Swordsman & Warlord versus Evil

I greatly enjoyed some of Amemiya Keita's other films, including 'Mirai ninja' and 'Zeiram,' and I've been looking forward to watching this since I learned about it, especially since 'Zeiram' star Moriyama Yuko is involved. However, to be frank, this 1997 release makes a poor impression at the outset. The scene writing is rather weak, and plot development is clunky, flimsy, stilted, and disjointed; the narrative itself barely holds itself together. It seems evident that Amemiya and co-writers Tanaka Toru and Matsumoto Hajime were struggling to assemble a cogent, compelling screenplay. Furthermore, woe to you who can find only the English dub to watch, because the dubbing is awful and the dubbing script equally blunt and gawky, and one might be better off not watching at all than to watch the dub. We do get the jidaigeki-tokusatsu-fantasy flick we want, but the construction feels decidedly less sure-footed than in the filmmaker's other works. Even Amemiya's direction is rather uneven, and the same strength seen elsewhere in his oeuvre is lacking here. I don't dislike 'Moon over Tao: Makaraga,' but there are significant upper limits on the lasting entertainment value.

Oh yes, the stunts are great, and the practical effects most excellent, including blood, gore, and creatures; action sequences are varied, flavorful, and a lot of fun. Where post-production visuals are employed they mostly look pretty decent, the benefit of existing in a period before computer-generated imagery had proliferated and completely taken over genre cinema. The monstrosity that is central to the third act is notably depicted through both enormous tangible creations and digital insertion, and while the physical is always, always preferred, and superior, even the artificial looks surprisingly good. Even Fushima Shinichi's keen editing tends to feed into the visual experience. All this is what we came here for in the first place, after all, and while the usage is arguably lesser than in other comparable fare, the employment is welcome nevertheless. The filming locations themselves are lovely, and the production design and art direction are fantastic, filled with considerable detail across the board. Much the same could be said of the costume design, hair, and makeup. The cast don't necessarily give the most vibrant of performances, seemingly downplaying their own skill, though in fairness, that's on par with much of everything here; though the music isn't outwardly striking it's a fine complement for the proceedings. The sum total is hardly the best representation of the efforts of anyone involved, or of the genres on hand, but the purpose is ably served.

I just wish this enjoyed anywhere near the same level of passion, care, and hard work as its brethren. I repeat that Amemiya's direction comes across as unfocused, if not outright sloppy at times, and the writing is too often loose and scattered. The plot barely holds water - one beat to meekly come and go in the blink of an eye late in the length is just altogether astonishingly bad - and quieter scenes and exposition dot the length at inopportune moments that disrupt the action-adventure vibes of the viewing experience. All told these ninety-seven minutes at least go by fairly quickly, though awkwardly enough, the last act plainly feels overly long and drawn out. I did have a good time watching, but only just; the substance is wanting, and even the action and effects we desire are less rewarding in this instance. Suffice to say that whatever one's impetus for watching, this is emphatically not a picture one should go out of their way to see. It's duly worthwhile if you come across it, a swell way to pass the time on a quiet night, and sometimes that's all a title needs to be. Just be aware before watching of the troubles facing 'Moon over Tao: Makaraga,' and maybe that will put one in the best position to appreciate it for what it is.

"Moon Over Tao" is a wacky, entertaining movie that successfully blends together the samurai, fantasy and sci-fi genres. It feels very much like a retro-piece with a lot of silly effects and of course, chambara level of gore and blood splatter. Direcor Keita Amemiya directs it accordingly with a less focus on story than in action. And it pays of in the end.

Story is that of two men, one a Buddhist monk with magical powers and the other a highly skilled samurai warrior with an indestructible sword. The two have began a journey to discover the source of the indestructible swords. Along the way they meet a young girl working as a beekeeper. Respectively the girl later meets three alien samurai chicks that start fighting without a reason, as one of them is mortally wounded she enlists the girl to help them find and stop a the strange beast/weapon. After a mutual agreement with the help of the two men, the three of them set of and discover the source of the indestructible swords and the strange beast/weapon. It does not take long before said beast/weapon is awaken and then all hell brakes loose.

To put it simply, the story is silly. Characters are as complicated as those found in a Jean Claude Van Damme movie, some even border on the annoying level, yes I do mean the girl beekeeper with that. All you really need to know is who are the good guys, who are the bad and how many walking meat-bags are there on their side. In this case a lot. And thank God for that, because fights scenes tend to get bloody with some good all classic chambara effects, such as the blood geysers and chopped of limbs. It get's even better when the beast/weapon gets loose. You see it has a certain habit that involves eating it's opponents. Amemiya does a good job with the action and gore and it's all just fun to watch. Choreography is reasonably well done, with the individual showdowns standing up from the more massive scenes. Creature effects are surprisingly good, combining CGI and a designed prop for close-up use. While everything else is done in the old fashioned way, meaning none to minimal use of any other CGI. One other concern that Amemiya has with "Moon Over Tao" is the ever lasting question of how many people can cram in an action scene. Luckily the cannon fodder is plenty. The showdown between our two warriors and the evil warlord's henchmen is pretty massive in terms of body count and respectively entertaining.

"Moon Over Tao" should not be taken as a serious movie, or as a highly intellectual movie. Those that do take it as such will definitely hate it. What Keita Amemiya really made is a homage to the old days of chambara movies where gore and wackiness was abundant. And really this is for people that loved this type of cinema.

This is a simple, very simple, fantasy film.

The central premise is OK, a buried evil being freed by a man seeking power.

The acting is bad, the two leads are OK but the rest of the cast are completely unconvincing especially the bee-keeper girl.

The fight scenes are very power rangers with lots of fake blood thrown in.

The creature is weird but in an almost funny way, they use cheap CGI and it looks like those 1960s films when such things were new, Jason and the Argonauts style.

The ending is predictable.

It's not an awful film, I didn't feel the need to switch it off, but it's not good.

Few films try to jam as much into their plots as this one, and it pulls it off in the best tradition of zany, creative, mid-budget exploitation film.

Samurai, aliens, magicians, and a demonic monster all converge to make this adventure complete, and its bloodthirsty finale will appease many people's need for gore. You'll wonder what arcane drugs writer/director Keita Amamiya took to come up with the loony and violent scenarios that populate this twisted fantasy/sci-fi hybrid.

Amamiya has done many of the "Kamen Rider" pictures, which explains his need to have sexy, helmeted female UFO-nauts in this picture. Indeed, other than the extreme violence, the film feels like a 1960s-era movie, complete with a stop-motion beast straight out of a Ray Harryhausen film.

Not to be missed for fans of bizarro midnight movies!

Fun fantasy, with a good cast and neat-looking effects. Amamiya keeps things moving along quickly, and has a good balance of dramatic elements with goofy fun stuff. The score is magnificent. Yuko Moriyama is cool, as always, though I wish she were in the movie a little more. Toshiyuki Nagashima is a great, dignified lead. Hiroshi Abe is one of the coolest dudes in cinema today, and it's a pleasure to watch him killing loads of bad guys in efficient ways.