Saiyûki

Although it's not the spectacle of the greatness of Japanese Anime, the Western release of Saiyu-ki was a testament to the early days of the art.

Alas, like so many classics of animation, such as Toei's "Gulliver's Travels Beyond The Moon (Gariba no uchu ryoko)" or Nelvana's "Rock & Rule", this film will never be seen again except on rare, pirated copies, for it has been cast into the pit of Moritorium Hell, where major video chains unceremoniously trash the remaining copies into a dumpster without the opportunity to purchase them to try to salvage history. This disgusting form of book burning for profits by the major studios that now run the major video rental chains, leading to the demise of the Mom & Pop stores of the past will be remembered as corporate greed at it's worst.

I hope there is a special Hell for these arrogant suits.

I saw Alakazam first when I was quite young. I thought it was a good cartoon then and like it more now. It has a good moral to it and it's not made to sell toys like most cartoons are made to do now. Comparing it to todays cartoons is a bit silly since it was made over 40 years ago, the themes and characters are much different then the standard anime fluff we see now. I can't see anyone going wrong renting it and watching it with their family.

I was stunned to see this listing; I have been trying to find this movie for years. It may be lame, a terrible dubbed version of a chopped up hack job, but I still have dreams based on this film 30 years later. It would show up on the afternoon movie program and I would always greet it like an old friend; I would love to see it again.

Over the years, I have seen many reviews that have mercilessly slagged ALAKAZAM THE GREAT as a bad movie, and it even made it into the highly questionable book THE 50 WORST FILMS OF ALL TIME. The question I have is: did all of you who hate this movie see the same film that I did when I was a youngster? I have shown many children this film over the years and not one of them failed to enjoy it.

ALAKAZAM THE GREAT is loosely based on the Wu Cheng-En classic JOURNEY TO THE WEST, a landmark of Chinese epic literature, and tells the story of an arrogant monkey king who learns the secrets of magic and becomes a cosmic pain in the ass. After a brief rampage through the heavens, he is imprisoned by the gods and eventually sent on a pilgrimage to atone for his sins and learn humility. The monkey must escort a young prince (who is the son of the gods) through a series of insanely lethal adventures in a land teeming with demons and monsters of every description, picking up a couple of unusual traveling companions along the way (an anthropomorphic pig-man and a burrowing cannibal). Much magic and cartoon ass-whuppin' ensues, and despite the (mercifully brief) musical numbers, this film has raw imagination to spare. Fast-paced and fun, this is not the dud that some would lead you to believe. Give it a chance!

This movie, believe it or not, was shown yearly at my Catholic school's Christmas Festival. Christ the King Elementary would bring all the kids to the union hall to see Santa, get lots of candy, and see "Alakazam". Strange that a movie with such a non-Christian storyline would be seen in such a venue, but that just shows you the mind set of the '60's. I'm not sure if they purchased the 16mm or rented it, but for all these years, I have been searching for the video. Movies Unlimited had it in its catalog, but it was listed as 'unavailable' eBay had a few copies for sale but I was sceptical. We need to bring this title back from the void and allow our younger friends the opportunity to experience the lessons of 'Alakazam'.