the effects and Kinji Fukasaku-influenced action, often drawing comparisons to Fukasaku's own anti-establishment protagonists with added grunge, grim and neon lights. The soundtrack is honestly my favourite part of the film, using songs by Japanese bands of the time in a near musical sense, it's combined with frantic editing and heightened emotions that immerse you completely within its context. Fast-paced, quick-witted and brilliantly stylised Crazy Thunder Road points toward a new style of genre filmmaking even if that direction is somewhat confused in execution.Was this review helpful to you?
The blueprint for Minus One
Complicated and nuanced as equally as it is populist and compelling, Takashi Yamazaki's The Eternal Zero is way too cluttered to assign any form of accurate assessment and yet, this highly thought-provoking tale on redemption and legacy is highly worthy of your time. Yamazaki effortlessly weaves together an engaging, expressive, sometimes exciting yet often horrifying depiction of a disgraced kamikaze pilot's life, never glorifying the nightmarish situation and always remaining sombre. The great performances sell the otherwise muddled script while its aerial combat is staggeringly realised with Yamazaki's creative use of visual effects and kinetic camerawork. More solemn and graceful, emotional and tragic, than downright high-octane and death-crazed as depicted in some Western war films, The Eternal Zero is an enormously evocative film even though it stumbles upon its final approach with an exceptionally jarring and sappy epilogue that feels very out of place with this otherwise excellent film.Was this review helpful to you?
Not the ending I'd hoped for
As the ending of a trilogy, Always Sunset on Third Street '64 isn't that great, it feels more like the build-up to the finale but ends before we get there. It also gets very confused about what sort of messaging it wants to send towards how to treat your children, but it ties up all the hanging threads it starts without losing the shtick that made the first two so special in the first place. Great performances, exceptionally wholesome and very well directed, Yamazaki could very well deliver one more film if he so wished, but I respect him for leaving it as a very personal trilogy to both him and his viewers.Was this review helpful to you?
More of what made the first one so damn special
Always Sunset on Third Street 2 offers more of what made the first one so damn wholesome, at times much more bittersweet, it retains the goodwill and warmth of its predecessor. Still just as unabashedly nostalgic and touching, Always 2 is exceptionally self-indulgent, very saccharine and perhaps a bit overlong, but it's also an excellent example of an emotionally satisfying drama with likeable characters and a wonderful sense of place and time. One that doesn't fail to get the tears welling, making for a feel-good film with loads of laughs. Extremely refreshing and just the tonic in these austere and pessimistic times. It shines bright. Although you just know every Godzilla fan has seen the opening 2-minutes of this and then nothing further, a huge injustice if there ever was one. However, you can certainly see why Yamazaki was chosen to helm the latest outing for the Big G with this sequence... I can't wait.Was this review helpful to you?
She shoots, but does she score?
She shoots, but does she score? Well, between the copious amounts of histrionic, clichéd melodrama with scenes that go on for way too long, She Shoots Straight provides some genuinely uproarious and well-done action that wouldn't be out of place this side of Michelle Yeoh. Corey Yuen certainly brings variety to the film's kinetic style, particular standouts being a shootout shot in infrared and the storming of a ship with every manner of melee weapon imaginable, Yuen understands when to add a dramatic weight to make a true impact. Complimented by a decent if cheesy score by Lowell Lo, while the performances of Joyce Godenzi and Carina Lau balance out the deranged villainous antics of Yuen Wah. She Shoots Straight isn't bad by any means but the story doesn't make me really care about any of its sapy soap opera characters beyond a surface level while the action is too few and far between but finally delivers that explosive Hong Kong finale that you wait the whole film for, it just really needed some spicing up during the sluggish first half.Also, Joyce Godenzi should have totally lost that final fight against Agnes Aurelio.
