Daimajin ikaru

Not much different from the first film except that Majin now resides on the top of a mountain instead of the side. Great art direction, nature photography and overall excellent special effects elevated what is essentially the same story as the first film. Evil warlord enslaves and kills innocent townspeople and Majin rises up and kills all the samurai. The warlord even dies the same way as in the warlord in the first film. The middle of the film is beautifully photographed but really boring as the children travel over Majin's mountain to rescue their fathers from the warlord. Akira Ikufube's score is really good too but you can't help but notice it's almost an exact copy of his work for the Toho monster films at the same time.

Return of Daimajin (1966) is a Japanese gem I recently watched on a random streaming service. The storyline follows a small town that is getting conquered by an evil dictators army. A young lady escapes and flees to a sacred temple and prays to their god to come save them. When the young lady is captured and made an example of the village god returns one last time to save the village.

This movie is directed by Kenji Misumi (Shogun Assassin) and stars Kôjirô Hongô (Satan's Sword), Shiho Fujimura (Zatoichi's Cane Sword), Tarô Marui (Fangs of Vengeance), Takashi Kanda (The Devil's Ballad) and Kôji Fujiyama (Bullet Train).

These are all a nice mix of samurai genre and monster movie, even if the monster doesn't appear until there's about 25 minutes left in the movie. The action scenes are very well choreographed and take place in some fun settings. I always love a good samurai sword fight scene. The effects on the monster is essentially a costume, mask and makeup but it works. The attack on the village at the end is good as is the final scene to conclude the series.

Overall this series is fairly consistent and worth watching for horror fans who enjoy samurai movies. I would score this a 6/10 and recommend giving it a try.

Daiei Studios' Return of Daimajin is the first sequel to the movie featuring the giant stone god. In this plot, villagers defy an evil warlord's order to turn over one of their protectors, Lord Juro (Kôjirô Hongô), and end up seeing their people being brutally attacked by the warlord and his soldiers. As a result, the villagers pray upon Daimajin, the great stone god, to fight for them.

The plot, I thought, was not as suspenseful and solid as the original movie, as it has more of a general "turn over your hero to us or we'll screw your village over" story line. But, there is plenty of sword-wielding and good guy vs. bad guy action to keep the film engaging, and the nastiness of the villains will make you want to root for the god to awaken and teach them a lesson they'll never forget - showing them that they shouldn't mess with the faithful.

The acting was pretty good, cinematography was brilliant and special effects were neat. Also, you really can't go wrong having the great Akira Ifukube score the music soundtrack to this film, though, much of the music is reused or reworked from the scores of past Toho films.

Overall, it's a rather entertaining feature that fans of Japanese sci-fi/fantasy films could enjoy.

Grade B-

Anyone who finds themselves obsessed with kaiju movies is eventually going to stumble on the Daimajin series (probably once they run out of Godzilla movies). That's my experience at least, and I remember the first movie in this series not really doing much for me, even though its mix of samurai drama/action with scenes of the titular giant (rock) monster sounded like a match made in heaven. A samurai + kaiju movie? "Sign me up," I thought.

The first film didn't work for me all that much, and neither has this sequel, Return of Daimajin. It's honestly not terrible, in terms of how it looks and how the action's pulled off. It just feels oddly lifeless and uninspired to me, like it doesn't want to be a deadly serious samurai drama, but it also doesn't want to be too goofy (or generous) with its kaiju scenes. At under 80 minutes, it didn't test my patience as much as it could've, but it didn't really have the time to venture into any interesting directions narratively.

Like the first movie, this one was admittedly watchable. It wasn't offensive. It wasn't terrible. It just didn't do nearly as much for me as I wanted it too, and if my memory serves me correctly, I felt basically the same after finishing the first Daimajin.

Released in April 1966, soft pacing was the only particular issue holding back the blend of fantasy and horror that was 'Daimajin.' I quite enjoyed it, and I've been looking forward to finishing Daiei's trilogy. While notably bearing a similar broad plot structure - a forlorn people appeal to Daimajin to save them from the cruel warlords who run roughshod over their land - this is no inherent mark against this sequel of a few months later. Thankfully, moreover, I think 'The return of Daimajin' does not struggle with the same pacing that hampered its predecessor, and the plot moves steadily within the diminutive runtime of seventy-nine minutes. With all this in mind we get more of that fantasy we want in a rich period setting, over top of an unexpectedly engrossing story, and the result is a really great time!

Alongside some beautiful filming locations, every element of the picture is filled with outstanding detail: gorgeous sets, terrific costume design, and lovely hair and makeup; smart and enticing lighting, vivid cinematography, and impeccable sound design; superb stunts, practical effects, and action sequences. Special effects are very judiciously and mindfully employed, and therefore look better than they have any right to. Writer Yoshida Tetsuro gives us a screenplay of a splendidly compelling plot and earnestly gripping, flavorful scenes; Misumi Kenji's direction sustains undeniable vibrant energy and tension as the minutes tick by. The cast give strong performances of able nuance and emotional depth befitting the substantial drama that underlies the jidaigeki roots and the fantasy overtones. Composer Ifukube Akira provides a robust, stirring score, in some measure recalling the thunderous chords of his most famous work in the Godzilla franchise, that deftly complements the proceedings at any time.

From top to bottom, the movie is far more skillfully made than one might suppose of something that lacks the same visibility as some other contemporary fare - and really, maybe altogether more skillfully made than some such fare. And with all this well in mind, it doesn't even matter that the titular being has a fairly small presence in his own film. While very sparingly playing a part in the saga throughout, we don't specifically see Daimajin until we're within the last twenty minutes. Be that as it may, the action is so exciting, and the drama so raptly absorbing - and decidedly dark - that it was almost unnecessary for the entity to be involved at all. If that doesn't speak to how marvelously solid 'The return of Daimajin' is, then I don't know what does, and in all honesty I think this sequel actually happens to be superior to its forebear. Free of the same single shortcoming, and just as carefully crafted in every regard if not more so, this is genuinely fantastic!

The practical effects of yesteryear will always be preferable and almost always look better than the most state-of-the-art computer generated imagery, and so this flick holds up astonishingly well. I assumed I'd enjoy it, but I'm positively thrilled with just how good it turned out to be, with nice little touches all throughout even to the end. As a matter of personal preferences it won't appeal to all, but I very much like 'The return of Daimajin' and I'm pleased to give it my very high recommendation!