Articles in Japanese Movie Reviews
Godzilla’s Revenge (1969) Movie Review
The Godzilla series was meant to end with “Destroy All Monsters”, a whiz-bang Armageddon of a finale. But there was a problem: “Destroy All Monsters” made a lot of money at the Japanese box office, so producer Tomoyuki Tanaka decided to follow the philosophy, “You can fool some of the people some of the time [...]
October 6th, 2004 | Joseph Savitski | 0 Comments | Read MoreDevilman (2004) Movie Review
Adapting manga or anime for live action cinema is never an easy affair. Although some stand alone features such as “Perfect Blue” have leant themselves quite naturally to the real life medium, anime series in general tend to involve huge casts of characters with complex development arcs, intricate storylines, and surreal, over the top visuals [...]
October 5th, 2004 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreMechanical Violator Hakaider (1995) Movie Review
Keita Amemiya returns to robot territory with “Mechanical Violator Hakaider”, and seems to have learned his lessons well from his previous efforts. The result is a visually impressive and entertaining film that will satisfy fans of science fiction and Japanese cinema. If only the script relied more on its own ideas instead of others, this [...]
September 30th, 2004 | Joseph Savitski | 0 Comments | Read MoreMoon Over Tao (1997) Movie Review
You’d be hard pressed to find a stranger cinematic amalgam than “Moon Over Tao”. As an odd mixture of the past and future, the film is only partially successful in what it tries to accomplish. Moviegoers will probably find “Moon Over Tao” an interesting curiosity, but not worth investing personal time in watching it.
“Moon Over [...]
Zeiram 2 (1994) Movie Review
The original “Zeiram” must have made money for somebody somewhere, because a sequel was released three years later. They really shouldn’t have bothered on our account, since the resulting film is more akin to a bloody “Power Rangers” episode instead of a science fiction/action film.
“Zeiram 2″ reunites us with intergalactic bounty hunter Iria, her [...]
Gunhed (1989) Movie Review
Whenever you see the credit “directed by Allan Smithee”, you know you won’t be experiencing life to the fullest for the next hour or so. Like the names Titanic, Three Mile Island, and Chernobyl, Alan Smithee has come to be associated with a cataclysmic disaster. In the case of “Gunhed”, the trend continues.
Set in [...]
Chaos (1999) Movie Review
Hideo Nakata, best known for the genre defining Japanese horror “Ringu”, has finally given in to the persuasive lure of Hollywood, signing up for the sequel to the remake of his original film. Time will tell whether his talents transfer well and if he fares better than other Asian directors like John Woo, but in [...]
September 23rd, 2004 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreGhost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004) Movie Review
It’s difficult to dislike Mamoru Oshii’s sequel to his seminal anime work “Ghost in the Shell”, the cyberpunk sci-fi that influenced “The Matrix” and many others. Then again, it’s also difficult to completely like “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence”, if for no other reason except that it’s a ponderous, slow, and cumbersome 100-minute movie [...]
September 22nd, 2004 | Nix | 0 Comments | Read MoreKakashi (2001) Movie Review
Like “Uzumaki”, “Kakashi” is based upon a manga by Japanese artist Ito Junji. There are actually a number of similarities between the two films, as both are set in small rural towns in the Japanese countryside and both depict a series of unexplained supernatural events. However, whilst “Uzumaki” was a wacky affair, featuring wild special [...]
September 21st, 2004 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreTomie (1999) Movie Review
“Tomie” is based on a Japanese manga by popular artist Ito Junji, who was also responsible for the material that inspired the films “Kakashi” and “Uzumaki”. For those unfamiliar with Junji’s work, the film may at first glance appear to be no more than an early entry in the neverending cycle of Asian ghost stories [...]
September 16th, 2004 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read More
It looks like a dud. I saw the trailer. Tom is the only person speaking with an American news network ...
nothing they payed fox.... 
OMG!!!! 