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Overly sexed cheese
Even with its mean-spirited streak, Body Weapon is a rather daring psychological thriller that combines the twisted sexuality and flamboyant savagery of Naked Killer with the physical masterstrokes of Jackie Chan in high gear. It's a relatively infamous Category III movie, but despite its status as one, it rarely goes above what one would expect from a sleazy exploitation film based solely on its gimmicky title. Between the tonally confused yet hilariously cheesy jokes, plodding sentimentality and overly sexed-up gimp-suited villain, Body Weapon offers up a tantalising amphetamine rush of brutal martial arts and steamy eroticism that impacts the senses with delirious intensity.Was this review helpful to you?
Lavishly heartwarming
Takashi Yamazaki's lavish screen adaptation of Ryōhei Saigan's immensely popular manga, Always Sunset on Third Street is unashamedly sentimental, a glossy, big-budgeted soap opera remaining captivating in its swoon of admiration for the period it is portraying. It's not intended as a serious examination of the tribulations faced by post-war Japan, though hints are thrown in now and again, instead, it focuses on the daily lives of its larger-than-life characters. Although it sometimes feels episodic, the cornerstone of this movie's success lies in its charming essence, lovable performances and overall warmth, sweeping the viewer along with its energy, tugging at the heartstrings every step of the way.Was this review helpful to you?
Exceptionally charming adventure film
Drawing heavily from kids' adventure films, ergo The Goonies just minus the gritty edge of the 80s and early Spielberg, Juvenile marks the directorial debut of one Takashi Yamazaki. He weaves together an engaging coming-of-age story primarily following the child characters and invoking a sense of imagination many kids partook in during the early years of their lives, retaining an old-school sci-fi charm along the way. It all feels genuine and is helped by the performances of its cast, although it does struggle to make many of the relationships organic. Its musical score by Yasuaki Shimizu is pleasant on the ears, with a beautiful theme to close the film the visual effects however, are more of a mixed bag. The CGI has aged horribly as was par for the course in Japan during this period but the practical effects work is fantastic, especially Tetra who is freaking adorable. Despite its faults, Juvenile is a competently made movie and an exceptionally charming one at that, capturing that feeling of childhood nostalgia with relative ease, Yamazai had a lot to offer and Juvenile was the first stepping stone to that success.Was this review helpful to you?
A bold if messy ghost story
Diving deep into the emotional longevity of what grief can inflict on an individual, Missing does not feel like a Tsui Hark film, as it's so far removed from his style. Mixing traditional supernatural beliefs with a psychological character study, Hark spins a tangled, often confusing web that while laudable doesn't quite sustain his ambitions. It instead offers a hodge-podge of genres ranging from psychological ghostly horrors to melodramatic romance, the very idea of the film is exciting but it has too many ingredients that ultimately leave it as a very messy piece of work, often looking hurriedly shot and put together almost as if it was made in a mad rush of a creative spark. It drags its feet to a rather unsatisfactory conclusion of multiple endings, feeling way longer than its advertised 2-hour runtime. Thankfully in the years, Hark's direction has remained steadfast and enjoyable, backed up by a passable score by Ricky Ho, Missing ultimately just misses the mark for me in its attempt to try so much, though the effort involved is commendable, the results are not.Was this review helpful to you?
A recently rediscovered gem
Junya Satō's Golgo 13 is a much more human and melancholy adaptation of the source material, it loses the seemingly superhuman aspects of his anime counterpart. Making gorgeous use of a pre-revolution Iran, a decidedly off-the-wall idea even for the time and one that gives it a unique flavour, sees a perfectly cast Ken Takakura in the title role radiate with an ice-cold countenance matched only by his deadly skills and irresistibility to women. Oozing with menace and masculine suave, Golgo 13 trudges across desert landscapes, a man on a mission, decidedly anti-heroic but brilliantly realised encountering kaleidoscopic villains along the way. Excellently shot and choreographed action, striking editing and a classic slice of Toei-style orchestration for its soundtrack give Junya Satō's Golgo 13 a decidedly Spaghetti Western tinge. I can't thank Eureka Entertainment enough for finally giving this movie the attention it so justly deserves.Was this review helpful to you?
