Daimajin

In late Edo Japan, a wicked chamberlain betrays his lord, enslaves the local villagers, and desecrates their god, an enormous statue of a warrior, which ultimately comes to life as 'Daimajin' (roughly: 'giant demon'). As Japanese monster movies go, this one is pretty subtle and the titular monster doesn't show up until the final reel, but the sometimes grim 'samurai' story leading up to the tokusatsu climax is actually quite good. The film is very well made (I watched a reasonably well-done subtitled version) with an excellent score by Akira Ifukube (reminiscent of his iconic Godzilla and Mothra themes). Worth tracking down for fans of the fanciful (I found it on YouTube). As a cautionary tale about the dangers of iconoclasm, I only wish something similar had happened when the Taliban destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan.

I was expecting a decent film due to the ratings on IMDb, but what I experienced, was much greater than that. This period piece forces us to be an active participant by enveloping us with its desperate atmosphere. It's melodramatic set up brings the pacing down, so don't expect monster mashing anytime soon. It's tone is fierce and foreboding throughout. The tension is wonderful, and the anticipation of a reluctant savior slow to awaken, is as brutal as the wrath it releases! DaiMajin is like a freight train, slow to get going, and hard to stop! 8/10.

**By the way I always recommend the Japanese versions with their acting and English subtitles.**

A good and just samurai lord is betrayed and murdered by one of his own men, who then claims the throne for himself. The samurai's two children, a boy and a girl, escape to the mountains and take refuge near a huge stone statue...a statue called Daimaijin, a huge man-god whom all fear. Ten years go by and the evil new lord has decimated the valley, enslaving all of its inhabitants and turning a deaf ear to the warnings of the wise woman; Daimaijin will not allow the evil overlord to go unpunished...and neither will the samurai's now adult son, who descends from the mountain, seeking vengeance.

Daimaijin is a simplistic fairy tale, beautifully executed. The noble samurai, the evil usurper, the determined son and the innocent girl whose voice and tears are the only thing the giant Daimaijin will respond to; all of the necessary elements are here. Though perhaps too violent for very young children, this film still reminded me of the films I loved as a child, i.e. Sinbad or Jason and the Argonauts. It's a simple tale of good versus evil with a triumphant, satisfying ending and lots of real estate trampled beneath Daimaijins stone feet. If you liked Godzilla, or the massive monsters created by Ray Harryhausen, you should see this one.

With its rerelease by ADV Films, I've had a chance to watch "The Giant Majin" for the first time without the deep cuts and unkind words of a late night Horror Chiller Theaters. Guess what? It's a pretty damn good movie!

The sets are authentic, the acting in subdued and believable, and the giant Majin is stately, powerful, and unstopable. I loved the subtle fantasy touches (the enchanted wood, luck charm, etc), and the potrayal of the god as a little less than 'good'.

This movie is begging for a remake in the new century!

I saw the American version of "Daimajin" which was dubbed and released by American-International...a company known for bringing us a lot of crap. And, I assumed it would be another Godzilla-style film...which, fortunately, it turned out not to be. Instead, it's more a samurai movie...and a pretty good one as well.

Early in the story, Samanosuke murders his master,, the local warlord. And, to make sure none of the dead man's family could reclaim the territory, he orders his men to track down all his family and kill them as well. Fortunately, his two children escape and time passes. During this time, Samanosuke has increased his power--and he's done that by tormenting his people and making them his slaves. In addition, he's blasphemous and eventually orders his men to destroy a giant statue of a god in the hills. After all, the local priestess said it would come to life and destroy him...and the idiotic man decides to incure the wrath of the gods. Not suprisingly, eventually the giant statue comes to life...but there seems to be no controlling it and it appears ready to kill everyone!

The giant is actually NOT cheesy looking and I think it helped to make him big but not Godzilla big. That way, there wouldn't need to be any cheesy sets to destroy...and it looked much more realistic. Overall, an exciting and watchable film...more a movie for samurai movie fans.