A combination of Kubrick, Tarkovsky and Akerman
I didn't know what to expect from my first Sion Sono movie, so when The Whispering Star ended up as what I can only describe as Stanley Kubrick meets Andrei Tarkovsky I was certainly surprised. Its narrative is almost wholly visual with minimal dialogue, often spoken in hushed and reverential whispers, expecting the audience to fill in the gaps with the limited information they've been given. Despite the clunky and unoriginal outlook of society and nature, it's the way the film is presented to you that makes all the difference, the black & white photography of the seemingly abandoned Fukushima Prefecture is gorgeous, with one scene of colour feeling beautifully alien to the rest of the movie. The long periods of reflective silence allow the audience and character to ponder on their meaning and place in the universe. While at times feeling akin to that of an arthouse production, for what it's worth, your patience will be rewarded if you can make it to the end.Was this review helpful to you?
What is it that we protect? The life and assets of our people?
With a title that literally translates to Japan Sinks, you'd be hardly surprised that the film eventually delivers on this title. The first of many adaptations of Sakyo Komatsu's original works, Submersion of Japan stands above most disaster movies by approaching an honestly terrifying situation with calm intelligence and asking many difficult questions along the way.Racked by earthquakes and volcanoes, Japan is slowly sinking into the sea. A race against time and tide begins as the scientists work together to salvage some fraction of the disappearing Japan.
Following an unsuccessful deal with Daiei, the film rights for the novel were sold to Toho, and those rights extended to the production of a television series, which would be filmed alongside the movie and shared some of the same cast as a result. A series I plan to get to one day if I can ever find working subtitles for. It would be the first big adaptation of the book with a film remake and parody both being released in 2006, two live-action television series and an anime to boot.
With a screenplay written by Shinobu Hashimoto, a frequent Kurosawa collaborator and substantial input from the original author, Submersion of Japan tells its story from a variety of differing viewpoints from a scientist to a submarine operator to the Prime Minster himself. Like the later released Prophecies of Nostradamus, it's not all doom and gloom despite the subject matter, there is some semblance of hope sprinkled throughout. It's not a film written from the perspective of the common citizen, more so the higher-ups in trying to organise impossible tasks.
It tackles many real-life issues that could we as a species could face in our lifetime, subjects such as the reaction of countries trying to accept a mass migration of an entire nation, the fears and anxieties of the nation's people being forced to leave their homeland behind and how it affects them etc. It's a very different type of disaster film that we are used to today, where in those disaster sequences usually play second fiddle to the story at hand.
This is my first exposure to director Shirô Moritani, and hopefully not the last, and he honestly delivers some utterly beautiful direction, especially for a film of this genre. With long sweeping landscape shots coupled with some brilliantly filmed scenes of characters simply talking, it's a pretty substantial film hardly letting up the intensity of the subject matter thanks in part to the commitment of its cast. The usual cast of Toho and Toei regulars make their appearances known, you may not remember all their names by the end but you'll for sure remember their characteristics. Be it the OG Kamen Rider actor Hiroshi Fujioka or others such as Tetsurō Tamba, Keiju Kobayashi and Shôgo Shimada, every single actor delivers an excellent performance.
Released the same year as the 13th entry in the Godzilla series, Godzilla vs. Megalon, it's very clear which one of the two benefits from an actual budget. When it comes down to it, Submersion of Japan puts that money front and centre allowing the creative roots of effects director Teruyoshi Nakano to absolutely shine. Coupled with extra input from eventual Return of Godzilla director, Koji Hashimoto, the film's disaster set pieces are truly a sight to behold, especially that of the Tokyo earthquake sequence which is horror incarnate. No wonder a lot of the footage would be used by later Toho SFX movies.
This is easily the best musical score I've heard from Masaru Sato, it's dark, brooding and equal parts intense, rarely letting up to drive home that feeling of hopelessness experienced by the characters. I've not been a massive fan of his works over the past few films I've seen he's contributed to, but at long last, I've found one of his contributions that I really like.
Overall, while I can see why people rate this one so highly, I find it way too invested in many of its long and very drawn-out situations of characters talking to give it anything higher than 4 stars. Nonetheless, it's still a glorious film from start to finish and should definitely be experienced by any fan of the tokusatsu or the disaster genre.
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A weapon that would never be used by a rational man
I've been looking forward to watching Virus for a long time, a bleak downward spiral of a film that's less focused on solving the crisis at hand but more focused on survival for the sake of it even though there's no real reason to anymore.A US military-engineered virus, released during a plane crash, kills almost the entire human population. The only survivors are scientists and military personnel in Antarctica, who desperately try to find a cure and save what is left of the human population from further destruction.
Virus, or as it's known in its uncut form Day of Resurrection, is probably one of the best efforts by the Japanese to break into the US market where the Japanese didn't have to make any form of compromises to their filmmaking in order to appease the US. Despite not making the impact wanted at the US box office due to it being given a limited release, Virus still holds a lot of impact even to this day and honestly, is generally terrifying after having witnessed the world go through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on the book by Sakyo Komatsu, yes the guy behind the likes of Submersion of Japan, ESPY and Tokyo Blackout, and one of the few of his original works that's even available in English to a degree. At the time of writing this review, I haven't read the original book but I do plan to down the line, Virus is very typical of Komatsu's works with his greater focus on humanity than the disaster. While Virus is mainly based on Komatsu's original text, the film's screenplay benefits from additions by Kōji Takada, the seemingly unknown and one-time writer Gregory Knapp and director Kinji Fukasaku. It's a fantastically written dive into humanity with Fukasaku's typical perfectionist stance giving all his characters life and to an extent the virus itself.
Speaking of Fukasaku, he doesn't compromise his directorial style when switching over to a language he doesn't fully understand as would be worrying with a film of this nature. For a man mostly known for directing yakuza movies and Battle Royale, Virus brings across all the melancholy and drama you'd expect from his films and made all the more beautiful thanks to utterly gorgeous cinematography from Daisaku Kimura. Fukasaku doesn't skimp on showing us the horrific nature of a pandemic of this magnitude, mass death and destruction on a global scale, skeletons littering uninhabited cities, riots breaking out worldwide and piles of corpses being incinerated that evoke uncomfortable reminders of days gone by. Being the biggest-budgeted Japanese film of its time, it has clearly put to full effect.
The full-star cast only adds to the gravitas of the film's excellence, featuring the likes of US actors such as Glenn Ford, Robert Vaughn, Henry Silva, Chuck Connors, George Kennedy and Bo Svenson. Considering they are under the direction of a man who doesn't even speak their native language, they all perform admirably. On the Japanese side of the cast, we have the likes of Masao Kusakari whose English can be admittedly wonky at times but the effort he puts in more than makes up for it, Isao Natsuyagi, Tsunehiko Watase, Kensaku Morita and even Toshiyuki Nagashima.
Further adding to this movie's list of strengths is the incredible musical score by Teo Macero and frequent anime composer Kentarō Haneda. Employing the efforts of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the score is simply wonderful, while it hasn't been strictly released in a large capacity there are albums floating around out there if you desire to listen to these pieces isolated like myself. The piece that opens the movie "Adieu Mon Amor" is beautiful but the entire score is worth a listen on its own.
While the film failed to take off even in Japan, make Kadokawa the Hollywood player they wanted to be or get Kinji Fukasaku the worldwide acclaim he deserved, in its full uncut version, Virus is a surprisingly powerful, criminally underrated and compelling end-of-the-world drama worthy of your attention if you like a bit more meat on the bones of a Hollywood disaster flick.
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